There’s another person who inspires me considerably, but it is not because of her financial success. As I said before, happiness is not just about money, it’s not about having millions or billions. We generally delude ourselves into thinking like that.
I’m not saying money is not important. No, that’s a naïve and stupid thing to say. Having no money, or not enough money, is bad. Very bad.
I’m not one of that says that money doesn’t bring happiness. Money does bring happiness. Just being able to buy a gift for somebody you love, or take your kids for a holiday, or buy the clothes you want, or drive the car desire; these things do bring happiness.
But money has its limitations, and only brings happiness to an extent. There are lots of stories about billionaires, celebrities and movie stars who are deeply unhappy, many of whom turn to drugs and alcohol as an escape.
That is because there is a lot more to life than money, like surrounding yourself with people you love, and who love you; like doing work that gives you fulfilment; like engaging in selfless pursuits.
So, coming back to the person that inspires me. There is a lady who runs a little youth empowerment centre in a township not far from where I live and she’s been doing this for decades. She takes in kids from the community from pre-school age, and takes care of them until they are adults and are able to fend for themselves.
I visit her center frequently because we partnered with them a few years ago, to teach the youth digital skills. I truly enjoy my visits there. Whenever I speak to her, she exudes happiness. During my visits she updates me on the goings on at the centre, telling me about the progress of her kids. She will inform me of one of the kids that she brought up, who recently got a job at a large company; or of a recent wedding where two of the kids that she brought up, got married.
When she tells me these things, I feel the joy that she feels. She is one of the happiest, most content people I have ever met.
And yet, she is by no means a rich person. She has just enough money, she drives a simple car, and lives a simple life.
She is long past retirement age, but she refuses to retire because she loves what she’s doing so much that she cannot imagine a life without it. I can imagine that for a person like her, separating from her work would be grief. It would be like tearing away a part of her life.
How amazing is it, to wake up every day and to do something that you love so much, that you cannot imagine your life without it?
Now that’s definitely a life worth living.