I'm sure you have heard of this phrase 'double-edged sword'; so today it's going to be about pros and cons... (Did I write this before? It sounds familiar.... hahha)
Now, pros can cons about?
"Being contented" - That's the topic today. Or rather, that's the idea behind the topic. (Just crapping here... hahha) Chinese has this phrase "知足常乐" and "知足长乐". No, they are not the same. ( I just realised that too) As for the meaning, please read below, while I continue with writing. :)
In essence, they both talk about the goodness of being contented. But contentment has many aspects, and I'm going specifically into being content about the material goods (money) that one has. This is because I feel that it applies to me.
Firstly, as what the Chinese phrase means above, if one is contented, one will feel happy. He or she will not be jealous about what the others has, and will be happy over what one has. If one gets 'enlightened' further, one will realise that everything is just a want and not a need (看破红尘). This is good because he or she will not get tempted by anything, like for example, smuggling drugs to earn big money.
If one sees everything as a want, he or she will not spend any money on anything else, except for those for survival, he or she will be rich in no time. (Maybe, after a long period of time?) But no matter what, the point is that the person will be rich, even though he or she does not hanker over wealth.
But, there's a down side of being contented with things too. If one is contented with everything and does not buy anything, how will the economy survive? (Economy survives on demand. Without demand, they will die off) And if everyone is contented, how will there be any improvement? Imagine Singapore 50 years ago. If everyone back then was happy about how they lived, I guess we would still be the same as then too, with no changes.
Also, if one is contented with life, there would be no motivation for anything. Take a student for example. If he or she was contented with everything, no matter what carrot his or her parent dangle, he or she would not care less about it. And if the carrot was supposed to motivate the child to do better in studies, wouldn't the child's results remain the same, because he or she can't be bothered about those material goods, and also because he or she is very much contented with the results?
Lastly, one who is contented might see no value in money, even though he or she might have a lot. This is because, since one doesn't see the need of buying things, he or she would not care much about money. Lets look things in another perspective. If one who hankers over material goods, he or she will know how expensive some thing are, and will scrimp and save just to get the stuff he or she wants. Through this, the person will see the value of money and cherish it.
However, if one is contented, he or she will not see the value of money, as he or she doesn't see what money can do. To them, it's just pieces of paper/plastic, nothing much. It would not matter much, even if the money was thrown away, since it's worthless. And that's the dangerous part.
For me, I think I am one of those, and that's why I can just lend money to people. I don't really care about it. If it's lost (ie, the person doesn't return), then so be it. Nothing serious. Is that good or bad? O: I don't know.
So, contentment is a double edged sword, whether it's good or bad, think about it and conclude on your own.
Till then, goodbye.
Namefulless
271109
Ps:
知足长乐: 知道满足就会快乐
知足常乐: 知道满足，满足于已经得到的
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