True Power

True Power

I'm blogging from KLIA. After almost two months in KL, I'm on the road again--this time to a country I've never been to before. Will write about my impressions when I'm there--that is, if I have no problems getting a good (and cheap) Internet connection.

I was all prepared to fly off today, nursing my "broken heart"; but what an unexpected and dramatic outcome it was! It's tough being a diehard fan of a football club--all that wild roller-coaster ride of emotions that one has to go through week in week out, is simply too much to bear sometimes.

I thought I won't be travelling again until the end of the year--I had planned to spend the last two months of the year cleaning up both my company accounts and the clutter in my room. I also needed a break after working non-stop since I left Jakarta for good early this year. But unfortunately (or fortunately, from a business point of view), people managed to track me down to my Bat Cave and asked me to embark on another one of those missions with vaguely-defined objectives in another violence-prone Third-World country.

Well, I suppose that's what I do for a living. Sometimes I feel like I'm not really doing a real job and I'm way too unambitious when it comes to making money. During the early days of my career, I was always short of money, no matter how much I earned. Then I realized that if your material wants continue to increase indefinitely, your earnings will never be able to catch up with it, and you will always feel poor.

The easiest way to become "rich", is to reduce your wants. It is "easy" because it doesn't cost you anything!. You see, there's fun in frugality. Being frugal doesn't mean being stingy--it means freeing yourself from having to keep up with other people; it means learning how to appreciate the simple life.

Like I've said many times before, the good things in life don't always cost a lot of money. For example, reading is a hobby that is a lot cheaper than yuppie pursuits such as golfing, diving and clubbing. You don't have to be a member of a fancy health club to get fit--just jog in the neighbourhood park.

I think we often pay way too much premium for class, style and prestige--all the trappings of wealth and power. One might ask: what's the purpose of living if you don't spend and enjoy life?

True, I agree with that. But has one tried experiencing that sense of triumph and exhilaration of knowing that you can afford something but yet choosing not to have it? That feeling is absolutely intoxicating. That is true power. And it's free.