Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Anjali - On Contentment and Abundance

I was thrilled with the line I read in Tao Te Ching which said something like 'The man who is contented with what he has, is rich.' I loved the idea.

Yesterday evening I told it to Anjali and went on about it.
'That means Anjali, that one can be poor or rich, but if one is content with what they have - 10 rupees or 10000 crores - they will be rich. One the other hand if one is not content with what one has, then one rupee or ten thousand crores will still make one feel poor. See, its a matter of attitude. Richness is your attitude.'

I was trying to drive home the point that made such an impact on me. Now I can be content. And rich!

Anjali listened keenly. Then she said.
'I do not know why they say poor people are contented with little, and rich people are discontented with however much they have. All stories say that. Actually it is not about being poor or rich behaving differently - being contented or discontented. It means that you are rich or poor depending on how contented you are.'

It took me a minute to get that. But that was so nicely put.

That's an even better perspective. Why glorify the poor and rationalise their poverty with contentment and why put down the rich who have earned their money. Can we look at the attitude and not what they have?

Beautiful. That's two different perspectives in one day.

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