I love money just as much a the next person. Holding cash in your hand, swiping a credit card through the machine and cashing large checks, are some of the most exciting things in the world. But if you had to choose between winning the lottery, and having total satisfaction in your life, what would you choose? Are they the same thing?
There are some days out of the week that I go into Manhattan to work in a penthouse on the Upper East Side, for a man with more money than God himself. He owns all five penthouses in a building that costs 500,000 dollars for a bottom floor apartment. A wrap around terrace and television for a computer screen doesn't begin to describe the seeming luxury of this man’s life.
There is a pathway in one of his apartments surrounded by trinkets that look more expensive than my house leading throughout the entire landscape. Your eyes bounce from a golden Buddha, to a Mickey Mouse chess board, and you’re mesmerized by the wealth the owner of this place must have.
I often sit in my desk chair, printing out emails, and speaking on the phone with my friends at home, making plans for when I get back that night. I dread having to press the end call button. Even with all of the crazy antiques, and the breathtaking views that come with his expensive lifestyle, I wonder if my boss is truly happy with his life. I’ve never seen him on the phone, or out of his home really.
I have come to the conclusion that his constant need for antiques may be filling the void of something much bigger in my boss, and I can only assume that the void isn’t in the shape of a solid gold Buddha. We are all looking for happiness, but maybe some of us are just looking in the wrong places. As unbelievable as it may seem, the terms “satisfaction” and “money” don’t always go hand in hand. It must be so hard to go through life not knowing how it truly feels to be satisfied.
Being lonely is probably one of the worst emotions in the world. Feeling like you have no one to talk to, no one to listen to, no one to laugh or cry with, has to be devastating. I have no idea where I would be without my friends. In my opinion, the people we love are really the only things we need in this world to be content.
To answer the question, I pick satisfaction. I would rather spend a night on my couch, with five of my friends, debating whether or not Britney Spears is actually a good singer, than spend a night alone in a penthouse.
Who needs a Mickey Mouse chess table if you have no one to play with?
