Love Vs Money: Choosing Love Over Materialism
The whole talk and debate around the love vs money fiasco is pointless, and you realize this once you’ve found love yourself. It is true when people say you can buy everything but you can’t buy love because when you really, deeply think about it, at the end of your life, when you’re on your deathbed, none of it will matter – the wealth, riches, unless you have a loved one holding your hand and being there for you.
So should you choose money or love? The answer is always love. Not to insinuate that working hard and earning money isn’t important, but you shouldn’t compromise on love for the sake of material desires. There is nothing in this world as pure as true and unconditional love.
Why Should You Choose Love Over Money
Many wise men have said only a man in love would understand the real value of a bond, and that a relationship doesn’t only mean a romantic one, rather it’s a bond with anyone who is special to you. Thus, they believe the love vs money argument has been put to rest. But has it really?
Being materialistic at the cost of love is more common than you think. If you see the signs they are in a relationship just for the money, you need to seriously re-consider your choices.
People say that money does buy happiness, and yes, to a certain extent it does. But that’s only temporary happiness. And the momentary pleasure, so long it lasts, never purchases love. The whole matter is a complicated one. So what do you think, is money more important, or love?
She was ‘the one’ for me
She was an aspiring author just like me and when we met, we instantly connected because of our stories. On our journey towards fulfilling our dreams, we didn’t realize that we were ‘The One’ for each other. It is said that destiny plays a part in creating lasting relationships.
In an amusing turn of events, we ended up marrying each other, two years after we first met. She is the most supportive person I’ve had in my life after my father, and she was the one who steered me though the shackles of an abusive relationship and a thankless professional position and made me bloom into a confident person again.
She taught me to put love over money
She taught me the importance of putting self before others in a world that has become selfish, and stood by me during all the highs and lows of life. She is my soul mate. I would learn later to always put family first and treat the ones who love you with respect. But for now, I still hadn’t learnt that lesson.
Love came into my life when it was least needed, but made me a better person than I ever was. But this deflected me from my planned path towards my ambition, to grow financially and to achieve professional excellence in writing. I knew how money issues ruin relationships, and I didn’t want our story to end the same way. Soon, the question of ‘money or love’ rattled me to the core.
I neglected her
Many times, I had to cancel special plans that we had made, only because I had bills to pay and a family to take care of. It became a regular practice for her to surprise me with gifts or something special since we came together.
But when it was my turn, when it came to making her day special, I was always stuck with my official duties, or finances or work commitments. Whether it was her birthday, anniversary, or any special day, I would forget to buy her a present. To justify myself I’d make a stupid excuse like ‘money doesn’t buy love’ or that I was working late never for money, always for love. She didn’t buy it.
The last time I remember surprising her was way before we tied the knot. Romance faded because of the financial obligations. I hate to admit it but the love vs money question kept haunting my mind and I was prioritizing money over my wife.
I remember celebrating our first anniversary at home, cooking food, because it was the end of the month, and we were saving for furniture. That disappointed her, I know, but she never showed it. This is how she is, committed and always supportive.
The pressure got to me
As a man, always taught to be a successful earning member of society, having the responsibility of running the household, I tend to be insecure about finances. I do question myself, I do quarrel with the inner realms of my mind each day, about my ambitions, but in the end, I have her, and that is better than any monetary or material reward I can ever get.
But it was one incident that really jolted me and made me introspect the saying – you can buy everything but you can’t buy love. It was when we were having an argument about how I’m never around and never prioritize love over money. She said that she had had enough and went to her mom’s house to stay there for a few days.
Do I really need to think about career growth when I am happy after marrying the one I love? No, because I feel lucky to have her love for a lifetime. Things were put into perspective and it made me realize that there are some things money can’t buy, and just how short life is.
I know it’s quite impractical to quote that love conquers everything, but as someone who has seen the loss of loved ones at a young age, I appreciate human emotions and human souls more than my dreamy ambitions, which require sacrifice at a level, I am not ready for.
Make time for your loved ones
It is better to be at peace with your heart and mind by staying in the present and keeping ambitious plans for the uncertain future. It is better to live with my loved one, who committed herself solely to me, even when I was no one.
Why should I think of an uncertain future, and let me and my soulmate suffer, because I made some plans when I wasn’t aware of her existence and importance? Not many know that love is inversely proportional to personal ambitions but directly proportional to happiness, for which one strives. I chose love, early in life.
Some people may consider it a foolish decision, but I am happy.
Still, on some days, I sit in my office, engrossed in my thoughts about my dream career like every young adult. What I do is entirely different from my plan to be an author. But I have her. And that is what sweeps my thoughts away from the gloom and disappointment of not being able to achieve my desired results.
I strove for excellence before; I still crave perfection in my work. I try to give 100% to whatever I do, but I’m not disappointed because of unachieved targets, because I chose love over materialism. I choose love over money, and I choose happiness over temporary materialistic pleasures.
She is the one I can’t imagine my life without, and it is better to be with someone who makes you love life, with less wealth, than to be all alone when you have everything. So yes, you should choose love over money, riches, and anything else in the world.