Health, Wealth,
Success and Happiness
By
Dr. RGS Asthana
Senior
Member IEEE
Figure
1: health, wealth and happiness
Summary
Health,
Wealth, Success and Happiness are closely related as health is a must before
wealth, success and happiness comes. Minimum wealth to avoid dependence is a
necessity for happiness in my view. The definition of minimum wealth in form of
money and worldly possessions, however, may vary from person to person.
Keywords
Prelude
Health is the state
of being free from illness or injury. Wealth is a plentiful supply of a
particular desirable thing, e.g., money or worldly possessions. As one becomes older
health [3] becomes a primary concern,
the requirement of wealth or wish to have more and more wealth or amass wealth reduces
hopefully and if it is so then and then only chances of approaching Happiness
[1] become possible. Health is a must before wealth and happiness. Minimum
wealth to avoid dependence and need to ask for money is a necessity for
happiness in my view. This requirement of wealth in form of money or worldly
possessions, however, may vary from person to person.
Health
Health
is, in fact, the true wealth. Good health is a valuable asset. Good health is a prerequisite for happiness,
peace and success. A person with bad
health cannot effectively use or relish the wealth.
A few quotes follow.
‘It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of
gold and silver.’
Mahatma Gandhi [5]
‘Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man
healthy, wealthy and wise’
Benjamin Franklin [6].
The
book at reference [3] describes besides normal issues including Yoga and it’s
advantages also describes old age diseases and how to manage them.
Wealth
Wealth can corrupt an individual,
community, nation and even the whole country.
There is a famous quote
[4] which truly describes value of wealth, health and character.
‘When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is
lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.’
Billy Graham
Wealth may also have some positive
effects on an individual. It may make a man generous e.g. Bill Gates
(b)
Runs the world's largest private charitable foundation which puts
all efforts to save lives in the developing world by attempting to eliminate
polio, attack malaria and childhood vaccinations.
As per Mr. Gates-
‘Money has no utility to me beyond a
certain point. Its utility is entirely in building an organization and getting
the resources out to the poorest in the world.’
Bill Gates
Success
‘My definition of success is knowing that what you are doing is
helping you and others lead
a better, happier, healthier life.’
Kara Goldin, CEO of Hint Water. [8]
Figure 2 shows and amazing graph of success which is more than
self-explanatory. It describes a few milestones in one’s life which vary with
age. A few phrases used show that definition of success is different for a
person from age to age.
Figure
2: Graph showing meaning of success linked to life cycle.
When you are less than 1 year old
your parents count and tell your age in months. Similarly, when you are more
than 100 years old your son/ or daughter(s) or relatives or friends tell your
age in 100 years and months. Is this sign of happiness for you or others or
both?
Success
as well as life is a journey and not a destination. Therefore, success gives you happiness if anything
you achieve at different stages of life even if it is insignificant e.g. if a
90+ years old person can walk a few steps - he is happy; similarly, if a person
with Alzheimer
disease can lift a cup of tea and
take a sip without spilling tea - its success for him.
I know a person who has had two kids when he around
51 years old and therefore he decided to work till age of 70 and he is now over
65 and is working. Therefore, Its success for him and I must point out that
figure 2 shows a general picture and there could always be exceptions. Most of
people will, however, fall within the data range shown in figure 2.
Happiness [1]
Please read [1] to know details
but in brief happiness is only state of mind as one can be happy or sad with
same state of health, wealth and success at different times. Someone has
rightly said that (I quote):
‘You cannot buy happiness, happiness is born.’
(Unknown)
Figure
3: Quote from e-buddhism.com
Way forward
To move forward,
the first thing you need to determine is where you are and where you want to
go. It’s more like as you do in a map application and enter against from [where
you are] against to [your destination]. This implies that you know where you
are and where you wish to go. Once this is clear, then you can start figuring
out how to get there. E.g., if you wish to find happiness [1] you need to
find the people who are happy and why they are happy or If you want to
gain wealth, find the people who are financially rich, start doing what they
do, and start thinking the way they think. Then you hopefully will be
moving forward towards your goal.
References
[1] Happiness – Is it an attitude or state of mind? By Dr. RGS
Asthana, Senior Member IEEE.
[2] “Eustress
and its effect on performance,” by Dr. RGS Asthana Senior Member, IEEE, Part 1,
2 and 3 posted on May 21, 30 and 24, 2016 respectively.
[3] Live Active and Healthy by Dr. Geeta Asthana, Dr. RGS
Asthana and Dr. Naresh K. Sinha, Confluence International, p. 224, ISBN
978-81-86425-90-9, pages 224, 2014.
[6] Short Note on ‘Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man
healthy, wealthy and wise’
[7] Bill Gates: Cofounder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
[8] How Do You Define Success?
