4 Essential Reasons you should value Relationships over Money

“Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heat ruptured relationships, or build meaning into a life that has none.”

Richard DeVos

Would you like to be one of those people who decided to give up everything just for sake of money and material possessions? Would you define as successful a person who became extremely rich but had to sacrifice family, friends and social connections?

We are immersed in a reality in which luxurious cars, huge villas in front of the beach and glossy clothes play an ever growing importance in defining the level of success we have achieved. It seems that material possessions are the only thing distinguishing a great man from another one. However, this is a misleading concept which makes us blind. It makes us seek and pursue the unessential.

From what I’ve learned I can assure you that once we are able to fulfill our primary needs (food, shelter and clothing) then making more money starts to become less important. Having the possibility to buy more and to satisfy your desires might sound appealing, but in reality others are the key factors which define the quality of our lives.

Strong relationships and good friends are much more valuable than money. We are social creatures meant to live our lives along with other people, we should never forget it. Even if you might think that money will eventually attract people this does not mean that money will result is strong social bonds nor in true friendships. Relationships are something we should value more, something worth devoting a relevant part of our time. Let’s see some of the reasons why you should give up the endless race for money and focus instead on your relationships.

1. Experiences are much more valuable than possessions. Our lives are the sum of our experiences, of all those moments that made us feel truly alive. Life is not the sum of the things we have, it’s the way we decide to spend our time. Would you rather stay at home and contemplate the super-expensive pieces of furniture that you have managed to buy by working day and night, or go out and enjoy a pleasant walk along with a loved one? What about a backpacking trip? Wouldn’t it be more exciting than the traditional hotel vacation? Experiences enrich us much more than money, especially when we share them with someone else.

2. Sharing is better than keeping it all for yourself. What would be the point of becoming rich if we couldn’t spend our time with others? What would be the reason to just work for sake of buying some more stuffs if in the end this would result in the impossibility to appreciate our lives? Wanting too much is a sign of selfishness, of lack of self-confidence. If you love yourself you would for sure realize that you are enough, that you don’t need to prove others that you are good by showing off your “stuffs”. Instead of accumulating try to share, to give yourself to others. The most precious treasure we all have is our time and we’d better spend it with the people we love the most rather than wasting it in order buy non-essential stuffs.
   

3. Understanding and friends cannot be bought. We are all similar, we all seek for understanding and for people who are willing to truly listen to ourselves. That’s why friends were created. They are incredibly important for our lives, they make us feel appreciated, loved and worthy. You might try to buy friendship with money or to impress people with your material possessions but it will never be the same thing. Friendship and love cannot be bought. Deep and authentic connections are gift for our well-being, but they do not raise out of nothing. We need to spend time with our friends, understand their ups and down, forgive them from time to time, show them our appreciation.

4. Happiness only real when shared. I’ve borrowed this statement from Christopher McCandless and probably there is no better way to express this concept: we are social animals, we truly need to have a deep sense of belonging in order to feel happy and satisfied. I believe it’s way better to have less but live with amazing people rather than having more but having to look after ourselves just because everyone is trying to steal our possessions, to prove that they are better than us. When you have too much then you need to take care of all your possessions, you need to protect them, you don’t want to lose all you have accumulated. When instead we have just what we need then we can open our hearts and truly experience happiness by sharing, understanding and experiencing amazing moments with the people we really love.

Your opinion

What do you think about this post? Do you usually set your relationships as your first priority? How do you manage to get rid of your desire to buy more? Please let me know in the comments below!

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