Colour Of Money!

How many times have we made a decision in our professional life - a decision in favour of pecuniary benefits over job satisfaction? How many times have we worked longer, harder during weekends, at the cost of quality time with our loved ones? And what have we got at the end of the year - a small perk, a promotion or as in the case of the majority workaholics - just a pat on the shoulder for the job well done? Ask any one, particularly those out of a business school or an engineering college, what his/her dream is, and invariably the answer will be - making money. True, money is an important factor in life, but does life begin and end with just making more money?I have been witness to two extremities vis-a-vis money - of dearth and excess. A friend of mine from a prestigious A-grade business school has a salary which is probably five times of what i earn in my present position. She is out of town 15 days in a month and has everything anyone can dream of - a gleaming Merci, a gardener, a cook - she has it all. But peace of mind, health and social life, none.She is lonely and suffers from umpteen number of health problems - something her Rs 6.5-lakh p.a. salary has been unable to cure or provide a solution. So much for making loads of money? My other friend was my college batch mate. After his degree, he tried a variety of jobs, made bad investments, got married and finally ran into heavy debt. The last I heard from him, he was selling every piece of furniture that was available, to keep debtors at bay. He is afloat now, rather just about managing with his meagre income. In this case it was lack of money or rather the lack pure lack of common sense while investing that brought him all the trouble. So once again we come to the same question, where do we draw the line when it comes to making money? How much are we ready to sacrifice, just to earn a little more? And how do we define the parameters of success in this mad materialistic world that we live in? No wonder success is defined as a "relative term". For some it means going up the social ladder, for others it is climbing the organisational ladder and for most it is just plain - making loads of money. But the bottomline is the same for everyone - money can buy you everything.