How Much Is Enough?

How Much Is Enough?

Was it the Dalai Lama that turned around and said,

'You spend all your life making as much money as you can'

'for your retirement one day.'

'But then when you retire, you're spending all that money'

'because your health is compromised.'

You can spend your life out there trying to make a lot of money,

always saying that one day I'm going to have a lot of money and enjoy myself. 

By the time one has money to burn

the fire will have died out.

Lots of people believe that adding material value to their life

improves their wellbeing.

But that's not what life is all about.

What was that wonderful story?

'He who dies with the most toys wins.'

How did he live in the meantime?

This gold card or that platinum card...

they pull out this string of eleven cards...

'Which one isn't maxed?'

You can't live like that.

Have you tried to think about what you actually need

to make yourself live happily and comfortably?

I want a car to get from A to B, but I don't need a Porsche.

I want a roof over my head but I don't need a four storey mansion

with two pools right on the beach.

How much is enough?

Making enough money has been a struggle from time to time.         

But I don't owe any money

and I think for me that's been a big key.

I've learnt to live life very simply, on very little.

And for a lot of my contemporaries

living like this is not normal.

They come in here and they have a fit.

There's no dishwasher, there's no microwave.

Everything is a bit... 

unmodern.

Never having much money has given me an advantage in that         

I know how to survive on a very small amount of money.

And of course we need money to survive and buy food but

real worth is to live fully,

to get honest pleasure from life,

not plastic pleasure, not tinsel town pleasure,

just to live and enjoy simply, life.

You've got to enjoy your life from the word go

and not making money to enjoy life with.

Happiness is simplicity.

The less I have, the happier I am.

There's a lot less to worry about.

I'm not saying do away with money.

I would love to get to the garage to fill up diesel in my bakkie (car)

and say 'Here's a cabbage.'

Not going to happen any day soon.

So for me it's not a matter of disconnecting from society.

I recognise the importance of money.

I recognise the importance of everything else around us.

But I also recognised that

the more I had, the more unhappy I was.

We live in guilded cages.

We have nice houses, nice cars.

We don't realise that it's a jail.

I think we're so bound up with consuming,

it dulls us, it closes our eyes off.

So many people in life and society today

worry about what the next man thinks.

Follow the Jones's... keep up... I've got to have the latest phone, car, bike.

We just consume, consume, consume.

People go through life thinking 'Oh look, I'm making all these wonderful choices.'

Well they're not making any choices at all.

It's all prescribed for them.

I don't look at ads or newspapers

because those things tell you that you're not good, not good enough,

because you need to buy this product, that product,

or you need this fashion, that fashion.

We're forever and a day being told

this is what you have to aspire towards.

And that's exactly what happened to me.

You grow up with movies about the rags to riches tale

about how you can become a high flying manager.

What they don't tell you is what you have to sell once you're there.

You sell your soul... you lose who you are.

Living in a world where you're constantly bombarded with

trends and consumerism...

it's easy to fall into that trap because people believe that

wearing those Gucci jeans will let them walk better,

or having the latest iPhone, they'll be able to speak louder,

or wearing a $100 000 watch and wearing a $100 watch...

it's going to tell you the same time.

They work hard for that thing

and then when they get it, they enjoy it for 5 minutes

and then that feeling is gone.

And we're looking for new sensations that cost money perhaps,

like going to a cafe every day or a new car.

And we think that anything below that is not worthy.

And I think that the only worthy things are all below that.

We've replaced beauty with what money can purchase.

I think we really need to wash our eyes.

Just look at the world and see how beautiful simple things are.

I started to appreciate the simple things.

I enjoy sitting around the table with good family and good friends

and enjoying a good meal.

It was when we just moved here and I had no money

and I had just enough to provide us for that meal, that lunch.

But my kids were laughing, and I was laughing,

and my wife was laughing, and we were sharing jokes.

I realised that I had more than what was in front of me.

That, for me, means a lot more than money.

I think, at the end of the day, the true essence

of why we are here is

to appreciate this world more, in all its forms.

I'll rather create memories than make money.

Because that is something that one day when I close my eyes

I'll be able to look back at the memories.

Every day is filled with opportunity to create these memories

and you put it in your memory bank instead of your bank account.

And then if you need to access it

you can go there and pull out a memory and it'll put a smile on your face.

I come from a place where we put the value of your heart first         

before you put the value of money.

Thanks for watching this film.