Last update: January 03, 2017
I am one of those rare people who think that wealth is not found in any material good. Rich are those who invest in respect, those who practice goodness without paying attention to the recipient. True millionaires are those who can count on the respect and affection of friends and family, because true abundance lies not in money, but in happiness.
There are people who are not poor for their way of life, but for their way of thinking. We all know someone who steps up with his head held high, flaunting the dazzling glitter of his position as he looks down on the world with a superb air. In his heart there is no empathy, in his mind there is no humility or closeness and he does not know the true taste of happiness.
“Poverty does not derive from the scarcity of wealth, but from the multiplication of desires”.
(Plato)
Thoughts, values ​​and attitudes form our real skin, the one that can be seen from the outside and that determines us in everyday life. Those who know respect create and consolidate great bonds; whoever cultivates an inflexible and rancorous mind only sows distrust.
There are economically poor people who are very rich in heart and rich people who are very poor in affection. Without a doubt ours is a complex world and we are forced to live chaotic moments. And here is a first reflection in this regard: it would be worth trying harder to improve our inner world so in need of nutrients to recreate a more respectful scenario in which to grow in harmony.
We invite you to reflect with us.
Victories from the heart make us rich
At the last Olympics, held in Rio de Janeiro, we witnessed an incredibly moving scene that has now gone viral. Abbey D'Agostino, an American athlete, and Nikki Hamblin, of New Zealand, physically clashed during the final of the 5000 meters. D'Agostino, as it became known later, broke her meniscus and cruciate ligament in her collision.
After this incident, the New Zealander could have chosen to make up for the lost distance, but she didn't. She stopped and decided to help her rival. In the end, the two athletes walked the few meters that separated them from the goal between tears, pain and great emotion. It was a very sporting disinterested gesture, an expression of goodness and greatness that moved many people.
Such a gesture certainly deserves a gold medal; nevertheless there are those who have been able to say that Hamblin should not have stopped, that she should have made up for lost time. To think that there are minds unable to empathize with such acts is frightening. The magic of good is not just an abstract value: it is an instinctive act that dwells in our brain with a very concrete purpose, to ensure the survival of our species.
Nikki Hamblin's scene helping Abbey D'Agostino shows us that a gesture of kindness can make two people reach their goal. Not just one, but both. So, beyond the evolutionary ideas in which only the strongest survive, there are other gestures that favor empathy and collaboration over depredation.
Being poor in mind and heart means wasting your life
By taking away the outward appearance, the person who is poor in mind and heart is not as rich as you think. The species survives, the strongest can sometimes be the noblest and evil doesn't always triumph. Most people continue to react in the face of injustices, selfishness and offenses. That's why gestures like those of these athletes touch everyone so vehemently.
"The poor lack many things, the miser all".
(Publius Sirius)
It is as if scenes of this type detoxify our hearts to show us that goodness not only continues to triumph, but it infects us. However, it must be said that the one who is poor in mind and heart does not always act maliciously: in reality, he lacks reciprocity and empathy. His heart is unable to see beyond the elegant attic of his lonely world of selfishness. And this we must accept, because we cannot change him or convince him of his mistakes, nor can we argue with him.
The point is in living and letting live. Because those who are poor in mind, values ​​and affection waste their life. As if he were a bizarre individual who, in the epilogue of his life, discovers his loneliness. Wrapped in a veil of bitterness, he comes to the conclusion that the world is against him, that no one appreciates him or values ​​what he has done.
Perhaps from a certain point of view this is the case. Goodness always overcomes indifference and leaves it aside. Maybe we are like a flock of starlings advancing through life as if they were choreographing, synchronized, as Jung would say. We know that doing good is necessary for our species and for this reason, in the face of an act of altruism, respect and love, we continue to get excited. We continue to believe in the nobility of soul of human beings.
Images courtesy of Christine Ellger, Cathrin Welz-Stein
