Once in a great while, there is a truly remarkable movie worth watching, and The Bucket List is one of those.
and now you’re thinking, “wait a sec… this is a personal finance blog, not a movie review site!”, but bear with me…
In the movie, (which, btw, is absolutely worth watching, and I not only recommend it, but HIGHLY recommend it), Carter (Morgan Freeman’s character) told Edward (Jack Nicholson’s character) a story about the Egyptians’ theory of death… and it goes something like this:
Basically, when you die, you are taken to the gates of Heaven and asked two questions. How you answer those questions determine whether or not you get admitted…
The first question is “Have you found joy in your life?”
The second question, and the more poignant one, is this: “Has your life brought joy to others?”
Regardless of my particular beliefs, I still feel these questions bear asking. So in considering these questions, the easier to answer of the two is obviously the first one; although, I am realizing that the burden of debt seems to decrease the amount of joy I find in life.
But what about the second one?
Is the joy that I bring to others limited because of my position financially? I believe that it is.
The key is, I can’t let this be the over-riding factor in my life. But I think it is still good to realize how much better I can be, and allow that realization to spur me on to further accomplishment.
I think the movie asks the question can money make you a happy person? Some people with money feel guilty about it. Other people with no money feel that people with money should pay more or give them the money. Life experience and the impact we can have on other people goes beyond money. Check out the documentary Maxed Out if you want to see what debt and money can do to people.
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