Ella Lorraine B.

Guevarra I BS Management October 17, 2011 EN11 R40

Societys transformation from an uncomplicated lifestyle to a more complexed, sophisticated, and pretentious one has pushed to the limits mans threshold for tolerance, raising the ante for life to be worth living and appreciated. The concept of the survival of the fittest has never been so glaringly practiced as the norm that it is today, an apt description of societys insatiable appetite for material things (wealth), power, and vain glory the sum of which is the holy grail called success and considered as the ultimate high akin to that feeling called tripping experienced by drug dependents during their peak level plateauing to a lucid moment before withdrawal symptoms manifest. Apparently, the feeling is magnified exponentially and lasts far longer than any ordinary or fleeting moments of exhilaration. In fact, we are talking here of a lifetimes high courtesy of a success concocted from the combination of the three basic ingredients whose decline is not foreseeable in the near future. It has been the mantra of those caught in its web of undue influence and decadence to sustain that type of addiction, thus maintaining a status to be consistent with the new order no matter what it takes. Modern society has made it miserable for people to live and enjoy life in its pure essence, what with its distorted parameters other than the usual mundane expectations, they endup simply going through the rigors of an empty existence and plain survival as it were. A society unconcerned as to where it is heading and what it is supposed to impart to promote harmony and the right values is a loose cannon catering to mans basic and primal instincts in defining success. Only this time, it has undergone a sophisticated

transformation or packaging that make it more appealing to be the in thing, no thanks to the hype perpetrated in wild abandon by technology, the media, and even ordinary people like us who have succumbed to the lure of this type of success unfolding right before our very existence. And as we dig deeper with regard to what ails society at present despite a wide acceptance of its version of attaining what needs to be achieved before one can be considered successful, complexities abound from a confluence of factors leading to the idea that success is the key to a better life a mindset that it is the only way to attain that elusive pure happiness without regard to the time-honored values of familial and spiritual ties. Be that as it may, we live in a society wherein success plays a big role in each ones life, a driving force of a stimulus that propels one to be at-par at the very least with established norms. Success is truly a promising word touted to bring solutions to everyones basic and primal concerns, defined as the attainment of a goal or purpose usually after a series of personal, physical, emotional, and even spiritual struggles. It is what motivates people to focus and work unceasingly, a potent stimulant for people to rise above adversities to acquire power, fame and fortune. A person is considered worthless in a society that puts much premium on monetary stability if he remains stagnant and lost all the drive to struggle. In short, possession of material things is the key to the door of lifes success, for it is a competition and virtually a rat race to accumulate more cheese insatiably beyond a perceived need of a lifetime one of the reasons for societal values to be redefined which led me to recall what an anonymous great sage had aptly written in his time, and I quote: Money or material things is not the root of all evils. It is the insatiable lust for it is, unquote. It has given birth to new

meaning of success apart from God-given talents, skills, advocacy and most probably the morality behind its acquisition. It is all about the senseless and insatiable appetite in the accumulation of wealth. People are blinded by the misconception that financial or monetary success equates to happiness. As one becomes more and more focused on being successful, he begins to lose track of life and will soon forget to appreciate its true essence and all that it brings. It is not impossible for one to forget how it is to actually live. Fortune, power and fame are only few of the many things that success is known to bring. These things sure are music to the ears for they assure us of a secured future but they do not guarantee us pure happiness. They may provide temporary bliss but that is all they can offer. Happiness is brought by life itself and no material thing can ever afford it especially if it is devoid of the spiritual and moral ascendancy. Relevant to this discussion, it pays a lot to take heed of the advice of great thinkers as regards too much preoccupation with money and/or material accumulation as a yardstick of success in life: Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one that withholds it , and enlivens the other who turns it upon his fellowmen. The source of insincere love; the spring of false light and fortune; the well of poisoned water; the desperation of old age. It is like a stringed instrument; he who does not know how to use it properly will hear only discordant music. (Gibran, Khalil (1963), The Wisdom of Khalil Gibran, Classic Paperbacks, New Delhi, India). Apparently, societys decadence had reared its ugly cracks since time immemorial transcending across different cultures, geography, and walks of life. The pitfalls that money brings have been identified and those who were most vulnerable constantly warned and counseled. Comparable to a

double-edged knife that cuts both ways depending on ones purpose and motive, it is an instrument that could help spread love whose multiplier effect goes a long way and almost instantly affects the recipient who, in turn, does wonders in perpetuating that one single act of love or it could be a source of a persons eternal damnation from a twisted perception of moral values. On the other hand, all is not lost with the way society has been veering towards a standard of success based on money whose potential to spawn evil could not have come at a more opportune time when the world in general and the country in particular is reeling from the effects of high prices of energy, goods & services, terrorism, pockets of conflicts which could lead to major conflicts and possibly war among clashing ideologies, to name a few. The world is still blessed with a few good men who never waivered in their resolve to combat that creeping contagion that could plunge the world in an abyss which it could no longer extricate itself from. Modern society was never in wanting of people who were never remiss in their duties to constantly remind it of its dangerous slide to perdition, sort of a conscience that presents a grim scenario of what awaits us unless we change our course and direction. Religious groups and well-meaning organizations from the private and public sectors have a common goal and objective whose synergy may no longer act as a potent deterrent because some have succumbed to the color of money and eventually abandoned an otherwise worthy cause. In effect, it has just succeeded in delaying societys eventual fate where there is no return. A luxury we can hardly afford is to be complacent nor idle for that is when we are most vulnerable and compromising and in spite of all the odds stacked against well-meaning individuals, it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.