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Should We Always Choose Money and Abandon Health?

***August 10, 2021*** A few more weeks from now and I'll be facing the world of jobless individuals. It's the kind of world that I am not used to living in. Ever since I stepped out of school, my body started to grind to strive for the better life that fate has spared me. I'm not used to be slouching and slacking inside my abode. And even if I wanted to, I'm always finding ways to let my body work for something because I feel like it will stagnate once I lose track of my fast-paced environment. And thinking about having no job is nauseating and I can't imagine how my life would be like after this contract abroad. It's been a few days, or should I say, a few weeks or months, that I have been thinking deeply about my life once I'm out of work. Will I be able to sustain our living and suffice our needs, or will I go broke due to being unemployed? Because living in this pricey world with people full of demands won't require us to depend on a sole source of income. And my life can't just depend on blogging and making noise in this digital/crypto world. **Money or health**? A thought that I have been mulling something over, albeit the crystal clear answer, I still can't figure out what to choose. This sense of obligation thrown on my shoulders compelled me to do things that are against my will. And it leads me to make a simple question so complex. Because if I will choose the right one, my life would be crumpled and would drag my family down. But if I will choose the wrong one, my body would deteriorate and might create further complications that would hinder me to pursue my goals in life. People will always choose health over money because as they always say, "***health is wealth***." Technically, that line is favorable in the old generation where people don't depend much on money to survive as nature was sustaining their needs and fulfilling their lives. But the world is pacing so fast and changing into a new era where people won't survive without money, and the word "***free***" has been faced out from the material world.

We are no longer in an era where we can simply harvest fruits and vegetables from anywhere else because lands nowadays are being owned by a man and whatever inside his territory are all his. This thought is taking me down memory lane where we have bananas, sweet potatoes, and vegetables in our area. People are free to grab some that helped them quiet their gurgling stomachs. But as years passed by where everything has fitted with price tags, only friendly neighbors will offer you food for free. Even relatives are hesitant to do such things because they only think about money, money, money. And it's not only humans and trees that growing so fast, but as well as the demands, the bills, the expenses, and the prices. They are growing so fast that even how much we want everything to trudge, they will, and will always pace faster. One moment it's only $1, the next moment it jumps to $2, then $3, and $5. As if mathematics is always calculating the world and our lives and adding up every byte and digit and they'll be accumulating over time, making life's equation so complicated to decipher. **The longer we live, the higher the price, the more difficult it is to be like.**

And only those with green bills in their pockets can afford a longer and better life. What about the poor and the ordinary people? ***That is the main reason why we are working so hard throughout our lives because we wanted to change our life's status***. We wanted to, at least, survive from this perilous world. And let's not be a **hypocrite** if we say that "***money isn't necessary to live in this world.***" From the clothes, we wear to the food we eat, the house we live in, and the thing we use to pursue our goals in life, everything involves **MONEY**. ***We work hard for money. And money works for us. It gives us the satisfaction of living, a comfortable life, and most especially, a healthy body.*** ***But as we sweat blood, our body is being affected.*** People will never know we are crippling inside unless we speak and complain. They will just watch us working without asking if we are doing fine. But at the end of the day where dawn is covering the earth and tuning into silent hours, we are silently weeping and feeling the pain. They thought that we are fine because we are smiling, but deep inside we're physically in pain. Pain which we got from striving harder.

That makes me think about whether to choose health over money. How can we make our bodies healthy without money? Foods, medicines, good shelter, all require money. If happiness is the only requirement to live in this world, we wouldn't be worrying much about earning money. And the ***world would be a better place if only happiness is needed.*** Laughter is the best medicine as they've said. But how can we laugh if our body is weak? We need to fuel it to make us stronger and continue to lead the path towards a better and longer life. Thus, we need money to fulfill it. Can you even go to your final destination without riding on a vehicle that requires you to pay for the fare? Can you obtain the degree you want without paying the tuition fees? Those make full of sense. So let me ask you one more time, **money or health**? Can we even choose only one? We can balance both albeit, but if the body is already crumbling, can you even choose only one?

And this pandemic can ruin our life in just one snap. It doesn't matter whether you are rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, young or old, weak or strong, there is no exemption! We're like in a sci-fi world, facing an invisible creature, evolving and mutating, and later will possess our lives, invade our world, make us suffer and crumple, until we die. ***How can we survive this pandemic era with empty pockets?*** **How can we stay healthy without money, BUT how can we have money if we're not healthy?** ***We need money to survive in this world, but we need health to continue our life.*** If our life was difficult back then, it is tougher after. With this, we should open our minds to reality, and take into consideration every single simple thing. But at the same time, we should look back on the past where we have done something bad to make our health suffer. Health is wealth, it is true. And for sure, many have regretted so many things not minding every single pain arising in our frames. And now it's building up and calling to listen to it dearly. It's tough, to only choose a single option when we can have both, only if we have done the right thing in the beginning. ***And, indeed health is not valued until sickness comes.*** But it's never too late yet to make things right. So even if we'll choose health over money, there will always be other ways to suffice the needs, to sustain a living. ***Let's just do our best and let God provide.*** And as the Filipino expression quoted "***bahala na si batman***!"

And most importantly,

Thanks for your time. You can share your thoughts about this matter below. This was drafted a few weeks ago after posting about this topic on noisecash but only finished last Sunday. And @Eirolfeam2 is right, why choose one when I can have both. It's just a matter of balancing health and work. Blogging might be a better option here while recuperating my health. https://noise.cash/post/lz38m579

Lead image from https://www.dreamstime.com/illustration/health-than-money.html

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