I just saw this quote on Instagram and for a moment wanted to share it in my stories, but there is so much more to say about it that I felt like writing a blog post about it.
The quote said “Life is strange. You arrive with nothing, spend your whole life chasing everything, and still leave with nothing. Make sure your soul gains more than your hands.”
In the caption it said “We chase titles, money, status, thinking they will fill the void. But in the end, none of it goes with us. What really matters is how we lived, how deeply we loved, how aligned we stayed with our soul. Don’t just build wealth in your hands. Build peace, purpose, and depth in your heart.”
The above rings very true to me, especially because a lot of people do not understand why I live my life the way I do. And being back in Germany at the moment to visit family and friends, I feel it even more. I regularly feel misunderstood or judged, sure I’m also admired in a way but the choices I made and make for myself are less easily understood by a society that is still putting lots of focus on working career, status, material things and working very hard.
I too grew up and was raised to chase titles, career, money and status, but I learned quite early that in the end, we will leave with nothing. In my teens my cousin got cancer and the doctors told her the survival rate is 0%. I was shocked and could not deal with this at the time. But it showed me early how fragile we are as human beings. P.S. My cousin had a huge willpower and strong will to live and against all odds she actually survived.
I studied for 7yrs to have the best education for the best job and the best money, and then during my internship in Cape Town straight after my studies I threw all that away, I listened to my heart. I decided I wanted to enjoy life and not be one of the many Germans working themselves “to death”, dreading their jobs and always working towards their holidays. I wanted to live life every day to the fullest! So I stayed in Cape Town and first had jobs for little money to support my visa, but I loved my life and being in Cape Town was more important to me. Once I got my permanent residency, I quit my “career” altogether. And it was easy, because I did not identify with my job or title – which however lots of other people do.
At the age of 28 after I had been in Cape Town for just 10 months, my mother passed away completely unexpectedly. While it was the hardest thing in my life, I also realized when I traveled to Germany for the funeral and was in our house that she had sooooo much STUFF! And I just asked myself? What for? What now? Where is all this going? We threw most of it away. And this was a huge eye opener in many ways. Not only about stuff and what material things mean but also understanding what is necessary vs. unnecessary, leading me to become a minimalist / essentialist as much as possible, and also not identifying through belongings and material things.
It also reminded me once again and even more so, that nothing is certain, including how long you get to live, and my mom passing at the age of 63 made me realize that the way my dad always kept pushing me to “save for retirement” did not make that much sense anymore. Saving for retirement without knowing that you actually reach this age (like my mom did not) and then working all your life until you hopefully get to 65 or now 67, to then start enjoying your life not being as fit and healthy anymore? This just made no sense to me.
What makes sense to me and the way I live my life is that for me what matters most are physical and emotional health, living according to what my body and mind need, my values, being honest with myself, working on personal growth (a lot), being content and at peace, being kind and contributing something to the good of others. Feeling passionate about the “work” I do (which I love) and feeling fulfilled.
Side Note: My first Yoga teacher training in 2017 also contributed to me finding out more about how I wanted to live my life and I have since integrated the yogic way of living into my life in many ways. And with that I do not mean Asanas (yoga poses).
So yeah I am not unable to chase career, status, money, and material things – I chose not to. And I am not poor because I don’t accumulate more material things than are necessary for me, I often feel richer than “rich” people, because I feel peace in my heart and I am content, and being content feels even better than happiness!
Yes money rules the world in a way and it is our exchange of energy in today’s world, so we all need it, but take this as a reminder to make sure it is not all that you chase or work towards.
You arrived with nothing. You will leave with nothing.
