Spend, spend, spend . . .

Good if we could, eh?  The desire for cash wealth is something that consumes all of us.  Okay, maybe 'wealth' is the wrong word to use.  But we all need the green stuff, don't we?  It's the thing that has a bearing on just about every aspect of human existence.  The lack of it causes misery and hardship for anyone, and if we go from lack to total absence we are in real trouble.  A wise man once said 'Money isn't everything', and maybe many could agree with him.  Another dare I say, wiser man, gave an interesting addition to that pearl, which kind of changes the mood:  'Money isn't everything, but it ranks right up there with Oxygen!'

Yeah, that's funny.  But it's true, isn't it?  If you're quoting the first statement too often you are probably someone who could do with more cash.  Even while we say it wearing a sickening grimace smile, we know in our gut that money is everything, truly as essential as Oxygen.  But what's the point, you ask?  Well, I kind of got thinking about the word 'spend'.  It gets thrown around a lot.  And it's not always talking about splashing cash, either.  Spending quality time with those we love is what we all seem to want right now - and loads of spending money to go with it please!  Maybe that's why all these big daily cash competitions do so well.  And don't you just cringe when someone on welfare or Job Seeker's Allowance scoops 40 million on the lottery?  Are we pleased for them?  In your dreams.

Time verses money?

Which gets a higher billing?  For me, Time wins hands down.  It's the one darned illusion we can't fool  with, or get back once we have 'spent' it.  There it is again, that word.  And as you get older it becomes more of a pressure just knowing how to spend it, because there's less of it for you left to waste.  When you're a kid, looking out on a vast horizon of endless days -  you know you've got plenty of years to grab all the things you dream about.  I don't know about now, but when I was young there was an idealistic dream pot in which you could pick out any career of your choice.  Johnny wanted to be an astronaut; Jimmy, a train driver; Jane, the President of the United States.  In the classroom it was all doable, because there was a shimmering vista of procrastination time stretching out to infinity.  Wait long enough, dream, and it would all happen.  But for now, why not have some fun?

If time had a voice, it would be laughing its ass off.  Because what we thought then was a slow flowing river, barely moving, was in fact a torrent, accelerating inexorably toward Niagra Falls.  Johnny, now in his forties, is unemployed; Jimmy is working at McDonalds, and . . . Jane?  Well, she's waiting to find out if it's twins this time around.  Okay, I know.  What a cynical old fart, you say.  Maybe. Or possibly I'm just a realist.  There are those people out there who do know how to win, so its not all bad.  Shapeshifters.  These folk started well and have made the miniscule 24 hours we all share really count. You probably know many of them:  Stephen King, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson.  Need I go on?

Take a look and see how these winners manipulated time, and so generated empire and great wealth into the bargain.  Time didn't buffet them, they deftly slipped the bird and told it what to do.  To me cash has always been Time's prisoner.  Money is fluid.  It will come easily - and go just the same.  And every soul on Earth right now has the celluloid of their life running through the projector.  Some of us are on the last reel.  On the good side though, you can still be in a feel good film.  They don't all have to end like a horror movie.  It's not my place here to talk so much about self help.  This blog is meant to be commentary on writing and movies, so I'm not sure how I got onto all this!  Spending.  Oh yes, that was it . . .

Time is precious friends, nay priceless.  Money is drifting sand.  Yet we put so much emphasis on the gaining of wealth.  And why wouldn't we?  Everything in our world screams about money, the lack of it, who's on the rich list, who's on the street?  We may not always be able to spend wads of cash.  But we all must spend time.  No choice in the matter.  We live in it, all traveling together down a seemingly straight river, flowing at one speed.  Except what is an easy journey for some, is a white water nightmare for others.  And even harder to take is the fact that we make many of the choices,  Destiny is ours, and that's no movie.  So choose well.  Spend wisely, and know that kids have to have goals, as do we all.  That's the thing we should teach before getting to the dream pot bit.  See the destination, and then make plans to get there.  Because Time won't wait.  Whether you're rich or poor, it'll string you along, big time . . .

Unless, of course, you slip it the bird.