THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE NOT FREE

I have often heard the saying "The best things in life are free". A few days ago after some personal experience, I sat down to really think about it. If the best things in life are really free, then why aren't we all over the moon? Why do some people live a more pleasant life than the others when it actually costs nothing to be happy? This is because nothing in life is ever free. The truth is that some things may appear to be free but then there is always a price to pay.

Free doesn't always mean the absence of money. When something is free in my opinion, it means that little or no effort was put into its possession. If that is the case, then there will always be a cost to the best things in life.

Just being alive costs people so much money. It's simply known as the cost of living. Life has a fee and hard work is the price. You pay for life with your blood, sweat and tears. As a living being, you have to feed, clothe and be sheltered. And all of these things come at a price.

On the other hand, the air we breathe is not absolutely free. Some people in this world need to buy oxygen to stay alive. And the last time I checked oxygen is not cheap at all. Also, some of us actually breathe in polluted air which will likely give us away depending on how our metabolism reacts to the air we breathe. So the air you breathe in can prove costly on the long run.

Even love is not free. For how long do you think someone is going to love you unconditionally? To be honest, you have to live up to their expectation or else that love is going to find someone else. Love has it's conditions, otherwise there will not be any justification for you to withdraw your love from someone. So if something is conditional, to what extent can you say it is free?

Friends are not free either. Friendship takes some level of hard work, dedication and commitment to sustain. And in some cases, the amount of friends you have depends on how much they perceive you can offer. Like we say in this part of the world "More money, more friends"

I consider family to be one of the best things in life like most people. However, when dealing with family relationships, it costs you certain freedoms and sometimes money too. Having to spend time with your family deprives you of the time that you would have otherwise used for your personal benefit. So that comes at some price in the end.

We often consider happiness as one of the best thing anyone can ever have regardless of their status, as a consequence it's thought to be devoid of any cost implications. Nevertheless, happiness is an illusion with a price tag, hence the role of money in acquiring it sometimes. If being happy is free then why are comedians smiling to the bank everyday at our expense.

Most Christians believe that salvation is free because the price has been paid on the cross. But you would agree with me that the momentarily joy and satisfaction you get in the pleasures of this world are likely the opportunity cost you have to give up for your salvation.

The best things in life are not completely free. There are always hidden charges attached to it. All things are not without a measure of indulgence -from the emotional to spiritual and commercial; none is without the expense of energy and its material representation - money. Regardless of how we like to delude ourselves, we live in a reality where everything is based on exchange and transactions.

For everything you think you are getting free; you are directly or indirectly paying for it. Nothing in life is completely free, even that which seems free is often the costliest in the end.

Ciao!


#HappiestManInTheWorld