Imagine you are Mr. Bill Gates, czar of the wealth. Life is great; you're the richest man on the earth. You can buy anything in life, right? Wrong. Before you ride on the jet of euphoria and focus your entire life on earning money, know there are simply things that a roll of hundred dollar bills cannot get for you, not even if you are Mr. Gates.

    If you are perplexed, let me explain my theory. It may sound like an oxymoron but money has its Achilles’ heel. All of our false perceptions about money have one common flaw - they identify money as something external to us, they identify money as the tool to accumulate abundance to please others by accumulating possessions.

    What money can't buy mostly lies within us. Nonetheless, trading our life energy for money can deprive us from inner nourishment that can eventually lead our lives into a downward spiral.

    1. Time: Money is a tool for trade. With that said, we spend a good chunk of our allotted time on this earth getting, spending, worrying and fantasizing about money. You can't buy the time and save it in your storeroom even if you are Mr. Gates. On the contrary, money takes away your time that could have been spent playing with your children or having a long walk with your alter ego. When the sun sets, a day goes away from our life forever. No money has power to bring that back to life.

    2. Self Awareness: Ignorance is bliss, right? It's a curse. Not having self-awareness and self-consciousness lead to decisions that can cost you dearly. Well, the cost may be life itself. As a result, many people live a mediocre life without living for a true purpose. Their ignorance can't be transmuted into awareness with money. They believe that their ignorance is their awareness.

    3. Self esteem: I have a plethora of examples to prove that no money can purchase self-esteem. Self-esteem is earned from within. If you are your worst enemy, gods of money can't rescue you from the self-destruction you inflict on yourself. King of rock Elvis Presley had the best life one can imagine with no dearth of cash. He took his own life with the deprivation of self-esteem.

    4. Health: As I write this, I found out that Senator Kennedy has brain cancer, and it is terminal. Of course money can get him the best health care possible but no money can buy insurance for a life. We buy insurance for just about everything including our life but money can never bring life back.

    5. Respect: Try this. Slap someone on his face and then hand him $100 to get his respect. Will you get it? I doubt it. We all live our life in pursuit of self-respect from peers, from family members, from our alter ego and even from strangers. No money can buy respect from others if our actions speak volumes about our negativity - insult, rudeness and lack of respect for others.

    6. Happiness: This is controversial. Money can buy happiness if it is spent on to bring grater financial security for the family. However, money can't buy happiness if the purpose is to make money to make other people happy. The chase of possession of possessions can never find its destination with incessant desire to accumulate more possessions. Happiness comes from within. When we trade so much time and energy to get money, we deprive our inner self from the food of happiness.

    I'm sure that you either are nodding you head in disbelief by now, or you've been enlightened by the revelation that, after all, money can't buy some of what matters most in our life. I'll be glad to get a zap or a hug from you.

    设想你是比尔盖茨，世界首富。生活真是太棒了，你是世界上最富有的人。你可以买到人生中的一切，对吗？错。在你快乐的要飞上天之前，在你将全部精力放在挣钱上之前，你要知道有些简单的东西不是大把的钞票能给你的，即使你是盖茨。

    如果我的理论让你疑惑了，我来解释一下。听起来有点矛盾，但钱有它自己的阿基里斯定律。我们所有关于钱的错误理解都有一个共通点－－钱被定义为外在的东西，代表累积财富的工具而累积的财产可以让人高兴。

    钱买不到的东西是在我们内心的。虽然如此，将生活的精力放在赚钱上会失去内在的养分，最后导致生活质量逐渐下降。

    1. 时间。钱是交易工具。也就是说，我们在有限的时间内花大部分时间在赚钱，花钱，担心没钱，幻想有钱。你不能买下时间存在储藏室里，就算你是盖茨也不行。相反，为了赚钱，你就没时间赔孩子玩或和挚友散步。太阳下山，这一天就从我们生命中永远消失了。钱没有力量追回来。

    2. 自知。无知是福，对吗？此乃祸根。不自知且不自觉导致你付出昂贵的代价。嗯，代价也许就是生活本身。结果很多人一生碌碌无为，没有真正的目标。钱不能将他们的无知变为有知。他们认为他们无知是由于他们有知。

    3. 自尊。我有一大堆例子证明钱不能买自尊。自尊是通过内在赢得的。如果你是自己最大的敌人，钱神不能将你从你自己附加的自我毁灭中解救出来。岩石王艾维斯普雷斯利有你能想象的最好的生活，拥有花不完的钱。他用失去自尊来获得了自己的生活。

    4. 健康。我在写这一条的时候发现肯尼迪议员得了脑癌最后结束了生命。当然钱可以给他最好的医疗看护但不能保证活命。我们买所有的保险包括人生保险，但钱不能起死回生。

    5. 尊敬。试试看，打别人一巴掌再给他100块让他尊敬你。你能得到尊敬吗？我怀疑。我们一生追求同人的尊敬，家人的尊敬，挚友的尊敬，甚至陌生人的尊敬。 如果我们的行为大声说出我们的消极面－－傲慢，粗俗，对别人不尊重，钱是买不到他人的尊敬的。

    6. 幸福。这有争议。钱如果花在给家庭带来更大的财政保障，是可以买到幸福的。但是，如果用钱来让人快乐，钱就不能买到幸福。渴望不断累积更多的财富而追求财富永远没有尽头。幸福是源于内心的。我们花这么多时间和精力去赚钱，就失去了内在幸福的来源。

    我肯定你现在还会怀疑的点点头，或者你已得到启发，毕竟钱不能买到对生活很重要的一些东西。你赞成或反对我都乐于接受。