Bloody pissed

Among the many things that I hated, being accused of something that I didn't do or I am not ranked pretty high up in my piss-o-meter.. it is between f***ing pissed and bloody pissed.. :@ :@ :@

I always pride myself as one who is not swayed by monetary gains.. or rather the amount of money needed to persuade me to abandon my principle is pretty astronomical.. no one can make me do things that I don't want to, no matter how much money is being offered.. yet I am no saint.. so if ENOUGH money is thrown at me, I would be a fool not to take it.. it has to be in tens of millions before I would even entertain the possibility of going against what I believed.. so to be accused of being greedy is a great insult to my character.. and that shall not be forgiven lightly.. even if the person accusing is, or rather was, a person I respect(ed)..

Money changes a person.. I have seen it happened in many.. It is hard maintaining your humility and keeping a level head when you are rich and are surrounded by vultures who want nothing but your money yet say nothing but lies that sounded like music to your ears.. you will believe everything and anything good that is said about you and you stopped listening to your conscious or your true friends.. truth becomes a bitter pill to swallow.. you crave admiration, adulation and praises like an addict, even though it is clear that some aren't sincere and you don't really deserved most of them.. and you also become paranoid.. worrying about people trying to take away things that you think are yours like your business, contacts or whatever.. suddenly you had too much to lose, even though you were perfectly fine without all these in the very beginning.. Everything is now measured with money.. everything you say starts and ends with money.. everything you do must bring you more money.. too bad you don't realize that we can't take anything when we die.. and I don't think God/Allah/Buddha/Whoever is going to be impressed with how big your coffer is..

I never respect a person for being rich, and don't think I ever will.. I don't care if you own a bungalow or has nothing to show.. I don't care if you are a company director or just a hospital janitor.. I don't care if you have $10million in your bank or barely $10 in your pocket.. I really don't give a damn! What I treasure most are your values, your principles and how you carry yourself.. being "not-rich" doesn't mean you can't be respectable.. you can be rich and still be unworthy.. thus I have the utmost respect for Mrs. Chen Shu-chu a vegetable seller who had donated NT$10 million to various charities.. it isn't that difficult to treat everyone around you with humility and decency.. being rich doesn't mean you are a better person than the rest of us, just that you are better at making money.. being rich doesn't give you the right to put down those who aren't.. being rich does mean that you have the ability to make other people's lives better, if you choose to..

Maybe I am the odd one.. still believing in doing good and being altruistic, to a point.. I believe that God/Allah/Buddha/Whoever will help those who helps themselves.. I believe you will gain more "merits" from God/Allah/Buddha/Whoever when you gave away $10 if you only had $20, then when you gave away $10,000 when you have millions.. and you will get more "demerits" if you didn't lend a hand when you have more than enough to spare. You don't have to tell the whole world about your good charitable deeds because if you are religious, you know that you will be ultimately judged by God/Allah/Buddha/Whoever, and not your fellow mortals.. or if you believed in karma, then whatever goes around comes around..

And fyi, I am already rich.. maybe not in monetary sense, but at least I am contended with what I have.. as both Buddhist teachings and the Prophet SAW said that Contentment is Riches.. who can argue with the two BIG guys huh? ;)