Your Youth Won’t Return
The nature of desire is such that it never ends. Even when you earn all the wealth you wanted, you would still want something more. But when your health deteriorates, the only thing you beg from God is good health. You realize then that everything else can be regained if lost — or at least you can find contentment with what you have. Happiness becomes the release from endless wanting. But there is no way to live fully without good health.
While it sounds cliché, and you may hate hearing it, there is no actual cure for poor health. All your money can only buy the best treatment — it won’t restore your body to its peak condition. No amount of wealth can bring back the energy of youth. If it were possible, wealthy older men wouldn’t move so cautiously, and rich older women wouldn’t fight desperately against every wrinkle. Yet such is human nature that we never seem to appreciate what we have until it’s gone.
We must learn to think about life’s essential components clearly. There are four primary pillars without which we cannot truly live — or at least not a life worth living: (1) health, (2) wealth, (3) relationships, (4) spiritual connection. Imagine life without any one of these, and you’ll realize it would feel incomplete or meaningless.
Before you dismiss the need for spiritual connection, consider this: there comes a time in everyone’s life when you must look beyond yourself — beyond your desires and immediate surroundings — and examine the world through a deeper lens. This is how you make sense of your own suffering and the suffering you witness in the world. Some find this awareness through philosophy, poetry, or literature. Whatever the path, this internal understanding is your connection to something greater than yourself. Of these four pillars, you cannot cherry-pick one and ignore the others. You must nurture all of them simultaneously.
Here’s the crucial difference: three of these pillars aren’t strictly time-bound. Only health has an expiration date. Once significantly compromised, it cannot be fully recovered. If you develop a terminal illness, no amount of money will restore who you were. Develop arthritis, and you’ll ache for the vigor of your youth. While it’s natural to focus on building wealth, remember this: a delay in reaching your financial goals is forgivable. You will not forgive yourself for losing your health.
Time doesn’t come back. Youth doesn’t return. Energy is a depleting resource. So lift weights, eat right, sleep well, and understand that all the things you’re working toward only matter if you have the health and energy to enjoy them.