Chapter 18 8th Tuesday money is no substitute for tenderness

I picked up the paper so Murray could see the headline: □□□ I don't want my epitaph to say: There is no wireless TV station under my company Murray laughed and shook his head.The morning sun streamed in from the window behind him and fell on the pink flowers of the hibiscus potted on the windowsill.The title quotes Ted.In the words of Ted Turner, the media tycoon who is the founder of the Cable News Network (CNN), he recently tried to buy CBS (CBS) but failed, so he lamented.I showed this news to Murray this morning, because I was thinking, if Turner becomes like my old professor, his breathing is getting worse day by day, his body is hardened and numb, and his days are numbered. If so, Would he still lament that he never owned a wireless TV station?

It's the same old problem, Mitch, Murray said: We aim in the wrong places, and it leads to disillusionment with life.I think we should talk about that. Murray's mind was very clear.He's had his ups and downs, and today he's clearly doing well.The night before, a local a cappella choir specially came to his house to perform. He couldn't hide his excitement and told the whole story, as if this was the grandest music performance.Murray loved music before his illness, and now it is even stronger. Listening to music often brings tears to his eyes.Sometimes when he was listening to an opera at night, he would close his eyes and let his mind wander with the ups and downs of the plot and the ups and downs of the singing.

Mitch, you should have heard them sing last night, it was so beautiful! Murray had always reveled in the beautiful and simple sensual feasts of singing, laughing, and dancing.Now his hobby is stronger than before, and things in the material world seem meaningless to him.When we hear people die, we often say that we don't bring life with us, and we don't take death with us. Murray seems to have known this already. There is a kind of brainwashing going on in our country, Murray sighed: Do you know how they brainwash?They say and repeat a certain thing over and over again, which is what our country does.It is good to own things, it is good to make more money, the more properties the better, the more business activities the better.More is better.More is better.We indoctrinate ourselves and let others indoctrinate us, over and over, until no one else thinks otherwise.The average man is so blinded by all this that he simply cannot see what is really important.

No matter where I am in my life, the people I meet always want this and that.Want a new car, want a new house, want the latest toy.Then they can't wait to tell you: Did you know I bought this?Did you know I bought that? You know how I read this situation?These people are eager to be loved, so they use these things as substitutes.They embrace material things, thinking that in this way they are embraced, but it doesn't work.Material things can never replace love, or tenderness, or kindness, or brotherhood. Money cannot replace tenderness, and neither can power.I sit here, not far from death, and I can tell you frankly that when you need tenderness most, no amount of money or power can give you that feeling.

I wandered around Murray's study, which was no different from the first time I came.The books are also neatly arranged on the bookshelves, and there are also many documents and materials piled up on the same old desk.The other rooms outside have also not been renovated or updated.In fact, Murray hadn't bought anything new (other than medical equipment) in a long time, maybe years.On the same day Murray learned that he had an incurable disease, he also lost any desire to buy. So, the TV was the same old TV, and Charlotte drove the same old car, and the dishes, silverware, and towels were all old things.But this home has changed amazingly. It is full of love, teaching and communication.Here is full of friendship, affection, truth and tears.It is filled with colleagues, students, meditation teachers, therapists, nurses and a cappella choir.It's solidly turned into a wealthy home.Although the money in Murray's bank account is rapidly decreasing.

In our country, there is often confusion about what we want or what we need.Murray said: You need food, you want a chocolate sundae.You have to be honest with yourself.You don't need the latest sports car, you don't need the biggest house. Seriously, you can't get satisfaction from these things.Do you know what can truly satisfy you? What? Do not hesitate to share what you have with others. Sounds like the motto of the Boy Scouts. Mitch, I don't mean money, I mean your time, your care, your reporting talents.It's not difficult.There is an activity center for the elderly near here, and dozens of elderly people go there for gatherings every day.If you're young and talented, they want you to do that.For example, if you know how to use computers, you can go there and teach them how to use computers. They welcome you very much and are grateful to you.That's how you start earning respect and sharing what you have.

There are plenty of places where you can do this, and you don't need to be very talented.There are many lonely people in hospitals and hospices who just want company.You play cards with a lonely old man and you gain new self-esteem because someone needs you. Remember what I said about finding meaning in life?I wrote my words down, and I can recite them now: Be invested in loving people, invested in caring for those around you, invested in creating something that gives you purpose and meaning in your life. Notice he grimaces: there's no mention of making money. I was busy writing down what Murray had said in a notebook.I did this mainly so that he wouldn't look me in the eye and see what I was thinking, because I've been pursuing these bigger toys and better houses that he criticized for almost all the years since I graduated.My job was to chase rich and famous athletes, so I convinced myself that my materialistic desires were not excessive, that my greed was nothing compared to them.

This is just a blindfold, Murray has made it very clear. Mitch, if you want to show off to the people above, forget it, they will only look down on you after all.If you want to show off to the people below, forget it, they will only be jealous of you.Status and status can't bring you anything, only an open heart can make you get along with all people comfortably. He stopped talking and looked straight at me.I'm dying, right? right. Why do you think I have to listen to other people's intractable diseases?Wasn't my own suffering enough? Of course I have suffered enough, but it is my giving to others that makes me feel alive.It doesn't matter what I look like in the mirror, my car or my house.When I give my time, when I can make people smile, I feel healthy and healthy, just like the average person.

Do something that comes from your heart.By doing that, you don't feel lost, you don't feel jealous, you don't envy what other people have.On the contrary, you will feel that all your efforts will be rewarded greatly. He coughed and reached for the little rattle on the chair.He stretched out his hand to grab it several times but failed to catch it. Finally, I picked up the rattle and handed it to him. Thanks.he whispered.He rang feebly, trying to call Connie. This Ted.Turner, Murray said: Did he think he had nothing else to write on his epitaph? Every night I go to sleep, I die.Every day I wake up, I am born again.

Indian Mahatma Gandhi