‘Today, we are surrounded by many surpluses, most of which we turn a blind eye to or take for granted.’
McKenzie Bezos, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently pledged half of her wealth (estimated at 35 billion dollars) to charity. The ‘Giving Pledge’ is a movement initiated by the likes of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet that encourages the disproportionately rich to give away half of their wealth to charitable causes.
While announcing her decision, she said “I have a disproportionate amount of money to share”.
When it comes to thinking of blinding excesses and surplus, the first thing that comes to mind is monetary wealth. That’s primarily because it is easy to measure.
Today, we are surrounded by many surpluses, most of which we turn a blind eye to or take for granted.
Consider some of these:
Surplus technology — There are countless apps and technology is rapidly evolving and in many cases, these have simplified our lives. Things which we didn’t even imagine a decade ago — like paying with digital currency, have come to fruition.
Surplus content — Good and bad content, there is an excess of both. You can never run out of something to watch, nor can you run out of something new to learn.
Surplus time — This is not a joke. You can now order almost anything you want without stepping out of your home or workplace. But there is an issue in how we’re using that extra time. Try this very simple hack— go off social media for a day and you will suddenly realize how many more hours you can add to your day.
Surplus opportunity — The number of people who are setting out on their own, taking entrepreneurial leaps, switching to freelancer and digital nomad roles, are all reflective of one thing — the amount of opportunity there is to take more control of our careers, time, happiness and peace of mind. Even if you don’t want to leave a cushy job, it’s a lot easier to try your hand at a side project or start a small business.
When we tally all of these surpluses, we will realize that we don’t really have much to crib about. Unlike monetary or material surplus that is finite, these surpluses are actually never-ending.
Using all of the surpluses that we have taken for granted better also has a surprising effect — it might actually get closer to the monetary surplus we are seeking.
