Let me tell you a story before telling you about 99 club.
In old times, there was a farmer, who used to earn enough to feed his family (his wife and son) and fulfill his and their basic needs. He was happy and content with this much. Then one day, he found a bag full of gold coins in his field. He was very happy. He brought that bag to his house and immediately starting counting. There were 99 gold coins in it. He counted again, still 99. He called his wife to count, still 99.
He started wondering, why did an idiot put 99 coins in a bag and not 100 (He isn’t happy about 99 gold coins but he is cursing the person for 1 missing gold coin). So he decides to work more to save money to buy another gold coin and make it 100. He started spending more time outside working than spending any time with family. Now, wife needed some money to buy few things, she thought there is money at home, so she took 2 gold coins and bought the necessary things. After few days, the farmer added 1 gold coin and counted again. But to his dissatisfaction, he is short of two coins now. He was sad and angry and his goal increased and time with his family decreased and so does his satisfaction.
As the time passed, this cycle continued and he was never satisfied. So, what is this feeling of fulfillment that one more gold coin could have brought and 99 didn’t? Who decided the parameter of 100 to make it complete? Why couldn’t he be part of 99 club and still feel satisfied? In this case it was the farmer, who had this psychology. But aren’t we all the same?
I remember, when I was a kid and had to study for a test, I’ll always decide on some time to start studying, say at 4:00 pm. But if it is 4:02 pm and I haven’t started yet, I’ll change the time (to begin studying) to 4:30 pm and so on. Or when we have to wake up in the morning, many of us would want another 5 minutes to sleep and then another 5 minutes and so on. All of us want to save money, but every month we decide to start saving from next month.
Why is it that we could not find contentment with what we have, no matter how imperfect it is? And moreover, who will decide what is perfect? The thing that means the world to me might not have any existence for the world. Why can’t we live with the fact that 99 gold coins could be enough and 100 aren’t really needed. That 1 extra coin might not be the life we are looking for. Can we all be part of our own perfect 99 club and stay happy?
Let’s stop running towards 100 and wonder what 99 can bring to us.. Keep wondering, keep reading 🙂