Cultivate Valuable Relationships
Cultivate Valuable Relationships
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  • 승인 2007.03.23 15:17
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Cheol-won Jung
     Which do you think is more important, money or friends?
NEF, a think tank (group of great minds) in England, announced the happiness index in 178 countries all over the world. The first ranked country is Vanuatu, an islet near Australia. China ranked 31st and the USA ranked 150th. Korea ranked at a low position of 102nd. Judging from NEF's survey, happiness is not determined by an individual or country's economic power.
     Our society is full of a desire for material prosperity, because of too much technical development and rapid social change. We think materialistic items, which represent money, are the most important and valuable things in our lives. We prefer expensive things to useful things, and believe they can make us better people. As a result many people are dare to pretend that money is the main purpose in their lives, and connect money with everything. This kind of thinking has caused individualism, egoism, and ignorance in relationships. Most people, myself included, seem not to care about this, but individualism without limits can be a very awful thing, because it can make people miss valuable things, such as friendship.
     Last month, I saw a movie called 'Jeon Cha Nam' and it was not until seeing this movie that I realized the importance of relationships that has been forgotten recently.
     This movie is based on a real story about someone, who had been a Hikikomori but began changing himself because of the woman he loved. 'Hikikomori' refers to people who can't actively join society and stay only in their homes. 'Hikikomori' hole up at home playing computer games or chatting all day, and give up their studies or jobs. These people first appeared in the late 1990s in our society, and are rapidly spreading nowadays. 
    This phenomenon has been affected by many factors, like technological development and future shock from rapid social change. However, above all this, interruption of relationships is the most influential factor. During our lives we meet many people and live with and help each other. Human beings need relationships with others to be happy and to share sadness, because that's the way we grow up and live.
     We're in an important point in time. Being a university student means that it is possible to meet a large number of people. We should not waste this precious time. Not only do we talk about good grades or our future, but we need to have time to share our souls with friends in school. I would like to compare two types of people. A person of one type shares his or her experiences and information when drinking with friends sometimes. The other just sits in the library and studies all day.
     Which person are you?
     We can't judge easily who is right, but the person I mentioned first can get many things that cannot be obtained in books. In my case, I experienced many things and obtained a great deal of information from people.
     To be human is to grow up with social relationships and balance our own lives in doing that. It has been said that "The most important thing for a successful life is relationships with others." Unfortunately, most people forget this important lesson because of their busy lives.
     As the end of the year approaches, I strongly suggest you look over your relationships and realize the importance of connections between people. Take hold of your phone immediately, and call them NOW.

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