By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
If I owe you a relatively small amount, it is my problem. But when my debt is so big, then it is your (the lender’s) problem. The debt may have gotten too big due to surcharges and penalties to the point where you cannot get your money’s worth even if you foreclose the collateral.
Whatever. Still, I advised a relative to go easy on getting loans to finance expansion of a business even if there are willing lenders. The business might become big but if it is built with borrowed money, it might turn out to be just like a house of cards. It can collapse anytime.
At the end of the day, it is still the net worth that matters, not how big a business appears. A big one may look huge but if it is saddled with a lot financial obligations, there is actually not much to speak of.
Debt is a very good gauge on how healthy a business is. It cannot be more valid in this country where lenders– institutional ones, more so individuals– charge very high interests.
And here is a very important thing to consider. Can the person running the operation handle the stress entailed. A bigger operation means more problems or stress. What if you make a lot of money but end up getting a stroke or a heart attack? Then the big dreams and the money will all be for naught. While it might be true that business expansion usually entails having to obtain loans to finance it, one cannot forget the strain or stress involved in expanded operations. It might come down to a situation where an owner might end up paraphrasing a classic Chinese wisdom: “When I was younger, I exerted a lot of effort to run and grow the business and make money even if I was losing my health. Now, am older and I will have to spend all the money I made in order to try and regain my health.”
It would have been better to have had a smaller but profitable business operation the owner could comfortably manage.
Herein comes what I learned long ago from the Ananda Marga Yoga group—the more you have, the more problems. That might refer to material things but it is as true in the intellectual, psychological or otherwise mental realms.
For instance, if you have a car, you have to think of more expenses for maintenance and registration. More cars means more problems.
How about more money? Ever heard of spoiled kids? Bad lifestyle resulting in chronic diseases and inability to even face up to ordinary challenges in life? There was a rich kid who defines life as a good time. His motto was “live like a king, die like a rat.” Things turned out so as the seemingly endless number of inherited lands he could sell finally got exhausted.
In the mental sphere, the more academic degrees you have means a bigger ego so you have to keep abreast with developments in your field. You have to attend seminars, read books and journals, keep track with new methods, discoveries and trends. All this means added problems and expenses.
Such can also mean psychological problems resulting in more complex marital and other relationships. Thus, more separations and all sorts of , disagreements, squabbles and other complications.
In sum, as what that yoga group say, there is actually no progress in the material or mental or psychological realms. For there are always counterbalancing negative aspects to consider. That progress can only be attained in the spiritual level where there are only positives and no negatives.
But that would be a long story. So we will pick it up from here next time.**
