Here's my 5 cents; that's if it's worth that much after various tax deductions, inflation rates and hidden interest payments, on the financial web one gets entangled in upon embarking onto the journey of job searching.

Remember when you were a baby? When everything else didn't really matter? When your world was as large as the crib and toys in it you were in?

    Without bringing the idea of glass ceiling into play for now; whereby the idea of our environment is limited by some external cues, a baby's innocence of its world view and its naivety towards the stimulation of play should be considered as innate. Therefore, the simplistic and idealistic notion that a baby plays for joy shouldn't be dismiss. Alright, you must be wondering, where is he going with all this, what's with gibberish about babies and playing. Well, have you seen a baby playing before? Just simple crawling around and playing with their parents. It's so simple yet brings utter joy to the baby. What wouldn't I give for that now?

    Then came adolescence, where we would run and play in playgrounds. Where it didn't matter how high anyone swung on the swing, or who sawed better on the see-saw, or even who made the better sand castle. In what it seems to be the inevitable work of time, the competitive spirit and indomitable will to survive deep within us surfaces. Suddenly, it mattered if we could run faster than someone else, or if we could swing higher than anyone else on the swing, or even if our handwriting was better than another person's. Kindergarten, primary school, high school, college and university are the educational institutions we spent nearly 17 years of our formal education years preparing us for the world ahead of us. Cribs turn to small beds and later to single beds in parallel to our progress through the formal education years.  Our world widens, experience teaches us a thing or two and emotional scars tattooed within us.

    Now that you're out of the educational system what do you do? Play for joy? Playing for joy at this age and time is viewed as a ludicrous and to certain people even controversial. Everyone will be saying its time to make money, and once you make some, don't stop there, make even more!! There doesn't seem to be an end of it. Then you look back at the things you spent money on; the movies you caught in the cinema that weren't worth half the price of the ticket, the clothes you knew you didn't need yet you purchased, the this or that item that you could have done without, but couldn't resist having. We needn't look very far from our computer desks to realize that there are host of things we didn't need that we purchased Thereafter, look into the future, and the things you need to spend money on; education loan (if you've taken one) to pay off, car loans, home loans, petrol, monthly public transport fees if you don't have a car, food and shelter, basic amenities bills such as electricity and water, and that mobile or telephone bill. (On a side note, you could probably send smoke signals as an alternative means of communication but you'll be probably caught for air pollution and worsening the current haze on the other hand if you do decide to use it, it will just go up in smoke as in it will indisguishable from the haze). If you think the list stops here, you're dead wrong, there simple gestures like giving a portion of your pay check to your parents and helping to sponsor your sibling's education. And oh wait, did you forget to include the taxes and various interests here and there that you need to settle? Well if you do have any disposable income after all these insane deductions then channel it into either investments or your savings. If you're planning to get married, then hey, you better start setting up an education fund for your child and also saved up for that marriage. The costs of the marriage itself and raising the child or children is something not for the creaking worn-out wallet. Let's not even venture to the thought of pursuing your own dreams or having an annual holiday or the ability to have disposal income to give your spouse and family members the ability to spoil themselves. There's so much more that I can go on here about money but I think its better if I leave it to a financial advisor to give their few pence on it; larger denomination than my cents that's for sure.

    I'm not writing this to take a cheap shot at reality or run away from it, but it does make you wonder doesn't it, how far we've come from when we were a baby. We often stop thinking creatively or stop the pursuit of our dreams because of the challenges in our path; well it didn't matter when we were a kid. It seemed like we could experiment without cost. Then again, we could just turn it around and say, if I didn't work hard to earn so and so amount, then my child wouldn't have the luxury of playing. For me, I'm just sticking to the idealistic view of a child playing for joy. It's just a reminder for me, not to lose sight of all that is around me; friends, families, those who are in need and time for just self-reflection. Conveniently, it is very easy in this over-worn-rat-race-track-world, to forget these simple things. To forget that the gift of joy and happiness shouldn't come at a price but everything else should be built around it. Reality is harsh, but if could find a place where you can play for joy, don't ever let it go, escape into that bubble every now and then, lest you forget all that matters isn't a paper printed with denominations but the very hearts beating in us and our loved ones and the unfulfilled dreams in our souls. Oh, the joy of just playing without cost...What a wonderful world it would be...