Four Pillars of Life

One day, I heard a man say that if he could go back in time, he would choose differently — he would spend more evenings with his children when they were young, instead of pouring those hours into building his career and earning more money. His words made me pause and quietly ask myself: What truly holds the greatest value in my life?

Is it the money,
the work,
the relationships I have,
or my own self?

If you had to choose only one of these in life, what would it be?

Do you want more wealth, or do you want great health? Do you want to spend time with your loved ones, or spend that time building your career?

The truth is, each one of these matters — because life becomes unstable the moment even one pillar falls out of balance.

As we grow, we see how strongly wealth influences our lives and how it becomes a key foundation for those who want a good life. But in reality, the true value of each pillar only becomes clear with age. When we are young, wealth seems like the biggest priority. We feel strong, energetic, and almost invincible, so we ignore the other pillars — especially health.

But ask someone fighting cancer — they will place health above everything.
Ask someone who has lost the person they loved — and suddenly relationships become the only thing that matters.

This is how life works. One strong pillar can never bring long-term peace. A truly good life begins only when all four pillars grow together.

What touches my heart is that many of us are already blessed by Nature with a meaningful share of each pillar, yet we live feeling incomplete, worrying about the one area we believe we lack.

But is it wrong to chase wealth or career?
Is it wrong to build a strong body?
Is it wrong to devote yourself to your loved ones?

Here is the deeper truth — strengthening one pillar at the cost of another eventually breaks us. Life is like an investment portfolio. You cannot put everything into one basket. One wrong swing, one unexpected moment, can take it all away.

Imagine having all the wealth you ever wanted, but losing the presence of your spouse and children along the way — is that money worth it?
Or imagine spending endless hours building your career, but ignoring your health — will that success bring you peace?

No doubt, some people dedicate themselves to a single pillar and achieve extraordinary milestones. But the real question is: did the other areas of their life flourish?

And more importantly: are we, as normal human beings, strong enough to give everything to just one pillar and still feel satisfied if the others fall apart?

I am talking about people like us — not the rare, extraordinary few who exist in fractions of a percent. A normal person wants a decent amount of wealth, a career that gives prosperity, health that keeps them away from disease, and relationships filled with love.

And do we have these?
Yes — the answer is yes.
The proportion may differ for each of us, but at some level, we all have these pillars in our lives.

Often, we fail to see the value of what we already have because we are focused on what we don’t.

But then the question arises: Why do these proportions differ for everyone? Why are some blessed with sharp minds, some with great wealth, and some with extraordinary talent?

Why not me?
Why am I not an actor, a businessman, a guitarist, a singer?
Why do I have to struggle every single day just to earn a living?
Why was I not born in a beautiful place like Switzerland, but somewhere else?
Why don’t I have that one brilliant idea that could change my life forever?

The answer lies in our actions — the actions that create karma, and when combined, shape our lives.

To understand the law of Karma, we must first understand Nature and its characteristics. One of them is that Nature is not emotional. It simply returns to us the good and bad actions we have done. So if we have or do not have something today, it means either we don’t need it yet or we need to understand its value before receiving it.

This is where luck comes in. What we have today is not only because we have earned it through our hard work, but because of our luck — a luck that isn’t magic, but the result of our past actions. Those actions created the path that led to today.

The second characteristic of Nature is freewill, which means that Nature never stops us from getting what we want. If we don’t have something today, it doesn’t mean we can never have it. Perhaps we didn’t take the required actions before. But if we start now, we can still receive it — today or in the future.

The third characteristic of Nature is patience. Just because we take the right actions does not mean we will receive the results immediately. Every right action is like planting a seed — it creates a foundation, strengthens our weaker pillars, and brings results when the time is right.

So keep taking actions that leave a good mark within you, regardless of the results. Even if you don’t see an outcome today, be happy knowing that you have stored something for tomorrow. Because if there is a life today, there must have been a life before, and without doubt, there will be a life ahead.

There is a story we have all heard — the story of Robin Hood, a man who stole from the rich and shared with the poor. What did he receive in return? Whether knowingly or unknowingly, he was accumulating karma for the future. For now, let’s not debate whether his actions were right or wrong — the message is simple: our actions are everything.