What is not real? What is? It is not a secret that Florida is a party state. There are so many luxury settings that are like those in movies, boats, … We always wonder how on the earth they got that much money? What kinds of lives are behind the parties…? How can I live like that and feel happy?

Upon a good friend’s suggestion, I watched the movie “Blow”. It is based on a true story. It talks about a young man who doesn’t want to repeat his parents’ life path, to live a life based on paycheck-to-paycheck, chose to go to California. He became a drug dealer. He made a lot of money and was sent to jail several times. He didn’t seem to doubt about his choice. He continued. He once lived in a cattle, married a gorgeous woman, had a wonderful daughter. He lived a rich life we Floridians were surrounded with. He went through beating, gun-pointing, friend betrayal…Upon the birth of his child, he decided to quit the business. Yet, without drug dealings and parties, their lives were empty. Before long, his bored, shallow, stupid wife held a party to invite their drug dealer friends, who are their only choice of friends. Of course they were busted. Once again, he came out and wanted to quit. Yet, they lost all the money to the venezuela’s government bank. His gorgeous wife turned to be a devil once he lost his money. She made a scene to turn him in. She taught his daughter to hate him. He had to deal once more time in order to have enough money to take his daughter to California. He was betrayed by his friends again. He was sentenced to 60 years in jail. On the tape he recorded to his dying Dad, he returned his lesson: “Dad, you were right, money is not real. “

 What is real in life? If money is not real happiness, what is? Like a lot of people say, money helps. But to help with what? The reaffirmation I got from this movie is that sustainability. We need to have our goals to pursue with passion. Making money is not our goal, excellence is our goal. We need excellence of accomplishments to define ourselves, we need compassion for others so that we can use our money in the right way. Let’s not pursue money. Let’s pursue our dream and money will follow. We have to be able to love so that once we have extra dollars, we know what to show.

We learn all kinds of stuff from schools. Accounting, technology, language, writing...What we don't learn is people. Well, MBA's human resources are limited. Believe or not, quite a lot stress in our lives come from relationship. I am lucky enough to work solo and office politics don't find me easily and bother me.

But I do get stress from relationship. Especially in Florida, I went through lonesome period when I know people by their names but find myself not fit in. True friends are like jewel to me. Finally I found some close friends and enjoyed most of them. Recently I had a failure in one relationship though. In the effort of staying close, I found myself verbally abused. I found my kindness, my forgiveness, generasity are taken advantage of and I am stepped upon as a result. After a year of investing money and time into the so-called freindship, after cycles of mistreatment, apologies, I finally decide to let go completely. What I learned is that, as much as we hope for friends, friendship, just as another form of love, finds us. The phrase "making friends" has its flaw.