The Workaholic Parable

This has the same meaning as my poem "The Only Thing" but told as a parable.

The boy was born into a middle-class family and was ordinary in every way. Watching television he saw beautiful estates, gardens and mansions and thought them the most beautiful things he had ever seen. He asked his father, "How do I get one of those."
His father, being an optimistic but wise man, told him, "The more you study, the smarter you will be. If you're smart enough, you can get any job you want and then you will become so rich that you can buy one."
Now knowing that it was possible, the boy dedicated every spare minute to learning and studying, hoping one day to live in a mansion. His friends invited him, "Come play with us, we can have a lot of fun."
But he declined, telling them, "Sorry, but I want to live in a mansion someday, so that means that I have to work as hard as I can."
They turned away with looks of disappointment on their faces. They pouted, "But there's more to life than school; you have to have fun, and friends." And so his friends left him, confident that they could have fun and friendship together without him.
Years passed, and he entered high school, determined to become valedictorian of his class. He realized that he wasn't a genius, and that the only way he could achieve that goal was to become the hardest worker and studier in the class. One day, he was unexpectedly cornered by a girl. Cupid's blind arrow had shot her, and she confessed her love for him. With his face unchanged, he denied her. "I need to study," he told her, "That way, I can get any job I want and become rich."
"But you're already the smartest person in the school, smarter than those in classes above you. There's more to life than education and career; you have to have love too." But he continued to refuse her, and so she gave up, confident that she could find love elsewhere.
He graduated high school as the valedictorian, and got instantly accepted into an extremely prestigious college . His college life continued much as his high school years, still keeping hold on the dream of becoming a millionaire and owning a mansion. He graduated college with high honors, once again denying every invitation of friendship and love that was offered to him, certain that real happiness would come from achieving his lifelong dream.
After college, he was accepted into a very wealthy corporation, and began to climb his way up the hierarchical ladder. His working life was spent much like his high school and college years, dedicating every moment of his time to his work, not bothering to make friends or find love. Many years passed, but he finally achieved the status of CEO of the company. Money poured into his bank accounts, and with it, he bought a beautiful mansion overlooking the ocean. He laid back in his armchair and smiled with contentment. His dream had finally come true: he had the most beautiful house imaginable, and by sheer hard work he had achieved it.
But then a frown crossed his face. Even though he had everything he ever wanted, he still felt empty inside. So he worked even harder as the CEO, and bought even more treasures, but it was never enough. The hole in his heart ate away at him, and so he climbed onto the roof of his great seaside mansion and jumped off to his death.
In Heaven, he saw God. "God," the man asked, "where did I go wrong?"
"You ignored the most important things in your life, thinking that true happiness would only happen later, when all you had to do was look around you," God told him. Playing back the scenes of his life like a movie, God showed him all of the chances he turned down. He saw his childhood friends that he abandoned for the pursuit of wealth. He saw the girl he turned down in high school, throwing away his first chance at love. He saw the countless times he brushed away potential friends and lovers in college and beyond.
"These were the occasions that you could have made true happiness." God explained.
"But what about them?" the man cried. "Did they find happiness either?
God called up more scenes, but these were not scenes of the past, these were scenes of the present. He saw his childhood friends gathered around a bar table, laughing and having fun and enjoying their lives. He saw the girl from high school cradling a young child as her loving husband leaned over to kiss her forehead. "The others are the same, and you could have been like them," God said, "but you dedicated your life to other things, and now it's over." God sighed. "You only get one life, so you have to make the most of it, and learn the things that are truly valuable, like friendship and love."

I suppose this is dedicated to my father, who would like nothing better than for be to become as wealthy as the man in the story, but my interpretation of the meaning of life does not include financial success or material wealth. I believe that true happiness can only be achieved by friendship and love. Don't be fooled, this is more than a "Money can't buy happiness" story; we all know the truth behind that. This takes it one step further to say that what people call "success" doesn't matter either. Sure, having money helps support having friendship and love, but it can be no substitute.

Author's Note

That's right, I'm seventeen and already have thought about the meaning of life. I made the characters and situations ambiguous for a reason: this could happen to anyone; this could be you. Such is the nature of a parable. Also, is "Parable" an appropriate word to describe this, or is there a better one? Please let me know.

Reviews

[Dreamer<3]

Wow, this is really cool. I'm not sure if I've ever told you in my reviews, but you are an absolutely stunning writer. I really like the meaning behind this, and you wrote it perfectly. I can't help you on the parable thing, though, because I have absolutely no idea what that means. Haha, sorry.

[RubberDucky]

Ken, i like the way you think

[C.M. Waters]

It's like I always say..... I'd rather make minimum wage doing what I love than be a miserable millionaire.

[Zachary_James]

Wow....... This story it's amazing.

[Coyote Poetry]

Great wisdom in your words. Money is necessary. But happiness can be as cheap as a walk in the park with the family. A phone call to a dear relative. You made some strong points. Last line is fact. A outstanding story. Thank you.
Coyote

[vido.]

very honest and prudently written. i adore your writing!

[PaperHearts]

I really liked this. I thought that this held an incredible amount of wisdom and truth, and that the way you worded it was really quite moving. I liked the fact that you didn't just base your story on just 'money', but on 'success', which I thought was really fascinating, because there seems to be this assumption of what 'success' is in modern society today. This was an inspiring and thought-provoking write. Nice work,
~PaperHearts

[Cafe Reader]

A really good read!

[MissWordSmith]

I liked this because for some reason it was simple yet complicated.
The last paragraph summarized perfectly what you were trying to say. I think that last line,
"Sure, having money helps support having friendship and love, but it can be no substitute."

Made all the sense in the world.
You seem to take these silent debates I have swimming around in MY head, and put them on paper, reasoning it all out so smoothly.

Thanks for this write.

[the-One-with-the-Darkne..]

Parable is an appropriate word for this very good. this sounds like my own father hes become better but i pray for u and ur family its hard when u deal with that. i understand. Stay strong and i believe ur meaning of life is correct I hope u find all the joy love friendship ad happiness possible in life. This story blessed me, Thank you so much, And God Bless You.

[Call Me Crazy]

YAY Ken! I'm glad to say we are bestest friends. I agree with your point: Friends are the most important thing. I love my friends! Life would be boring without other people to share it with. :)