Greed

"There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up" - Oscar Wilde
Whether a man admits or not, he is greedy by birth. The want to have everything to yourself is kind of evident in every child as it grows up. In my opinion it takes something to give up on greed.
Greed is mostly associated with money. The more greedy you are , the more money you want. Given this fact, right now I am going through a phase in which I 'think' I am succumbing to greed. Inspite of having sufficient money, I have this constant feeling that I need more.
This was not how I was before I left home for US almost 2 years back. Those days, money was the least of my concerns. I would spend thousands in a heart beat. Saving money was unknown. The only investment I had made was in my car. Sometimes at the end of the month I would ask my dad money for filling gas :).Inspite of all this I had one hell of a time. I never ever thought about investments, retirement or earning something outside my salary. It was one carefree life I lead. Monday go to work and plan for taking off on the weekend.
Now almost 2 years later, my concern for money has become immense. I find it hard to splurge. I think 10 times before buying anything.I no longer shop instinctively.I've invested heavily in stocks and mutual funds and these days there is a strong desire to earn money outside my salary. Aims such as becoming 'debt free' as early as possible are taking shape. All these things are driving me to believe that slowly am succumbing to greed. The need to have 'more' money. Yes 'more' so its never 'enough'. I dont know what to attribute this greedy feeling too. I agree that I was too careless in the beggining and spent recklessly, but I had a great time bieng like that. Now I am bieng conservative and not having as much fun as I used to have. There is a fine balance between bieng a lavish spendthrift and a conservative money launderer. It takes a while to achieve this balance in spending and hopefully I can get there soon without bieng sucked in totally to the world of greed.
On a positive note, I am learning about stocks and mutual funds like never before. The knowledge in this sector is so immense that it would take a lifetime to learn. Theres always change, you lose something and the next moment you gain something. Its this constant change that keeps me hooked to stocks, inspite of all my hectic work schedule.

Spring is here

and the tulips have just started to bloom

I got back from the Bahamas on Monday and ever since its been hectic. 2 days of group outing followed by training sessions. The group outing was great fun and we were fortunate to have 2 continuous days of sunshine,though much of the time was spent indoors. Most of our team members work remotely and we don't even get a chance to meet them. So this was a good occasion. Finally after nearly 3 years of thinking about Scuba diving, I got to do it in Bahamas. Could not get a PADI certification though, but I'll work towards it. Updated my travel blog with the Bahamas story. Am off to Pennsylvania next week and the next weekend is the spring long weekend break.