It seems to me, nothing scares most people more than loneliness - being alone. Being alone with your life, your thoughts and your beliefs - it's so scary to some that they tend to compromise/change/sacrifice their beliefs, their inclinations, their likes and dislikes just to be accepted by somebody or by a group of people to whom they wanted to maintain company. This is probably why most wanted to have and maintain a relationship, a family or a religion. Nobody wanted to live alone, eat alone, worship alone.
For me however, being alone once in a while is a bit of a necessity. No matter how much work I have on my plate, I usually take time to be put everything behind. This is probably how I seemed to rise above the daily grind of work (people think I'm so stressed with my work, but I'm not). It's kind like a morbid game I play starting with this: I just died. I assume I'm dead and I'm just now a spirit. Now that's funny because I don't believe in spirit, soul or ghost. But it's just a game anyway so here I am, a consciousness without a physical attribute. Thus, I can't pick-up that laptop nor that book and of course, not even my iPod. With a situation like that, you have nothing to do but observe and think.
It was during one of those games that I realized that that most important thing a dead man can leave behind to those he really cared about is not wealth but ideas - his beliefs and the lessons he has learned in life. Of course, money would be very important to the young people who are just starting to build their lives. You need money to educate yourself and get that necessary credentials to make a living. But beyond that is pure luxury which will not help make you a better person - and that's an understatement. I've seen too many children (and spouses) destroyed by the wealth they have inherited or about to inherit from their parents/spouse. I've seen it in my neighbors and even in my uncles. Would it be possible for Raul Songalia to be wealthier now had he not had an hacienda to inherit from his parents? Could the lives of Tio Guily and Tio Esen be even better if they don't have Lolo's fishpond to fall back on? They could have been like me many years ago - doing my best to find a job, any job and never wanting to lose my job - never wanting to return home because there was nothing for me to return to.
This idea that inherited wealth is destructive to person came to me while I was being alone - observing, ruminating on the events that I have witnessed. That's why it helps to be alone from time to time.
