To what end... labor?
Everytime I see that little squirrel in Ice Age chasing his chestnut and then doing everything to protect it, including shunning love and running after it across the ages, I am reminded about how we are as human beings.
Some of us make it our life’s mission to get something, the more obvious of it are material things – money, jewelry, real estate, a way of life.
And then we make a showcase of what we have. We parade that we have so much – like the jewelry and Louis Vuittons in the arms of women, parties in our lavish homes or summer houses, feeding ourselves in expensive restaurants, shopping.
Then the story turns something short of horrible.
We build fences as high as the heavens to keep people away from the wealth we dutifully (and sometimes painfully) amassed. Some even go as far as employing bodyguards or private armies or expensive security personnel and gadgets, or murder.
Millionaires, the more pitiful of them, shun people, wary of those who try to get close to them who might be after their money. Some of them even intermarry (especially in the past) so that the money will “stay” in the family, scarring many hearts and minds in the process.
Twisted.
The culture we live in, made worse by the bombardment of media, remains to be buy, buy, buy, acquire, acquire, acquire, keep, keep, keep.
Yes.
And at night, we put everything under lock and key (short of pumping our guns and sharpening our knives), worry creasing our brows, that someone would get to it and take it all away.
I am not sure, now, that that is a decent kind of existence.
I started thinking about this one night when I was putting my jewelry away. And then in the morning, the thought, like a broken dream, continued while I was locking my door. So that the maids will not be able to go in the room. Precautions, I tell myself. I do not want to get that pitter-patter in my heart when I look at my jewelry box and things are askew.
Suspicion.
But sometimes it gets really tiring, to be suspicious all the time, to be careful all the time, to be vigilant all the time. Yes, there are bad people and we have to be on our guard. But most of the time, the threat is merely in the mind, maybe.
I do not know how we can reconcile these personas who acquire and then worry about what they acquire.
I am not sure it is even normal.
Or is it just the way it is supposed to be?
Maybe here is where we can entertain the thought of giving it all away. When material things do not matter and giving it away do not matter and having it taken and starting again do not matter, when we have that firmly figured out in our mind, maybe, maybe, that is the only way we can find peace.
Be rich,
Issa
Article by Issa. Art by D. Copyright 2010.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com
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Hi Issa, I guess the best way to avoid this is to lead a simple life(no to too much extravagance)) and having the right mindset about money and being rich. As Bo Sanchez would often say, “the ultimate purpose of being rich is to be a blessing to others”.
.-= Jay Castillo´s last blog ..How to get portfolio income through real estate investing =-.
@Jay So, true. But sometimes the lure of material things – to upgrade the house, upgrade the watch, the bag, the self – is too great. But like you said, we just need to have our eyes on the ultimate goal – to be rich so we can be a blessing. Thanks!
I really like your article. It is so true many people live like that and I do not know how they manage. The stress of it would kill me.
I am quite the opposite. I aim to become wealthy, but so I can help others. I usually forget to lock my house when I leave, even though I have a fair amount of expensive things anyone could take. I am not worried about it, as the only thing that really matters to me is my family and that they are safe. If my things get taken, they get taken.
That’s not to say I don’t like my nice jewellery, I do. I too dutifully put it in my jewellery box each night. Funnily enough, it’s lockable, but never locked.
.-= Kylie ´s last blog ..Unexpected bonus with my car =-.
@Kylie Thanks. You are lucky. Many people aim to become rich, and end with that, and giving remains to be a mere afterthought. I guess I am also trying not to get lost in the pursuit, because it is too easy to get lost. Funny, I am reminded every time that I give (when I remember to give) of how good it feels, of how it should be. And then the unexpected bonus – like a dam being freed, all that generosity flows back. It is really amazing how things work when we try to understand (and believe). More power, Kylie. Thanks again for your words of wisdom.
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I think many worry when they are already rich because they become enslaved by material luxuries that they forget this simple fact: being wealthy is 80% attitude and 20% action.
I agree. Money overtakes some people at that point – they forget that instead of hoarding it – they should be giving it away. When they change their mindset to generosity – then I don’t think they will ever worry (money will even keep coming).