What's Makes One Rich?

 

The Hollywood Version

 

 

Do you buy into Hollywood's version of rich? Rich is portrayed as excessive. It's an excessive amount of cars, clothes, houses and bling. Does the bling define riches? I don't think so, but I don't endorse poverty as a way of life. The truth is that poverty dwells within. You can be surrounded by an abundance of stuff and still feel the grips of poverty. You have your stuff, yet experience lack, because someone has bigger and better stuff than you. 

Our goal is to discover the balance between having stuff and stuff having us. Spirituality doesn't mean you can manifest the biggest and best. Spirituality doesn't mean you have to sign up for a life of poverty either. Where your heart resides is the key.

 

Man Needs Things

 

 

Many people believe to be Spiritual is to embrace poverty. It's true we can't lay up treasures on this earth and the pursuit of material stuff leaves one empty. There is the fact that we came to this material world and need things to survive on this planet. Food, shelter, clothing, transportation and the list goes on. Jesus said, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you." When you align to your Divine pattern, your Divine pattern needs things to fulfill your quest in this life. If you align to your Spirit, then everything you need will come into your life.

See the Kingdom of God is within you...Understand that you discover God looking within. Within your heart is divine dreams and desires that Spirit has place in your heart. It's when our pursuits in life are driven by the ego, greed, envy, lust, pride and self-promotion  that we miss the mark. It is not wrong to desire things. It is your right to be rich! 

 

 

Different Things, for Different Men

 

 

The problem with the Hollywood version of rich is it's restrictive attitude. You have within you a Divine Pattern. That Divine Pattern is unique to you. You have a heroic goal, a dream, a vision of what your life should be. There are different things, for different men. Different dreams for different men. Different desires for different men. Poverty is the inability to manifest the dream that resides within your Divine design. So we really can't place a dollar amount, a material goal, or a solid definition on riches. Understand there are riches that money can't buy. 

If I were to define riches, I would define it in terms of freedom.

Are you free to live the life you dream about? 

 

The Richest Man I Ever Met

 

 

Many moons ago I landed a gig at a building supply company. I met a real character. He owned some land paid in full. He owned a mobile home paid in full. He owned a truck and work trailer paid in full. He owned a ATV paid in full. He owned a boat paid in full. He owned guns. He owned fishing poles. He owned a cooler to hold his beer. Nothing fancy and nothing that would make you think he was rich. He worked for himself and could afford a helper. He could scamp his way around and earn anywhere from $300.oo bucks to $1000.oo a week. He didn't work a lick during hunting season. He hunted or fished every weekend. He got out of bed when he wanted. He worked when he wanted. He always had a cooler full of beer and a big grin on his face. The 3 1/2 years I knew him, I never saw him sad. 

Now Hollywood would never considered him rich. He had nothing fancy to speak about. His life in the trailer will never be on MTV Cribs or Lifestyles of the Rich and famous. All his stuff was old, yet all his stuff was paid for in full. He was so skilled at his craft and service he provided he never lacked for work. He might hit a slow spell, like all in the construction industry do, but he was prepared for it and the beer fund was never threatened.

Was I discerned in him was freedom.

I remember all the big shot contractors. During a housing boom they went all in debt. They built houses they couldn't afford, they bought fancy trucks they didn't need, they grabbed bigger boats, they thought the boom would last forever. When the market in these parts crashed many of them lost it all. The stuff went back to the banker. The wives filed for divorce. Many lost everything and they disappeared from our construction supply company.

The richest man I ever met survived. He found enough work to pay the light bill, get gas for the boat and keep the cooler full of beer. He even said it would happen. He would tell me, "I can't believe these stupid bastards are buying all this shit. They'll find out when the bottom drops out." My friend knew how to survive. He knew the times and seasons. He knew who he was and what he wanted. While many souls walked through the ashes of their destroyed lives, he was on the Gulf of Mexico, drinking his beer, telling dirty jokes to his friends, laughing and fishing for grouper. 

He was free.

What makes one rich?  

Only you can answer that question.