I don’t like rich people. There is a stigma around rich people. They are arrogant, selfish, and shallow. Rich people think of themselves as better than the rest of us. We see them on television, whining that their caviar doesn’t taste quite right, or that their $500 jeans aren’t the right shade of blue to match their car. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of really nice rich people out there. I even know some and consider them friends. On the whole though, I’ve never been attracted to the rich and famous (because doesn’t one come with the other in a chicken-and-the-egg type cycle?). No matter how much I try to tell myself and others that I’m not in it for the money, and I don’t need to be rich, I know deep down that I’m lying. I want to be rich.
I don’t expect money to make me happy
Only I can make myself happy, and I know that. I also know that a lack of money adds a whole lot of stress to my life that I would definitely be happier without. Luxury isn’t what I want, really. It isn’t extravagance or indulgence, although some would call anything over a basic need an indulgence, I suppose. It is human nature to always want more than what we have. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t have crime or wars. We are programmed to never be satisfied with what we have. I recently read a question asking if it were possible to be satisfied with being dissatisfied. I think it is. On the same score, I am dissatisfied with being satisfied. I want more.
Being rich isn’t about being happy. I am happy. Like so many of you, I can say with full conviction that I have my health and my family, therefore I am blessed. I am blessed. Truly. But I am also human, and I want more. I want to be able to come home to a house that is my own, on land that is my own. I want to drive cars that I own, not ones that I’m still paying the bank for. My kids should have their own bedrooms that they don’t have to share with their siblings. We should be able to buy a new mattress when the one we have has collapsed. My son shouldn’t have to use a phone with a cracked screen and wear eyeglasses that are super-glued together because he doesn’t want to ask me to buy new ones.
I want to be rich
I want my kids to learn money management, budgeting, and financial responsibility. They won’t learn that if I give them everything they could ever want. But on the other hand, I can’t teach them that when there is no money to budget with. They can’t learn to be financially responsible without finances to be responsible for. How can I show them the value of working for money if I can’t even pay them for the work that they do?
More importantly, I want to teach my kids about sharing and helping those less fortunate than us. I’m the kind of person that likes to put my change into the tip jar at the coffee shop. When the homeless woman is sitting on the side of the road with her sign asking for help, I want to hop out and hand her some money or offer to buy her a meal. At the fundraiser auctions, I want to raise my paddle and spend more money than something is worth on things I don’t really need, simply because it’s for a good cause.
Please don’t judge me
I know that there are other ways to show my kids compassion. Certainly there are other things I can give that don’t require money. That isn’t my point. I don’t see money as the answer to everything. Society is what it is though, and you can’t argue that often the people who are able to make the biggest differences are the ones who have money.
I want to be able to come across good people in tough situations and hand them a handsome check to help them get back on track like Ellen DeGeneres does. Habitat for Humanity works hard to build homes for families, but there are so many more families than homes. Every time I see a foreclosure listing on Zillow, where I regularly indulge my dream of some day owning my own home, my heart breaks. How many families lose their homes because of a rough patch in the workforce or some unfortunate circumstance that blindsided them? My dream is to find a way to help people. First, I need to be rich.
Enough is not enough
Perhaps I am the one being arrogant and selfish. It may be so. In my mind and heart however, I have honorable intentions. I would like to think that means I am not a bad person. I’m not looking for a free ride. I am willing to work for my reward. My novel is just waiting to be discovered, published, and made into a major motion picture. I read every day, write every day, watch webinars and take every online course I can get into without a huge financial outlay.
My quest is to find the path to riches that is not paved in blood. I am sure that it must be out there. The ends do not always justify the means, so my options are limited. Where there is a will, there is a way, though, and I will find my way. How many of you will be honest with yourselves? Are you satisfied with being dissatisfied? Or do you also want to be rich?
Let me tell you a secret – it doesn’t make you a bad person.
What a fabulous message! I so agree with many of your points: especially the ideas that lack of money causes stress, but that doesn’t mean you are unhappy; the reasons, for you and your kids, that you would like to be rich; and that having money doesn’t make you a bad person. In my mind, the people who are born into ancestral wealth are the ones that look down on those without money, but those that have worked hard for their money and taught their children how to do the same who are the compassionate ones.
I’m so glad that you agree with my message, Rebecca! It has been a bit of a self revelation for myself as well. I baked with guilt over my feelings about money, and I think I have finally made peace with myself on the matter!
I don’t think it makes you a bad person. We all want financial security. I’d like to see everyone have that, which makes me a socialist. 😁
I’m sorry my site blocked your comments initially – I’m having trouble convincing my system that not everyone is a bot. I’m working on it, and I really appreciate that you made 2 attempts to comment!
I don’t think it’s a bad thing to want to not have to struggle, and to be able to help people. I think most people would agree. I don’t know if I want to be rich, but I do want to not have to struggle, or worry about money. I’d like everyone to not worry about money. I think that makes me more of a socialist than anything else. 🙂
Thank you for your insights, Cheryl. I agree that my ideal world is also one where nobody has to worry about money. It is so saddening that there are so many truly needy people in the world.