Tag: wealth

Get and Have

WORDS LIKE LIGHT

Sunday,  January 23, 2022

         For most of my life, the word ‘get’ has been given more importance than it deserves. My life too often seemed to be about lack – not enough money, not enough comfort, not enough fun. I seemed to be always trying to get something – get peace of mind, get more security, get a solution to a problem, get another snack. Fortunately, though, at the slowly awakening age of 80, I’m seeing more clearly that ‘have’ is the word that describes my life far more accurately than ‘get’. The truth is that I have measureless wealth, though not the dollars-and-cents kind. I have, inside me, access to all the love and peace and patience a person could possibly need (even though I only occasionally make use of it). I have, at this very moment, limitless vistas of thoughts and feelings that are constantly shifting and flowing, the way sunrises and sunsets do. Best of all, I have, at all times, the company of the wondrous, always brand-new present moment, a friend that will always be my loyal colleague. Tell me, why would a guy who has so much need to get anything? 

RICH

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Friday, December 17, 2021

            I’m not always aware of it, but I am rich – very rich, exceedingly rich, totally rolling in wealth. My fortune is not made of material goods, luckily for me, because they can crash and vanish as easily as raindrops. No, my wealth consists of boundless, indestructible treasures like love and patience and gentleness and acceptance and kindness. Today, I should walk like a prosperous gentleman, because that’s what I am – an 80-year-old guy who will receive – and can give – gifts of attentiveness and endurance and innovation all day long. If I can stay awake and aware of it, today, as on all days, I will live on easy street, spending limitless kindness and camaraderie wherever I am – walking on a sunrise road with my wife, washing plates and cups in the sink, shopping for my special apples and pretzels at McQuades. At every single moment today, I will be well-off beyond belief, flush with the shine of powers like love and goodness and brand-newness. Who knows? I might sometimes break into dancing as I spend my endless assets!

IN WEALTH

In Wealth, WA, USA,
there's prosperity in every moment, 
even in sorrow, 
which makes mounds of wisdom 
for those who wait for it. 
Even confusion has riches to bestow
when clarity comes back, 
and hard work always shows 
where treasures lie. 
In Wealth, the true valuables 
are kindness and caring,
of which there are mountains 
in this little town's treasury, 
and patience always produces resources
 folks had never noticed before. 
This town has cash hidden 
in breezes and sunshine and shadows, 
there are stacks of securities 
called 'benevolence'
in every resident's portfolio,
and every street is called 'Easy'.

If you visit well-off Wealth, 
you're in for a surprise, 
for you'll discover how filthy-rich 
you, too, have always been!

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Thursday, September 2, 2021

WEALTHY

            In terms of dollars, I don’t have money to burn, but in terms of real riches, I am a wealthy man. I am actually an heir – a beneficiary of assets that can never be exhausted. I have access, 24/7, to funds that can keep me continually healthy and happy. These funds are not dollars, not coins or cash or any kind of material currency. No, my wealth is the wealth that all of us share – the wealth of intangible – and therefore inexhaustible – qualities, like caring and calmness and quietness and patience. Like all of us, I have a bottomless ‘bank account’ of these qualities. I can withdraw them at any time, and amazingly, the account instantly refills with more than I withdrew. I get wealthier with kindness the more I spend it, and patience produces more patience the more I practice it! 

IN WEALTH

In Wealth, WA, USA,
there's prosperity in every moment, 
even in sorrow, 
which makes mounds of wisdom 
for those who wait for it. 
Even confusion has riches to bestow
when clarity comes back, 
and hard work always shows 
where treasures lie. 
In Wealth, the true valuables 
are kindness and caring,
of which there are mountains 
in this little town's treasury, 
and patience always produces resources
 folks had never noticed before. 
This town has cash hidden 
in breezes and sunshine and shadows, 
there are stacks of securities 
called 'quietness'
in every resident's portfolio,
and every street is called 'Easy'.

If you visit well-off Wealth, 
you're in for a surprise, 
for you'll discover how filthy-rich 
you, too, have always been!