Winners Are Often The Biggest Losers A Homage to Poverty

By Ange Fonce

Part 5 

Here again I take up the subject that of a Homage to Poverty. 

Some readers have suggested that this series is tongue in cheek... or even hypocritical... yet  I am as serious as ever... poverty has its advantages... and one of them is that you do not have to live in a huge expensive house... and I want to make a broader... deeper argument... as a quote I read puts it...

“Money is just a way of keeping score in life.” 

And to watch out... “winners” are often the biggest losers.

I have made a lot of money and I have lost a lot of money... I have been “rich” and I have been “homeless dirt poor.” 

Being rich certainly has its benefits... yet only marginally... and only because it helps you appreciate poverty... when you finally understand about building “wealth”... you realize that being rich is not all it is cracked up to be. 

For every glass that rich helps to fill... it leaves another one empty... it gives you more freedom to come and go as you please... yet the more you come and go... the more you want to stay put... rich gives you more purchasing power... and the more stuff you buy... the more stuff you want to get rid of... it offers you more leisure time... and the more leisure time you have the more tedious leisure becomes.

For everything nature gives... nature takes something back. 

Remember that there are only three key decisions you make in life... 

What you do. 

Whom you do it with. 

Where you do it. 

Being rich can make those decisions more difficult... the rich can do whatever they want... live wherever they want… and I presume... with whomever they want.... and I have already explained how being "rich" can take you away from the things you really like doing... it can also take you away from the place you really want to be. 

During my life... I have been a part owner of a great big house with 23 bedrooms... I have also owned a mud... wood and stone cabin I built for myself for a grand total of £3,000. 

Which one do you think gave me the most pleasure?

The big house cost a fortune... it was and still is magnificent... splendid... stunning... with perfect classical proportions... and it was not a nice place to live... I felt as though I am an impostor in a museum that is closed for the weekend... that the guards will turn up and throw me out when they come to work on Monday. 

My little adobe getaway place... on the other hand... was a constant delight... me and one of my sons  built it with our own hands... the reclaimed stones and timber were dirt cheap... the mud was free... the furnishings were all recycled... almost the entire house was free. 

And yet... it was a marvel... it has vaulted wood ceilings… arches… there is also a large stone fireplace... much of the interior was plastered with the local mud... the textures are rich and authentic...we faced it towards the sun… and used the incoming sunlight to heat during the summer and the wood fire in the winter... it needs no other fuel... we cooked over an open fire... and the water was heated in the summer by an outside heat exchanger and in the winter by running it through a recirculating back boiler of the fire... electricity came from a small solar panel and a single 12 volt battery... water come from a local stream and fed a well we dug.

Total cost for utilities.... approximately zero.

Then there was the fun in building different types of gardens around the cabin... there was so many stones that we had been able to build stone walls and terraces... one held a small fruit orchard... in another we grew our own vegetables... and others were filled with flowers.

Each time we would stay there... we would happily work on the gardens... go for long walks and enjoy the isolation and solitude.... total cost for the whole building... under £4000.

Joy... pleasure... happiness and lots more...  that was a “wealth” of treasured experience... priceless!

Compare that to the big house... where I could barely touch anything... it is a protected monument!

And here is the problem... as your “richness” increases you tend to be lured to bigger... more monumental… and ultimately less satisfying… places... they eat away at your wealth…your time… and your life... you get caught up in the... “trading up”... game... soon... you have traded up all over the place... then... you no longer own a home… you have a number of houses... and they all own you.

And please note here the word “houses”... not a “home”... a “home” is where you live… where you keep your things… it is where your heart is... as the old saying puts it... and allow me to correct the record from experience.... about “houses” and a “home”... when you buy one of these huge  monstrosities... you are not buying a “home”... you are buying a place to show off... not a cosy place for you and your family to live in. 

And because it is so big... you will have to share it with staff... there will be people around you all the time... fixing things... tending the lawn... cleaning the kitchen... a yard man... a pool man... a plumber… a repair man… you cannot manage a place like that yourself... so you have to manage a whole team of people who manage the place. 

You are not “living” in a home... you are running a house... and like a trophy wife... it may be beautiful... it will be very costly to maintain!

You have to earn vast sums of “money” to spend vast sums of “money” to be one of the residents in the house you maintain

So what exactly have you “won” here?

The ability to be rich as an effective ”money” processing unit for the “economic” system... the ability to SHOW OFF and keep score... is that "winning?"

Yet... what have you lost in the process?

Maybe you lost the “wealth” of living and investing in a “high quality” life... that you want to love and enjoy... living!

Real wealth... has no need to “show off.”

Thank you and may you enjoy a Prosperous and Dynamic day!
 
Yours Sincerely


Ange is an  Author... Speaker... and International Peak Performance Personal Development Consultant... and Psycho Dynamic Counselling Psychologist who works with men... and women who desire to "personally develop" themselves and their "relationships" to become Dynamic Lifers from around the World!


Recommended Reading...



So You Earned Another Million? A Homage to Poverty 

By Ange Fonce

Part 4

Now let us continue our journey on You Want To Be Rich with a warning... it may not be such a good idea. 

This is why I have been sharing with you about “poverty”... because...  

1... You will find it hard to get rich at all if you are afraid of poverty.

2... Poverty is not at all... bad?

3... You can be rich man... poor man... rich woman... poor woman and still have GREAT wealth of  life experience... or little... or  no w...

Continue reading ...



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