Get Rich Quick.....but at what price?

As so soon as I saw it, i recognised it.... That familiar style, that bold "Important Mail" stamp, that promise of instant riches. I knew there wasn't really $55,000 dollars in that envelope but still i felt compelled to make sure....just in case.

It reminds me of a lesson i learnt about myself just the other week....

I had scored some free tickets to a wealth seminar called "The Millionaire Mindset". The promoter promised me that the secret to unlocking wealth was already within and that all I had to do to unlock it was to change my thinking. "Why not?" I thought, I could do with being rich...in fact i deserve to be rich. And with that i booked my spot and started planning how to spend my future wealth.

Now i'd like to tell you I found the secret to becoming rich. That suddenly it all clicked and I now posses the answers to global poverty. I'd like to show you pictures of my new luxury yacht and boast about how succesful I am as you listen attentively hoping to grasp hold of even a slither of my new found wealth wisdom. But I can't, because the lesson i learned about myself was so much more valuable.

I discovered that I am NOT driven by the things I thought I was. Part way through a day listening to Millionaires talk about their wealth journey, escaping the clutches of poverty and now offering me that secret strategy for the bargain price of only $4,999, it suddenly all clicked. I didn't care about becoming rich! I didn't want more money...I didn't need to be wealthy...I wasn't in desperate need of a "millionaire mindset" and I wasn't motivated by the almighty dollar. I recognised it wasn't what drove me and it wasn't what made me get up in the morning. Which is lucky because I work for the church.

And so I left that seminar not with the intended "Millionaire Mindset" but with a fresh perspective on myself and my own motivations. I didn't need to be rich to be happy, I already had what I needed and it didn't cost me any money. Instead of going back for the rest of the seminar, I spent the next day with my family, taking them out for lunch and enjoying the important things of life...family, fellowship, freedom. These things I wouldn't trade for all the money in the world.

So remember this valuable lesson next time you see that "Get Rich Quick" scheme. You can't buy the most important things in life, no matter how much money you have....or intend to have. Look for the eternal riches all around you. Stop chasing the wind and pursue those things that really matter.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy,

and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

 

Matthew 6:19-21 (New International Version)

The Journey of Life

Life is a journey. It cascades from moments of wonderous bliss to pockets of desperate despair. There are elements we can control and there are those that are completely beyond our human understanding. There are times when we feel like we could take on the heavy weight champion of the world in the boxing ring and others where even the slightest brush could push us over the edge. Some days feel like a lifetime and yet others flash by in a second. And day after day we return to partake in this rollercoster called life.

I've lived a blessed life thus far. I've waded through the childhood years without much heartache. I've survived the awkward teenage years without lasting damage and i've pushed into the early stages of adulthood without too much bother. I'm somewhat satisfied with my life thus far but I know there is more. Songwriter Stacie Orrico sums up my inner thoughts with her song lyrics:

"There's gotta be more to life...Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me".

I often feel like i'm on the verge of doing great things but that I am held back by my own ill discipline and inadequacies, both real and perceived. There are days when i want to conquer the world and then there are others when i just want to crawl back into bed and make the world disappear.

Fortunately I don't have to do the journey alone. God is watching over me and will guide my every step as I look to him for direction. I know that he has my best interests at heart and has great plans for my life. Further to this he has placed little beacons of hope all around me, called friends. These people inspire and encourage me when i feel like the bottom is dropping out of the earth. Without them and God there is no way I could possibly achieve all that I will in the days to come.

Life is a journey best enjoyed with friends. Cherish them whenever you can.