Something I rarely talk or write about is my personal wealth, which by the way, and to my own surprise continues to grow substantially. I no longer have to wake up and go among the masses each day to compete for my own cotton patch or hope that it will one day be bigger than my neighbor's or even just enough to live above what might be regarded by anyone as a financially secure or only safe comfort zone.
What I do have I already worked many years for and I believe I have earned all that brings me joy. I won't discuss with anyone but the Internal Revenue Service my personal holdings or bank statements because quite frankly that area of my life is no one's business, and as far as I am concerned it is none of theirs either but the law being what it is I am compelled to go along with it and the idea of ever being audited is something that I would prefer never to be bogged down with.
Nevertheless I do from time-to-time share anecdotes within the pages of stories I write that reveal experiences and the paths I have taken en route to where I hoped I would be before I die. They may not leap from the pages but they are there, outlined and explained the best I know how for anyone that might be curious as to how it came about that a kid from a broken down neighborhood who some believed was plagued with a learning disability, coupled with an attention deficit in the early years of schooling somehow overcame both and unlocked enough mysteries to climb over what used to be obstacles.
Whether it sounds like I am lamenting about previous hardships or on a boasting spree for the comfort and riches I have managed to cobble together from all of that would be up to the reader to decide, but I hope an open mind will prevail before that call is made. Keeping an open mind is in large part the secret to all of my successes in life; believing in things even when they seemed out of my reach, believing in other people when common sense said it was a toss-up and in myself when I was more hopeful than sure has played the biggest role in my becoming a wealthy man.
Of course being in the right place at the right time didn't hold me back either because when I found myself there I seized as many opportunities as I knew how! That old saying it's not who you know, it's who you blow may be true for many, but I never had to blow anyone to get where I wanted to be. Those who truly know me or anyone familiar with my work might argue that I am not a kisser-upper as much as I am probably a defiant and rebellious sort when kissing up might better work to my advantage. I am not beneath blowing a little friendly smoke in someones direction when I see an opportunity to gain their attention to something I want them to know about me, but never have I been accused of holding back what I really think or expressing my opinion even when it might be perceived as impolite.
In fact, it is no secret to anyone that I might have been invited into more lucrative circles or encouraged to remain in a few impressive jobs longer than I chose to if I had been a little friendlier or more neighborly than I was when I spoke my piece instead of what someone else wanted to hear or expected. When it comes to politics, liberals would describe me as a train wreck, and when it comes to social graces among politicians I might be the last person to be invited to deliver the keynote address at a banquet or a fund-raiser although I do speak well and have what I believe is an above average command of the English language.
But given the other things I do have, or some of the things others might only dream of or are still trying to get, being the way I am has proven to me that I have been approaching life in a manner that has resulted in being successful if not understood by some. In that manner of rationale I believe you have to be rich to fully understand and appreciate riches. I think that because there was a time my life could have been described as that of a poor man, or at the very least one who struggled often I am in a position to now draw comparisons to us who have a lot and those still scrambling to get theirs!
And before I can be labeled a pompous ass I hope it will be known that I take nothing and no one for granted, and that I fully realize that everything I have could be swept away with one careless decision or one catastrophic event. We all teeter on that balance and all of us hope we will never step on a crack and be swallowed up by it.
It is why when I dreamed of someday becoming a rich man I vowed philanthropy, and becoming a philanthropist is my immediate goal. My intention is not to rival or compare myself to someone like Percy Ross who discovered joy and personal satisfaction in giving away money; I aim to hold onto mine for as long as I need it. But what I do want to share and spread around to others is a mindset that leaves me believing that I am wealthy and that so are many others who don't even know they are!
The home that shelters and keeps my family safe from the lions at the gate isn't particularly impressive to anyone but me but it is the one I want and wouldn't trade for anyone else's. My family is an eclectic passel of people that are as different from one another as people I have known all my life but they are all extraordinarily gifted people. The bosses and co-workers I have known through the years all taught me something that became valuable in some way, and the friends I have known, especially the ones that hung around were and still are people worthy of being admired and cherished.
I treat friendship and loyalty to one another as precious gifts that we exchange.
I never received an abundance of education but I was educated well enough to land in some exciting and rewarding workplaces where I was surrounded by brilliant people that taught me to be brilliant when I needed to be. However, just as important as all of that is the peace of mind I have obtained as well as my awareness of how well my life has turned out even when there were many times I was left wondering whether I was doing things the right way or if anything I was doing really mattered. I have had amazing pets all my life that were more than adequate stand-ins when people failed to show up to remind me of what I was seeking all along, and compared to some that are as old as I am now my health, although not perfect is reasonably good considering the abuses and neglect I have shown my body through the years.
I never bought expensive toys but managed to have toys I wanted and they included vehicles I dreamed of owning or only wanted during moments of impulsive buying, and the joy of owning them wasn't anymore complicated to me than it was working on them when something broke or tinkering with them to give them each my own personal touches. There is a term for people with obsessions for these pleasures; we are called car guys and the value of our cars can be as high for an old rusty Chevrolet as it would be for a shiny new Ferrari. Many of mine could have been called rust-buckets but I enjoyed all of them.
None of them were expensive and collectively they mirrored the rest of my life! It has been one of riches in every way but how someone with different ideas might describe personal wealth. Like I said, I will keep the bulk of my money and only give away some of it to hold onto what I have and need. If I had more and could spare more I would be someone like Percy Ross and other wealthy philanthropists that are more generous and practice more benevolence than me, but my riches are defined in a different category than theirs.
My life has never been about a fatter bank account than I need to keep going and remain satisfied along the trail; it is defined in two amazing bulldogs that keep me smiling every day and knowing that we will remain dry on this cloudy and dreary day, in a comfortable place where neither they nor I will see it end unable to satisfy our hunger. It will be on further display when my phone rings and I don't like the number displayed on caller-I.D enough to answer it.
I walk in that high cotton every time I visit the garage where there is a seven-year old Mustang parked; where I can climb in it and go somewhere if I need to or just gaze at it knowing it is the car I want and can afford. The cotton in my life turned out to be a healthy crop but not so high that I am ever likely to get lost in it and because it is just high enough I am truly a man of great wealth. Having revealed that, please don't ask to borrow any money as I have none to lend. But there may come a day when my pockets are fuller and when I have more than would be fair for any one person to hoard.
If that day does come I might just be the guy more people would enjoy having around, and it could arrive sooner than later if enough people liked and believed what I shared here, and if they are willing to explore even more pearls of wisdom that explain how I became a rich man.
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