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Email: rangylil@hotmail.com
What Do YOU Want Out Of Life?

Please forgive me as I meander through this topic, my thoughts have not quite jelled on where I am going with it.

Ask anyone what they want out of life and their answers could be fairly wide-ranging - wanting a job, security, children, health, happiness, respect. Narrow them down to a specific time frame - "25 years from now, where do you want to be with your life?" Many people will say, they want to have lots of money and lots of things, or maybe they don't want to have to work any more, or at least not to work as hard.

Something is wrong with this picture. Do you think that maybe, if you reach the top of that hill, you will look back and realize that you missed out on a lot of living because you were so busy trying to get there?

Think about your goals and dreams, then think about what it will take to achieve those dreams. Write these things down. Focus on what is truly important in your life - are you spending your money in the direction of those dreams, or are you destroying your chances of reaching your dreams through frivolous expenditures?

Pretend you won a lottery - what would you accomplish, what would you do, how would it change your life? Would it really be a better life?

If you think about what you might accomplish with this hypothetical money, you may find you really don't need the money to reach those goals. The needing of the money seems an insurmountable barrier, so many people don't even try to attain their millionaire goals without it. But honestly, what is keeping you from doing some of those things now? If your goals don't really need money, perhaps it is just a matter of rearranging your priorities. Find the balance.

If possessions are your passion, what are the motives behind this goal?
Do you want more stuff because it is stuff you really want, or is it a perceived need? Do you need things to validate your self? Or, who are you trying to impress, and why?

Think about these things:
  • Would you rather have the shallow esteem that a fancy car and a big house will buy you ... or the true respect of a friend, simply for the person you are?
  • Do you want your children dressed in the latest labels and owning all the latest gizmos ... pale representatives of your "love" since you don't have the time to actually spend with them and show them how much you do love them, because you have to work long hours to pay for these things?
  • What do you think would actually bring you happiness?

    That last question is the key, I think. Money doesn't bring happiness. Happiness is where you find it, and, more often than not, the things that bring the greatest joy or happiness don't cost money!

    As I think more about this, I may re-write this somewhat. There was more that I meant to say...

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