In response to a recent blog post about the value of money, a reader asks Matt whether it is possible that the people who are poorest in money may be richest in spirit.
Matt responds:
Perception is reality.
I was born in the Great Depression in Bridgeport, which was a hard-working, poor area of the city of Chicago.
But in my recollection, nobody knew they were poor, and if they did, they didn’t give a damn. Everybody helped each other and lived life to the fullest, whatever that meant, even if you maybe got to eat meat only once a week.
The perception is that money makes us happy, but that is a false notion.
On the other hand, people say that if we have all kinds of money, we will never be happy. That is also false.
We live between our ears, and we perceive people not as they really are, but from our own standpoint.
Those people who seem the happiest sometimes are the saddest, and vice versa. Look at John Belushi, who was the epitome of comedy but died of an overdose of drugs, trying to be happy by an artificial means.
The only thing we can know for sure in this universe is what we see and what we know. I think it’s a fool’s errand to try to figure out what other people are thinking about or trying to do. I think that’s a good way to spend your life if you want to waste your time.
Rich people as poor in spirit and vice versa, as axioms, is something I don’t believe fits into the human equation.
The human species is a very difficult, intriguing, and completely baffling animal. Just watch the crowds going by. It’s a cheap and wonderful form of entertainment!
Matt