CoffeeTime: “Is Poverty Better for you than Wealth?"

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com

I can vividly imagine the reactions of most who just read that title.

“Are you nuts, Renie B?! Of course, being rich would be better for me than having to drive this old rattletrap of a car, that breaks down every time a wind any stronger than a baby’s breath blows through. I’ll have you know that paying my A/C and heating bill usually costs me more that I bring in every month. That’s why my spouse has to work. It sure ain’t becuz she hates the thought of staying home all day!

Even though our house is tiny, ugly, and drafty as all get out, she’d rather be at home with our baby.”

But hear me out before you crumple your newspaper into a ball and throw it at the dog in anger.

Empathy and sympathy for someone else’s troubles usually comes from our own personal struggles.

Our own pain is how we learn to feel the pain of others. If we don’t hurt, we don’t have a clue how it feels when others are hurting. We would be a self-absorbed Me/Mine person.

Wealth can bring with it a certain amount of self-centeredness, if we are not careful and very aware of the trap laid for us. Just imagine you are extremely wealthy:

After all, having to take care of your expensive home, and the furnishings in it takes real attention and time. And it is absolutely irresponsible and foolish to spend good money on a house, grounds, and furniture, and then neglect their care. Really, hiring professionals to handle it all the right way, just makes a lot of sense.

And who in their right mind lets their body go downhill by ignoring its need for correct exercise and honest-to-goodness health-conscious food? Even though you do try really hard to take care of yourself viruses and bacteria are everywhere, so you know it just makes sense to find only the best doctors when you get sick.

Speaking of making sense, it’s really not an intelligent move to drive a vehicle that can break down at a moment’s notice. You really DO have to make certain you can get to where you are going without getting stranded somewhere, making you miss that important meeting. And honestly, image projection in your chosen career is terribly important. You can’t afford to drive anything less than a luxury car.

And God forbid that your teenager or your wife’s car is dangerous for them. You remember that God wrote in the Bible that a man who doesn’t take care of his family is worse than an infidel.  Maybe in the long run, a better way to protect them is by just providing them all with new cars. A whole lot less to worry about when it comes to their safety.

See what I mean? Wealth brings a trap of self-centeredness with it, without you even realizing it has happened.

Not that I have first-hand knowledge, that’s for sure.