Guess what! A minute or two after the top-of-the-range vehicles had passed by, a friend of mine called Gitau wheeled past me in his old donkey-pulled cart. I couldn't help contrast the high-ranking government official who was being chauffeur-driven in an escorted sleek car and my friend Gitau who was whipping a donkey that was pulling his old cart. It was a classic portrayal of the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots.
To be honest, I wouldn't want to be as poor as Gitau. I would instead love to be as rich as the high-ranking government official - rich enough to meet my needs. From experience, I know how fantastic it feels to have money to buy a new pair of shoes when the old pair wears out, to purchase a new phone with better accessories than the old one or to just walk into a supermarket to do some shopping.
Being poor is not honorable since it is the lack of money that forces many people to take up deadly-dull jobs that will put cash in their pockets for buying food and other basic needs. That makes me agree with the writer Wallace D. Wattles who wrote, "Whatever may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that it is not possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich."
I believe most people out there also have this craving to get rich given the way they buy shares in a stock exchange, invest in government bonds, build rental houses, try their luck in a lottery or participate in promotions advertised by leading companies. Others resort to illegal means of getting rich such as stealing, defrauding banks, peddling hard drugs or embezzling public funds.
Essential as money is to leading a complete and successful life, I don't think it's wise to focus all our time and energy on getting rich. We should instead use our time to develop the talents God gifted us with and find ways of using them to help people. If we do so, we will become happy and money will come to us naturally as the motivational author Robin Sharma informs us in one of his books.
Several prominent people have offered similar opinions on getting rich. The venerated American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who lifted his country from the worst economic depression in history, said in his first inaugural address in 1933 that "happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement and in the thrill of creative effort."
In his bestselling autobiography published in 2005, former U.S. president Bill Clinton pointed out that a life spent solely on acquiring riches leaves so much to be desired. During his presidency, Bill Clinton did well in growing his nation's economy but poorly in growing his personal wealth.
A few years ago, I heard our own president, Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, advise Kenyans to reject the easy shilling. His point, I think, was that we should labor for money instead of stealing or trying our luck in a lottery. That reminds me of Abraham Lincoln who quipped, "A dollar earned is better than a dollar found."
The Bible, which is the ultimate source of wisdom, has some advice to offer on getting rich. It says in the book of Ecclesiastes that money is the answer for everything, a fact I agree with. But it also cautions us not to be in a hurry to get rich and warns us not to go after ill-gotten wealth. It advises us to acquire riches through hard work, proper planning and reliance on God who is the giver of wealth and honor.
Although I concur with the Bible that money is the answer for everything, I don't think money fulfills all our needs. Money can, for instance, buy us a bed and a mattress but not a good night's sleep; it can buy us a big house but not a happy family; it can buy us sex but not true love. A good night's sleep, a happy family and true love are acquired through virtuous living.
I often ask myself: If we spend all our time speculating on which company to buy shares in a stock exchange, when will we get time to develop our talents? If we devote all our time thinking on which project to invest in, when will we find time to bond with our families, friends and relatives? And isn't it in developing our talents and in forging meaningful relationships that we derive our most happiness?
In a world full of conflicting ideas on how to get rich, I find that the great black American educationist, Booker T. Washington, aptly captured the best way of getting rich in the following insight he gave on how a black person could succeed:
...in his effort to withstand temptation, to economize, to exercise thrift, to disregard the superficial for the real - the shadow for the substance; to be great yet small, in his effort to be patient in the laying of a firm foundation; to so grow in skill and knowledge that he shall place his services in demand by reason of his intrinsic and superior worth. This is the key that unlocks every door of opportunity, and all others fail.I have chosen to follow Booker T. Washington's insightful advice on how to be truly successful, to be genuinely rich. So I will continue growing in skill and knowledge, disregarding the superficial for the real - the shadow for the substance - while praying for breakthroughs that will propel me to the life of my dreams, a life of financial freedom. How about you?
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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story about my take on getting rich, you might also enjoy another one on "Wealth & Honor" which I wrote sometime back. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.
