What do you make?

Now this is an easy question to answer. When you have your number, which is a number not many of us forget, go to this website http://www.globalrichlist.com/ and enter the value.  It will tell you where and in what percentile you are in compared to the rest of the world.

Quite humbling, isnt it?  So why the need for more? Yes, money makes things easier but does it make us happier?  Well, thats something I struggle with myself. Im right there at the top with the rest of you, plus or minus a fraction of a percentage.  A fraction of a percentage is what separates a couple hundred million people.  Those making 40k a year all the way to those making "a milli" plus.  We get to a point where we are comfortable but what is it that drives us for more, Im still trying to answer this question.  After all there are 5 billion other people out there livn, lovn, smiln, and making a pittance compared to the rest of us. Some sociologists suspect as we make more money the people, and the circles we run in change.  This makes us want to get to the next level but when we get there, there is a new circle to run in. Hmmph, runnin in circles, interesting.

Regardless of what we make I think its necessary to have a spirit of thankfulness for whatever it is that we have. There will always be people with more and there will alway be people with less, we can do what we can to help out the less fortunate. But I think the most we can do is be thankful and spread the cheer that what we have, both material and not,  has brought us.

All this is not to say that we shouldnt make money or strive to be our best.  I only want to try to be more content with what I have and not want more money for the sake of status improvement.  Its also understanding that dollar signs dont equal happiness considering all the people that make pennies on our dollar and are full of joy.

Lets take a philosophical look at this.  Every person has the unlimited capacity to love and to know.  Objects or material possessions provide avenues to express this capacity to know as we learn and enjoy the "thing". It also gives us an opportunity to love it as we learn more about it. As the objects features grow so does the avenue for us to enjoy it.  Lets walk down that road first passing a fresh pair of Nikes, pretty sweet but as we walk they start getting dirty.  On your left you see a new cell phone, quite nice but then the screen gets scratched and the new version comes out.  On your right you see a used but nice car, awesome, many memories in that old hunk of junk.  Further down the road there is a BMW with your name on it, man that is sweeeeeeeet, but wait, who is that at the corner?  O its the 2 million other BMW owners that have sweet rides too.  You know where Im goin with this, and I myself am on this road but Im tryn to take the ally over here if you want to come. That avenue leads to a dead end because the object is finite which means it has limitations and bounds. These objects also distract us from more important things, some people can be married to their computer or video game system. We need to apply our infinite capacity to know and love to things that are also infinite such as PEOPLE.  This is where love comes in.

What better time to talk about love then on Valentines weekend.  Now I know its NBA all star weekend and everyone is DVRing all the action like me but lets get past Lebron for a night, wink wink.  I hope each one of you has someone to love this weekend, whether its a spouse, significant other, parent, child, or even a pet.  If you dont, find someone to spend some time with and if you cant, go to hospital and share some time with someone who is longing for a visitor.  This will bring joy beyond that million dollar salary and shiny new ride.

Ill leave you with this video, What do you make, its passionate and heart felt.  Im not proping up teaching or poking fun at lawyers because I know both good and bad in both professions.  I found it quite powerful and I think it can apply to many careers.  Take a look then go get yo lovin on this weekend!!!