Tag: wealth

From nothing, comes everything.

Posted on by philipdodson

‘From nothing, comes everything’ wrote one of my favourite people, James Altucher, today in his daily email.

He’s so 100% right, and conversely, from having everything comes nothing.

When we have everything, we are not satisfied, or happy, or content.

We could choose to be, but we are not, it is a lifetime of conditioning to always want something we do not have, always want more, even though we have all that we will need and much more than we will ever need to be fulfilled.

When we have nothing, when there is no food, nowhere to live, we’ve lost everything, then even the smallest improvement in that situation feels like you’ve won the lottery.

If we focused on the process, the journey instead of the outcome, instead of the rewards, then we would relax and learn to enjoy each step of the way, learn to appreciate so much more, and stop sweating about what we do not have.

Some of the happiest, joy-filled and most truly generous people I have met in my life are the ones with the least. When you have nothing, when you do not constantly desire what you do not have, when you accept and are grateful for what you have, then everything that truly matters comes to us.

Life is not about accumulating material wealth, it is about leaving a legacy and accumulating memories for moments we spend with the people that matter, achieving our purpose and making a difference.

I’m priviliged

Posted on by philipdodson

The gap between the uber rich and the rest is at it’s most sickening, there are 300,000 + people in the UK that are homeless, over 1 million that have to use food banks to survive, yet the UK is one the richest countries on the planet.

I have a house, a business, money in the bank (not a huge amount before you think about writing begging letters), I have a car, clothes, food in the fridge, a smartphone (joke, this is not a privilege, more of a curse), I have a wonderful wife, two amazing children, a dog (smelly one), two cats (who eat a lot), I have everything that I need.

Compared to how people lived 100 years ago, 200 years ago, 500 years ago, a thousand years ago, I live like a king.

I am privileged and that is something I need to remind myself more regularly. There are great many who are more privileged than me, and then there is a hell of lot more who are less so.

Christmas has become such an odd thing, increasingly dominated by material gifts. Perhaps it could be replaced with a day of gratitude for what we have and a day to spend some time helping those less fortunate in the world.

What gifts show love to the people that matter and to our fellow humans? That is not just once a year, but all year. They don’t come from Amazon. They come from our hearts and that is what we could choose to do more.

I have had an amazing life so far with all that I need and more, everything else that comes my way in life going forward is a huge bonus and that is a huge privilege I have. I am massively grateful.