Who wants to be a millionaire?
Asking this to a group of adults is akin to asking a group of five-year-olds if they’d like to eat dessert first.
Sort of rhetorical.
Ever since I was a little kid, the idea of being a millionaire was very attractive. Richie Rich, Daddy Warbucks, and Bruce Wayne were all millionaires, and they had it made. Indeed, in our materialistic, consumer-driven culture, there seems to be a constant undercurrent that suggests if we could only figure out a way to become a millionaire — if we could just buy enough lottery tickets or put in enough time — life would be better and we’d be happier.
We are conditioned to think we never have enough. And so we spend a lot of time striving…but do we really ever stop to consider what all the striving is for?
Do you really need to have a million bucks to feel like a millionaire?
In thinking about the actual monetary value of the things that would make me feel like a millionaire, a list like this comes to mind:
- The ability to order whatever I want off the menu without having to look at the price.
- A kitchen table that always features a vase of fresh flowers.
- Flying first class.
- The freedom to homeschool my kids and go on adventures together.
- Spending two weeks of every February in Florida with my family.
- A hot tub where Kim and I can chat about our day and dream about our future.
The list goes on, but you get the idea. I’ve achieved some of these things, and am still looking forward to others. Here’s the thing: Were I to add up the total cost of everything on it, the sum would be far LESS than a million dollars.
In other words, I don’t need to BE a millionaire to FEEL like one.
What’s more is that if I were to include the things in my life that are truly priceless — my faith, my marriage, my friendships, and the good health of myself and my family — I feel embarrassingly rich.
Granted, you may have more expensive tastes than me, and would love to bathe in caviar every day. If so, I’m afraid this little exercise has been proven useless. But I’m willing to bet there are many people who need far less than a million dollars to live a life that makes them feel like a millionaire.
Maybe, just maybe, if we stopped to calculate how much money it would take for us to feel like a millionaire, we’d be shocked by how little it would be.
And then, instead of mindlessly striving for some unknown and unreachable ideal, we could spend our striving on something that mattered more.
Just my two cents.