Everything of value you were born with

Most people are not searching for riches, for wealth for its own sake. They are looking for the security that such riches bring. Of course there are those who accumulate just to show they have more than others. In this they are looking for power. But again it is because power brings with it a false sense of security. In this modern world with all its advances in medicine and knowledge people crave wellness, freedom from ill health but are they now free of the worry of cancer, heart attacks and other fear inducing illnesses?

Of course the answer is no. In spite of modern medical knowledge and technology people are falling sick as often as they always did. Although we have more in material terms with fridges, cars, phones and televisions than our ancestors of only one hundred years ago the western world is no happier now then it was then. It would seem that the more we have the more we need to stay ahead of the race for security.

The modern disease, stress, depression are making fortunes for the drug companies. Why? With all we have we should be happier, more content, satisfied. But it would seem that riches, power and the promise of full health do not bring happiness to the majority.

We know more than we have ever known before. But somehow this knowledge has not brought contentment. We have intelligence but intelligence will not teach how to be without worry. Intelligence teaches how to turn wanting into having but this way of overcoming insecurity can never be satisfied. There is so much to have and the more you have the greater the risk of loss. In these times where inflation and property prices across the world are falling both government and individuals are beginning to panic. They judge security by financial worth and because the material value of ‘things’ is going down they think they have less, that they are less secure. The problem of course is that society values itself on its financial worth. A house is a house and whether valued high or low will not alter it’s value as a house but the owner will feel more secure and his own value inflated if the financial value is high because he judges his own value against ‘things’.

What a sad commentary on life when we have come to value human life on what the individual is financially worth.

Intelligence does not teach how to be without worry it only teaches how to add to it. The truth is that every thing worth having comes from inside oneself and not from the outside.

To be rich be rich in your heart. To be rich in the heart means to know you already have everything and therefore you want nothing. If you want nothing you have everything.

To be healthy be healthy in your thoughts. If you are without envy, anger or a need to compare your worth against another you will be content in your thinking and your body will remain healthy.

To be happy be happy in your love for others. If you have the capacity to love without a need to receive in return you will know happiness from within. Happiness that is dependent on others leads to loneliness.

Be total within your self, everything of value comes from within, self worth, confidence, happiness, love, contentment. These are riches that cannot be found in the world around you. These are riches of the soul. This is not something you learn but something you come to know. One can pass to another knowledge but wisdom is born of love.


Malcolm S. Southwood