Making Money

I am a hard nut for advertisers to crack. I'm probably more influenced than I allow myself to think I am by the endless marketing attempts that fill my days, but if there is one advertising theme that grates on me to no end it's the "It'll make you rich" line tied to the "then you'll be happy" theme.

MONEY DOESN'T MAKE YOU HAPPY.

Now I'm not ignorant or stupid, and I know that having enough money so that you don't have to choose between buying food and buying medication cuts down on stress a great deal. Less stress makes for a better life. The thing I take exception with is the idea that you have to have money to be HAPPY, or that having money automatically makes you happy. Not according to J. Paul Getty who asserted that there's more of a link between money and unhappiness than there is happiness. I think he's qualified to speak on the subject.

It's rampant in our state where the average income is low. But the cost of living here is low as well. Yet the newspapers keep drumming away at this idea that if the median income of Oklahomans increases, that Oklahoma will be better off for it. But people here still have time to sit on porches and wave to people who they meet on the street. There's time for courtesy and caring. I've lived in wealthier areas where time is money, and if they aren't getting paid, there's not time to talk to you, to help you, to even be civil. Oklahoma is already an above-average place to live, in my books. It doesn't need fixing.

I challenge anyone to find a wealthy father who is always available when his family needs him, a wealthy woman who never has a bad mood, or a wealthy teenager who always makes things easy on his parents. You can't find those things among poor people either. Money doesn't make humans perfect. It doesn't even bring them closer to the ideal. Money doesn't make people good negotiators, good companions, or good forgivers. These are qualities of the heart that need to be cultivated and that make life more satisfying. For the individual and for those whose lives s/he touches.

We recently studied about how greatness really comes from serving others. The more I think about it, the more truth there is to it. Some of the most revered people on the planet were also some of the poorest, but their lives were rich--in less tangible ways--and full. Some of those revered people were wealthy too, but it wasn't their wealth that makes their names resound through history. It's the stories of what they did or how they lived that make them memorable.

So to you advertisers out there--just sell me your product. Don't try to convince me that it will make me rich, because it won't work. Convince me that it will help me help others, and I might let you talk a little longer.

If I'm not already too tired from the umpteen advertisers that came before you.

Sometimes all we really need is peace and quiet so that we can think about things. Ya know? :)

Okay, I'm off my soap box.

Over the weekend my aim is to round up some of my story starters that have appeared in this blog over the past several months and take a vote on which one I need to continue first. Who would vote? Is it worth my time to round them up? Let me know.....

And thanks for reading.