In the course of my life I have known some very wealthy people personally. I will share some of what life is like in their shoes. I know that most of them do not have the glorious life that the people of the world get to see, some people wish to be wealthy like them. That is because they do not know the truth. The ultra wealthy are some of the most miserable lonely people on the earth. They cannot have real relationships and it's almost impossible for them to find love because someone always only wants them for what they have. And they never really know who loves them and who does not. Even if someone does genuinely love them they will suspect that they don't really love them, so real relationships are almost impossible.
These people are often so lonely and have such a hard time living with themselves that they drink themselves to sleep every night. In order to build their empires or fortunes they have to do many unethical things because being unethical is the only way to get to that degree of wealth. They can barley live with themselves and barley make it through the day. They crack the bottle at night and drink it till they fall from their chair.
Conspiracy theories pale in comparison to what really goes on in the lives of the ultra wealthy. They have beliefs and practices you wouldn't even imagine. You would be called crazy if you said it out loud. But these ultra wealthy are the builders of our society, they are responsible for building society according to their beliefs and goals. They are venerated by the politicians and invited to dinner with the politicians and treated as family. This gives them pride and the feeling of being a better person than others in the world. They feel as though they are builders, and are very important in shaping society. In return for this recognition and glory, they give mega donations to the politicians of their choosing, and they get to help decide what legislations will be passed. In order that the donations are tax free they give the donations in multiples of small amounts.
These moments of feeling important help them for a day or two and make them feel like they are doing some good in the world. But then a few days later reality sets in again and they see day in and day out the unethical things they have to do to stay at the top. The face they show to society is the proud face, and that helps them to be seen as good people. They donate to charities to help themselves to feel better. But it does not help because the weight on their conscious is so heavy that they can barley breathe.
They are alone and afraid and miserable. They loath the lower class people of society looking upon them as less. But at the same time live off of the backs of those lower people, but without the lower class the higher up class would not exist. Most of the ultra wealthy have the saddest lives of all living beings. It is better to be poor living in a hut with a dirt floor and have someone you love and a good meal now and then. A true "so called" upper class person, knows that the life in the hut is far more superior. How sad is the life of the ultra wealthy. I have never seen such a sorrow as the burden of the man who owns an empire or great fortune.
It is even more sad if they get sick, because they are used to getting all of the things they want, but their money can only buy so much when it comes to health and life. They find out that all the money in the world cant save them. It is then that the great equalizer shows them that they are the same as everyone else. It is pretty harsh.
The real thing is not someone who gets to sit among the books in bliss. It is a person who spends time in loneliness with the weight of a the world on his back and the weight of his deeds that he must commit in order that his fortune does not run out. His fortune can only exist because of others misfortune.
What he does not know or realize is that all beings are equal, and what we have, is not what defines us, but it is what is in our hearts, and if we have comfort, and a roof over our head, if we are a decent human being who cares for others, and does not make life hard for others, and helps another when he can. Our actions in this life are what define us.
The poor already have true happiness, some just don't know it. But the wealthy man does know that wealth cannot buy happiness. Even if we have what we would consider as being nothing, if we can see what we do have, and count our blessings, we will see that we already have everything we could ever want. Number one on the list for true joy is health. If we do not have health then all of it is for not. If we are sick then we can still find joy in looking at what is not wrong. For instance if I have a bad back I can realize I still have a good heart that functions normally. This is the greatest gift we can ever have is health.
To have two good eyes to see the beauty of the world is the greatest gift. Even if we only have one eye. To see is a gift. This world is so beautiful. To be able to have these senses to be able to feel it is wonderous.
There is nothing more important than health, with out that everything is thrown out the window. So it is not money that can buy us true happiness it realizing what we already have.
The second condition for happiness is food, and the third is shelter. So if health, food, and shelter are there then you have all you need to have true joy. How much more so if you have people in your life who you love and cherish. There is nothing more important in the whole world.
If you have ever had a loved one who was sick or close to death or did pass away. You will recall that in that moment, nothing in the whole world mattered. You may have cried to the heavens begging for the life of that person to be spared vowing that you would give anything in return. You would give it all if that person could get well or live. It is because when death comes to the door we see that things do not matter at all. We see that the only thing that matters is life.
True joy is here and now in this precious moment.