True Wealth

Anyone can buy things. All you need is some money. But you can’t buy a skill. You have to develop skills over time through hard work. One might say, “but you need skills to make money in the first place.” That’s often true but doesn’t have to be. Some people win literal lotteries and can buy things with the proceeds, circumventing any work to gain their material wealth. Others win metaphorical lotteries by being born to the right parents or in the right countries or of the right demographic. And many simply finance their material indulgences with debt, which they never show off on their social media. Beware of those who flaunt material wealth as if that in itself is an accomplishment. It can be a proxy for hard work. But more likely it is an attempt to impress, show off, feed one’s own ego or create the illusion of a life worth emulating.