Author: Simone

Loves to tell and hear untold stories about people, places and experiences!

Wisdom or Gold, Which do You Need?

Wisdom or money, which would you prefer?

So, we are here again looking now at chapter 5 of the Richest Man in Babylon, by George S Clason. CHapter 5 is entitled, “The Five Laws of Gold” and the question above is really what the chapter focuses on. What would be more valuable to you in the long run? I think about my 20s and I know if I know then what I know now I would have made better decisions. If I had really looked at somethings around me and learned from them I would be in a better position that I am now. Therefore, wisdom is indeed invaluable from my vantage point.

…had I but sought wisdom first, my gold would not have been lost to me. Many of us have regrets when we get older about things we could have done better in the past. However, at this point no matter our age we still need to know this truth, you do not have to wait on old age to gather years of experience and wisdom to yourself. Just like the clay tablet with the five laws of gold carved on it that Arkad gave his son Nomasir, we too can rely on the wisdom and experience of others to help navigate through the landmines and pitfalls of life. We can also learn from our mistakes as we go along and not wait years later when we are sitting in a rocking chair, somewhere, to reflect on all those mistakes and try to give an account of them.

Now, the five laws of gold are this, in my own words based on the chapter of course:

  1. Money will come to those who are wise enough to save it
  2. Use your money wisely and it will work for you
  3. Be wise with your money and who you allow to advice you about it.
  4. Educate yourself and avoid risky investments that will fail by seeking the counsel of those who have more knowledge on such matters.
  5. Do not be deceived by unrealistic investment schemes formulated by “tricksters and schemers”

These are all things that we need to be aware of. They are things that seems simple but require a level head and a willingness to do the work to achieve a desired result. Now there are some gems dropped in the chapter that I want to highlight below:

  1. “…there is no chain of disaster that will not come to an end” – This is a reminder that the tide is always changing and it is for us to be ready when they do and make the most of what we can when they change in our favor. This not only goes for money but anything we want to achieve in life – tough times don’t last, tough people do.

I think the second quote I will be using from the chapter answers the question of which is the prize, gold or wisdom.

2. “Without wisdom, gold is quickly lost by those who have it, but with wisdom, gold can be secured by those who have it not.” – my take away is that you don’t need a lot of money or opportunities but you need the wisdom to maneuver either. What is your take away from this piece of wisdom?

The final quote is something that we need to remember from time to time. The race of life is not for the swift but those who can endure till the end.

3. “Wealth that comes quickly goes the same way. Wealth that stayeth to give enjoyment and satisfaction to its owner comes gradually, because it is a child born of knowledge and persistent in purpose” – Anything worth fighting for is never easy but it will be worth it in the end – at least this is what I believe. Some things that you seem to have to struggle for end up being the best thing you will acquire and that is based on my own experience. There is a quote by Amelia Hutchins that I came across that reinforces this idea and it says: “Nothing worth fighting for ever comes easy … If it’s too easy to grasp, then one should never reach for it.”

Now I leave you consider and examine the gem we have unearthed today until next time!

The Secret of the Lucky Gem?

Are you luck? DO things just happen your way all the time? Well I think that you are a rarity. For many a mortals lady luck has not been so kind. However today we look at what Clason relates in chapter 4 of his work, The Richest Man in Babylon. The oozes with the idea of luck and is entitled, Meet the Goddess of Luck.

Talking about luck, I always remember this one time in high school – I must of been 14 or 15, walking from school to get a taxi home I realized along the way that I lost my money – my fare and all! SO my friend and I turned back and began a man hunt for the lost funds. We scored the area time and time again to no avail. Ultimately, we accepted defeat, my money was gone, never to be recovered. My friend, Devasha tried to console me by offering to give me my fair, and while I was grateful I was still bitterly disappointed that I lost my money, unlucky me.

While we walked on tired and me greatly defeated -if you are a student dependent on your parents for money then you know how any lost money was trauma of the highest order. As we walked I saw the school security walking by with a man and as they walked by I heard their conversation. Apparently, this security had just found the same sum of money I had lost in the same area I had lost it in! What luck – well according to him. And what did he do with his newly acquired bounty? Well you guessed it – or not – he bought a lotto ticket – in Jamaica we call it cashpot. My treasured lunch money had become his “lucky” ticket to play a game of chance and possibly strike it rich! No risk with the possibility of a reward! He was the lucky man of the day! I heard him gleefully relate his luck, in finding my money. Let me just say there was no way it could have been anyone else’s money, the evidence was just too great. So it stood to reason that on that day I was the unlucky one. But what made him lucky and me unlucky? What had I done to deserve that fate? Did he deserve to get that money and I deserved to lose it?

A Tale of Two Lucky

The chapter begins with a question, “Is there a way to attract good luck?” Many persons have tried and many will say they do but is this true? According to the Cambridge online dictionary luck is “the force that causes things especially good things to happen to you by chance and not as a result of your efforts or ability”, while google dictionary defines it as “success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through ones own action.” Two things here concerning those definitions, there is good and bad luck, also as many people see it luck has nothing to do with works but chance or possibility not a guarantee. So even though the security had found the money and he felt finding it was a sign that the tides were turning in his favor, it was not a guarantee that he would win anything or that this good fortune would continue and spill over into all areas of his life. However, many of us are sucked into this cycle of seeing on unprovoked good event as a sign of better things to come, a mind a mindset that encourages inaction. So, when you say you I guess I was just luck, it means that good fortune just came your way and stayed without any effort on your part. However, according Clason that is not good luck, but if we depend on that it is a sure fire way to failure. Instead what the chapter emphasizes is that luck is not dependent on inaction but action: “I have learned to attract good luck to oneself, it is necessary to take advantage of opportunities”.

Removing Chance with Action

Here we are not talking about any old action but the action based on reasonable opportunities. From experience I have had many opportunities that I never pursued and I regret that. Those hesitation were based on fear, the fear of failure or the failure to truly believe in my abilities or that I truly deserved to have those opportunities. I had defeated myself before I had even tried. I would put things off, out of fear of being rejected, a nasty habit that we all should ditch. So we are advised that “opportunity, she will not wait for such slow fellow”, those poor overly cautious should like me we find it hard to make a decision either way. Another gem dropped is the idea of conquering procrastination and you know what Norman Vincent Peale said about procrastination – No?. Well, He said and I quote, “If you put off everything till you’re sure of it, you’ll never get anything done”. It is not that some persons are ore lucky than others is what Clason is saying but that some are more discerning and fearless than others as he notes, “opportunities come to all these men. Some grasped theirs and moved steadily to the gratification of their deepest desires, but the majority hesitate, faltered and fell behind”. If that is true of you admit it, and it does not have to be a plethora of opportunities but even one that could have made a difference will be enough.

So, the chapter really made me rethink how I viewed the idea of luck – even though for a while now I had stop hoping to become lucky, it was just not working out for me. As Clason writes: “Action will lead thee forward to the success thou dost desire”, just keep going and never quit!

Gems about Your Skinny Pockets

Day Two of The Richest Man in Babylon…

Well I find this book very interesting and an important read. So until you read it yourself here are some more gems.

So we are back at The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason with some new thoughts. Reading a how-to-book like this makes it painfully clear how easy it is to fall into a trap that gets you no where – when it comes to your financial competency that is. For me this book provides the push to do better when it comes to financial literacy – it is never too late.

So, here we go…

Today we look at chapter 3: “Seven Cures for a Lean Purse”. Sounds promising right? According to chapter 3, if you want to achieve financial stability their are seven cures that you need to become comfortable with taking.

Truth is always simple! Well this is not exactly the crux of the cures but something for us all to keep in mind in any situation. Well let’s get into them.

  1. “Hold back a part of your portion and make do” – this one is easier said than done -at least for me. However, is it impossible to do? I do not believe it is. This one will take some practice if you take some pleasure in shopping. Also, we have to learn how to BUGET. This can be a nightmare for those who have no patience and who are undisciplined when it comes to spending what they earn.
  2. “Control they expenditure” – Better yet stop spending like there is no tomorrow or like that pay check is a sturdy bridge to next month. Do you know that some (I have definitely done this) spend because it brings them pleasure – they spend for the sake of spending, buying things that will end up at the bottom of a pile, sometimes with the price tags never removed. This has got to stop. When there are so many thing that tempt us to but them we have to be disciplined and keep our goals -make sure you have some – in mind.
  3. “Putting your treasure to labour” – What a novel thought, can you picture it? Your money working for you! What an interesting thought. Maybe it’s me but I think that is a very interesting way to think about investments. I have been taught from an early age the importance of saving. I think I have had a bank account from the age of 8! Sadly this has not led to a stash of a nest egg, more like an empty vault! A gem that I want to deposit here for your consideration is this: a man’s wealth is not in the coins he carries in his purse, it is the income he buildeth… So relying on a pay check each mother will not get the job done, neither will counting the coins in your pocket.
  4. Now for cure four there were many truths here so I will just be highlighting some profound words. This section begins with a very profound truth: misfortune loves a shining mark, so don’t be an easy target: Study carefully before parting with thy treasure each assurance that it may be safely reclaimed. Before thou loan it to any man assure thyself of his ability to repay – I wish I learned this cure earlier in life, ouch – and his reputation for doing so that thou mayest not unwittingly be making him a present of thy hard-earned treasure. Many learn to late and are still sucking their sorrows where this is concerned.
  5. Now the next sure to a lean purse is to own your own… I recommend that every man own the roof that sheltereth him and his. Now has been a struggle for many and we see more and more homeless persons, unfortunately in the streets. However we have to make the push when we can to make this happen for, “when the house be built thou canst pay the moneylender with the same regularity as though didst pay the landlord – no one can quick you out of your home once you pay for it, no matter the state it is in.
  6. Here we are people the crooks of all else when it comes to building wealth, invest invest invest! On this matter Clason notes, “No man can afford not to insure a treasure for his old age…no matter how prosperous his business and his investments may be”. So not just invest like crazy actually, but ensuring that investments can take you into your golden years and help not only you but loved ones.
  7. The last cure is one that can work in any areas of your life, always work on yourself. “cultivate thy own powers – do not rely on others to save you are make a way for you is my understanding here – to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to so act as to respect thyself”. The last part for me speaks to the need to improve on the skills you have so that when people see you they will respect you for the reputation you create of yourself over time. It speaks to me, of the need not to be content with what you have now or complain about it but make the necessary changes that will get you what you deserve. What we think we deserve can be relative but your skills, talents and potentials have value. Through constant revision and work we can realize the fruits of that value in our lives.

Gems from, “The Richest Man in Babylon”

So, I have decided to get off social media – or at least reduce my dependency on it and read more. But would you believe that the first book I am reading was one recommended on one of those social media platforms – they do have their uses people. So many is a constant need in this world whether we like it or not, and this need was driven to me today as I sought yet another loan. I think it is providence, no, God that has led me to this book. Forgive me if I have not given you the name of the book, The Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Clason. This book was written in 1929! However, it could have been written yesterday for all the gems and truth bombs it contains. Now to really explore it here I will be look at different sections of it until I reach the end. As I said before this book was written in 1929 about a civilization approximately 40000 years ago – the more things change the more they remain the same! What is on the buffet table of this book are not choice morsels of food, no, but financial advice wrapped in succulent proverbs that are tickling my brain a little – so if you decide to read for yourself do so in a quiet place!

The book has eleven chapters, with interesting titles like, “The Man Who desired Gold” and “The Five Laws of Gold”. However, when you begin reading what’s between the pages you realize there are no gems about get rich quick schemes and how to get to the point of drowning in wealth . No, what you begin to do is think of all the unwise choices you have made in relation to money and how those bad choices have landed you in a place where you are always obsessing about having more.

Pay Yourself First!

The first thing that jumped out at me and that made me feel attacked when I understood was the idea of paying yourself first. I always thought that my paycheck was my pay and by working like a dog – maybe a bit of exaggeration here – I was paying myself. But oh no I was not. When I get paid each month, I take out bills and money for other things. However, what this book was telling me to do was to take out money to set aside first. Listen, I do not think this is a new concept to many but how it is presented in the book made me feel real shame. All this time I was complaining that I had to do so much with my money and barely had anything, but I was doing it wrong. I did not think of paying myself from my own pay! I cried and complained that I could not safe, that I had nothing but those things were the result of my decision to be a sacrificial lamb to pay out to others and not to myself. Well think about that.

Lessons to Learn

I know for me learning life lessons reveals that I am mostly book smart when it comes to money matters. However, all is not lost. Some lessons revealed in this book that we must learn to be financially secure is to “live upon less than you could earn”, “seek advice from those who are competent through their own experiences” and “learn to make gold work for you”. There is the temptation especially if you pay attention to what others have to live above our means, to get advice from people who seem to have it together but when you check out don’t. There is also the temptation to think only of today – live in the moment – and nit make use of what we have now. Guilty, guilty and guilty. However, Clason points out to us through this work that it is important to ” teach ourselves how to acquire money, keep it and use it” and this wont happen overnight. It is a process that is like a marathon and not a sprint. At least that is my take away.

Golden Nuggets

There are some other golden nuggets that I want to leave with you to consider from chapter two of the book entitled, “The Richest Man in Babylon”:

  1. Opportunity is a haughty goddess who wastes no time with those who are unprepared – how often have you allowed any kind of opportunity to slip by? Time to stop doing so.
  2. …invest thy treasure with greatest caution that it be not lost. Usurious rates of return are deceitful sirens that sing but to lure the unwary upon the rocks of loss remorse – it us so easy to be deceived if you appear desperate or are anxious to gather insurmountable wealth, yes, the scammers are waiting for those desperate among us.
  3. …seek the advice of men whose daily work is handling money…A small return and a safe one is far more desirable that risk – yes, have you ever been tempted by someone who had an idea but no know how?
  4. Enjoy life while you are here. Do not overstrain or try to save too much. If one-tenth of all you earn is as much as you can comfortably keep be content to keep this portion. Live otherwise according to your income and let not yourself get niggardly and afraid to spend. Life is good and life is rich with things worthwhile and things to enjoy – here we are admonished not to get carried away building our wealth. God has given each of us only have one life to live and we need to enjoy it and not obsessed over acquiring wealth!

I will end on the last point above, because sometimes we get so anxious because of financial insecurity that we forget that we do not need to have it all, We need to have enough to enjoy the things already here, some things that carry no price tag.

Join me next time to see what other gems I have uncovered!

The richest man in Babylon | The Story Bookstore

Look Deeper

For someone who has introverted tendencies living in the world today can be so challenging. What matters to most are first impressions, what people are most critical of is the outward appearance. Not everyone is born an introvert. There are certain traumas in life that can create a figure that is isolating and distant. One who carries little warm on first glance and who seems to repel the brightest rays of sunshine. But looks are deceiving.

Sometimes, we have to look deeper at those seemingly cold persons, we have to take a second glance and stare. We may even have to get into action and remove the veil they are hiding behind to uncover their warmth and their beauty. However, you have to be willing to look and many persons, sadly, do not want to take the time to look. As a result of this, we miss those wonderful experiences we could have had with those persons. Instead we leave them having assumed that they were never worth our time anyway, “stuck up much!” But did we really take the time to form an accurate impression of that person? Did we really give them a chance to thaw?

We are easily permitted to be quick to judge and slow to show grace, we do everything at lightening speed, so why not form an opinion of someone the same way? The answer, it can be dangerous. It can be dangerous when we have decided that someone is unequivocally the way we have perceived them to be. We need to be kind and not and not the #bekind which has been seriously misused by some. But truly authentically being kind to each other and that means being willing to give someone a chance and the time to show their true selves. I think especially of this today, Women’s Day. Some women are too willing to tear other women down in order to build themselves up, to judge on sight and to condemn based on prejudices. Instead what we need is to take a closer look to see that there are threads of connection that pull us together that tear us a part. Do not be naïve, but also do not become harden by life experiences. When we take the time to look closer at someone we maybe helping them to remove the mask that has silenced them and one that has hidden them from the world.

When Health is Absent…

Our health is important. We see this message all the time in different ways. We try to eat right -sometimes – we may try to exercise – once in a while – but it may not be enough. Our health is about our mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing, but sometimes one or all of these suffer in our quest to succeed – whatever that looks like.

For many persons the pursuit of happiness is closely tied with the pursuit of wealth. “To be happy is to be financially secure”, this is how many of us feel and is what motivates us to keep striving and keep hustling. However, for many of us the proverbs also rings true, health is not valued till sickness comes. For some reason, I cannot clearly say, I have been more aware during the period of this pandemic how fragile we as humans truly are. It seems that not a week goes by when someone I know or know of has not died. That someone I love is not ill and I start to wonder why is death so present, staring us down. But death has always been there, it’s just that in the course of our lives many of us have been good at ignoring it until we reach that point where we have to face it in different ways, until it is our time.

We are distracted by the need to work hard to earn the things we are told we need to be successful, that some willingly trade their health to pursue a dream that has been foisted on them from birth. Scrolling through different social medias I see threads of conversations about investing in crypto currency and the importance of investments overall, and while all of that is something to consider I don’t really see the promotion of good health. It seems that health is something that many people ignore until later in order to make or get the “bag” now. Think about what the ancient Greek physician Herophilos pointed our, When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless and joy cannot be felt. Our health, is paramount to truly being successful,. There have been many times when I have been too sick to think straight and get simple tasks done and those moments remind me of how fragile I am, how little power I have, if my health is poor. I have learned the hard way that my health should be my number one priority, not being the next billionaire or living in financial comfort, gaining that promotion or the adulation of others. You see, it doesn’t matter how much wealth you have if you do not have the health needed to appreciate that wealth . You’re still gonna die leaving it behind.

Now, as morbid as that may sound to some people, the truth remains that, the truth, unchangeable and inescapable. I said that our health should be our number one priority but of course because we are living in this world and we need money to live in it, pursuing financial security must also be a priority. However, we should never sacrifice our health to get a buck, then what is the point. Some of us think that we are being responsible by staying in relationships that will ultimately be beneficial to us in the long run, but they are slowly helping to undermine our health. We think we are being mature by staying in situations that are terrible, because it shows how responsible we are, but we suffer in all ways because of that choice. We not only have a duty to take care of our body, but also our mind and spirit. So when we find ourselves in situations that threaten any or all, we must work at removing them from our lives or removing ourselves from them. The gains you are advised about getting is not worth compromising any of those key things to your health. Also, we must recognize and acknowledge the traumas that still affect our lives and address them. We do not do so by undermining the potential of others by expecting them to fix them or fix us, but by being honest and getting the help that will be fair to those close to us and to our own needs. It is important that we remember: before healing others, heal yourself

I do not have the answers nor the life experiences to give the best advice that persons may need. I too struggle with my health and with the need to be financially secure. I struggle with finding a balance between giving enough and not too much of myself. However, we must put our health and wellbeing first, sometimes even above those we love and are closest to. We must take the time to see what is or is likely to undermine our health and work at improving them: when the heart is at ease the body is healthy. This I fear is not a year long endeavor, but a lifetime of trial and error. We have to create a balance where our financial situation does not lead to ill health and not allowing our pursuit of financial gain to overshadow our commitment to good health. Further, we cannot allow relationships or situations to be the catalyst of chronic ill-health either.

There are no smooth roads or easy journeys to finding a balance in life that will lead to good health. However, the choices that we make now, will determine our quality of health down the road. Whether making the right choices or the wrong ones, in the end we will reap the consequences.

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The Inconvenience of Convenience

It’s easy to sit back and let others take charge. You may not be the type who likes to appear aggressive or forward. You are not the type to thrive by being uncomfortable. Or, simply when someone else does the things you find unpleasant it makes your life easier. However, there are many dangers lurking just around the corner, when you get too laid back. Many dangers when you decide to allow others to make decisions about what you eat, what you wear, who you like or don’t like, what you do, and what you think. We think our lives are easy because everything is at our finger tips, but we do not know that we have to pay a price for it and sometimes that price is the loss of our voice and the stunting of our potentials.

Convenience can be the a gilded cage for many of us, who like the bird, must live with permanently clipped wings never knowing the joys of soaring high. We are fed information on a need to know basis and while we think we are living meaningful lives we do not realize that things have been constructed in such a way that we do not come to the truth of how little we truly experience life. Consider someone who does not have to worry about how to sustain themselves, cook, wash, clean, pay bills, or make any hard decisions about their lives. They seem to just have everything handed to them, they glide through live. However, that person is imprisoned by his ignorance of what life is about and if they are removed from their cage they cannot thrive. Others decide for them and determine what happiness should be, what the truth is and how much they can test the limits of their strength. Of course many make this choice because they think t is easy, better and safer. But as many of us know easier does not always mean better.

Consider convenience food. We all love them because they are so easy, in no time at all, presto! We have food! However, they come with their own set of problems. They have consequences for our health both young and old. They can lead to developmental issues for children, and lead to diseases such as diabetes, but we love them and we are encouraged to consume them, and we do not knowing the full story of their impact later in life. So, it is easy to be led, to be told and be inspired because it is all convenient but we lose the art of being free thinking and being creative, to make new discoveries and experience different ways of being and experiencing life. We think we are excited about things but we may not be because everything has been pre-packaged and shipped to us for our convenience. The pandemic has made it even harder for us to explore beyond what we are fed on social media. We spend so much time consuming truths that have been prepared to engage us, we depend on them to make us happy, laugh and find meaning in life and rely less on out tenacity and natural zest for live. We forget the steps we would have taken beyond those monitors that would enable us have experiences and not just view them though a glass pane. There is no longer the thrill of realizing that our efforts can yield pleasant surprises because we have forgotten what it feels like to enjoy the journey, of realizing that inconveniences hold many precious life gems that can enrich our lives. Instead we are bombarded with microwavable experiences filled with bland and unappetizing mush that has been mass produced for our enjoyment. And we are told that is what we like, and so we consume it with enthusiastic chagrin.

As a teacher of literature I see the harm of convenience in the attitudes of my students, who do not want to take the time to enjoy the experience that a novel can give. Instead, they want to pass the exam, but they do not want to engage with the work. So, they find all the summaries and videos they can and miss many live lessons and insights on human nature. They miss the opportunity to have their humanity challenged and if compromised, restored. Many persons, just like my students, say they do not have the time nor the patience to try, the courage to face challenges nor to explore beyond their predetermined ideas of what people are and what the world is like. We don’t want to struggle, we don’t want to fail, so we bury our heads in the sand, accept that this is all we know and become slaves to conveniences, a life created for us with much of our input.

Maybe it is that some do not want to enjoy the journey but the destination. Maybe it is that persons’ lives have been enriched by the modern conveniences available to many today. And yes, it is true that not all persons can and do have access to all those modern conveniences. But, where we may realize that we have become dependent on conveniences not vital to living, there is nothing wrong in questioning or being alert to how we can be lulled into inactivity by the pull of convenience.