I have a friend who has built himself a $100,000 home. I asked him why he required such an elaborate dwelling and he told me it was so his children would have a fine home in which to entertain friends. The week after the home was built the children went away to an exclusive school in the east. The home boasts a magnificent swimming pool but it is seldom used because my friend and his wife spend every summer vacationing away from the city. Their dining room would comfortably accommodate 20 or 25 dinner guests yet they do all of their entertaining at an exclusive club. I have often wondered if this couple ever thinks about all this and consider it pretty silly. Let's face it. They are simply trying to keep up with the Joneses. This attitude of one-upmanship is like a cancer in our modern society. We have become a nation of sheep, spending a lot of money we haven't got to buy a lot of things we don't need, to impress a lot of people we don't really like. It is a happy man who learns early in life that you simply cannot equate material possessions with peace of mind and genuine contentment. I am eternally grateful that I learned this lesson at a tender age. Early in my business career I too tried to keep up with the Joneses. One day I managed to do so and the next the day the Joneses refinanced. That same day I gave up the chase and I've been a poor but happy man ever since.
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