What If Money Were No Object?

by Crisis of Conscience 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  sammielee24

  This topic is giving me quite a chuckle.

  There is a documentary/movie out called 'The Queen of Versailles'. It is about a couple who were multi millionaires in the USA and they decided to build a house that was 90,000 square feet or something ridiculous - 5 million dollars of marble sitting in the garage ready to be laid, bowling alley, stage, 9 kitchens the whole thing.

  The woman is much younger than the man and she had 6 kids with him - then came 2008 and they ran into a problem with the banks and everything stopped. No personal shopper. No personal driver. Had to get rid of 19 staff and make do with just one nanny - and this is what is rather funny - she said she kept having babies because she just popped them out and handed them over to the nanny. Neither her nor her husband have ever changed a diaper. She said if she had of known she had to clean up after them, she wouldn't have had them all - that is indicative of what happens when money is no object. People change and things that make them happy don't necessarily make them feel the same way down the road. The kids in this documentary did nothing - everything was done for them - even when it came to their pets. When the house staff were let go - nobody bothere to feed the fish or the lizard and they died because there was no water or food for them. The dogs crapped all over the 26,000 square foot house they live in because nobody could be bothered to train them. The documentary really is disgusting and a sad commentary on how some people live and is kind of the opposite end of the scale of honey-boo-boo.

  Kind of like when Hilton ate ice cream sprinkled with gold shavings for $2,000 bucks a cone - she did it because money was no object and she felt like it - it made her happy. She's older now - would it still make her happy or has she moved on to something different? If money is no object, I think people with a greater sense of worth and awareness will use it wisely to their benefit and most likely the benefit of those they help - when money is no object and people lack the self esteem and self awareness, logic and intelligence to use it wisely, they fall prey to opportunists and need, both of which could easily be their downfall. sammies
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  Crisis of Conscience

  Thanks sammielee24! I like your point. I completely agree responsibility is key. There is plenty of ways somebody can abuse what they have just because they can, especially money and lots of it.
  But keeping it simple, again as I feel I applied it to myself, is to not let so much time pass to neglect the things that you love because of restrictions put upon you by life that at times can be controlled. Money is one of those things certainly.

  Seeing though that many of us are still involved with JWs in some way, the video made me question how long I want to neglect doing some of the things I enjoy merely because I'm worried about losing some JW connections. And worse yet, I don't want to regret the future because of any adjustments I should've/could've made in the past.

  I hope I'm not off base. But I appreciate your input.

  CoC
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  fakesmile

  if you made enough $ for it to be no object, you would be working too much to be able to enjoy it. unless you were born into $$$, i which case you wouldnt be born into the jws.
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  OnTheWayOut

  I agree with the comments in the video, for young people. They need to go find something they enjoy that will make them happy and not worry about how much money they will make. I wish I had found that. I love what I do now, but I wasted so much time early on.

  For not-so-young people, it is not that simple. Money is an object. If someone has no responsibilities whatsoever, maybe he could walk away and go find a way to make a living doing what he loves. But we do have responsibilities.

  I want to write and I will find a way to write. But it won't be for much money, if any. If money were no object, I would live in Hawaii and write on the deck outside my home overlooking the ocean, shades and cool drink and all.
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  Crisis of Conscience

  Thanks fakesmile and OTWO!

  I really haven't taken the money thing in the video to be that a person has to be rich. You don't have to be rich at all to do what you enjoy, regardless of your age.

  To me it's not letting life, whether the pursuit of wealth, or the pursuit of keeping your head above water because of finacially struggling, from doing the things somebody enjoys. Things that may cost nothing to enjoy (example - maybe you enjoy nature but feel there is no time to observe it because of work or personal responsibilities). Things that do not have to involve any sort of monetary interest.

  And also, in tieing it into the JW religion, if leaving was no problem, what would you do that makes you happy? It's not easy to say you could just do it. But the important part to me is doing what you can so as to reduce regret and disappointments in the future, when one may feel they are just too old to pursue a joy.

  CoC