A Life Full Of Riches

You write: Shortly after her visit, our relationship went straight south.

The seemingly abrupt change in her priorities was jolting

Perhaps this woman wanted to have kids with you. The costs for raising children, even modestly, are daunting. Libraries have cut back their hours...Kids need books, computers... Babies need diapers, and mothers need financial support, washing machines; good heathcare and nutrition.
Perhaps that is why she seemingly changed her priorities.

I strongly identify with what Mr. Green says. We live in one of the world's most materialistic societies. He's affirming his right to live his life the way he chooses, and he believes the way he lives his life is right for him. He's upbeat and positive and he's not putting anyone else down. He tries very hard to see things from the perspective of those who don't share his beliefs or his lifestyle, a living example of tolerance, empathy, compassion, service, and humility.

Thank you, Mr. Green, for an essay in support of modesty and quietude. It's hard to get away from the constant stream of marketing. Your elegant writing makes a great case for enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Best wishes for a healthy 2008!

The older I get, this truth becomes more profound: You don't own stuff - stuff owns you.

Oh how impoverished the souls of most of us have become - as I type this, I have 3 high-end european cars parked in my garage, but I still crave another to be released in spring of '08. How did this happen to me, to most of us? I went on a business trip once to India, to a city called Bubaneshewar in Orissa State. While working from my hotel room, I looked out the window and saw a frail, elderly man wrapped in old cloth squatting in a field as he tilled the soil. The land on which he worked looked patched, with a scattering of some kind of crop on it. I watched this poor, faceless man work the land, trying desperately, it seemed, to caox whatever meagre existence he could from it. As I observed him, I got emotional. Here I was, working for a big company, able to go out on my company' s dime and order a bottle of wine that would probably cost more than umpteen times what this fella could make in a year toiling in dirt. I felt so privileged. My education, experience, hard work etc. notwithstanding, I could not justify why, or comprehend how, my circumstances in life could be so dramatically different from this person who had lived much longer on earth and worked much harder in life than I. As I wept quietly to myself in my room, I resolved to be sure to not take anything for granted and to always appreciate how lucky I am.

But, is it really luck? Are we blessed because we need more. I doubt it. Of course I came back to the U.S and before long I had my complaints about everything. Only a $xxxx raise? That steak is not well done! I need the 160gig Ipod, even though I also have the 40gig ipod and the nano for my car. And on and on and on. Yet, as content as I feel, am I wealthier than the author of this article when he sips his hot choclate in the rain as he accepts offerings for faceless others? His story brings to me again that rare moment of pause. Of perspective. Perhaps, in the New Year, we can all aim for more soul, more conscience, more appreciation and perspective, and certainly for less stuff. Only then can we evolve to be who we are meant to be. God bless and Happy Holidays !

Riches, happiness, pain, contentment, ect are all subjective. One's happiness is another's misery. We cannot impose our definition of happiness, contentment and ect on others. The main thing is know who you are, what's important in your 'own' life and live for those ideals of yours. After all your life is yours, your happiness is yours, your misery is yours. Your life is what you make it to be. But still, keep the love inside you and be just a bit kind to others.

Henry David Thoreau in "On Walden Pond" wrote that we do not ride the railroad, that it rides on us. Like others, I have become a slave to technology (printers, computers, LCD's, plasma screens, wireless, cell phones) to the extent that I have beome poorer for owning them.
Mr. Green makes more than a rational point in describing his life of simplicity. As I have grown older, my life has become more complicated and more burdened by the things I have acquired. I suspect that this expansionism follows old age where even a small event fills all available space or even a small condo becomes a mansion when the unneeded lower level is finished.
Yes, I yearn for the simplicity to which Mr Green speaks so beautifully.

I graduated from high school with Karl. Now closed, La Salle high school on the west side of Cedar Rapids, Iowa afforded us a very good education. I haven't seen Karl since that May day in 1972 when LaSalle sent us (all 93 of us) out into the world. After reading his thoughtful and well written essay i am thinking that Karl may have learned more than i did.

Good job, Karl. All the best to you.

What a wonderful article! I am pulled to respond to the shallow post by jojoc10, but then that would be putting the focus on her instead of the heartfelt words of Karl. I will resist. Like many of us, I suffer from the pull toward materialism, and especially so because I have a child who wants everything he sees on television. Karl's article helps to reinforce my real effort over the past year to avoid materialism and spend more time with exactly the things that Karl writes about ... friends, family, my writing, giving. Karl, I would definitely say it was "her" loss (the ex). icountmyblessings made me laugh ou loud! Wondering where I can read more of Karl's work. I would love to spend time reading Karl's work or talking with such an interesting person as Karl in the time I have opened up by avoiding the mass materialism world.

Simple lives for simple minds.