There once was a boy who dreamed of being a millionaire. By
the time he was 10, he spent all his waking hours and dreamful nights
fantasizing about being the richest man in the world. He had his first business by the time he was
twelve and made more money mowing lawns and shoveling snow than all the kids in
the neighborhood - combined. He was
pleased but it was never enough. He was
always looking for more ways to get rich - he didn't need it to be quick but he
did have to know that he was continuously working hard to make his fantasy a
reality.
In high school he missed his prom because he had to work at
the local food chain - he didn't consider taking the night off like the other
kids. He figured that once he was rich,
there would plenty of time - besides it is just a prom and one night of his
life. Weeks later when he was working
his second job, his parents weren’t too happy when he missed his graduation,
but he didn't care. His only priority
was to fulfill his financial dreams. With his tenacity and dedication he did extremely well in college. He focused his entire attention on his
studies and for the first time his work was a secondary priority. He was smart enough to know that an advanced
education was necessary in order to create wealth.
He met his very first girlfriend in college. If she didn't relentlessly pursue him, he
never would have even noticed her despite her stunning looks and friendly
personality. They started dating and before long they were deeply
involved. Of course she complained that
work and school came before her but he wasn’t sure what the problem was with
that - after all if you want to have a great life, you need more money than
God. She never did understand this and
soon ended the relationship. He was too focused on more important things to be
hurt by the break up.
About six months later he met a young woman that he
pursued. He actually loathed the way he
acted around this girl but felt compelled and almost hypnotized by her. To his horror and dismay she actually
convinced him to take a day off and go to the park with her. The whole time he was there he couldn't think
about anything else but the money he was loosing and he was afraid that this
one day of hooky would start a pattern and he would never succeed in life.
After that he saw her less and less and wasn’t so compelled to be around
her. But he was around her enough to get
her pregnant.
She wanted to have the baby and get married but this
infuriated him. If he got married and
had a baby now, his whole life would be ruined. His plan was to get married in
five years when he was 27 and then have 2 children - one at 32 and the other at
38 - he hoped they would boys and he could teach each of them to take over one
business or another. So there was no way he was going to give up his fool-proof
plan. He has seen what happens to people
when they let life control their destiny and he will never be one of those naive people.
The next day he picked her up and took her to get an
abortion. She cried all the way there
and back, and for months afterwards. He
knew it was for the best and tried to convince her of that everyday. She would pretend to believe him to get attention
but the next day would come and the tears would be falling again. Eventually he
learned to ignore her "irrational crying fits". When the crying finally stopped, he thought she was over it but she
actually just learned to cry alone in the middle of the night.
Years passed and when he turned 27, he asked her to marry
him with the promise they would have a child in 5 years. Although she still felt hurt, abandoned and
betrayed by him, she deeply loved him and agreed to marry him. If only she knew
things would get even worse and after 6 miscarriages she would be told by three
different fertility experts that the forced abortion she had years ago created
irreparable damage and she would never bear a child.
She had always dreamed of a Cinderella-like wedding but when
she shared her wedding plans with him, he raised his voice and said "That might
be your plan but it is not mine". Her
parents were dead and whatever type of wedding they had, he would have to pay
for. By then he had over a million
dollars in net worth and could certainly afford it but he felt it was a waste
of his hard earned money - and would not throw it away on a silly one day
dream. He never did see that it was also a once in a lifetime dream. She argued
with him for weeks but in the end she sacrificed the wedding for the
marriage. The next day they went down to
the hot and smelly court house and got married. She wore her regular work clothes
because she was too depressed to make any real effort at looking good. She also
didn't have the red and pink long stem rose bouquet he promised her but forgot
to pick up.
Years passed and the man started 3 new businesses - doubling
his net worth. He was good at what he did and it showed. His financial dream
was getting closer and he knew he would do whatever it took to attain it - even
if it took the rest of his life and a million sacrifices. He believed that when he had complete
financial abundance, he could finally relax and be happy.
What he didn't see coming was the day he came home to
discover his wife had left him. He found
a note on the table that said something about her being emotionally starved for
love and attention and every time she looked at him, she remembered her broken
dreams and her broken heart. She also
added, "please don’t look for me" - he never did.
Two months later, the divorce was final. When she came over to pick up her copy of the
papers, he asked her why she refused a settlement, alimony and assets. She dropped dead in her tracks and looked at
him like a wild animal viciously protecting herself - and said "How can you
think I would take the very thing that ruined our marriage and destroyed me and
my unborn baby? Why didn't you just have an affair with someone - I could have
competed with?" Before he could open his
mouth to respond, she was gone and all he could hear was the hostile echo of
the front door violently slamming shut. After that day he gave very little thought to the things she said - he
never did figure out what she meant.
It was no surprise that he used his new single status as an
opportunity to throw himself into his work even more and before long it paid
off. He had more money than he knew how
deal with. But it still wasn't enough –
there were still people richer than him and that wasn't acceptable. He worked every day for the rest of his life.
He never remarried but did have a daughter as result of a drunken one night
stand. Although he never saw her, she
would write to him several times a year. He would never acknowledge her letters or the things in her life that she
shared with him. He did send her money
for practical things on a regular basis but never once did he send her any
special presents or even acknowledge her birthday.
The only relationships he ever had were with his secretary
and his dentist - both remained completely professional. They each hid their
distaste of him very well - or he just didn't care enough to notice. He never took a vacation, bought a nice car
or lived in a beautiful house which he very well could afford. He just didn't
see the value of trading his hard earned money for frivolity. He never sent or received birthday presents,
Christmas cards or any invitations, He
lived an empty, solitary life and never made the time to try to figure out what
was missing and how to get it.
Alone on his death bed he tried thinking of anything he was
taking with him. He relentlessly searched for hours and realized that anything
that might have been valuable to take with him when he passed was traded for
money. As he finally understood it was a
price too great to pay, he realized it was that
wisdom that he would take with him from this world - and maybe he could
still pass that on.
He used every last once of strength to write a short note,
and as he closed his tired eyes, he took his very last breathe.
Almost 2 weeks later when the police responded to a call
about an odd smell, they found his dead decaying body. It was a typical type of call except they
were profoundly intrigued to find a huge smile of satisfaction embedded on the
man's hardened face. And then they found
the note in his stiffened right hand. It said:
"To whom it may
concern. On this day of my death, let
this note act as my final last will and testament.
No more and no less
than $5000.00 will go to my daughter and son in law specifically for that
vacation they keep putting off. A note
with the money should say "Please learn from this dying man who is leaving
this life with only one bit of wisdom. Don’t
ever sell your life for money in the belief that money will buy you a life - it
won't.
All remaining money will be buried with me in a locked and guarded tomb - not because
I believe I can take my money with me but rather because I don't want
to infect anyone with the dis-ease that ultimately killed me - and burden them with a life of self imposed imprisonment. Be free
now and not wait for life to give you permission or provide you the right
conditions - by human nature, it never will. And know in the end I die a peaceful man because I finally found the
answer I unconsciously spent my whole life seeking. Now in the last moments of
my life, I choose life.
One more thing, please
find my wife and bring her three dozen long stemmed red and pink roses with the
following note, "I'm sorry for breaking your heart and your dreams - and I’m
sorry it took me so long to recognize just how sorry I would be. Now as money no longer has any meaning to me,
I can feel all the feelings that I pushed down my whole life so I could stay
focused on the illusion that wealth could be found by accumulating money. Now I
can feel all the love for you that I buried before I knew what it was. I'm glad I do now. I love you".
The officer put the note back in the old mans hand and
quietly walked out the door. The other cop could barely hear him say "I've got
something to undo - that old man just saved my marriage and my life - and if you
think the old man’s message is about money - think again".
Master NLP Practitioner
NLP Practitioner – NLP Society
Master Results Coach
Neurological Repatterning
Performance Consultant
Master Hypnosis
Member of International
Federation of Hypnosis
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