In was a kind of interesting experience. I was having breakfast the other day and a young man sat down with his grandmother at the table next to us. From the moment he sat down, he was running numbers by her about the price, the down payment, the monthly payments, and the projected income that would take place if he bought an apartment building. He was showing her all the ones that were available in the area and discussing the positive and negative attributes of each building. The thing was, he was not basing any of this on his own bank account. He was hitting the old lady up for her money.
 
As the conversation was impossible not to hear, my lady and I looked at each and were in amused disbelief. Both of us, coming from less than affluent childhoods, could not help but exclaim, “It’s all about what you are born into.”
 
The young man was about twenty, so I would guess. The grandmother, at least eighty. The young guy wore an expensive watch, and he had his rap really down. He could talk the talk.
 
The thing is, and the thing that people never seem to contemplate is that, why is a person selling anything? Is someone is selling a used car; it’s because that car is not running very well and they want something that is. If they are selling a small business, it is because the business is not making money. If they are selling an apartment building, it is because the costs of operating that complex are not exceeding the reimbursements. Plus, with the new laws in California, tenants can get away with murder: disturb the other neighbors, destroy the building, never pay rent, and they can live there virtually forever. There is very little the landlord can do. Eviction is almost impossible. Is that the kind of business anyone would want to operate?
 
Anyway, the kid went on and on and his ga’ma will probably finance his adventure. It will more than likely go south, as rich kids, at least the ones I have interacted with, never possess the mindset for that style of endeavor; i.e. kowtowing to the whims of tenants. But, I wish him and his ga’ma the best.
 
Overall, all I could see (and hear) is that this is what it all comes down to in life. If you are born into a life of plenty, plenty is what you will always expect. Some people, get to hold fast to that lifestyle, throughout their life, based on the old-money—the money that was earned from generations gone past. Good for them! Some, however, once the purse strings are pulled, life as they knew it falls apart.
 
I’ve known people who got to live a good life, based upon a trust fund, their inheritance, their whatever. But, in those cases there is always something missing from their life, something empty, something unfulfilled. Why? It was all based upon what they did not personally earn. Again, good for them! I wish it was me. But, for most of us, we are cast to a world where we have to make our own living. And, we only can live off of what we make. But, from that comes a sense of self-achievement.
 
I got no inheritance. Did you? No one bought me a business, (or an apartment complex), how about you?
 
So, in the world of the what is… This is what there is… Some people get apartment buildings bought for them—a business that will most likely fail. Then, they get to move onto their next failure, all based upon money they did not earn.
 
How about you? Where do you fall into this equation? Did you make your own money? Did you succeed on your own money? Did you fail on your own money? Or, did you con your money out of your ga’ma?
 
There is a spiritual essence in all of this. There is a karma in all of this. The truth is, what you take is never truly yours, even if it is given to you willing. If you have to con your way to get what you want, forget about it, all that you will have is a debt you can never truly pay.
 
Your life, your choice.
 
Are you living in a world of abundance based upon something you did not earn? If you are, who are you? Truly, who and what are you?
 
If you did not personally earn it and pay for it, whatever it is that you possess, is never truly your own.