If you were suddenly independently wealthy, how would you spend your time? What positive change would you bring to the world?
What would your answer be?
“Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in it’s nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.” – Benjamin Franklin
I could easily write a cliché answer to this question and leave it at that, many people will answer with “I would give all of my money to charity” others will be completely honest and describe what colour Lamborghini they would purchase. But if we were really put in that situation, would we? Would we devote our time to making a change?
I must admit this question is something I truly think about a lot. As a young girl I would forever be torturing my mum with the dreaded question for all parents with young children, “why doesn’t Santa Clause give the poor children presents?”. On one occasion I even took pen to paper and questioned the Queen herself, on why she doesn’t give money to the poor countries (If you were wondering, no she didn’t get back to me on that one aha).
Money has been a part of my life that has never really stayed consistent. I went from living in a council flat above a row of shops in Birmingham with no money at all, to all of a sudden living in a country-side four bedroom home as well as living off a healthy sum of money and then back into a minuscule cramped rented house with only enough money to eat sleep and live.
That brings me to the question of what would I do with a substantial amount of money.
First on my list would be to repay anyone and everyone who has ever been there for me when no one else was. The people that genuinely stuck with me ‘through thick and thin’.
Next and the one that would probably mean the most to me, to help everyone in my family. Such as buying them cars, houses and to just make sure they are all stable for the rest of their lives, instead of stressing about money problems, I would love for them all to be able to enjoy their lives and do everything they’ve ever wished to do.
Last but not least; something I am ‘secretly’ passionate about, a subject that appears on the news and 100% gets me ranting away. Schools & Education. One of my dreams, although I do have many is to build my own school. On my own terms, with my own curriculum. A school in which children learn how to communicate and understand others. A place children learn how to survive in the world; how to cook their own meals, grow their own food, clean and a place for kids to just learn genuine life skills. Surely that’s what school should be all about?
Of course, there are many more things I would love to do if I came into a large sum of money including travelling the world and to simply live a stable life. But the conclusion I’ve come to in today’s post is that although money is an object we all strive to get, we don’t NEED it to live happy lives, we just need piece of mind and devotion to something we believe in. My passion is helping people, whether that be dropping your last few pennies into the charity box at your local shop or travelling to a less fortunate country and helping to build a school for the local children. We should all do something, just one thing each day to make someone else happy.
Inspired? Make your way over to this website, share your inspiring stories or just enjoy everyone else’s. KindSpring.org
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—Kiera Heffernan,
kieraheffernan. 