We all want to be
WINNERS
There
was an article in the paper about investing in the market and that many people feel that they are loosing if
their investments have not returned the high profits that others have. The writer suggested that investors
should redefine their meaning of winning. If their investments met their goals,
they won.
Recently,
I learned of the sad experience of two of our friends. This is a couple who, when the husband
retired, became financially very well fixed.
They purchased a very expensive home in an exclusive location. Why is
this sad? Their family and friends should have rejoiced at their good fortune.
Instead, they were jealous and resentful. Did the resentful relatives and
friends loose because someone else won? These
friends of ours didn’t change the way they treated others. Their story came
out when they told us how grateful they were that we remained their friends when
the others now rejected them.
I think the founding fathers of our country did us a disservice
when they declared that "we are all created equal". Yes, we should all
expect equal opportunity and equal protection under the law, but I think Paul
does a better job when he states that we all have different gifts. It is up to
each of us to define our goals based on our unique talents. If we believe that
the one who dies with the most toys is the winner, we are bound to loose.
People
are usually aware that they should be chartable to those less fortunate and to
go a little out of their way to show them some respect. At the same time we
often feel inferior to those who are more fortunate than we.
God
looks at the gifts he has given us and judges on what we have done as stewards
of those gifts. If someone gets
more than we, that does not diminish what we have. They have not taken some of "our
share".
We should, indeed, redefine
"Winning".
Don
Plefka
5/26/96
