to be rich or have good friends?

Would you rather have plenty of money or have good friends?

If you ask someone who has plenty of money, and is truly unhappy, they will tell you "to have good friends."
If you ask someone who enjoys having lots of money, and wouldn't know a good friend from a hole in the wall, they might tell you either one, probably "to have money."
If you ask someone who has "been through things," or "knows the value of..." they will tell you "to have good friends."

So, then I asked myself: Why can't you have both? What does God want (albeit hokey)?


I've concluded that neither of those goals really matters. My first goal would be to be happy and content with myself, which comes through working on yourself and a relationship with some spiritual force. Yes, I am playing the God card. I'm not much for regular church attendance or things proper or for talking about the G word too much, but I can't see how I would get anywhere without God. And I use the word God to mean whatever sort of spiritual being / path you follow. And this is not to say that God does everything and controls everything, and I do nothing, because if you are going there with that, you are going in the wrong direction. God's will for us is the best thing, and leads to spiritual growth, but we can choose to do what we want at any time. That's the fun (possibly tortuous) part. My experience is that when I do positive things and try to be a good person, I feel good, and things in the "universe" seem to move smoother - some newfangled celebrities would say it all has to do with your attitude, or your PERSPECTIVE. Either way, it's all the same thing. Some spiritualists will tell you put good out there, and good will come back. It's all the same idea. So you get God in your life, and you get good, and some good feelings come. So, the idea from here would be that once you are in this spiritual place, the rest of it really doesn't matter because you are truly fulfilled.

Sometime I see people with boat loads of money, and they buy whatever they want - sometimes some really stupid or totally overpriced items. And I think how do I get there? But that's not what it's all about. I don't know how someone could appreciate anything unless they have yearned for it and then accomplished it. Then, I listen to some of these people talk, and everything comes to light. Usually they fall into one of two categories: they've worked really hard or they are ignorant. Ignorant to any other way of life, ignorant to how people struggle, ignorant to things that matter other than that Prada purse or Gucci la la gear.

Then I get to thinking about Buddhism and the ideas about the afterlife I learned about years ago. I remember that in each life we transcend spiritually. Then I think maybe these people are on a different plane somewhere? At the same time, the principle of humility is important as I am no better or no worse than anyone else.

So you take all that spiritual stuff, mix it all together in a big bowl with some more of the same, and ultimately it seems that if I live a God-centered life and do my best, help others --> I'll feel good --> my perspective/attitude will be in the right place --> everything from there will work itself out. In the mean time, I keep working toward my physical (as opposed to spiritual) goals, and if I'm going in the right direction it will keep working, and if I'm not it won't work out...as it always has. I need to slow down and appreciate the present and stop worrying about where I am going to be, especially because it's only an illusion that I have control over it anyway.