Being Rich · 11 February 2012
I like being rich beyond measure. I like having good health. I like having my loved ones around me. I like my job. I like where God has taken me in life. All of this makes me rich beyond all measure. It would be nice to have a little wealth to go along with all these riches, but if I had to choose between the two, I would choose having a rich, full life. Still, thoughts of wealth meander through my head from time to time.
This recent thought of wealth comes from having watched the movie, Fiddler on the Roof. The main character, Tevye, sings a song called, If I Were a Rich Man, in which he asks and answers that question for himself over and over again. Unlike Tevye, I would not build a house with a set of stairs going nowhere. Nor would I biddy biddy bum all day long, if I were a wealthy man. But it makes for a nice catchy tune. A tune I cannot get out of my head.
If I could write a musical that got songs stuck in people’s heads or if more people read my blog or if I got one of my books published, I might make a few bucks with a writing gig. But my wife, The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi, assures me that most writers do not make money until they are dead. I would surely hate to be the wealthiest writer to ever die, but I do not want to be the poorest writer to ever live either. Still, my wife’s encouraging words bring me comfort as I think about all those dead writers who will never need to worry about Facebook fan pages or Twitter feeds. Then again, I am sure some of them have more readers, more money, and more Facebook fans than I. (I hope I have more Twitter followers though. After all, having a live feed for a dead person seems oxymoronic.)
I do not know if or when I will become wealthy at this writing thing, but I do know that I will keep doing it even if I never get another reader, fan, or follower. I will write because it is part of who I am. It is like breathing. So whether or not I ever gain any wealth from my writing in this lifetime or beyond does not really matter. I will be richer for doing what I love. And maybe I will even enrich somebody else’s life too.
Being a writer is not the brightest choice for becoming wealthy. But it does not really matter. God has given me a rich life. And even though I might just keep daydreaming while forever singing a song about being a rich man, I do not really need the wealth. After all, I have my health, I am surrounded by my loved ones, and I love my job – I really am rich beyond measure.
© 2012 Michael T. Miyoshi
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