“Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.” – AESOP
Tony Robbins said in his book, “money can’t change who we are. All it does is magnify our true natures. If you’re mean and selfish, you have more to be mean and selfish with. If you’re grateful and loving, you have more to appreciate and give.”
Think about 2008. Think about one of the biggest financial meltdowns in American history. What did you experience? How did it affect you? Your family?
I was literally called in by my boss at the college and he said, “listen, arsenio, you know longer have a summer budget. Therefore, you cannot work for the rest of the summer.” He said that in June. Could you imagine what was going through my mind? Me now having a big rent to pay in a bachelor’s pad with my best friend near Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada?
Our reactions to that year was fear, anger, resignation, even resolve.
Adolf merke was the 94th richest man in Germany back in 2007 with a net worth of $12 billion USD.
in 2008, he decided to take a massive bet in the stock market, and guess what?….he lost. Big time. Almost three-quarters of a billion dollars. What did he do? Well, after all the losses here in black ink, he literally wrote a suicide notes and walked in front of a speeding train – killing himself.
Get this, he was trying to get loans to pay off some debt before the suicide but he was declined. Just a few days later, the loans went through and he died a rich man, having 9 billion dollars.
Did he die for money? Well, money was an identity. It made him significant. He thought if he lost it, his status would deplete.
How often have we attached our identity to money at some level? A little more than we’d all like to admit.
On the other hand, you have billionaires who would like to die broke, like Chuck Feeney. He’s helping create peace in Northern Island, to fighting AIDS in South Africa, to educating kids in Chicago. The most amazing thing about this is that he does it anonymously. He doesn’t want people knowing that it’s him.
Tony said earlier, ‘if you don’t master money, at some level, it’s going to master you.”
There are six human needs that Tony talks about and that I will talk about in the next blog.
If you want to hear me speaking instead of just reading, my podcast is down below. Just copy and paste and stay tuned for the next blog!
Podcast – https://www.spreaker.com/episode/10251418
Arsenio's ESL Podcast 
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