Wealth And Friendship

I can count the number of friends I have on the fingers of one hand and still have some to spare.

I consider myself lucky that my few real friends have stuck by me through wealth and poverty, illness and good health and even on those days I’ve ranted at them like a banshee when things went awfully wrong in my personal and professional life.

These friends are not related, there is no blood connection. However there is chemistry, an understanding, a feeling that they can always be depended on… to tell the truth, to catch me if I were falling off a cliff or just be there when I need them.

I’ve never been unbelievably rich so I really don’t know if my friends will fall out if that ever happens… I hope then that I get to keep both my money and my friends.

The young millionaire on our cover (see page 4 for his story) has no regrets that he does not have a single friend even after three years in Dubai and I respect his feelings.

It did make me wonder though if his lack of friends had anything to do with the fact that he has been showered with an abundance of wealth.

I am reminded of a friend in Africa who although just comfortable had a ton of friends and a family that adored him. Until the day he won a million dollars and his life went down the tubes because he decided he did not want to share his wealth with anyone else other than his immediate family.

His friends and relatives burnt his house, killed his dog and threatened to kidnap his children. The stress of having to safeguard his money and protect his family turned him into an emaciated shell and in a fit of pique he said to me, "I wish I was never rich".

Just goes to show that money, like friendship, can be both a blessing and a curse and when we wish for it we might just get it.

Write in and let us know if you prefer to wish for real friends or real money or both.

Nirmala Janssen
editor@alnisrmedia.com
www.xpress4me.com/letters