I just reread a timeless classic on managing your finances by George C. Clayson. The Richest Man in Babylon was written well before my grandmother was born and it takes place in a time before most ancient civilizations were founded. It is a fictional tale about a man who seemed to have all the luck. He had vast properties, traveled the world, had large sums of gold, and his wealth was even greater than that of the king. Its written in a nice story format, but it has so many lessons about money and goes into great detail about why we desire it.
The quest for wealth is older than our written history and older than our cultural and religious traditions. Now after more than 6 and half thousand years of civilization, it still remains elusive to most of us. The book seeks to answer the question, why do most of us work so hard and yet have so little to show for it at the end of our lifetimes. What is our relationship with money and why is it such an unnattainable thing?
There are those of us who do make lots of money, only to be unhappy and wanting more. Are our desires running our life? Is our capacity to build wealth limited to our own output.
When you get a chance, pick up the book and drop a comment or two. I would love to talk more about it.