HOW TO TELL WHEN YOU ARE RICH Introduction This story, How To Tell When You Are Rich

by Harvey Mackay, reproduced on a piece of paper from a book, was inside a thin folder bearing the words Bedtime stories for you. The folder was lying on the bedside table of Hiltons Garden Inn in Montreal. After having read it out of curiosity I smiled and said to myself, Wow! Thanks, Harvey, for sharing this thought. It reaffirms what Id thought all along. To Mackay, if you can afford to take time off to enjoy the simple pleasures of life then you are rich, regardless of how much money youre earning. On the other hand, if you think that taking time off to enjoy life is simply a waste of time, time that can be better spent in making more money, then money is the rider and you are the donkey. Hence we are given the choice of (i) being the rider and using money as the donkey or (ii) being the donkey and letting money be the rider. T.S.M. HOW TO TELL WHEN YOU ARE RICH When I was a kid in Minnesota, watermelon was a delicacy. One of my fathers buddies, Bernie, was a prosperous fruit-and-vegetable wholesaler, who operated a warehouse in St. Paul. Every summer, when the first watermelons rolled in, Bernie would call. Dad and I would go to Bernies warehouse and take up our positions. Wed sit on the edge of the dock, feet dangling, and lean over, minimizing the volume of juice we were about to spill on ourselves. Bernie would take his machete, crack our first watermelon, hand us both a big piece and sit down next to us. Then wed bury our faces in watermelon, eating only the heart the reddest, juiciest, firmest, most seedfree, most perfect part and throw away the rest. Bernie was my fathers idea of a rich man. I always thought it was because he was such a successful businessman. Years later, I realized that what my father admired about Bernies wealth was less its substance than

its application. Bernie knew how to stop working, get together with friends and eat only the heart of the melon. What I learned from Bernie is that being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to eat only the heart of the watermelon. Others are rich without ever being more than a paycheck ahead. If you dont take time to dangle your feet over the dock and chomp into lifes small pleasures, your career is probably overwhelming your life. For many years, I forgot that lesson Id learned as a kind on the loading dock. I was too busy making all the money I could. Well, Ive relearned it. I hope I have time left to enjoy the accomplishments of others and to take pleasure in the day. Thats the heart of the watermelon. I have learned again to throw the rest away. Finally, I am rich. Harvey Mackay