I have 2 eyes. Each one is worth more than a billion dollars to me. So that is at least two billion right there. I have a nose with two LOVELY nostrils through which I breathe. In eighth grade a nice classmate arranged a vicious meeting between his fist and my nose and afterwards [when I got it fixed] my nostrils were blocked up for a day. Not pleasant. Price for my nose? More than 3 billion. I have 2 DELIGHTFUL kidneys which have been working splendidly for over 41 blissful years [with many many breaks in the bliss] cleaning my blood. Kidney price tag? Over 7 billion. Dialysis just DOESN'T fit into my schedule or things I want to do. I also have two parents on whom I can't put a price tag. I have a wife and five holy children. I have a roof over my head which I believe much more convenient than having a roof UNDER my head. I have wonderful grandparents, too [unfortunately they no longer inhabit our world but I am glad to have them in the World of Souls]. I also have a library of over 100,000 volumes! Digitalized of course. I also have - and this is HUGE - food to eat. Every day except for Yom Kippur, Tisha B'av and before blood tests [I love tests that you don't get graded on. Not even pass-fail] I can eat to my heart's desire. What do I lack in this world? BARUCH HASHEM!! HASHEM!! I have a G-d! Try putting a price tag on that one....
Money. I don't LACK money but without going into minute details and printing up my bank statement and posting it for all to see, I am not going to make it this year onto the Forbes list of the world's richest men [although I am one of the four richest men on Rechov Hatzvi 9 which consists of... four families] and not only because of my modesty.
So why am I not rich? Is it because I am not smart enough? You read this blog and can decide for yourself if I seem intelligent but one thing is clear to me - many people much wealthier than I don't seem much brighter:).
How about connections? I either know directly or know someone who knows just about every single prominent Orthodox Jew alive. That is well-connected. So it isn't that.
Maybe it's education? I don't have a Harvard MBA. Yes, but I used to dream of playing in the NBA and my father in-law went to Harvard so I ain't so far off. Anyway - plenty of people got rich
So what is it??
I will tell you what I think. I am not motivated to do anything one must do to make large sums of money. One must work his tail off, day and night, with a burning desire to hit the jackpot. One must be ready to overcome all obstacles in seeking his goal. One must be DRIVEN! When I was recently in the States I was "driven". By my friend Yoni to Queens and back. By my friend Shmuel to Westchester and back. By my friend R' Aharon to Atlantic Beach. By my friend Jordan to the train. By my friend Eitan around Long Island. And by various other friends. Also by Muhammed the cab driver from "Palestine" to Riverdale [didn't want to tell Muhammed that Palestine got a new name...]. But not to that type of "driven" do I refer. I refer to a HUNGER for financial success. I just don't have it. Maybe I should get therapy for this malady but I don't think I can afford it. Meaning, I can't solve the problem of not having enough money because I don't have enough money:):). If you want to get rich you must first be highly motivated to so [or conveniently come from a family that owns 20 buildings or so on the Upper West Side].
Where am I taking this?
In the Mir Yeshiva in pre-war Europe some of the students could not avoid the draft and had to serve in the army. The Mashgiach Reb Yeruchem, would ask them about their experiences. Once a boy told him how he rode a horse. "How", asked the Mashgiach, "did you know how to ride a horse?"
"Well," replied the student, "they put me on a horse, pointed a gun at me and told me that if I don't ride, I will get shot. So I QUICKLY figured it out."
From here I learned, Reb Yeruchem later explained, that with the right motivation one can do anything.
This is a broad topic which requires more discussion but I will leave here for now...:). I hope you can apply this lesson to your life.
Love and blessings.
