If I had a million dollars...
I was watching a television show recently when this Barenaked Ladies song … (wait, wait, I know – it sounds risqué. The name of the group is, but the song, like all the songs they write, is not at all risqué. They just came up with a weird name) Where was I? Oh yeah, the song.
The Barenaked Ladies song “If I Had A Million Dollars” was played during a scene in this show, and the lyrics to it started me thinking. What if we did have a million dollars, tomorrow, waiting in our bank accounts when we woke up? How would that change our lives? What would we do differently?
The way the song goes, the singer starts out saying he’d buy his girl a house, nice furniture for it, a fur coat (but not a real fur coat, that’s mean, he tells us) and a fancy car. However, as the song continues, he starts to deviate into more unusual territory, telling her he wants to use some of it to build a tree fort in the yard, bring in a mini fridge, and stock it with pre-wrapped sausages and Kraft dinners. Not exactly what we’d think of when we start writing those first few checks. But it made me wonder. What exactly would I do with it?
The easy things come to mind – pay off the house (scratch that – buy a nicer house, on a lake), buy a new truck, put money away for the kids. But then it occurs to me. Take the taxes out of it, and that leaves me with about $650,000. Buy a nice new house on a lake – in today’s market, a shack near Shantytown Lake would run me $500,000+. Buy a new truck - $35,000. Money for kids’ college – at least $50,000 a piece, and probably more. Suddenly, realistically, I’d be in debt again. So is it worth it? Would it make me a better person? Would it make my marriage stronger?
Now what if I took that million dollars, and instead of buying a new house, I used it to buy materials for a huge tree fort, big enough for my wife, our two kids, and me? What if I stocked it with fun foods to eat and got everyone up there to spend the night under the stars? Would that make my marriage, and family relationship, stronger?
What if instead of buying a new truck, I used some of the money to take my family on a trip to see new places and learn new things? What if instead of a fur coat, I used the money to help a poor family buy coats for their kids? Would it make me feel better now that I’d become more aware of my surroundings, learned something new, and helped someone out in need?
The surprising thing is, we don’t need a million dollars to accomplish those things. You don’t even need a tree fort. You just need a yard, maybe a blanket, and your family. You don’t need an exotic destination or 5-star hotel. You just need your car, a road map, and a Saturday. You don’t need a mink coat. You just need $100 to go to an outlet mall and pick up some winter coats for that family next door. In fact, if you can’t find a coat for that price or can’t afford the $100, use whatever money you can spare to buy the family some groceries. It’s easier to feel warm with a full belly.
Too often, we use the excuse of money to keep us from doing what’s really important. We think, “If I just had more money, I could make a better life for my family.” Really? Latrell Sprewell, an NBA basketball player, made a well-publicized complaint a while back that on his current salary he couldn’t afford to feed his kids. His 2004-05 annual salary? $14.6 million. That’s for one year, people. His total contract, paid out over 5 years, is $61.9 million, and yet he can’t feed his kids. The lesson here is that no matter how much you make, it’s never enough. Never enough to buy happiness. Never enough to buy peace of mind.
We can’t earn enough money to get happiness, but we can BE happy. We can make a difference in someone else’s life. We can be closer to our family. It’s in our point of view. Not our position, our annual salary, or our square footage, but in what we do with the time we’ve been given – and make no mistake: a minute is much harder to earn back than a dollar is.
Take a minute to call a friend or family member just to say “Hi!” Next weekend, plan a road trip. Next month, find a family that needs some help. You’ll be instantly rich in your minimal wage.
Here’s the kicker – at the end of that song, the singer says, “If I had a million dollars, I’d buy your love…If I had a million dollars, I’d be rich.” I think that’s what a lot of us would be doing – buying our family’s love. And ultimately, all we could say is, “I’m rich.” But is that really important? Or is eating a Kraft dinner with your family under the stars more important than any expensive candlelight dinner at a fancy restaurant? I don’t know about you, but given my choice of food and mood lighting, I’ll take Kraft dinners and starlight.
The Barenaked Ladies song “If I Had A Million Dollars” was played during a scene in this show, and the lyrics to it started me thinking. What if we did have a million dollars, tomorrow, waiting in our bank accounts when we woke up? How would that change our lives? What would we do differently?
The way the song goes, the singer starts out saying he’d buy his girl a house, nice furniture for it, a fur coat (but not a real fur coat, that’s mean, he tells us) and a fancy car. However, as the song continues, he starts to deviate into more unusual territory, telling her he wants to use some of it to build a tree fort in the yard, bring in a mini fridge, and stock it with pre-wrapped sausages and Kraft dinners. Not exactly what we’d think of when we start writing those first few checks. But it made me wonder. What exactly would I do with it?
The easy things come to mind – pay off the house (scratch that – buy a nicer house, on a lake), buy a new truck, put money away for the kids. But then it occurs to me. Take the taxes out of it, and that leaves me with about $650,000. Buy a nice new house on a lake – in today’s market, a shack near Shantytown Lake would run me $500,000+. Buy a new truck - $35,000. Money for kids’ college – at least $50,000 a piece, and probably more. Suddenly, realistically, I’d be in debt again. So is it worth it? Would it make me a better person? Would it make my marriage stronger?
Now what if I took that million dollars, and instead of buying a new house, I used it to buy materials for a huge tree fort, big enough for my wife, our two kids, and me? What if I stocked it with fun foods to eat and got everyone up there to spend the night under the stars? Would that make my marriage, and family relationship, stronger?
What if instead of buying a new truck, I used some of the money to take my family on a trip to see new places and learn new things? What if instead of a fur coat, I used the money to help a poor family buy coats for their kids? Would it make me feel better now that I’d become more aware of my surroundings, learned something new, and helped someone out in need?
The surprising thing is, we don’t need a million dollars to accomplish those things. You don’t even need a tree fort. You just need a yard, maybe a blanket, and your family. You don’t need an exotic destination or 5-star hotel. You just need your car, a road map, and a Saturday. You don’t need a mink coat. You just need $100 to go to an outlet mall and pick up some winter coats for that family next door. In fact, if you can’t find a coat for that price or can’t afford the $100, use whatever money you can spare to buy the family some groceries. It’s easier to feel warm with a full belly.
Too often, we use the excuse of money to keep us from doing what’s really important. We think, “If I just had more money, I could make a better life for my family.” Really? Latrell Sprewell, an NBA basketball player, made a well-publicized complaint a while back that on his current salary he couldn’t afford to feed his kids. His 2004-05 annual salary? $14.6 million. That’s for one year, people. His total contract, paid out over 5 years, is $61.9 million, and yet he can’t feed his kids. The lesson here is that no matter how much you make, it’s never enough. Never enough to buy happiness. Never enough to buy peace of mind.
We can’t earn enough money to get happiness, but we can BE happy. We can make a difference in someone else’s life. We can be closer to our family. It’s in our point of view. Not our position, our annual salary, or our square footage, but in what we do with the time we’ve been given – and make no mistake: a minute is much harder to earn back than a dollar is.
Take a minute to call a friend or family member just to say “Hi!” Next weekend, plan a road trip. Next month, find a family that needs some help. You’ll be instantly rich in your minimal wage.
Here’s the kicker – at the end of that song, the singer says, “If I had a million dollars, I’d buy your love…If I had a million dollars, I’d be rich.” I think that’s what a lot of us would be doing – buying our family’s love. And ultimately, all we could say is, “I’m rich.” But is that really important? Or is eating a Kraft dinner with your family under the stars more important than any expensive candlelight dinner at a fancy restaurant? I don’t know about you, but given my choice of food and mood lighting, I’ll take Kraft dinners and starlight.
posted by The Shadow at Friday, June 09, 2006
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