INSIGHTS ON LIFE

The Will to Dare: A Missing Link Between Intelligence and Material Wealth

Days ago, I asked the question why intelligent people are not rich, intelligence being brilliancy in matters of books and thoughts. The category of the intelligent in this case will include professors, university lecturers, and all people who have logical and sound argument on various aspects of life and existence. That may include you too. 

I had my answers to the question before I threw it out and my train of thought goes like this. 

First, as people have come to know, it is inappropriate to define wealth or being rich alone on the basis of abundant material possessions. Riches are mental, spiritual, of health, and in the possession of many of life's goodness of which love, happiness, friendship, and peace of mind are part of. 

Secondly, intelligent people who are not rich in money have a quality that even some of the richest people on earth do not have. You know what it is? It is contentment. However alluring the goodies of life lure them, they are okay with what they have, only disturbed if what they have cannot meet the demands of a many pressing situations. Contentment is a precious quality most people lack. It is the reason why there is priceless smile on the face of a poor family living in the most remote part of the world, it is the reason why many poor people are some of the best humans alive. Their nature is divine, their well-being undisturbed by the desires of modern humans which bring about the rat race. 

The third is, in a world where "the good life" is superbly enjoyed by the abundance of money, a degree of happiness can only be secured, or, to use an economic term, bought. Not having enough money can hinder one's enjoyment of life. We have seen acts of desperation of men and women who want to cut a slice of this good life. I want it too. I know you do too. You want to eat the best foods, see breath-taking sights of this beautiful world, and enjoy all the goodness of modern life. You see it displayed to you on television and you are pained of not getting yours. Because money is what you need to enjoy life, the acquisition of it becomes the new ambition.

This brings me to the fourth point which is the will to dare for money. Financial wealth is one of the goals of human life. Money gets you "all the good things of life" even if the happiness in these is only ephemeral. To get enough money, you have to dare for it and this ambition automatically brings you into servant-hood to the principles and rules of making money. This is where intelligent people fall wanting. Their book knowledge brings them low in comparison to unintelligent people who apply streetwise skills in getting money. Many intelligent people don't want to play the dog eat dog game, they don't want to suffer the stress of risk, the pain of failure, the ordeal of setting up businesses, the frustration of coming up with ideas, the task of leading employees, and the imperative of reinvesting money to make more money. Many intelligent people want to stay away from these troubles, they want to maintain their peace, therefore contentment is their working formula. 

If you want to be rich, you must of necessity become a farmer. Not a farmer with hoes and tractors, but a farmer who takes the seeds of thought and goes through the hard work of planting these ideas seeds, watering them with principles, time and effort, in order to see your seeds germinate into the financial harvest you want. Because professors haven't lived this life, they cannot make it a course in universities. How do you teach what you don't know?

Book knowledge is not the same as experiential knowledge. You understand. It then becomes logical that if you will not subject yourself to the rules of making money, you will become a crook. Even crookedness applies a measure of these principles, however badly. 

So, my reasoning is that intelligent people are not financially rich because they do not have the will to dare to be rich as these will make them servants to the Laws of Riches.

Do you agree? Do you have a contrary opinion?

Please leave your thoughts and opinion in the comments box provided below.

Have a fantastic Sunday evening.

Victor Negro is based in Lagos. He writes on matters of life and existence as he thinks, preferring better understanding of common questions.