If I was rich…

We live in a society where money drives a lot of things. It’s not really a good thing but it’s just how everything pans out. Status is bought through money. Happiness is supposedly bought through money (I don’t think it brings true happiness but some may beg to differ). It used to be that we would use cash to purchase everything. Now it’s driven by credit cards and is being further evolved into using cards that can tap against a machine and get your money. I’m sure everyone has thought about it before but what would you do if you were rich? Who would you use the money on? Would it be all for you mainly? Would give some to charity? Today I wanted to post on what I would do if I was rich. This is not an attempt to make myself seem high and mighty or anything like that. Most of these things I would gladly do and anyone that knows me would agree wholeheartedly.

I’ll make it into a list here so that it’s easier to follow. Some of these might seem random but I think it would put a smile on people’s faces.

- Pay off all my debt. College, my car, credit cards. Having those gone from both Krista and I would be very nice indeed.
- Pay off my mom’s house and give money to make repairs and upgrades. My mom deserves to live in a good, working home so I’d like to pay off the 12 or so years left of payments
- Divide a lot of the money and give it to all my family and all of Krista’s family as well. To me, lots of money doesn’t do any good. I’ve always been one to help others out and I think by spreading your wealth with family, you not only will have very appreciate family members but it really reinforces the fact that family will always stick together.
- Give a considerable amount to many different charities such as The American Red Cross, United Way, Make A Wish Foundation. There are so many charities and causes out there. It would be awesome to be able to contribute to many of them and make a difference
- Start a foundation of my own: one focused on helping people grow their small businesses. It would be great if you give a head start to many people to make their dreams come true
- Contribute back to the University of Notre Dame. Going to school at ND changed my life. It wasn’t only just the education but the people and the environment. Even when things got tough for me during my final year of college, many people helped me out and I can never repay that back to Notre Dame
- Build a big community center with a huge bowling alley. I’ve always loved bowling and want to bring the popularity of the sport back for others. Besides it’d be cool to retire and run a bowling alley
- Adopt a lot of children. I think Krista and I agree on this one and it’d be really great if we could help out as many children as we possibly could especially those that have special needs.
- Leave large tips for waiters and waitresses. I know first hand how it feels to work for tips as I did that in high school. Nothing puts a bigger smile on your face than a really great tip!
- Give all the homeless people I see gift certificates to restaurants. I know that a lot of people think that they use money they earn on the streets for drugs or alcohol. I still feel for these guys and would love to buy a gift certificate to like McDonalds or something so they can get some warm meals in them.
- Take a trip across the world. I have not been fortunate enough to see a lot of the world. I got a taste of India through work but there is so much to see and so much perspective to shape still. I would love the chance to do this.
- Live near the beach. I think it’d be awesome to see that every single day.

As you can see, much of my list are things that I would like to do for others and not necessarily for myself. It’s not that I wouldn’t enjoy spending a lot of money on myself, it’s just that to really feel rich in life I know that you have to do good in the world. Many times that means spreading the wealth and spreading your skills or money to others. This is what I would do if I was rich. One day I will be and one day I will be able to pursue my passion of helping a lot of people out in life!

~The Lermz