The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

Over in the Star Wars blogosphere, I just put something up about the acquisition and use of power. As I was reading a Celtic mythology anthology by Peter Berresford Ellis, I can across this proverb:

"It is not he who has little that's poor, but he who desires more."

This is interesting because I was reading a money article on the internet a few months ago (I don't remember who wrote it). The author stated that giving to charity makes you feel wealthy for a couple of reasons. One, you realize there are those worse off than you, and, two, you feel kind of philanthropic about yourself.

When you do not "desire more" you are also accepting of others and making the attempt to be happy with yourself.

Kind of like the Gin Blossoms, I suppose:

"Don't expect too much of me and you'll never be let down."

Or, like jkthunder says,

"The higher you rise, the further you fall."

The "desire more" in here can be deceiving. It's not a call to ditch your car and clothes and other stuff. It's a call to put it in perspective. You need to look at Maslowe's Pyramid and figure out where you're at on it. Put your position into perspective.

Some may call this humility, but I think "humility" misses the point. Humility is a part of it, but not all of it. I think it's more about acceptance and realization of the situation.

I do appreciate where I'm at in life. I'd like to think that once I get to be the "rich man" I'll appreciate it even more without coveting that which others possess. Being poor is relative -- that's Economics 101, someone is always going to be poor. So, according to this proverb, it is the state of desire that creates poverty, or the perception thereof ("perception is reality" and that whole line of thinking).