When I was young, which wasn’t too long ago, I always dreamed of having more money than my parents.  I wanted to be able to drop whatever I was doing and head off to the mall like my Mom or even leave my office like my Dad and go fishing or even hit the tennis court.  They would always give me the option to do what I wanted to do.  Sometimes, they would just assume I would choose to spend time with one over the other.  Sure, we did things together.  It’s just that when we couldn’t do everything together.  Love had nothing to do with it.  Going to the mall wasn’t my Dad’s favorite thing to do and breaking a nail on the tennis court didn’t win any love points for my Dad.  And, when something didn’t go right with a family outing, somebody blamed it on the fact that they never liked doing that sort of thing in the first place.  But, aside from all that, I remember that wherever my parents went everybody knew them and liked them.  Even to this day, when I enter an establishment that my parents frequented, I am always referred to as “Mr. and Mrs. So-n-Sos-kid.”  Just who gets the respect here, me or my parents?

I can never recall a time when my parents had a falling out over money or anything ever went lacking in the household.  As a child, I had things when other kids in my neighborhood said they wished they had them.  If I asked something of my parents, they saw to it that I got it just as long as I could give a good enough reason other than “…because” for having it.  I must have been a pretty bright and morally correct child because I seemed to know what being spoiled was.  My just knowing that my parents could obviously afford the world for me made me feel privileged.  How forever grateful I am to them.  That’s when I realized the greatest gift they had given me:  their name.  Strangely enough, though I never directly asked them about it, I think my parents knew about the Law of Prosperity and could have written the book, “The Secret,” long before it was conceived by Rhonda Byrne.  My Mom was Oprah and Martha Stewart before they were and my Dad was a nicer mental form of Donald Trump and a more appealing and agile Warren Buffett.  I said all that to so this, I loved it when I heard people wanting to give my parents things.  When I go to the mall with my Mom, quite often a different sales agent each time would offer my Mom his or her discount or would say to her, “I knew I would see you sometime this week, so I put something on hold for you.”  The expression on my Mom’s face was always priceless.  What’s more is I could tell she was genuinely sincere in her response to the sales people.  My Dad wasn’t too different.  People actually wanted to spend time with him and asked if he could bring his family over for dinner.  He was never without a tennis match or a round of golf playmate.  They even asked his advice on certain business opportunities.  I guess what touched my heart more was how other men actually treated him like he was their brother.  My parents were like celebrities who both had underwear tossed at them wherever they went.  The wallet only served as a tip holder.  But when they gave, they gave.

Talk about values…family values.  I learned from my parents that it was necessary to have money – however much money you needed fully depended on the habits you develop also known as needs, addictions, and desires.  If you set yourself up for failure, you have to work harder to stay away from it.  I adored that about my Mom and Dad.  They were so wise.  Now, I won’t say that I didn’t go off the deep end at least once in my rise to adulthood.  It was ever-so-comforting knowing that my parents were there to pull me back to earth reminding me to fully understand my purpose for doing a certain thing.  How on earth could I ever try and hurt the image that they had so effortlessly built for me?  Aside from feeling loved by my parents, I heard them tell me that often.  That really made a difference as well.  It would be such a shame for me to tell someone how my parents were so chummy with the outside world but were complete jerks when it came to me.  What isn’t a shame is that my parents treatment of the outside world made them see me and love me in their absence.  Though my looks may have changed slightly over the years, the mere glance at the name on my driver’s license brought me into being for myself.  It is my wish that in time I will be remembered for the good I have done to and for others.   I don’t know if I will ever be exactly like my parents, though being them isn’t a bad thing, but I must make sure I continue using the Law of Prosperity every day:  Give freely and it will come back to you. 

Do I want Fame or do I want Fortune?  By having a fortune, it would take so much out of you by looking over your shoulder, becoming paranoid, at thinking of ways you have to maintain it.  There may well be a price to pay for fame, but with fame people remember your name.  And what you do with your name could mean the difference between eating and starving to death.  Treat your fame well and respect will be your best friend.  It wouldn’t hurt to have a little of both Fame and Fortune.  Since you can’t take your fortune with you, your name can live on even after you’re gone.