Could This Possibly Be The One Thing, The Wealthy Envy Us For ?

The New " It " must have of this century...?

What does being wealthy entail ? Travelling, shopping, eating out at luxurious restaurants, waiting at airports and also having various sets of friends, or rather acquaintances, depending on where you are vacationing at the time. Sounds fantastic and exciting.

Wealth is something we all dream of at some point in our life. It is great to paint out our individual picture of it, and I think we all have done so. Mostly after purchasing a Lotto ticket ! I know I have.

But try and picture it from another angle. Constantly being away, to sample all that the world has to offer and what one feels is the thing to do, when wealthy, could be tiring and lonely after a while. Living in various places for a few months here and there, is exciting but it comes with the label of being a semi-stranger, who does not quite belong...an outsider.

Now picture this ideal, that we have here in our part of Burgenland ( of course, I as the observer and newly settled here, am not quite part of it, yet ).
We had a local ' Do ' last night. The local volunteer Fire Brigade is raising funds, and thus catering for an evening at the local hall. The ' who's who ' of the village was there to have an evening out and also to give support.

The thing that I find so wonderful and which is extremely elusive in our modern society, is that people stay their whole life here. Sure they go away to study etc, but mostly they come back. So when you see them at functions, you can only envy the fact, that they mostly know their friends from kindergarten age. Priceless in this today's age, where most of us tend to be nomads following work opportunities.

Staying and living in the same place year-in and year-out, lets you plant your roots. How else are you going to make those real connections. Here in the country, a handshake still counts, everyone pitches in when you are in need, and parties abound. When you drive around, everyone greets you and knows your name !

The irony of this is, that living in a small place, you don't have the urge to constantly acquire new things ( with our internet being ' faster than a speeding bullet ', you can still buy whatever you desire ) Everything else is reasonable, so you save your money. Well, I think, that there are lots of wealthy people living extremely fulfilling lives in small villages !

I can only recommend it. Plus, I feel that this " content " lifestyle will be the thing to dream of and strive for, for all those " mice " running on the treadmill of success.

Biggi