By Jon Ward
Columnist

I’m rich. Now, you might assume that I must have come into money to now consider myself a rich man. But you’d be wrong. As many of us know, money is not what makes a rich man.

Money is a necessity of life. We must have it for our day-to-day lives. Many people are driven to attain money as a means to live “the good life.” However, money can be a dirty and evil master.

So many people today think having a lot of money makes one person better than another. I see countless people rushing to the lottery machines hoping to win “the big one.” Yet statistics reveal many lottery winners are bankrupt within five years.

Here is the way to be a rich man (or woman): Being rich does not require money. It does require love.

I was blessed years ago to meet a girl who caught my attention for reasons I did not know. She was beautiful, but there was something else that caught my attention. A month later I got up the nerve to ask her on a date, and she actually said yes. Three months later I put a ring on her finger, and we started our journey down the road known as life.

Now fast-forward 14 years. I have been able to witness the birth of four beautiful children. I have been able to experience a true, pure love that knows no boundaries. I have been able to see the simplicity of life through a child’s eyes in utter amazement. I have learned there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome by having your other half with you at every step.

I have been blessed beyond anything I have ever deserved. I appreciate my wife and my children without interruption. I have attained a richness that could not be bought with money. It could not be bought with anything.

For those of you who share a similar experience, congratulations. For those of you who don’t, hold out for that one special person who will change your world for the better. The one in whose eyes you can see your children. The one who goes so far beyond any lust or trophy that you could acquire. When you have 100-percent true, undying love that is stronger than steel, you have everything.

I have everything I could ever want in life. I am content with what I have. For it is not my toys or belongings that have made me rich. My richness came from God. He gave me my beautiful wife and four great children. Money seems so meaningless in comparison.

If you, too, want to be a rich man, put your eyes on God first. The rest will come in due time.

Jon Ward lives in Eclipse. Email him at TigPooh2@aol.com.