Preface 1 and 2

 Hey there!! I'm following Neil Pasricha's advice-except in reverse- of creating a blog and then turning it into a book, in Neil's case The Book of Awesome. I have created a little gratitude guide called The Rich Buddha and over the course of 2023 will place the chapters in this new blog! Hope you enjoy the content and please reach out anytime. 

i

Preface 1: A Global Pandemic

It is May of 2020 as I write this. We are approximately 70 days in of a worldwide lockdown.  "Stay at Home." "Shelter in Place." "Socially isolate."  These were the slogans of our directions. Protocols were put in place- stay 6ft apart, wear a face mask (so many versions and confusion over what works and what doesn’t!) The live concert industry was shut down, theatre and restaurants also. Travel was down 90%.  The Covid 19 virus spread quickly throughout the world.

It proved very divisive; the two main camps being, anti-vaxxers, and the vaccinated.

Governments said “we can’t mandate the vaccine, but we will say you can’t attend concerts (not that there were any) travel, go to restaurants, etc. basically they took away all civil liberties in lieu of not being able to mandate it.  Some of us chose to get the vaccine-which turned into 2 shots, then a 3^rd booster then even a 4^th- which is interesting to consider as no other vaccine needed to be implemented with that frequency, so we could see our loved ones that were perhaps in care homes. Even then, there was a period where those facilities, as seniors were the most vulnerable, were completely closed to visitors. Many even lost their loved ones and were not able to see them on their deathbeds or attend a funeral.  All in all, an incredibly stressful time which led to a huge upsurge in mental health challenges, that many of us are still healing from.

I won’t go into “conspiracy” theories here or state my opinion as to the cause of the virus or what might be behind it. That is for others to dismantle and analyze.

I just wanted to provide context for an example of needing to find things to be grateful for when all around you things seem to be falling apart.

ii

Preface 2: What’s wrong with the world anyway?

 

      Firstly, this is not a book about the Buddha, though I may refer to him on several occasions throughout as he was in fact, a pretty cool guy. Neither is it a book about Buddhism but there are aspects of this religion that are core principles, specifically, some of the teachings of the Eight-Fold Path are very applicable to an attitude of gratitude, which is a strong theme throughout the book.  Nor is it a book about being rich in a literal, material, or monetary sense, more in a figurative way, in that if you count all the blessings in your life from simple sustenance, joys of family, health and leisure to the wonderful abundance and beauty our world offers in nature, you will feel very rich indeed.  So what is the book about and why doesn’t the title reflect its content you ask?! This is in fact, a book about you, and you being the best version of yourself you can be.  It is a book that in the midst of a world economic crisis will help you to appreciate what you do have. It espouses the doctrine of “good enough”. For example, you may not have water running out of a high-end designer tap but you have fresh, clean running water, unlike 1/3rd of the world. You may not live in an 18-room mansion but surely you have a roof over your head that provides shelter-walk through a big city lately? This is not true for many of the homeless living in boxes. This book will help show you that everything is relative; there is a famous Sufi quote: “I cursed the fact that I had no shoes till I met the man who had no feet."

 On the other side of the coin, even during a global recession, we have a cultural obsession with the self. This seems rather indulgent in context of such dire circumstances that many people find themselves in. However, I must confess, I am a of a personal development seeker myself, and I don’t really see this as a contradiction. Remember on boarding a plane the flight attendants suggest putting the oxygen mask on yourself even before a family member- because if you’re not breathing, you’re no help to anyone. So I see improving yourself as vital to providing the best help for others. So, I've read all the books; I've done the Tony Robbins courses. I've come to a conclusion. They’re great for motivating you and lighting a fire under your butt for about a week and then your back to surfing you know what on the Internet, sports, buddies and loafing. These courses make you feel like if you’re not achieving at a CEO level, you're a loser. You supposed to be in an athlete’s shape, with movie stars smile, have a trophy wife-perfect relationship by the way- and because you're such an expert, a CEO’s salary. More than this, as the now classic ‘new thought movement’ book/DVD that has become a cultural phenomenon suggests, you're supposed to be able to just visualize all this and it will 'magically manifest’ in your life!

In all its sarcasm and derision of many of the popular self-help methods I do actually hope you'll learn something. Just be easy on yourself. A fine wine takes time, Rome wasn't built in a day and a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step... 

 So maybe the underlying message in this book isn’t to ask, “What’s wrong with the world (and people) but, What’s right with it?! 

Now get to it- go make yourself useful, appreciate the gifts you have to share, but do so not to push ahead and over-achieve but to simply be of service... In Gratitude.