Who Has the Key to Happiness?

Rabeder is giving his millions away because he just returned from a 3-week vacation with his wife in exotic places such as Hawaii, South America and South Africa. Didn't he have a wonderful time? Apparently, a little too "wonderful" and the feelings of guilt and gluttony were too much for him to handle.

Rabeder has already raffled off his Alpine luxury villa along with his 42-acre estate in France's countryside. Next up on the auction block: Six gliders. All toll, his estimated fortune weighs in about $4.7 million and when it's gone, he intends on moving into a small wooden hut in the mountains of Innsbruck. Makes you wonder if his wife is going with him?!

There is much to be said in the bible about money. In fact, one of the most misquoted bible verses of all time is in 1 Timothy 6:10,

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil."
People have misquoted this verse by changing it to read,

"Money is the root of all evil." This is not so. It is the "love" of money that brings so much grief to so many people.

If you read the second part of the same verse (the part people often forget to read) - it says,

"Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

Just like a beautiful garden that becomes overrun with weeds that need to be pulled out by the roots or they return again and again and overpower the flowers. You have to weed out the "love of money" to enjoy your money.

Back to the millionaire - is giving it all away really the answer to his grief? Wouldn't it have been better to share the wealth, be a good steward over the money that he has been blessed with? Sharing his good fortune with the less-fortunate?

I think as humans, we all too often run from the very things that we've been blessed with. When the obvious gifts overwhelm us, we cast them aside and opt for a scaled-down version of a life without anything. Is this truly the key to happiness? I think not. We were meant to live "an abundant life."

If he ends up in the hut as a hapless and sad old man, I wonder if he'll rethink his decision.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/georgepitcher/100025517/millionaire-karl-rabeder-gives-away-all-his-money-thats-not-good

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/11/karl-rabeder-austrian-mil_n_458774.html