Ezine 661 | 20 September 2019

The Twelve Riches of Life
(continued from last week)
by Napoleon Hill

7. Willingness to Share one’s Blessings

He who has not learned the blessed art of sharing has not learned the true path to happiness, for happiness comes only by sharing. And let it be forever remembered that all riches may be embellished and multiplied by the simple process of sharing them where they may serve others. And let it be also remembered that the space one occupies in the hearts of his fellowmen is determined precisely by the service he renders through some form of sharing his blessings.

Riches which are not shared, whether they be material riches or the intangibles, wither and die like the rose on a severed stem, for it is one of Nature’s first laws that inaction and disuse lead to decay and death, and this law applies to the material possessions of men just as it applies to the living cells of every physical body.

8. A Labor Of Love

There can be no richer man than he who has found a labor of love and who is busily engaged in performing it, for labor is the highest form of human expression of desire. Labor is the liaison between the demand and the supply of all human needs, the forerunner of all human progress, the medium by which the imagination of man is given the wings of action. And all labor of love is sanctified because it brings the joy of self-expression to him who performs it.

9. An Open Mind On All Subjects

Tolerance, which is among the higher attributes of culture, is expressed only by the person who holds an open mind on all subjects at all times. And it is only the man with an open mind who becomes truly educated and who is thus prepared to avail himself of the greater riches of life.

10. Self-discipline

The man who is not the master of himself may never become the master of anything. He who is the master of self may become the master of his own earthly destiny, the “master of his fate, the Captain of his soul.” And the highest form of self-discipline consists in the expression of humility of the heart when one has attained great riches or has been overtaken by that which is commonly called success.

11. The Capacity To Understand People

The man who is rich in the understanding of people always recognizes that all people are fundamentally alike in that they have evolved from the same stem; that all human activities are inspired by one or more of the nine basic motives of life:

1. The emotion of Love
2. The emotion of Sex
3. The desire for Material Gain
4. The desire for Self-Preservation
5. The desire for Freedom of Body and Mind
6. The desire for Self-Expression
7. The desire for perpetuation of Life After Death
8. The emotion of Anger
9. The emotion of Fear

And the man who would understand others must first understand himself. The capacity to understand others eliminates many of the common causes of friction among men. It is the foundation of all friendship. It is the basis of all harmony and cooperation among men. It is the fundamental of major importance in all leadership which calls for friendly cooperation. And some believe that it is an approach of major importance to the understanding of the Creator of all things.

12. Economic Security

The last, though not least in importance, is the tangible portion of the “Twelve Riches.” Economic security is not attained by the possession of money alone. It is attained by the service one renders, for useful service may be converted into all forms of human needs, with or without the use of money.

Henry Ford has economic security, not because he controls a vast fortune of money, but for the better reason that he provides profitable employment for millions of men and women, and also dependable transportation by automobile for still greater numbers of people. The service he renders has attracted the money he controls, and it is in this manner that all enduring economic security must be attained.

Presently I shall acquaint you with the principles by which money and all other forms of riches may be obtained, but first you must be prepared to make application of these principles. Your mind must be conditioned for the acceptance of riches just as the soil of the earth must be prepared for the planting of seeds. When one is ready for a thing it is sure to appear!

This does not mean that the things one may need will appear without a cause, for there is a vast difference between one’s needs and one’s readiness to receive. To miss this distinction is to miss the major benefits which I shall endeavor to convey.

So be patient and let me lead you into readiness to receive the riches which you desire. I shall have to lead my way!

(to be continued next week)

Source: The Master Key to Riches by Napoleon Hill

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Comstock Gold
by Jim Stovall

Recently, I was reading a historic novel about the Gold Rush in California and Nevada in the mid-1800s. It was fascinating to learn how people lived during that time and in that place. There are a multitude of lessons to be learned in observing any situation.

The early miners struck some promising looking veins of gold, and the Gold Rush was on. People came from around the world with nothing more than their hopes and dreams of gold. As the various mines developed, it became much more expensive and labor-intensive to get the ore out of the ground. Many people who came halfway around the world expecting to get rich, only got a job working in someone else’s mine.

These West Coast mines were unique in that there was blue clay that continued to seep into each of the tunnels and mine shafts. They had to assign many workers to do nothing more than scoop up this clay and haul it out of the mine, creating large mountains of this waste blue clay material. This clay removal made the mining process more dangerous and more expensive.

They called in mining experts from around the world to determine how to stop this blue clay from creeping into the mine works. One deep mine expert arrived from Ireland and, as he was walking up the hill to the mine shaft, he noticed the enormous pile of blue clay. He casually commented, “That is the largest pile of silver ore I’ve ever seen.”

As the gold played out, the Comstock Lode became one of the richest deposits of silver the world has ever known. Many fortunes were built in just a few short years—not because of gold, but because of a waste byproduct they had overlooked.

Oftentimes, wisdom and genius come from simply
observing your current situation from another angle.

Unless you and I are interested in silver mines, this may not have any direct application to our lives; however, it may be worth more than the silver or the gold if we will come to understand the significance.

We must ask ourselves the golden question: What opportunities are we overlooking simply because we think we should be working in another direction? Success generally lies in recognizing and exploiting value before anyone else does. You may already have the key to everything you want in your hands. Step back and look at it from a different perspective. Don’t only think about what you see, but think about what other people might see. Oftentimes, wisdom and genius come from simply observing your current situation from another angle.

As you go through your day today, look past the gold and even the silver. You may already possess more than you think.

Today’s the day!
Jim Stovall

Source: Jim Stovall’s Winners Wisdom, Vol. One

Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network as well as a published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker. He may be reached at 5840 South Memorial Drive, Suite 312, Tulsa, OK 74145-9082; by email at Jim@JimStovall.com; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/stovallauthor; or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jimstovallauthor.

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