A rich person is not considered rich, only when the whole family is rich can it be truly considered wealthy. Home is the starting point for everyone and also the final destination for us to return to, so we must find ways to make our family wealthy, that is true wealth. If your family is not wealthy, learn these six sayings from Lưu Bá Ôn, you will understand the reasons.
1. Let go of vanity, diligence and hard work are the highest intelligence
In Mencius, there is a fable about a beggar as follows. There was a man from the state of Tê who always had to eat and drink to his fill before returning home, after returning home he always proudly boasted to his wife that many wealthy and powerful people invited him to dinner, because he had never seen any wealthy and powerful person come to his house. After a while, the wife began to suspect, and secretly followed her husband. Finally, she discovered that her husband was not attending the banquets of the wealthy, but was begging for leftover offerings at the tombs outside the eastern outskirts. From ancient times until now, most people always need to pay attention to appearances, in fact, valuing appearances to a reasonable extent is not wrong. If it is to protect one's own dignity, then there is nothing wrong with valuing appearances.
The ancients had a saying "people need faces, trees need bark", who doesn't want to be respected, even admired. However, if one does things beyond their capabilities just to maintain appearances, appearances become a burden, become a disease that can harm people, and furthermore, appearances often make people lose face rather than gain it. Giving up vanity and profit, accepting the true nature of things, that is true intelligence. However, many poor people still struggle to live just to maintain appearances, and moreover, they do many unreasonable things and waste money.
Some parents see the children of neighbors wearing new clothes, they will also buy one for their own children, if not, they will feel sorry for their children, afraid of being looked down upon by others. There are also some middle-aged people who are very fond of inviting others to dinner when they go out into society, the more people they interact with, the more money they spend. However, those things do not bring any benefits to them. Nghiêm Giới Hòa, a businessman, once said that when doing big things, we are never afraid of shame, our skin must be a little thick, even calloused, put it aside, step on it, it's okay. Therefore, put aside appearances and live your life truthfully, whether it's looking for a job, don't be picky, life will improve on its own.
2. If you want to nurture, you must increase "production"
Try asking why your family is always running out of money year after year. The reason is simply that spending exceeds income, wealthy households when starting out in business are not because they have high income, but because they know how to manage their finances. Even an individual needs to plan for the long term, a family needs to plan long term for themselves, absolutely do not carry the mindset of living day by day. The benefit of saving is to create a foundation for future investment needs. Furthermore, in the future, it can provide more opportunities for future generations to become wealthy. If we get used to emptying our pockets, the next generation will do the same, thus creating a chain of domino effects that make it difficult to become wealthy.
3. A husband and wife sharing hardships is the way of heaven
In the past, husbands often did not like weak, sickly wives, they saw them as unlucky. There were also women who, because they could not bear children, were sent back to their birth mother's home. Nowadays, we are no longer in the era of male superiority and female inferiority, everyone is equal, however, class division in marriage still persists. When a husband and wife start to lack understanding and become cold, each person will seek a third party for themselves or begin to accept temptations from outside.
When divorce occurs, assets will be divided in half, children will begin to suffer, in such a family, how can they become wealthy. When one of the spouses is ill, as long as the other person stays by their side to care for them without leaving during difficult times, they will surely pass through it soon. Over time, they will become wealthy, as the saying goes, harmony brings prosperity, everything originates from one's own home.
4. Do what you are good at, combine forces together
I once read a story like this. In a family, all three siblings were disabled, the mother was very sad, but the father was very optimistic. Because he thought the eldest son couldn't walk, but he could draw, so he supported himself by selling paintings. The second son couldn't move his hands, but his feet were very flexible on stage, he won medals. The hands and feet of the youngest son were both unusable, but his voice was very good, so he relied on singing to make a living.
Families that never become wealthy often do so because they do not see the strengths of each family member, there is no mutual support. The key point is labor skills and financial resources. These three things combined can facilitate development, the harmonious integration and proper responsibilities of each member are very important.
5. Limit seeking help from others, overcome on your own
A boat moves on water not because the boat moves, but because the water flows and impacts the boat. In the past, people used to go with the flow of the water, but nowadays they no longer do so. They have invented an engine that can propel the boat in any direction they want, think about where the engine that propels your family's boat is located. Don't always complain about the unfair society, no one helps you. What you need to do is rely on your own family, think about how to create value. If you have an engine that can go against the current, even if society becomes chaotic, you can still stand firm in one direction.
6. The scene arises from the mind, knowing contentment is happiness
There is a story from the past about a man named Trịnh Tử who ran away to the wilderness and met a farmer who gave him a bowl of bean soup. He felt very delicious as if the bowl of bean soup was so delicious. Later, when he became an official, he returned to the house of that farmer, but the bowl of bean soup no longer tasted as good as before. Perhaps your family is not poor, it's just that you desire too much. Each of us should learn to be content with what we have and strive for a healthier future.
In the Ming dynasty, there was a scholar who taught in a poor area, but every day he offered incense to thank the blue sky for blessings. His wife, who could not understand, asked how he could consider himself blessed when he only had a thin gruel every day. This scholar replied: Living in a place like Thái Bình without war or disaster, that is the greatest happiness. Having clothes to wear every day, having food that is not too cold when it's cold, not having anything to eat when hungry, that is the second greatest happiness. Having no illness or disaster in the body is the third greatest happiness. We have all three of those, isn't that happiness? Many people look at this scholar and often think he is not successful, but he feels happy because he knows contentment. We know that human desires are endless.
There is a saying from the ancients, "a person who does not know contentment is like a snake wanting to swallow an elephant, if it can't swallow it, it wants to spit it out." In life, we can encounter many people who are tightly bound by fame and profit, they always pursue one thing and never stop, if they have one thing, they want something else, if they have it, they want something newer. It is clear that human desires are never satisfied. If one insists on seeking, it will definitely lead to worries, people live to pursue fame and profit in order to enjoy happiness, but many people lose the joy and happiness they already have because of their pursuit. This is the vicious cycle of human beings.
It can be seen how important contentment is to a person's life. Peace of mind is the most important thing because it helps us not chase after external joys and sorrows. The winds of life do not make us sway, that is the peace created by stopping, looking deeply into oneself and every external manifestation with eyes of understanding, often with human, compassionate, and karmic understanding. If it is a bitter fruit that I sow, I will happily accept it, if it is an unkind fate, a difficulty that others give me, I will also accept it, thank you for helping me become more resilient.
There is a very good saying, "don't cry because you don't have shoes to wear" because there are people who don't even have feet to stand on. Therefore, it is said that a skyscraper lying down at night does not exceed 2 meters, a good field can provide food for three meals a day. Knowing contentment, even the poor are happy, not knowing contentment, even the rich are sad. In the same situation, we just need to change our perspective, change our mindset, then the situation will naturally change for the better, that is happiness. If a family wants to prosper, they need manpower and relationships, as long as the whole family works together through difficult times, success will surely come.