What is rich then?

I talked a bit about what poor really is to many, and the need to help those that deserve it. But what is rich? You probably already jumped ahead of me by now, and what I'm getting at. Rich, just like poor, has many levels. Someone once called me rich because I had three cars, a three story house, and lots of guy toys. I didn't consider myself rich, but only doing well. Thanks to a past divorce (many of you can relate to this), all my stuff was pretty much gone. Was I poor? I felt pretty poor. I had dropped down quite a few levels. Most people would say rich is a person who has just about everything, or can get whatever they want. Yep, that's rich. Rich is when, if you don't have friends, all you have to do is buy some. Rich is when you are shopping and can afford to pay cash for anything you see that you want, no matter the price. Below the rich level is the well-off level.  This is a very comfortable area. I would personally love to be well-off. You're not filthy rich, but you don't want for anything. Nice. Good life.
But the other term for rich is blessed. Yes, I'm going there. If you are doing ok in life, but you're surrounded by real friends, loving family members, and great children, then, absolutely, you're rich! Physical rich or mental rich. Which do you prefer? Most people want both. I do. I'm not gonna lie about it. Is that greedy?  Not really. You should want happiness and nice things in your life, both for yourself and your family. Especially if you are working hard to get them. Most nice things in life are EARNED; very few have things given to them for free. But, the truth is, the majority of people will not reach the rich stage, or even get to the well-off level.
Have you ever had a friend in your life that was rich, but didn't act like it, or rub it in your face? They were obviously better off by far than you were, but didn't crow about it or show off. I had one friend like that. I say one friend, because, sadly, there are very few of these people around. If you know one, then you are lucky. His family had oil wells, cattle, land, etc...He was RICH! But my family had very little; no oil, no land, no money. But we were best friends for years. I carried a few dollars in my wallet, and he carried around $100 bills. We built a dune buggy together, ran the beaches, chased girls, fished at HIS personal lake, and had a great time. We were friends all through school, first grade to graduation, and then afterwards, until he went to a great college and became an architectural engineer. People would always ask him why he hung around with me all the time when he could hang with the rich kids. He would tell them simply, "He's my best friend!". That friendship grew from the beginning, and was never about money. I really admired his attitude. It was so rare. I didn't know how rare it was until I got old enough to really understand. I still talk to him today. He's still my best friend on this planet. He's my brother. He visited my parents many times when I was in the war. He always called me to ask how I'm doing, or if I needed anything. I did not have to ask him to watch out for my parents, or help them if they needed it. If I had said it out loud, it would have been insulting to him. It was automatically understood that he would. Do you know what that feels like to have someone with that kind of loyalty and that kind of power, watching over my parents while I was away? It's an immense relief. I would say to you that I am rich for having a good friend like that for my whole life. Many never will. If I needed $50,000 right this minute, and asked him for it, he would quickly send it to me. But I never will ask. And I won't accept it if he sent it to me, and he won't. My pride will not allow it, and he knows that. Some of you will call me stupid, and maybe that's true. Some of you will understand why I can't do that. I  am my own man. I will live and die with my own decisions. Good or bad.
I, personally, would love to be filthy rich. Filthy, stinking rich! Almost everyone would. But, at my age now, if I was that rich, a big part of it would be given for projects to help people in need. After I helped my own family and close friends first, of course. Took my wife on a great vacation! Rich beats poor any day of the week. I would get a huge thrill out of watching peoples faces when you give them something they have never had in their lives.
Of course we take for granted everything that we have. It's natural. Everyone thinks it's very normal to have a flat screen tv, a big fridge full of food, big expensive furniture, riding lawn mowers, etc. We think that way because our society built itself up by hard work and ingeniuity. As a community, we worked hard to get these priveleges that we enjoy every day. Other countries envy us and despise us because of what we have, and how rich we are to them. Do they think it was all just handed to us free? Do they really believe that it all came so easily? My advice to them would be; work smarter, not harder; or better yet; stop complaining and get busy. Instead of running around killing innocent people, and making your country look bad to the rest of the world, how about giving us an example of how big things can be done with very little. That would be much more impressive to me!
Rich is a frame of mind! Period!