Hey, Who Needs It!

You can find happy people in the unlikeliest of circumstances, and unhappy people despite all the advantages that ample funding resources can buy.

For some whose acquired or inherited wealth enabling them to live luxurious lifestyles and deny themselves nothing, life is a long party of social elites entertaining themselves with meaningless celebrations and goods and services. And, of course, real-estate acquisitions, none of which quite seem to satisfy some inner longing they don't quite comprehend.

For others, looking in enviously from the outside, the thought of what they could accomplish, what might be gained in quality of life and happiness if they only had a reasonable portion of what some wealthy socialites have at their disposal, the elusive dream of wealth is a matter of personal anguish.

And there are some, who come to the realization that their vast wealth is just that; plenty of money available to purchase whatever they want, but ultimately without value to them.

"It was the biggest shock in my life, when I realized how horrible, soulless and without feeling the five-star lifestyle is", Karl Rabeder, a 47-year-old Austrian businessman revealed to a curious press when he made it known that he intended to sell off his considerable holdings, invest them into a charitable foundation and administer those funds to better the lives of others.

He is in the process of selling his sumptuous real estate properties, the interior furnishings and his business. His business, the enterprise that led to his wealth? Itself fabricated - in the production of artificial flowers. "My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing. Money is counterproductive - it prevents happiness."

Without doubt there are many who would be willing and happy to debate that issue with him. Starting with his earlier self. "For a long time I believed that more wealth and luxury automatically meant more happiness. I come from a very poor family where the rules were to work more to achieve more material things, and I applied this for many years."

In inner voice, however, advised him otherwise, when he found himself puzzled by the fact that though surrounded with the pleasant things that money can buy, there was a social artificiality about it all, and it seemed utterly valueless to him. Now, having reached the decision to sell all he owns, and invest into a micro-credit charity, he feels "free, the opposite of heavy".

The small loans and advice to self-employed people in El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile, where he has decided to direct his energies and his wealth, will be indebted to him. Some might feel that to be satisfaction achieved; he most certainly appears to feel that way.