One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip , the father asked his son , "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So- tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. The son answered:

"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added , "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!

Admirable sentiment, dubious story.

I say the rich man buys the poor man's property at a largely inflated price. Poor man is now well off, rich family has a creek-side-stargazing property, everyone's happy.

Nice rationalization. I have always thought that money is like a drug. There is such a thing as an overdose, an underdose, and then that sweet spot where real needs are met, and you have the ability to enjoy life's interesting aspects. Not sure where that point is, however.

Great story, thanks.

The perfect life for me would be splitting time between an urban home (not suburban, I like city life - forgetting the muggers for a moment) and a remote cabin in the woods.

With a helicopter to make the trip.

One thing I've learned is that once survival needs are met, I don't need much more than family, friends, my dog - and time to enjoy them - to be happy.

Without those, it's just survival.

A great story that reminds me of the T.V. series, "The Waltons".

The Waltons didn't have to worry about The Great Depression, They had to worry about the effects of the coming Prosperity. Ain't hindsight wonderful?

I envy them all. I have nothing but time.

Money is a poor substitute for a decent frontier.

Give me land, lots of land, and the starry skies above, don't fence me in...

I no longer have time. My life is accounted for in full, and the best I can hope for is to live long enough now to meet all my obligations. Thanks to our elected leaders for the extra burden, now I don't have to worry about what to do with the rest of my life.

"I believe God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I'm so far behind I'll never die." - Calvin