Years ago I was on a forum where someone said that if tomorrow everyone in the world was given $1000, most people would have nothing to show for the money within a few days. A few would invest the money and a year later have $2000. This prompted a storm of protest from people who said, "Some people are so poor that they can't afford to save and invest. They have no choice but to spend every dime they get on necessities." To which I replied, "And that's why they stay poor." Yes, there are people in the world who are literally tottering on the brink of starvation and any penny they get must go to bare survival. But very few people in America or Europe have that problem. When American poor people talk about "necessities", they mean things like cable TV and air conditioning and beer and the latest model cell phone. It would not be at all life-endangering for them to cut their spending on some of these things so they could save and invest.
Many years ago I heard a sermon that has really stuck with me. The preacher said that people regularly tell him that they don't come to church or don't read their Bibles or don't pray, because they "don't have time". To which his response is, "You find time for what's important to you." He went on to say, "When was the last time you heard someone say, 'I've just been so busy this week, I haven't had time to eat'?" Someone might be so busy that they miss lunch, but that's usually as far as it goes.
He was specifically speaking of "spiritual things", but the same reasoning applies to anything. (Though finding time to read the Bible and pray is surely more important than finding the time to make money. But that's another subject.)
Yes. Most -- not all, but most -- of your problems have simple solutions. But the problem is, "simple" is not the same as "easy". You want to lose weight? The solution is simple: eat less and exercise more. Is that easy? Absolutely not. But it's simple.
Years ago I was on a forum where someone said that if tomorrow everyone in the world was given $1000, most people would have nothing to show for the money within a few days. A few would invest the money and a year later have $2000. This prompted a storm of protest from people who said, "Some people are so poor that they can't afford to save and invest. They have no choice but to spend every dime they get on necessities." To which I replied, "And that's why they stay poor." Yes, there are people in the world who are literally tottering on the brink of starvation and any penny they get must go to bare survival. But very few people in America or Europe have that problem. When American poor people talk about "necessities", they mean things like cable TV and air conditioning and beer and the latest model cell phone. It would not be at all life-endangering for them to cut their spending on some of these things so they could save and invest.
Many years ago I heard a sermon that has really stuck with me. The preacher said that people regularly tell him that they don't come to church or don't read their Bibles or don't pray, because they "don't have time". To which his response is, "You find time for what's important to you." He went on to say, "When was the last time you heard someone say, 'I've just been so busy this week, I haven't had time to eat'?" Someone might be so busy that they miss lunch, but that's usually as far as it goes.
He was specifically speaking of "spiritual things", but the same reasoning applies to anything. (Though finding time to read the Bible and pray is surely more important than finding the time to make money. But that's another subject.)
Yes. Most -- not all, but most -- of your problems have simple solutions. But the problem is, "simple" is not the same as "easy". You want to lose weight? The solution is simple: eat less and exercise more. Is that easy? Absolutely not. But it's simple.