I’ve read inspiring stories about 2 individuals – one is an Austrian millionaire and the other, a Taiwanese vegetable vendor – who both made it well in life. But it’s not about making it well in life that I find inspiring but these 2 individuals’ take on life.
The Austrian millionaire is Karl Rabeder who has a personal fortune of about USD5 Million and he’s giving it up to live in a compact wooden hut in the Alps. He’s only taking some clothes, 2 boxes of books, a laptop and a monthly stipend of USD1,290.
Rabeder shares - “Wealth doesn’t create happiness. For 25 years, I worked like a slave for things I didn’t want or need. We work for the future without being able to live for the day.”
His turning point was when he once went for a holiday in Hawaii and they stayed in a 5-star hotel. There was something about it that was superficial – he realized that employees were just acting the role of being friendly and the guests were all projecting “Look, I’m important!”.
He says, “In the Third World, I met so many people with very few options who were able to live in the moment. I began to realize I didn’t need this house, my house in Provence, nice cars, gliders, overpriced dinners. The next step was to connect with people.” He has launched a micro-credit venture to help the less fortunate to do better in life.
The second individual is a Taiwanese vegetable vendor named Chen Shu-Chu. As a vegetable vendor, she only earns marginal profits but with her frugality, she was already able to donate about USD321,550 to various charitable institutions and causes.
Shu-Chu has garnered several citations including a Time Award in New York which she didn’t want to claim because in her own words, “This is not a competition and I didn’t win anything. I have done nothing extraordinary and anyone who wants to, can do it. There are other charitable people, we just don’t know about them.” (Wow. Sincerity and humility at its core.)
And her philosophy in life? “If doing something makes you worried, then it must be a wrong thing. If it makes you happy, then you must have done the right thing. What others say is not important.”
And though Shu-Chu could very well afford luxuries in life, she just sticks to the basics – food, a few clothes and a place to live. She even sleeps on the floor because when she got a comfortable warm bed before, she woke up late. She decided to go back to sleeping on the hard, cold floor to make sure she wakes up on time to serve her customers. (This almost sounds masochistic for me but serving her customers really give Shu-Chu joy.)
The takeaways: Don’t allow the desire for excessive material wealth to drive your life. Live in the moment. Do the things that you want to do. And the next time you think you deserve credit or a pat on the back, think again. Think about Shu-Chu, the humble vegetable vendor. :)
