Prosperity Project Day 16

Good day, my prosperous friends!

It's day 16 of our game, and today we have earned $16,000.  If we worked an 8-hour day, we are earning $2,000 an hour.  If we were to make this much money every single day, we would be making $5,840,000 a year!  That's a lot of money.  So far, we have spent $120,000, and between us we've done some amazing things.  We haven't even started getting into the big money yet, but already I'm sensing from each of us that we are finally settling in to our new lifestyles and are looking around at where to share the wealth. 

In my first few weeks of playing this game, I've done a lot of fun stuff.  I've taken many vacations, and spent quality time with excellent friends.  I've built a room and filled it with the tools I need to do the kind of work that makes my spirit sing.  My friend Bob has done the same thing with his woodshop, and Robyn with her insurance agency.  All of this shows me that Wallace Wattles is right when he says that the purpose of having money is so that we can have all that we need for the living of all the life that we want to live. 

I think it's natural, when you first come into a lot of money, to want to use it to play.  Many people, when they win a large fortune in the lottery, blow all of their money right away because they are probably doing just that.   On one South Park episode Eric Cartman, one of my favorite teachers of human nature, inherits $1,000,000 when his grandmother dies, so he buys an amusement park he names Cartmanland.  It's his own personal playground.  Being Cartman, it doesn't really turn out well for him, but that's his path, not mine. 

The last few days I've been feeling a bit like Cartman, and I have the urge to slow down now and settle comfortably into the space that I've built to do some meaningful work.  I'm tired from all the travelling I've been doing.  The cool weather has finally hit Florida; October has always been my favorite month to live here, so for the next few weeks I want to stay close to home.  I want to work in the yard, cutting back all the greenery that has gone wild in the humid summer weather.  I want to sit out in my Secret Garden, swing in the hammock, and watch the outdoor kitties playing in the yard.  I have a strong urge to be very still. 

The pool store is running so smoothly and making so much money that we were approached with an eager buyer.  The boss-shaped creature gladly sold the store.  He has enough money now that he can do anything he wants.  When I started working there his house was already paid for and his lifestyle was small and affordable.  Between all the money he's saved over the years and the chunk he got as a down payment on the business, he can go sit on the beach in Cancun for a few weeks until he gets bored, and then find a new game to play.  He likes to work way too much to just stop; this time, though, he'll find something to do that won't tie him to a retail store six days a week.  He is so grateful to me for giving him his life back that he has given me a nice chunk of the pool store money as his way of saying thank you.  I've enjoyed my time there, and we have become friends.  Even he teared up when we parted ways.

$16,000    Thank you gift from the boss-shaped creature. 

$  3,000    God's money goes to the choruses and band that I've performed with over the years.  It is the beginning of their season, and they are actively out looking for sponsors.  $500 each goes to The Brevard Chorale, The Brevard Community Chorus, The Community Band of Brevard, and The Space Coast Oratorio Society.  $1,000 will go to the new Space Coast Symphony Orchestra to help them buy percussion instruments. 

$  7,000    Wealth Building Account (Total $40,000) 

$  6,000     I've been wanting to build an outdoor kitchen.  The boyfriend and his friends always hang out in the wood shop out back, and we have lots of cookouts here.  I'm grateful that they all stay out of the house, yet I enjoy the fact that our home is a social hub.  Our friend's kids are getting old enough to be interactive, and their mom is an excellent cook.  Building the kitchen will keep all of them busy while I sit in the Secret Garden, on the other side of the property, and start my new book. 

It feels good not to have to show up at the pool store every day.  Although I enjoyed working there, I enjoy working from home even more.  This next book should be a good one, and I'm eager to see what it is that I have to say.  It's always a surprise. 

So, what plans do you have for your $16,000?