The Manual Book


Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.
Epictetus

One day I had a conversation with a friend, he said, “I want my children to be rich. I was poor when I was young and now I want to give them everything”. That was probably a common wish that every parents want to do for their children. The question is; how much money we should give to make them prosper? What if we as parents can not give them prosperity?

Money, position and fame are the most wanted things in human life. We might chase after them in our life. When we will stop chasing it and start to enjoy our life, no one knows. It should come from our heart.

I realized when I started to think what I wanted to give to my children. Since I couldn’t estimate how much money to give for them, I abandon the idea. My husband shared me a story about his friend, who spent all his family’s money in just a couple months. I imagined the parents left the money but they forgot to give the manual book how to use the money wisely.

I think I will give my children the best manual for them to manage their life, to work with a good attitude, and to be what they want to be. The truth is we can not assure everything in the future. The only thing we can do to tell our children as Epictetus said, “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants”

**Lina Kartasasmita** Dec 6, 2012 at 2.44PM



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