Lucky

I look outside the window. I have everything. A pond with kersimo fish. The biggest yard. Big, protective trees, whistling me a tune through its breeze. 

Sliding on my coat, I walk outside. Yeah, that’s right. I can take a walk in my backyard. That’s the first thing anyone ever says when they come to our house. Yes, we know. We are very lucky. 

We have things that some people could never dream to imagine. And sometimes I can't either. I wake up sometimes, surprised by how perfect everything in my life is. Great, warm food. Huge comforting house. Anything that we could want. Whether it's a guitar or a dog. An i-pad or a watch.

I mean, we don’t just waste our parents money though. If we did that, we wouldn’t be allowed to have this stuff. We actually say no to a lot of things. Like, if we as kids think something is too expensive, then we tell our parents not to buy it. 

My parents say we can have anything we want, but we have to bring good grades and a good attitude. Then boom, jackpot. So now, whenever someone comes to our house, whether it's our friend or our parent’s friends, they all want to either sit and watch a movie in our theater, or feed the ducks in the pond, or play with our dog. 

In other words, we all have fake friends. And that can get annoying and upsetting when you actually want a friend. A friend who checks in to see how you’re doing, not just if they want to swim in our pool. Or a friend who actually listens to you and gives advice instead of feeding the fish. 

It gets lonely sometimes. And even the parents of our friends call us prince or princesses. Like we live in a castle or something. Yes, we kind of do, but it's kind of depressing. Its like when an ice cream shop has all your favorite flavors and you don’t know what to pick. And you’re so overwhelmed with the choices. 

That happiness only lasts for so long, and sometimes you don’t know what to do with all these extravagant things. And you just want to have a normal life. I mean, not getting to worry about money is great too. But you want to live in a house where it's nice and cozy, and you can talk to your friends about real-life problems, not just the color of our walls. Because once you have money, that is only what people see. 

I want to be real. So when I buy a new i-phone, it's because my old one’s broken. And that we got a good deal on the newest i-phone. Not just because I want to show off or anything. 

Plus, the fact that my parents are successful, puts all this pressure on us. And because we have this money, we become lazy and start to become the way other people think we are. Every once in a while, when people tell us all how hard they’ve been working and what they’ve accomplished by that, we get like a boost of motivation. The next few weeks, we become determined to do the same. And prove everyone wrong, that we’re not the spoiled brats that you think we are. We actually work hard and think about our life in a way far away from money. 

There’s nothing we can do to change the way that people think or talk about us. 

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” 

I try to remember this quote every once in a while. It keeps me sane and changes my angle of the camera for a little bit until I change the focus. 

I do hope I become as successful as my parents though. It is my dream. 

20 years later

 Owning the biggest car industry in the whole world, it's almost surreal. The money part is a perk, but the fact that i’ve created these cars that will forever drive on the roads in this world is just amazing. It's a feeling you can’t even describe. You have this proud gut feeling inside of you. Its like the greatest high ever. You’re so high that you don’t even realize what you’ve achieved. 

I’m so incredibly proud and thankful, but proving everybody who doubted me because of my money just makes this success even greater. It shows those people that we can do anything, anywhere. Whether we live in an apartment, or a beautiful 30,000 square feet home. We can work in the library, or next to the pond. Doesn’t matter. We’re all studying for the same thing and it can happen anywhere. With anything. 

And I did that. And look where I am now. I got up from the bed and actually worked my butt off, and this is where I landed. I don’t even regret anything. All those emotions that I bottled up all those years, those are part of my journey. They helped me become the woman I am today. Putting smiles on millions of my customers. As they help put a smile to my face. 

What actually matters is your mind. Whether it chooses to become a spoiled brat and live a life off of somebody else’s money and success, or get up and actually do something. You can get up to give somebody a bone marrow and help them live for even a year, you’ve done your purpose down on Earth. You made somebody happy and put a smile on their face. And that’s what counts. 

This whole money thing make me so happy, but i realize that i am happy. With or without money. I can find happiness anywhere. And right now, it's the fact that my success is giving me so much more.

Your control over your own money makes you realize that it doesn’t just grow on trees. You’ve got to work for it. Whether you have money your whole life or not.