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I have no desire or ambition to go chasing after what others have. I am content with my Lord’s decree.

My father drove a seven-series BMW with leather seats and a car phone in the 1990s. We lived in an exclusive neighbourhood. I was sent to supposedly the best school in town. But none of this appealed to me.

Some friends have amassed great fortunes. Some just eye-watering debts. Both seem perplexed that we remain in our little house and have not climbed the social ladder. Here I shrug my shoulders.

I got married on a shoe string. We bought what we could afford. We live within our means. It is more important to me that both parents are home for our kids, available to meet their emotional needs. I don’t see the point of amassing great wealth if you can’t share it with those you love.

There are the haves and the have-nots. The latter are increasing in number daily. Times are getting hard. I don’t begrudge those who started with nothing, who grafted hard to achieve success. I suppose my grandparents and parents did the same. Perhaps our children will after us.

To me, it is neither good nor bad. It has both its benefits and harm. I make no value judgement on those who have lived differently. To each their own. It’s just that it never appealed to me. I was seeking something else.

We will take none of our material possessions with us when we leave. If we’re lucky, our kids may be wise enough not to squabble over them, with their feet on our graves.

Within just hours of our demise, our internal organs will melt away like jelly. Within our children’s lifetime, we will return to dust. All that we will carry on then will be the account of our heart and our deeds.

Why then behave like little Pharaohs, building great monoliths for future generations to marvel over? Where is Pharaoh and his tribe today?

Rumour has it that the reason my paternal grandmother’s family became strict Methodists was that their forefathers had once been wealthy landowners, until the man of the house drunkardly gambled all of it away. So it was that they lived in poverty for generations, until my grandmother climbed the social ladder again with her own beloved.

Such are the cycles of the generations. We ebb and flow. Each must strive hard, try its best, to do whatever is necessary in pursuit of that life of ease. It is okay to pursue your fortune.

Just know that the best wealth is to be content with whatever you have.