On being rich

Philip is right: I have been very lucky. I am on the whole content with my life, from one moment to the next I am on average very happy. I have the knack (or the character defect, take it as you will) of being able to derive joy from very simple things: Show me a nice sunset and I'm happy for the rest of the week.

I'd like to have more money, sure.

It would be nice to just walk into the store and buy a bicycle, without calculating which meals I'd have to skip to pay for it.

It would be nice to have no debts, not to feel a flash of panic every time the doorbell rings.

It would be nice not to know the income-tax office's repo man by name (true).

On the other hand, there were times when I earned substantially more money than now, and I was not happier then. The things that are missing from my life (summarize them as "love and family") cannot be bought.

I am already quite rich. Put it this way: The lottery draw was on Saturday evening, it's now Tuesday evening and I haven't yet bothered to check whether how much the ticket won.