Look at the recent Tsunami and you will realize the bling bling things can be gone in the blink of an eye. There are other things that matter and that will make a difference in the future of the survivors such as the quality of life, relationships and land.

If you have good health and family and friends around, and a if you own a piece of land, you have the basics of a good life. The owners of the land and other income producing assets can recover their position in life much quicker than those who had bought up a lot of bling bling.

A few years ago Black Enterprise magazine had an article about teenage Investment Clubs. The article was about a group of teenage boys and girls, who belonged to a church in Washington D.C., who came together to form a club to study and invest in the stock market. The concept is simple. Combine or pile up savings by committing a certain amount each month for each member. After studying the various investment opportunities, vote to invest the savings in a stock and watch to see the money grow.

Besides Investment Clubs, you can invest in Real Estate or other income producing assets in the same way. When, your stock or Real Estate investment grows, you can buy hundred dollar tennis shoes, tire rims that keep spinning when you stop your car, or bling bling jewelry if you still think that’s what you really want.

For those who are interested in forming an Investment Club contact NAIC (National Association of Investment Clubs at 248-583-6242)

As I watched the UNCF telethon this past week I saw another benefit of being driven by the concept of piling on for the future. A young woman who is a doctor today was once homeless at age 12 along with two siblings, after her blind grandmother had died. She continued to get an education even as she lived in the streets doing whatever she had to do to survive.

When you work to survive and are goal driven, you can make a difference in your own life and ultimately the lives of others. Somehow this young woman made it to Tougaloo College and became a medical doctor. She tearfully thanks that old grandmother who, with no eyesight, taught her to get an education and live and make the most of the hand you are dealt with. It would not do a lot of good to continue to get mad at God and sit down to cry for the rest of your life over being born blind, or losing your caretaker at a young age.

My philosophy in life when dealt with a set back is after you have a good cry and get up and move on. That’s what I did when I failed to pass the Bar the first time I took it. And that’s what thousands of people have done to get ahead. I watched as some of the Tsunami victims began to move the dirt, sludge and debris from their land and their lives to start over again. Some just sat and cried. Some, I’m sure, got mad at God and, unlike a biblical Job, cursed him. So what does that profit? If you drink poison of hate, un-forgiveness and despair, you will be the one to die, not God. This same lesson applies in a thousand situations.

I can only imagine how it feels to suffer the unimaginable terror of a Tsunami. The overriding thing about some of the victims, like the young female Doctor from Tougaloo, is the lesson of piling on the education, taught to her by her grandmother to keep moving forward. The hand, leg and the heart may be broken, but the spirit built up by lessons of pain can provide the spiritual fuel to keep you moving forward.

Pile on the love and the lessons and you can do anything. You don’t need shiny trinkets of bling bling to be successful. You get that after your success.

A BA, MA, Ph.D, M.D. or JD are the greatest of the bling blings.

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