"I don't need any more money," Mr. Everit shrugged his shoulders. "I have enough."
His statement jarred me; I'd never heard anyone say they had enough money. Even the wealthiest people I know always need more. Some of the few millionaires I've met were bigger whiners than people on food stamps. It seems that people who think they don't have enough, never get it, and people who think they have enough, never miss it.
"You're really satisfied with what you have? Don't you want to get richer?"
"I'm already rich . . . In fact, I'm the richest man in the world."
What? "Oh, come on, now, Mr. Everit, I know you have a few bucks in the bank, but you're no Bill Gates or Oprah."
He smiled. "Of course I'm no billionaire. If you define riches by money, I'm just an average Joe. But if you consider the immense good in my life, I am loaded. I have a loving wife . . a job that fulfills me . . . friends I can laugh with. . . . sunrises that warm my soul . . . great books that stimulate my imagination . . . music that inspires me. Sure, I have my challenges, but they help me get clearer about who I am and what I want. If I start to go into a funk, I remember how blessed I am, and things shift. And now you're here. What more could any man ask for?"
He leaned back with his hands behind his head and flashed a grin so big I thought the buttons were going to pop off of his plaid shirt. "No sir, Bill and Oprah don't have a thing over Bert Everit. When it comes to wealth, I'm richer than a king."
We sat quietly for a long time. In the silence, I considered that I might have always had enough, but didn't know it. Maybe I was doing better than I thought.
He read my mind again. "'Enough' is not a number or condition," he explained. "It's an attitude. How you invest your money is important, but how you invest your attention is even more important. Focus on lack, and your whole world is lacking. Focus on enough, and suddenly it's all enough."
"So everyone on the planet is living in his or her own reality, and we keep finding evidence to prove what we believe?"
"Couldn't have said it better myself," he echoed. "Perfection is not a condition to be attained; it is a way of seeing to be cultivated. . .Take your basic supermodel: People ooh and aah over her perfect body wherever she goes. But she's never quite beautiful enough for herself. She is terrorized by the tiniest wrinkle, wart, or sag. She lives on one lettuce leaf a day and purges if she eats a cookie. Constant fear and anxiety. A self-critical mind in a perfect body translates to one hell of a life."
I'd never thought of it like that before. I always envied gorgeous women or handsome men; I figured they had it made. "But if everybody just accepted everything as it is, we'd never get anywhere. There'd be no striving for improvement. Isn't it important to stretch for more? To set goals beyond our current level of attainment?"
"Exactly! Just don't be disappointed if you never get everything done. On the day you die, you will have email in your inbox."
Now there was a sobering thought.
"There's more fun in the going than the getting there," he insisted. "You will never wake up one day, wipe your hands clean, and declare, 'There, that's it! I'm done.' There will always be more that you want or have to do. Like the Lexus ad that asked, 'Why pursue perfection when you can drive it?' Lots of people are pursuing perfection; very few are driving it. You don't need a Lexus to drive perfection; you just need to decide to enjoy the ride."
"So we don't need to die and go to heaven to be happy?"
"Hell, no!" he bellowed. "Heaven is not a place you end up. It is a feeling you cultivate where you are. Honestly, how long could you take lying on some cloud, listening to harp music? I'd go buggy after half an hour!"
I had to laugh; he was right. "So the process of reaching for perfection is part of perfection?"
"Absolutely. We can enjoy what we have while striving for better. The two are not mutually exclusive. We can live 'happy and hungry.'"
Happy and hungry. I'd not thought of those two on the same playing field. A few people I know are happy. Most are hungry.
This strange man was beginning to rock my whole notion of reality, and it seemed as if there was not a thing I could do about it.
Alan Cohen is the author of many popular inspirational books, including the best-selling The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore and the award-winning A Deep Breath of Life. Alan offers Living Prosperously, a home-study course in creating greater abundance, and the life-transforming Mastery Training in Maui. For information on these programs and a free catalog of Alan's books, tapes, and seminars, phone 800.568.3079, visit www.alancohen.com, email info@alancohen.com, or write P.O. Box 835, Haiku, HI 96708.

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