When people wish for fame and fortune, they never realize that the challenge is more in having than in not having. One person told a story about some people in his home town who had always been poor who suddenly struck oil in their back yard. It brought great riches. The father joined the country club and went in for golf. He was no longer young and the exercise was too much for him and he dropped dead on the links. This filled the whole family with fear. They all decided they might have heart trouble, so they all ended up in bed with trained nurses watching every heart beat.

Many people do not know what privacy is worth until they become famous. You just need to look at any tabloid to find out how people are obsessed with the lives of the rich and famous. When it comes to celebrities, anything – absolutely anything – is worth reporting about. Personal security also becomes a big concern. Can you imagine living the rest of your life not having to go anywhere without anyone to mind your security? No being able to do anything without wondering if anyone is snapping a photo from miles away using a high powered camera? Not being able to say a word without the fear of your comments appearing on the front page of a newspaper?

One of my friends who is well on the way to becoming rich and famous talks about how he learnt about the complications of sudden wealth at a young age. He grew up in the rural areas at the time when coffee growing was big business. When the money from the season’s coffee sales was paid, farmers would literally go crazy with their new found wealth. His neighbor was one of those people. Each time he got the lumpsome amount from the bank, he would buy a loaf of bread for each member of his big family (In those days, bread was highly valued and one ate as much as was available). With each person’s stomach full to bursting with a whole loaf of bread, he would grandly announce in Kikuyu, “Umũthi tũkũmĩa Mũrang’a!” That translated to, “Today, we will all go to the toilet in the town of Murang’a”

The reason why the whole family had to go to Murang’a Town is because with so much money at their disposal, they did not need to use a pit latrine like poor folks. Given that flush toilets were only available in Murang’a Town, the whole family would troop into a bus and make the 40 kilometers trip to town just to use the ‘rich people’s toilet’. The spending orgy would continue in town and when the money was finished, they would return home and continue using their pit latrine until the next season’s coffee payment. The short lived life of grandeur did not leave much money for school fees, and hence the children never had an education.

As children, it was such kind of bizarre incidents that used to make us chant loudly:

God made man,
Man made money,
Money made man mad!

Fortunately that need not always be the case as proven by many people in the rich and famous bracket. A case in point is Mr. Warren Buffet. During the period when he was the second richest man in the world, he gave a rare public interview and revealed that he still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He said that he has everything he needs in that house and it does not have a wall or a fence. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world’s largest private jet company.

Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk. His advice to young people: “Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and remember: Money doesn’t create man but it is the man who created money.”

Despite his simplicity, Warren Buffet has donated $31 billion to charity.

The challenge of money is more in having than in not having. When a challenge is expected, it can never be a problem. When you get the good fortune of being rich and famous, let it be a blessing to you and to others.