I'm often confronted by people, and guaranteed, it's by people who don't really know what my message is. And they'll say, "Well, money's not everything!"

Well, no, money's not everything, but I subscribe to the principle of Groucho Marx, who said, "Money's not everything, but it's right on up there next to oxygen!"

Face it, folks. Money is vitally important. Not money only in the sense of having money, and not money gained at the risk of doing something illegal or fraudulent to get it. You don't want money that bad. But everything you do, everything you want to do, everybody you want to help, requires money.

You say your sister needs surgery? That requires money. So you and your spouse want a better house? Your kids need more or better clothing? Bicycles, Christmastime? All this costs money. What American—what family, practically worldwide—doesn't know that everything you want costs money?

And one of the great stresses of Christmastime is the fact that it costs money. One of the great errors and follies of Christmastime today is that certain people will put stuff on credit cards that they really can't afford. The pressures are so strong to do so—but if they had money, they'd just go down and make the purchase.

All of your dreams, travel, all the organizations that you'd love to help—they all require money. Money alone won't make a person happy, but to a reasonable degree, the more money a person has, the more they can express happiness in ways that are enlightening, ennobling—in ways that they decide to do purely for joy, rather than because they have to.

I wish it for you. See, money may not be everything, but it is right up there next to oxygen.

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Ted Ciuba, "living legend" and bestselling author of The NEW Think and Grow Rich, is one of the world's top human potential trainers. He helps people find, define, and actualize their passions to transmute their intangible desires into real money. To find out more about Ciuba, how he can help you, and to collect $297 worth of free gifts, visit www.HoloMagic.com

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Publishers and website owners - You may freely use and publish this article as long as you publish it in its entirety, including the resource box.

As I dictated what would become this article into my digital recorder, it was 4:03 a.m. on March 26^th, a rainy spring morning. I was turning out at Nashville International Airport, BNA, getting wet in the rain, waiting for a shuttle bus to take me to the terminal.

It was just yesterday, as I speak, that I got the studio set up again. We just moved into a new place, second floor—I love it, looking out—and I've got the studio working again. Actually, I should say Studio #2. Studio #1, definitely on the telephone, is working well.

When the shuttle came, I was picked up by a very nice, friendly bus driver—she even gave me a sausage and egg biscuit, if you can believe that!

But here's the whole point. It's not about standing in the rain, it's about how quickly things can change. I had every intention yesterday morning, as I was finishing off the inevitable testing and troubleshooting of the studio, to start recording my next audio article immediately, once I had gotten everything working.

And then, just a few minutes later, I got a call from my wife—her father had passed away just moments earlier. She was there in Panamá tending to him after a heart attack four weeks before, but everything was supposed to be going well. All he had to do was stay on his high blood pressure medicine forever, which was supposed to be a willing sacrifice.

She was attending him, and she went to the pharmacy. She came back, and he had passed on. Her mother, his wife, was with him.

That's why I was at the airport as I recorded this. That's why my next audio article isn't coming to you from the studio as I'd planned. And that's something pretty doggone big.

It's just another illustration of how all we can do is make the best plans that we can, and then deal with what emerges. We have to live with what comes up, bless and support those whom we honor, love, and respect—and those who have passed.

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Ted Ciuba, "living legend" and bestselling author of The NEW Think and Grow Rich, is one of the world's top human potential trainers. He helps people find, define, and actualize their passions to transmute their intangible desires into real money. To find out more about Ciuba, how he can help you, and to collect $297 worth of free gifts, visit http://www.HoloMagic.com.

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Publishers and website owners - You may freely use and publish this article as long as you publish it in its entirety, including the resource box.

I'm confused! I recently took the family to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We walked in under a banner entering the park, and there were Mickey Mouse ears and different balloons, designs, and colors, and everything's happy, and there were two words with an exclamation mark: Celebrate Today!

And you see, that has me confused. Should I celebrate today, today being a thing? In other words, that would be like, celebrate that John and Jerry are getting married—an event, a thing, to celebrate today.

Or is that a command on when to do it? See, not a thing to celebrate, but a command—celebrate today, celebrate today, celebrate toDAY. Or was it celebrate today?

Hmm, well, in my state of confusion, I'm just going to accept them both. How about you?

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Ted Ciuba, "living legend" and bestselling author of The NEW Think and Grow Rich, is one of the world's top human potential trainers. He helps people find, define, and actualize their passions to transmute their intangible desires into real money. To find out more about Ciuba, how he can help you, and to collect $297 worth of free gifts, visit www.HoloMagic.com

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Publishers and website owners - You may freely use and publish this article as long as you publish it in its entirety, including the resource box.

A caricature I saw recently depicted these big, fat gluttons, each with a big ol' turkey leg in one hand and a big ol' glass in the other—obviously obese people. They were smiling… and you know how those people have legs that don't even look normal because their bodies are so big? I looked at it and thought, "Carpe Diem, seize the day!"

I looked at it and thought, "That's gluttony." Now, I realize it's a caricature, but it applies to life.  They think that they're having the most fun possible… but I see gluttony, which is one of the 7 deadly sins, “Oh, my!”

But I'm not even talking about sinning. And I’m not spoofing it, either. I'm talking about lowering the quality of your life and living only for yourself. Obviously, with the gluttonous style of life you can die younger, too.

Seize the day, however, means to recognize the value of the moments that you have. If you can paint a picture today, then paint that picture today—you don't know that you'll have tomorrow. Live now. Carpe diem. Do what you can to make the world a better place today. Live with discipline, live the examined life, and that way you'll find everything is better.

And you'll look back, at the end of your days, on a life of fulfillment—not a life of gluttony, selfishness, and waste.

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Ted Ciuba, "living legend" and bestselling author of The NEW Think and Grow Rich, is one of the world's top human potential trainers. He helps people find, define, and actualize their passions to transmute their intangible desires into real money. To find out more about Ciuba, how he can help you, and to collect $297 worth of free gifts, visit www.HoloMagic.com

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Publishers and website owners - You may freely use and publish this article as long as you publish it in its entirety, including the resource box.