On my days off, I head to a local coffee shop. It's quant and small, a real out-of-the-way kind of place.
Long story short, we had a visit by one of the richest fellows in a nearby city. It's not really a surprise, per se, because the area I live in isn't all that prosperous, so what constitutes as “wealthy” here isn't what would be considered all that prosperous in an area like New York.
I sat down and attempted to strike up a conversation with this guy for a bit, seeing he was sitting all by himself, looking a bit disgruntled. Within five minutes of doing so he admitted almost all of his money was obtained via screwing over other people, to the point where he said, “if there is a hell, I'm going there.”
“Why not repent? You know, change while there's time to change?” I asked.
“I can't. I screwed up big time becoming close to extremely dangerous people,” he replied. There was no clarification on what was meant by this.
I was given a glimpse into the life of abundance, and my God was it disheartening to see how money caused this man to spiral into a life of complete degeneracy. The conversation continued into how he wanted to “start over” and “change his name and appearance” so individuals with a vendetta wouldn't be able to come after him so easily.
“I wish I was just honest, like you,” he told me, “I wish I never became friends with crooked lawyers and enablers – I should have just been honest.”
It's the typical story: the life of a con-man gone sour. The hopes and dreams of being prosperity turned into a nightmare of unfathomable proportions; only now it's too late and even coming clean is not a viable option if he wants to keep his head. It's sad as hell, depressing to the point where there is no real way to describe it with any word other than “disparaging”.