Tresure

I was having a good think about treasure.  There was one definition I found that I really liked.  Others said similar things but this one put it concisely for me. “Treasure is wealth stored up or horded” (Merriam-Webster dictionary).  Why I like that one is it seems to me to sum up attitude.  I have no problem with storing something, but I do have a problem with hording.
Treasure is something I most readily associate with pirates.  It seems they spent a good deal of their lives raiding ships and transporting any treasures they found to some secret place.  Many movies feature a treasure map and the finding of what it refers to bringing untold wealth.
It seems to me there is one trouble with that.  It is easy to despise what is not earned.  I know one family that won lotto but one would never know.  It is not like the wealth has been stored for a rainy day (today would be perfect it being rainy and all).  A cartoon I saw showed a guy on the desk unpoping a champers and his boss asking “you didn’t win lotto again did you Caruthers?
As noble as some of its aspirations were, it is widely held that one of the reasons why communism failed was that much was taken from those who knew how to dream and work and given to those who did not (this does not ignore that often there is lack of opportunity but acknowledges that where all things are equal “where there is a will there is a way.”)  They reckon if all the wealth in the world were evenly distributed, the majority of it would be back in the hands of 10% in very little time.
I have seen it often enough to know that horded treasure often becomes a noose around the neck.  A disproportionate amount of effort goes into ensuring it is safe rather than distributing to those in need and providing opportunity.  No wonder they say “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day but teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.”  Feeding is a one off while teaching is an investment. 
What happened to Gollum in Lord of the Rings is an extreme example of what happens when the obtaining of wealth becomes an end in itself.  I had not read The Lord of the Rings to the end (it was too scary for me).  I was hoping Gollum would end up a reformed character.  Movie three showed me that was not to be.
This is very little of what I have been thinking about, so I reckon a lot of that is for another time.  One thing is for sure though, I would rather be rich and unhappy then poor and unhappy.  But treasure to me is an attitude thing.  It is not defined by what I have but who I am.