Jon replied, "Well, Karyn so far even though I graduated college I haven't done much in my life in the way of career development, so, I think I want to use the stone to make a lot of money. I figure if I have enough money to live comfortably, I can spend the rest of my time trying to find something to do that will make me happy."
Karyn thought about it for a bit, then told Jon, "Ok, but, as long as you know money on it's own won't bring you happiness. I think it's important that when you do figure out what you want from life, you actually DO it for real and not just wish for it. That way it will mean something when you have it."
Jon was glad not to get a long lecture from Karyn for once.
Karyn then asked Jon, "Wait, before you wish for money what about love? Don't you want to find love? If you're rich how will you ever know if that special man or woman you find really loves you, or just loves your money?"
Jon let out a loud "tsk" and replied, "How do you know I haven't already found love Karyn? And by the way, it would be with a woman!"
"Well Jon, I know you haven't found love because your Facebook wall has had nothing but party pictures and cheesy coffee shop quotes of wisdom for the last ten years. And BY THE WAY, I also haven't seen any statuses about GIRLS, just you and your room mates doing stuff together."
"Oh yeah" Jon said quietly. "Anyway, I could just wish to know if someone truly loved me or not, right?"
"Is that really how you want to use the stone Jon? Tell me, do you think love is going to mean more or less to you after you magically wish to know about it? You just wanna make a shortcut for everything? Huh? You want to be rich, so you wish for it. You want to know if someone loves you, so you just wish for it."
"Well, yeah, isn't that what wishes are for?"
Karyn groaned and told Jon "Well, if you do all those shortcuts I think you'll find life pretty empty in the end. It would be like beating a video game after cheating your way through it. In my own life happiness has only ever come from my husband and my children. They mean a lot to me because every moment I've had with them has been real, and something I had to put effort into. Even my job is just a means to provide for my family, it doesn't define me, but I do it out of love for my family. And I KNOW they love me because, I just KNOW."
Jon was beginning to realize he wasn't getting out of a long Karyn lecture after all.
"So you're just saying I should what, throw the stone away?"
"No, use it in a productive way. Instead of shortcuts for things you could do on your own, use it for things you couldn't do without it. Cure someone with a disease, maybe help a kid find their long lost puppy or something. You sent it to yourself in the future so you it would be used for things other than well, giving someone blonde hair and big boobs. You know what I mean?"
Jon thought for a bit, then said, "Yeah I know what you mean. But I still want to be rich at least."
With that Jon hung up on Karyn and set out to make himself rich. The lottery came to mind, but instead he used both the stone and his college education to craft a complex scheme involving the stock market and shell corporations.
In less than a year Jon had turned his $7,867 savings into a portfolio worth about $57 million. He had not only paid less than 7% in taxes, but the best part was he didn't have to deal with any long lost relatives or con artists sniffing around for money. Even his room mates had no idea he was rich. Jon had spent the most of the last year still working at the coffee shop and hanging with them as usual. Although, he had an even more laid back attitude at the coffee shop after he made his first million.
Jon had even followed some of Karyn's advice and had gone to a children's hospital to do some good with the stone.
But in the end, now Jon was just 29 years old and rich. He still had to figure out what he REALLY wanted.
