Wealthy On The Inside

From an outsider's perspective it can seem very easy to identify who is wealthy and who is poor. The wealthy have obvious riches with expensive cars and large houses and live a luxurious lifestyle. And the poor rent a small house, drive an old car and wear budget clothing; that is, unless they live in Africa. In reality, of course, peoples' circumstances are much more complicated.

In the dictionary, there are several descriptions of the word wealth, including “a great abundance of anything e.g. a wealth of learning”. And the dictionary describes abundance as “a plentiful or overflowing supply”.

Looking at many of the lead capture pages you come across online, it would be very easy to conclude that wealth consists of having millions of dollars in your bank account, and a very expensive car parked outside your beautiful mansion. Of course, when money is in short supply, money can make an immediate difference to your standard of living, clear up some debts, and possibly stabilize your situation.

It is easy to get focused on building up our monetary wealth, but if you focus only on financial wealth, you lose sight of all the infinite abundance you already have such as a roof over your head, your children, your talents, and life in an abundant country.

Why is it so important to identify what you already have? First, appreciating what you have is 'practice' for appreciating what you will have in the future. Dissatisfaction creates a "hunger", and appreciation satisfies that "hunger". If you do not appreciate what you already have, how much do you have to have before you start feeling grateful and satisfied. And second, money cannot buy all things that create the sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that we all desire.

If you are a parent, you may understand the difficulty explaining family finances and money to your children. As they reach teens, presenting the facts and teaching financial responsibility can get complicated. Some parents will be very open with their children about weekly income and expenditure, others do not feel comfortable doing so. Some teens would be very stressed knowing their parents' financial situation.

As my children grew up, we had times when I struggled to make sure they had a roof over their heads, food in their bellies, medical care, and a warm home. Everything else was extra. Even though they had seen me juggle money, they left home with the belief that the basic necessities of accommodation, food and power were provided and that their income covered all the extras. They were in for a shock! My daughter told me that after she left home she rang all her friends and suggested they would be better off staying at home.

My youngest son was my success in this area. He came to me with a budget that included money for rent, food, power, petrol for his car, and $40 for alcohol per week. He did share the alcohol! Surprisingly he is still relatively sober, highly employable, and studying successfully.

I tell this story as I want to share how we judge our relative wealth by what we know. To really understand our true wealth we need to compare our life to those who have nothing – a child who scours rubbish to survive, or nearer to my home, survivors in Samoa who lost their family members and homes when they were washed away in the tsunami which struck recently.

Amnesty International is still fighting for freedom for prisoners of conscience, and politics. One major breakthrough was the use of Twitter by Afghanistans to report local and election news and communicate with those outside Afghanistan. That event demonstrates the the power that we each have to reach others, in a way that far transcends online marketing.

Suddenly family, health, nutrition, safety, free time, education, religious choice, personal safety and freedom start to emerge as privileges, gifts, our good fortune to be remembered and cherished. The ability to have a voice, and to communicate our message online may also taken for granted, and our main problem becomes how fast our broadband is. Our ability to communicate must definitely be added  to our list of treasures and appreciated.

 

When creating a wealthy abundant life you need to be able to recognize what you have and what you are yet to achieve to give you a sense of fulfillment. My favorite saying sums it up perfectly.

Success is getting what you want:

Happiness is loving what you get.

 Have a wonderful day.