Wealth

Wealth is defined as an abundance of valuable materials or money.

That is the definition from an online dictionary, so it is suspect and most probably incomplete. Researching information online is more often than not finding facts that have been gathered by a committee made up of people with little or no expertise in the given subject. Don’t get me wrong, most of the time an incomplete bit of information is just what I am looking for. I do miss real dictionaries and encyclopaedias. Not enough to pay for the online versions of course but miss them I do.

I had a discussion with Maegan a while back about this subject. Maegan was making the point that she is rich in her estimation. She doesn’t worry about where she will be living, whether she will be able to feed herself and if she sees something that piques her interest, she can buy it. She still has to work and be aware of the cost of those things she is interested in buying. No private islands, servants, Lear Jets or hand made cars for her.

I have been thinking about what she said and I have to agree with her. I read once that there are two ways to be happy in life, have so much money that it ceases to have importance to you or just enough money to meet your basic needs. It is the in between situations that drive people money crazy.

I have spent most of my life in between, always wanting more and better. It is just in the past few years that I have become comfortable with the person that I am and the financial situation I am in. Yes, I still stress over money and worry that there will be enough for my basic needs as I get older. I think there will be and if there isn’t, I will just have to deal with that challenge when I get to it.

I do like my toys, but I am just as happy if those toys are found in second hand stores or in major electronic superstores. I am just as thrilled to find a broken lock at the side of the road as I am with a new cell phone. Well, almost.

Wealth doesn’t have anything to do with money. Wealth is how you feel about yourself and the world around you. If you can enjoy a quiet evening just listening to the day end with someone you love, then you are indeed a rich person. If you can laugh freely and with abandon, you are a rich person. If you can make macaroni and cheese and be satisfied with a good meal, then you are a rich person. If you have friends and family that stick by you when you are being an asshole, then you are a rich person. If you look forward to getting up in the morning and going to sleep at night, you are a rich person. It doesn’t take a lot to be rich and happy.

I wouldn’t turn down a lottery win or money from a rich uncle. If the universe decrees that I should have an abundance of riches, who am I to disagree.