Usually, when people think of being wealthy, they think of money. They would love to win the lottery and have more money than they ever dreamed. For them this would be wealth… or they think it would be. Wealth and prosperity mean different things to different people. If you want to acquire wealth you need to know what it means to you.
Different Ways to be Wealthy
I remember reading an article years ago about how a program to encourage people to have smaller families failed in India. Whoever was in charge of encouraging people to have smaller families had a poster developed. There were two pictures. One picture was a family with many children living in what some would call a poor house with just the necessities. The other was a family with two children and many luxuries.
You might think this was a great way to portray the positive effects of a smaller family. The difference was in the values of the people who viewed the poster. Instead of saying, “Look what we can have if we only have two children,” the response was, “Look at that poor family with only two children.”
What You Need to Feel Wealthy
Whether or not you feel wealthy depends upon your personal values. Some people want a large family. Others desire to help the world through their actions. Still others want the security of a job that brings in a great deal of money. There are those who feel wealthy as long as they have the freedom to do what they most want in life.
I know a man in his 50s whose deepest desire, ever since he first road a surfboard as a young teenager, was to follow the biggest waves across the planet. He also loved to teach. Being a teacher in a high school was ideal for him. He saved his money all year long and spent his summer’s surfing in various parts of the world. That is wealth for him.
Huge lottery winners often say that winning was the worst thing that happened to them. All that money did not give them what they most wanted. The key is knowing what it is you most desire. What will you have that let’s you know you have achieved true wealth for you. It isn’t usually money. It’s what money can buy… providing for yourself and your family, going surfing every summer until you can’t keep your balance on the board, home, cars… security. Money may be the vehicle to what you really want. It also may be an impediment. Discover your deepest desires and how to achieve them and you will have found true wealth.