Is it a person who has a small house and reliable (older) car that are both paid for in full, owned 100% by them with no outstanding fees? A person who has huge debt every month with a big house, fancy car and holidays away? A person with private health care that costs a fortune every month who is sickly and needs access to hospitals regularly? A person with no access to private health care who pays nothing every month who never needs a hospital? Someone who lives their life with nothing to hide, able to put their head on the pillow without fear of retribution from a deed they have committed - whether it is personal or professional. Someone who lives with guilt but is slick and a mover-and-shaker in business. Someone who bases their business deals on what they can achieve regardless of the consequences for others they trod on along the way.
The answer seems completely obvious when we look at the possibilities with such contrast. What makes us strive for the "wrong" end of the wealth? Myself specifically. I was listening to a news interview on a local radio station which got me thinking about this concept.
I don't know what I'm striving for anymore...
I wake up every morning and go to work - I am my own boss. Yes, I have people who pay my salary because I consult for management of different organization's but without the places I do work for, I don't have income. Yet there is a difference for me because each successful contract is another reference which will ultimately mean more business. What am I aiming to achieve by more business?
More wealth.
What do (did) I want? I want to build my home, I want to be able to live comfortably with some luxuries, without being continually worried that buying that block of cheese, or nice chocolate, or bottle of wine will break the bank. I want to afford proper private health care. I want to be recognized for what I do, not who I know.
This got me thinking even further - I seriously need to re-evaluate my long term goals because right now I'm working to increase a wealth which isn't sustainable, and not even worth it.
I am a mental health first aider at work (should someone feel the need to talk / vent / need to confide in someone about anything). A friend confided in me that things are rough at the moment. All it did was prove that what I was aiming for, isn't worth it. She has the flashy car, the big house, the perfect suburban neighbourhood where everyone knows everyone. She has the private health care that allows her to have all her medical expenses paid if she has any issues. What has it done for her? It has stressed her out to breaking point. I wanted to burst into tears when she told me about how she was struggling and I wanted to hug her.
I can't even hug someone anymore (covid).
All I could do was speak to her, cry with her, and help her find a solution to cut back on some of the extremely high monthly expenses.
Where did we learn about wealth?
If I look at the education I received, as far back as I can remember I was always taught:
Study hard. Work hard. You'll be successful with lots of money.
Why didn't the education system focus on health? Happiness? Family? Friendships? Meaningful wealth?
Why was it so important for the education systems to impose this idea into young minds that the only way you can be successful is if you have a lot of money? I didn't have the opportunity to study at a university when I left school - I worked and saved money and did a bunch of short courses over the last 14 years which has allowed me to be competent and qualified to advance (slowly).
I used to envy the people who got the opportunity to sit in a university and study - live their dreams. I don't anymore - the majority of them will be broke for the first 10 years of their life once they have graduated because of the student loans they had to take out. I'm glad I am not suffering with that problem today.
Would life be simpler with lots of money?
Of course it would. However, things would be different today if I won the lottery, vs a week ago. A week ago I would have built that big house, bought the nice car, taken those extended holidays before building up my business. I would never be able to retire because I'd lose my mind if I wasn't active in business. Now? If I won the lotto tonight, the home would be significantly smaller, the car wouldn't be a Land Rover, and the holiday would be a lot shorter.
Where do I go from here, and why am I writing this?
I actually don't have a cooking clue.
I am however very thankful that this has eventually woken me up to really having a good, hard look at what I want from life. What I want to achieve, and how I'm going to get there.
I saw a quote on Forbes.com and thought I would leave it here as my parting thought for where I'm at right now:
"The real measure of your wealth is how much you would be worth if you lost all your money." ~ Anonymous
Original Image from Pixabay user: Clker-Free-Vector-Images
(has been substantially edited by myself to produce the above and even though no attribution is required, I still think they deserve a mention because they have some great work!)
