Discover Your Wealth

I thought I had a small home until I met a couple who live in their van.  I don't mean a top-of-the-line, custom-converted van.  I mean an old, beat-up van that barely runs, with a mattress and trash bags full of belongings in the back.  It makes my 800-square-foot apartment look palatial.

I saw this "home" in the Walmart parking lot.  On hot summer days this year, it was parked under a tree at the farthest end, with both doors open to catch any hint of a breeze as the temperature climbed above 95℉.  My gifts of a few dollars and cups of McDonald's iced tea might have helped this couple a little, but couldn't change their situation.

When I drove away in my 2024, paid-off, air-conditioned, recently-cleaned Kia sedan that doesn't have to carry everything I own, I reflected on my wealth.

A changed perspective

My father worked 60 or more hours a week because he had to.  My mother budgeted carefully for food, clothing, and household costs.  We never had much money to spare.

I've never considered my family rich, but I had music lessons.  I got orthodontia.  We went on vacations.  My parents created a stable, happy home for us.  My siblings have been successful.  No one is addicted to anything (except maybe sugar and caffeine).

I went to college.  Yes, it was on grants, scholarships, part-time work, a small student loan, and what my parents could occasionally contribute.  But I got a degree, and then a teaching credential.  And I was privileged enough to make a change when I discovered that classroom teaching was not the right fit for me after all.

My husband taught 6th grade in public schools, and we have lived on his salary plus my occasional part-time jobs as church choir director, bookkeeper, and English tutor to speakers of other languages.  Our budgets were always pretty tight.

I've never considered that we were rich, but I had the freedom to homeschool my children (who also had music lessons, orthodontia, and family vacations).  I had the opportunity to continue working with a voice coach and performed as a classical singer, which wasn't lucrative, but added to my personal fulfillment.

• I've been wealthy enough that I've never wondered where I would sleep, or if I'd be cold or hungry.  
• I've been wealthy enough to spend plenty of time reading, writing, and crafting.  
• I've been wealthy enough to give away money and extra belongings, all without making myself needy.

If being wealthy means having comfort, opportunity, simple pleasures, and the freedom to choose, I've had all of those things.  Maybe not as much as some, but isn't that the problem?  When I compare myself to millionaires, I don't notice that I'm rich because I don't have as much as they do.  But I have a lot more than billions of others, if I change my perspective.

Day by day, what you choose, what you think,

and what you do is who you become.

Heraclitus, Greek philosopher

The challenge

Today, think for a few minutes about your own wealth.  Instead of feeling that you don't have enough, that you need to fill a shopping cart, or that you have wishes unfulfilled, give thanks for the areas in your life where you've had comfort, opportunity, success, pleasure, and freedom to choose.

And if you have belongings that you don't use or need, that's also a type of wealth.  You have enough to declutter, donate, and be generous!  Consider yourself wealthy, and take some action today.

Your assets may not be grandiose.  They could be as unpretentious as a simple but delicious meal, a quiet walk, an extra sweater, a conversation with a friend, a good book, an unused set of dishes, or a barista-made beverage you had time to sip and savor.

Quiet the part of you that is always desiring more (we all have that part) with a few moments of appreciation and some words of thanks.