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Each and every day, you are bombarded with images of the ideal life. No matter how far off the grid you live, your mind seems to be permanently stamped with commercials promising you an easy path to wealth: try investing with this advising company, or be sure to put your money into that form of tangible wealth. Yet no matter how many promises are made, at the end of the day it is your personal choices and not the products you buy that dictate whether or not you will be wealthy.
For most people, when they are thinking about wealth they are not really thinking about the money aspect. They’re thinking about the feelings of wealth – stress relief, self satisfaction, personal fulfillment, or security, just to name a few. You may have noticed this in your own life. When you are thinking about a purchase, possessing the thing takes a back seat to how you will feel once you possess that thing.
Sound strange? Think about some of the people who have achieved outstanding wealth in absolute terms. They’ve got the big house, the garage full of cars, the fancy clothes, the plasma TV … in other words, everything they want within reach. And they’re still not happy.
In fact, many wealthy people are downright miserable. They’re on their second or third spouse, they don’t have good relationships with their children and relatives, and they may not have anyone they can call a true friend. All their trappings of richness can’t bring them the happiness they crave, and they waste a lot of energy trying to protect the very wealth that’s keeping them in misery.
Now, the point of this article isn’t to tell you to give up on the idea of being wealthy and go live like a beggar in the countryside because that will make you happy. No, no, no. That’s not true either. The idea is for you to take a second look at your money life and start separating your emotions from the dollars and cents.
True wealth is as much about the feeling of having enough as it is about having a big pile of money in the bank. Banks, as we all know, can go under overnight, and the fiat currencies of this world aren’t going to last forever. The feeling of abundance, on the other hand, is something that is within your power to create in your own life. You can give yourself the gift of wealth.
Part of the path to giving yourself a life of wealth is refocusing your mindset around wealth, to zero in again on those things that really are important. The latest computers, the newest home security systems, the shiniest bit of gold … all of these things are just getting dropped down an empty well that will never fill up unless you take some time to work on the emotional side of your personal wealth problem.
Take a moment right now and think about the times when you felt blessed by wealth and abundance in your life. Was it after a night out with your spouse at a new movie? Was it spending a Wednesday afternoon reading with your children because your off the grid business meant you didn’t have to work a traditional schedule? How about a weekend of canning vegetables grown in your own garden? Building your own shelves and enjoying your craftsmanship? Or watching a sunset with a fire roaring in the background?
Chances are that the moments you find filled with the sensation of wealth, abundance, and blessing didn’t actually cost that much in absolute terms. They were made wealthy by the people who shared them with you, the time that you spent on a project you enjoyed, and the beauty of the universe. It’s not anything you can order online or buy at the store.
Marketers and the government want you to buy, buy, buy . . . but you’re shopping away your chances at true wealth when you give in to their advertising. Spend some time reflecting on what really matters to you and what really makes you feel wealthy and free. Stepping away from the “buy now” mindset is a non-traditional path, but the rewards can be far greater in the long run.
