What is the measure of being rich? Your car? The size of your home or expensive watch?
A few weeks ago we celebrated my youngest daughter’s 18th birthday – yes I am THAT old!
It was a whole family affair and I felt really grateful that everyone, siblings and cousins, had made long journeys and come together with new boyfriends and girlfriends to share the celebration.
My great niece Marlie (aged 6), had never been to my house before and presumably because my house is a bit bigger than hers, asked me if I was rich.
I have had this conversation with young children before. At that age they are just beginning to realise that sadly, most people measure success and indeed happiness, by material possessions – by the house that you live in, the car you drive, the watch you wear etc.
I told her that yes, I was very rich – rich in happiness, rich in love, rich in family and friends. Somewhat taken aback, she thought about this for a few minutes and then said that she was very rich in happiness too – and went on to draw a whole page of hearts and wings and unicorns!
I do hope that she (and other members of the family who heard this exchange) keep thinking like this, as there is no doubt that the ruthless pursuit of money and material wealth is not good for our general wellbeing. It is so important to get balance in our lives and I am so pleased to be involved in a new Initiative for Financial Wellbeing which has recently been launched. It is really important to manage our economic life effectively to ensure we have enough money to pursue our passions in the future, but we also need to consider our social life and the strong connections we need to have with other people; our career or purpose, so that we enjoy our work and how we spend our free time; our physical and mental health, so we have enough energy and strength to do what we want to each day; and our community so we can engage with the area where we live and give to this where possible.
Getting these 5 interconnected elements in balance is key to making the right choices and choosing the right activities to achieve physical vitality, mental alacrity, social satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, and personal fulfilment.
When we get all this right, then we can really say that we are fabulously rich!
If this resonates with you, do call us for a friendly chat – you might be pleasantly surprised at how much of our work with clients doesn’t involve money!