The Different Types of Wealth

Wealth is a word that gets thrown around so much in our society that you can trip over it if you are not watching your step.  Despite this description of measurement being commonly used, you can talk to ten different people and find ten different answers to it.  Today, I will share my answer to this word with a simple denotation and very very complex connotation.

To me, wealth can mean two very different things.  On one hand, there is material wealth.  the amount of money you have, the amount of stuff you have.  The Movie Fight Club does a fantastic job of defining this.  (On a side note, I will probably break the first and second rules more than once so please deal with it on your own time.)  This, I have found to be closest to the answer that a majority of people in the United States, if not most of the world will tell you.

There is of course, another side to wealth though.  The emotional and depending on who you ask, spiritual side of wealth, which to me and related enough to be the same entity.  This type of wealth is a measurement of ones happiness and connection with the world around them.

Many people have people I have met will sometimes find much material wealth and have low mental wealth while the inverse is also quite common.  What is slightly rarer though alarmingly on the rise is a lack of both mental and material wealth.  I fear for people in this situation for that is to me the ultimate definition of misery and I pray to any in this situation that their life improves in some form for them to escape this deep dark place.

Most coveted of all though is when one manages to achieve both happiness in physical and mental wealth.  This is what the American Dream is founded on of course, but it is not limited to just one country.  This is the aspiration of most if not all Humans.

While there are many books and blogs that deal specifically on how to reach this lofty and amazing place, I cannot be the one to educate others on finding it for I am still searching for it myself.

At the moment, I am at a point in my life where I very well may soon achieve optimal mental and spiritual wealth.  after all, Judaism has become a powerful and very focal point in my life and has helped me escape from the darkness of complete and utter poor on every level.

But while great, my religious growth is not the only contributing factor to my improved well being. As some of you may be aware, I managed to get a part of a novel published in November and with March swiftly approaching, another part is soon to be on the way.  My goal then is to slow down the struggle I have had with part time jobs that give me no sense of security as I hope each week for more hours than I get and a sub optimal paycheck. Instead, I am transitioning to a point in my life where I am in control of my income.  A sense of control can lead to this mental happiness, and although the American Dream has changed slightly, the correct way I feel to go about it, is to do the things you enjoy and figure out how those things can bring you to the future you want.

Many people find that their choices are do what they love and make less money or do what they loath and make more money.  i have decided that I would rather have mental wealth than physical for I have found that greater mental wealth always leads to material wealth in time.