“Every day is a bank account, and time is our currency. No one is rich, no one is poor, we’ve got twenty-four hours each.”
Christopher Rice
If someone were to ask you how wealthy you are, your mind may immediately begin calculating how much money you have in your checking account, how much in savings and investments, and adding that to what you’ve acquired in land and physical assets. There is no doubt that for anyone living in today’s Western world, money means security — but what other types of wealth are there, and how can we calculate those?
I’m going to preface this by saying that I realize money is important. I’ve been in the position (many times) where I had no idea how I was going to feed myself between now and payday. Hell, I was in that position two weeks ago! Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs demonstrates how fundamental our need for security and physiological basics are to pursuing “higher” aspects of life, like our interpersonal relationships, self-actualization, and personal goals and ambitions:
(You won’t catch me contemplating the meaning of life before I’ve had breakfast. And coffee.)
My husband and I are fortunate: right now, we only have the two of us to worry about. I can only imagine how different our situation would be if we had more mouths to feed. As global (monetary) wealth continues to be concentrated into the hands of few, more and more people are finding themselves one missed paycheck away from homelessness. This is where the idea of real wealth comes in.
In his work Agenda for a New Economy (you can access the PDF here) David Korton defines real wealth as “things of intrinsic utilitarian, artistic, and spiritual value…[such as] healthy food, fertile land, pure water, clean air, education, healthcare, fulfilling opportunities for service, and time for meditation and spiritual reflection…healthy, happy children, loving families, caring communities, [and] a beautiful, healthy, natural environment.” Most of us would agree that these are the priceless things that make life worth living, and unfortunately they often take second priority to earning a living and putting food on the table.
The good news is that we don’t have to make them second priority. Accumulating real wealth can help relieve stress, improve mental health, and even have a direct correlation with increasing monetary wealth. I’m not saying that we should all go down to part-time hours at our jobs in order to have more time for family, friends, community service, and hobbies (though if you can realistically do that, that’s great!) I’m certain that most people (at least the ones who hate their jobs) already work the minimum number of hours necessary to provide for themselves and their families. I’m saying that if you’re feeling like you’ve sold your soul to your employer, or you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, or you’re in a situation where someone could fire you and take away your income and you would be in big trouble, then there might just be a remedy for that.
Gaining monetary wealth is important, but investing in yourself is important too. Do you have a hobby or cause that you’re passionate about? Do you dedicate time to it? Or have you lost a connection with the things (or people) you love?
Based on observation, I feel like the leading cause for people not investing in themselves is depression, which is frequently caused by stress, financial difficulties, dissatisfaction at work, increased working hours, strained relationships, and a whole ton of other horrible things that we endure and tend to think of as unfortunate, uncontrollable conditions of being human. But these aren’t the necessary facts of life; they are conditions that we as a culture, over a whole lot of time, have built. We created this lifestyle, and we have the power to change it.
I know a lot of people who are discovering what they’re passionate about and finding ways to turn their skills and talents into income. It brings me so much joy to see this! It’s not an easy thing to do — it requires creativity, optimism, self-confidence, dedication, and hard work. If this sounds overwhelming, you may want to think: is it any easier to spend 40+ hours a week at a job you hate…forever? If you’re spending time doing something you love, then that activity won’t drain you; it will energize you, and you’ll have more available energy to dedicate to others things, too. What makes you feel alive, and are you investing yourself in it? Even spending just a little bit of time regularly on something that makes you happy is a step in the right direction, and over time it will change your life for the better.
Citations:
Korten, D. (2011, October 5.) Agenda for a new economy. Livingeconomiesforum.org. Retrieved February 13, 2014, from http://www.livingeconomiesforum.org.
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