What does wealth mean to you?  Is it hitting a million dollars, maybe 5 or making that 6 figure salary?  I remember growing up wanting to be a stock broker because I thought they made a lot of money and that if I made a lot of money my life would be set.  The older I get the more I begin to shift my perspective on wealth away from associating it just with money. To me being wealthy is taking care of yourself and putting your health first.

You’ve heard the saying “your health is your real wealth” right?  Well, I didn’t realize what that meant till recently.  You could be the richest man in the world but if you abuse your body, drugs/alcohol or anything else that is detrimental to your health, no amount of money will not be able to save you.  I’ve recently been exposed to people in my life that are very well off in terms of having/making a lot of money but drink heavily, smoke and eat nothing but junk food.  How wealthy are you going to be when all those things you did to yourself come back and rear their ugly head in the form of medical bills and health issues. I’d much rather focus on things I can do for myself today that will keep me healthy and wealthy in the future.

They say you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.  Although I don’t completely agree with the saying, I do think the people you spend the most time with influence the way you think and a lot of your decisions.  So if you surround yourself with people that put value in their health and happiness, that will only influence you to do the same.  On the flip side, if you spend a lot of time with people that put value in material things (expensive clothes, fancy cars, etc.) you’ll start to associate wealth with those things.  As silly as it sounds, I’m glad I wasn’t raised in a household that put a lot of value on material possessions.

There was a recent report about how the richest 62 people in the world  hold as much wealth as poorest 50% of the world.  Talk about a widening gap between the rich and the poor.  There is hope however that all that money won’t just go to corporate CEOs to be spent on vacation homes, luxury planes/cars and extravagant lifestyles.  The Giving Pledge is a community of the wealthiest people in the world, pledging to donate at least 50% of their fortunes to philanthropy.  You must make the commitment of pledging the 50% of your fortune to be part of the club with many members pledging to donate well over the required 50%.  Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook recently came out that he plans to donate 99% of his fortune to philanthropy.  It is really refreshing to know that there are groups of individuals out there that are putting their wealth and fortune to better the world and society.  Hopefully if the richest people in the world can show that real wealth is in giving back after your basic needs have been met then we can really start to put value in the things that matter.

QOTP: “That Man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.” –Henry David Thoreau