What Does Wealthy Mean?

Prior to the last two years, my first thought about being wealthy involved having enough money to have almost whatever I wanted to purchase, followed by the spiritual side of wealth. Five years ago Ryan was fortunate to meet a wonderful person and business coach who quickly saw the fantastic person and corporate trainer that Ryan is. He put Ryan on his scholarship program because he saw so much promise. The business and personal lessons that Ryan and I learned were fantastic, but we now see that the materialism-related payoff we sought and the coach used for motivation was misguided for us.

Ryan’s business did not take off for many reasons, one of which was his ADD. If you have read previous posts you know that he has made huge strides toward conquering his ADD by changing his diet! One failed business and two layoffs later (not to mention losing all the profit in our Florida condo because of the real estate bust), we are further from the material success we were striving for than we were five year ago. Those layoffs and the loss of our condo profit taught us so, so, so much. After the first layoff we were far less beholden to material things. Now that we are into the second layoff in two years, our sense of entitlement is almost completely gone. We are freer than ever, and our ease blows my mind. Of all of our challenges, the one that sticks with me is finding the $50 so that Colson can join a swim team. Not so big, eh?

We are working hard to meet all of our financial obligations. I thought we had nothing left in our budget to cut, but we do. We will be able to pay our bills and be able to continue to eat healthy thanks to the generosity of many.

First is Cary Homeschoolers. I posted on the homeschool loop that Ryan was laid off and that we were both looking for professional and non-professional work. The kindness, concern, job leads and temporary job offers were overwhelming. One of the members went one step further and took up a collection on our behalf. I thought she were refunding the tuition we paid for a class, an action which I protested. When I opened the envelope I saw it was much more. Our gratitude is immeasurable!

One of our friends offered us money, even though she can’t afford it. Another friend offered us food, even though she can’t afford it. One of our farmers sells us food at cost. One of my doctors will treat us for free if we need it. Other friends are finding creative ways to make joint purchases and cut costs. And, of course, my parents are there if we need them, just as they always are. We want to make it on our own, but it is a huge comfort to know they are there.

What is wealth? People. People we know and love and people we don’t even know.

Now I am working to pay all of this generosity forward and help another friend. So fun!

Can I be any more rich?