Am I Wealthy After All?

Looking around online I came accross this nice definition of wealth: 'Tangible or intangible things that makes a person, family or group better off.' - BusinessDictionary.com. That makes it all sound very simple doesn't it? There is no mention of money or possessions in that neat little definition, in fact it could be described as being more than a little vague. Even so it makes a hell of a lot of sense.


In these times of economic uncertainty it makes sense to look at wealth in the wider perspective. Thinking about the amount of people who have lost jobs, businesses, and in many cases their homes since the start of recession, I consider myself to be lucky. Lucky in the fact that I can still (just about) work from home and be here for my son as he grows up, lucky that the bills are still being paid each month, lucky that there is enough money left to continue to put food on the table each mealtime, and lucky that although its a struggle - we manage.


Going back to that definition I would suggest that the tangible aspect would be money, the thing that we manage to catch a fleeting hold of as it flies at lightening speed from our purses, wallets and bank accounts. I would place security as being an intangible form of wealth, the more secure we feel the more contented or better off we feel we are and therefore the more wealthy we are. I would assume that 'wealth' means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but personally knowing that I am loved, have a healthy family and a solid roof over my head means that I do indeed posses wealth. Although more of the tangible stuff would indeed be helpful!