There are people who use up their entire lives making money so they can enjoy the lives they have entirely used up. Jesus said that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Maybe the reason is not that the rich are so wicked they’re kept out of the place but that they’re so out of touch with reality they can’t see it’s a place worth getting into.
Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark
My father used to tell me that I was the richest person he knows. Then he would add with a smile, “and maybe someday you’ll have money.”
Honestly, money has never been a motivator for me.
Is that because I’ve always had enough? Maybe, but…
Having enough money may mean
- prioritizing
- discerning wants vs. needs
- delaying gratification
- budgeting
- living within one’s means
I was a stay-at-home mom. I used to joke with people that my husband and I had a good arrangement — he earned the money and I spent it. That’s truly how it worked.
I did little things to bring in extra cash: I baked cookies and sold them to a local business. I coached swimming. I officiated high school and college swim meets.
We also saved on spending. I made Christmas gifts or shopped thrift stores for them. We rarely ate out. Clothes were passed down.
I look back on all of it and see what my father saw. We were so rich.
During the process of divorce, our financial arrangement came back to haunt me. So many people cautioned me on “looking out for myself.” I hated being in that position.
But I will say today that I am still rich in the ways that matter to me.
Earlier this week a Russian couple brought me some chocolates from Russia as a thank you for something I did for them last summer. Another woman brought me a bag of thumbprint cookies from an upscale bakery in Boston — as a thank-you.
I guess sweets are a form of riches — but, for me, it’s the sentiment behind them that I appreciate.
On a regular basis different people poke their head into my office just to say hi or to thank me or to give me some little something. I have so many cards and chachkies on my bulletin board. Last week I came in to find flowers on my desk.
I am rich indeed.
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 
Yes you are!
Sally you are rich! Money isn’t everything… I worked with a woman who passed away and Phyllis was remembered as someone who never said a bad thing about anyone. She was helpful and would go out of her way to help. She wasn’t rich monetarily but there was standing room only at her funeral… Of course even after retirement she was surrounded by friends, those same coworkers who she helped, were helping her! I don’t think she ever had to mow her yard and when there was a snow storm her walk was shoveled and her groceries delivered! She was the richest person I’ve ever known!