What do you want? What is wealth to you?

It seems ironic that many people say that they want to be wealthy, but they don't know what that means. Some people even want to be "super-wealthy" and yet do not even know how to define it. The word "wealth" is definitively NOT definite: it is not the same as money, cash, stocks, bonds, properties and cannot be measured.

We may say that someone has abundant health, or has a rich relationship, or enjoys a wealth of social connections. It's not all about the money, money, money, (to quote Jessie J in the hit song "Pricetag")

My personal story involves a pure dollar focus in my twenties, which predictably ended badly. I worked harder and harder, extending my working hours from 40 hours, to 48, to 56 hours, to 64 to 76 hours a week. Yes, the money did flow in, and in a four year period, I doubled my income, doubled it again, and doubled it again.

It felt good to pull in six figures when most of my friends were just getting by. I could be more generous, have more fun, and give more lavish gifts... when I had the time.

Working so many hours meant that I had not time for the gym, no time for socialising, no time for cooking, cleaning or household chores. I paid someone to mow, cook, wash and do other household work (which cost $$, and took away my mindfulness... You don't discover the Zen in washing dishes or mowing the lawn until it's gone...)

After working so many long hours, for a long time, and not taking any holidays for five years, things came to a grinding halt. It's funny that we don't run our cars for five years without maintenance, but think that we can do this to a human body or mind.

The stress probably came head-first & it definitely got to my body. A heart attack at age 33 was a wake-up call to change my life. The heart attack was closely followed by a six-figure divorce. Chasing money had cost me my health, my happiness, my friends and my marriage. It was time to revisit what TRUE WEALTH meant to me. What does it mean to you?