Gen X Journey

On Saturday mornings, before I head off to my yoga class, I like to nourish my mind that is usually consumed with TV shows, celebrity gossip and trashy chic lit novels, with Kathleen Noonan’s Last Word column in the Courier Mail. Her most recent question–When do you feel rich?

Now this wasn’t one of those money making articles in the investment section, it was one of those articles that bypassed the brain and went straight to the heart–very philosophical and incredibly thought provoking. You can read her articles here.

Briefly, Kathleen met with a man called Simon Weller who, unable to give his staff a pay rise and still stay in business due to the GFC, asked of them the question, When do you feel rich? His staff gave the following answers. I feel rich when I can pick my kids up from school at least some afternoons a week. I feel rich when I know I’m not going to be sacked. I feel rich when I celebrate someone’s birthday in the workplace.

Simple stuff. Not the stuff of cruises on the Med, penthouse apartments, fast red sports cars and the like.

So when my husband came home from work (yeah we work–we’re rich in life not money) I asked him the question–when do you feel rich? First he got this terrified look in his eye as though this was one of those trick questions I like to spring on him every so often, but when I explained the context he got right into the spirit. He said he felt rich when he drove into our short street and saw his house. He felt rich when he could have a good glass of scotch at night. He felt rich when he could lay in bed on Sunday mornings reading the papers.

And if this was the intended result of the article it was very successful. The things that make us feel most rich are the little things, things that maybe redress an imbalance from childhood or life, but the things that enrich our lives and ultimately make us feel happy, cossetted and loved. 

This is my rich list.

1. I feel rich when visit the library and have a bag of books waiting for me to read.
2. I feel rich when my dog jumps into bed with me for an early morning cuddle.
3. I feel rich when my husband asks me how my day was and waits for the answer.
4. I feel rich when I take my five minute leisurely stroll to the gym in the early morning light.
5. I feel rich when I stand on Flinders Beach at Stradbroke Island and I am the only person there.
6. I feel rich when my husband brings me an early morning espresso in bed.
7. I feel rich when I pick lemons and kaffir lime leaves off the citrus trees in the front yard.
8. I feel rich when my big grown up teenager jumps on top of me and says “I need a cuddle”.
9. I feel rich when I play with a puppy.
10. I feel rich when I’m tucked up in a warm bed on a cold night.

Gosh that was cathartic. I feel really good and really, really rich.

So when do you feel rich? Image