from Seth’s Blog
It’s not the same as being rich.
Rich is always relative. Compared to your great-grandparents, we’re impossibly, supernaturally rich. We have access to information and technology that was unimagined a century ago. At the same time, compared to someone ten miles away or ten years in the future, we’re way behind.
Two people with precisely the same resources and options might answer the question of ‘rich’ completely differently. Because money is a story.
More here.
The short article “Do you feel rich?”, explains how someone can feel like they are rich or have many of the things they want, even if they do not have a lot of money. When I think about what I have currently, and what past generations had that was available, I consider myself rich in that particular way. However, when it comes to how much money I have and how much others have that people would generally consider as rich, I do not believe that I am rich by any means. I would only think of myself as someone who is wealthy if I was comfortable with my income and my lifestyle. That being said, I believe that I am very fortunate to be living during an era of technological advancements, which was thought to be impossible not too long ago. Past generations would probably say anyone with the technology that we consider to be ordinary devices is extremely rich and fortunate to have these items since older generations never grew up with these devices. In the future, there will probably be more advances in transportation such as flying vehicles that can get from one place to another in much shorter time periods. Today, we would think of only rich people who could ever have a car that can fly off the ground. Some of the products that I own today would be considered science fiction just a few decades ago.
I found the article very interesting. When it comes to feeling rich, I definitely have the feeling. When I was younger, my father taught me about class mobility. He told me about his past, so I can appreciate what I have. When my father was young, he lived in Puerto Rico. When he turned 15, he moved to Newark NJ. When in New Jersey, he was extremely poor living on welfare. He told me what it was like to be poor. He had to wear three shirts under his sweater to be warm, many of his friends died young because of crime and drugs, and he never had a bedroom. When my father became an adult, he started working and got out of that environment. When he had me, he made sure we had a house and our own rooms, something he never had. When I see what I have, I understand how blessed I am, and don’t take it for granted. I like how the article describes feeling rich as a choice. I could be a spoiled brat and not care. It’s easy to forget the reality of how lucky we are to have what we have. My father continues to explain that we are only in the middle class. With me going to a university, I can give the family an opportunity to keep progressing into the upper class. As a family, we can keep moving up in the world.
‘Do You Feel Rich?’’ I always feel that I am a very rich person. Being rich sometimes does not mean the amount of wealth.
Wealth is not just simple money, it includes wisdom, enthusiasm, gratitude, love, talent, and health!
The most important thing about happiness in life is health. When you have a healthy body, you can create a lot of things. If you don’t have health, you won’t be rich or happy for the whole world.
Feeling rich or wealthy is subjective and due to personal experiences. Many people can be rich with money, education, happiness, anything towards their own perspective. Growing up, my family and I were not rich with money, but we were rich in staying together and having a union. Many children do not have the luxury of a two-parent household, which I am appreciative about. Moreover, feeling rich and being rich are two completely different concepts. In my opinion, feeling rich is better personally but being rich is better in a more societal sense. To explain, feeling rich can make you feel better about yourself. Happiness is easy to obtain, but hard to keep. So, if you are rich with happiness, I bet a lot of millionaires would do anything to feel that way. Being rich would be better so you do not have to worry about money and being in poverty. If you are struggling with money, your lifestyle would be difficult and stressful. On this day, becoming a millionaire would seem to be easier because of the stock market, but it’s harder in a sense. The system is built for the rich to become richer, which gives us the impression that we can be millionaires quickly.
In my opinion, I feel rich in education. I am in college pursuing my degree, but I am also learning more about myself too. Becoming more independent can have its disadvantages and advantages, but you are learning about the world around you. Education is vital for our society today, so having a degree can aid me for the future and my future work, which is important. Essentially, you do not have to have money to feel rich because it is all relative and towards your own perspective. You can be wealthy with anything. Today, everyone wants something they do not have, even millionaires. We have to be appreciative of what we obtain because many would do anything for what we have. The people who you associate yourself with can affect you and your choices. You can learn from them even if it’s a good or bad experience.
I choose to do this article because I thought it was going to teach me why individuals believe that they are rich. However, as I read this article I agree and disagree with the information that was given. For example, how Seth stated that we choose the neighborhood or industry or peers which determines if we are rich or not. When I looked at this statement, I don’t agree with it because sometimes you don’t have the luxury to choose the neighborhood that you live in because of gentrification which means sometimes individuals are being pushed out. By pushing them out because they are different or have a different skin color which is already unethical to beginning shows that some individuals still have the mindset of when slaves were first freed. Furthermore, there is a social contract between African Americans and White Americans which makes it hard for one another to be able to come “wealthy”. There was a video I watched in my contemporary morals class which I agree with. The woman stated how can you get wealth when our system was fixed, to begin with. For example, when my ancestor was here, they did not have the same opportunities which cause them to live in horrible conditions because when they were working, they were building up someone else wealth and not their own because they were never given a chance to do so. Coming from my perspective I believe that African Americans were not allowed the same opportunities as everyone else which caused us to be a little back in our lives. Therefore, I believe that Mr. Seth was a little bias with the statement at hand because some people were not given the same treatment, to begin within my opinion, I see that as unfair and unjust. Looking from my point of view me the statement came off as biased as well. I do love that he stated if you wanted to be rich it’s like you are turning into a bully. Looking into this statement I agree because “rich” people that have money tend to turn into mean individuals not only to friends and family but also to the people that have to help them get to where they are today. I feel that wealth is something that you have to be granted but it can take as well. So, feel we must be humble when we come into money.
I often reflect on how lucky I am as a human being to be able to live in a financially-stable, comfortable environment. While on paper I would not necessarily consider myself rich monetarily, I absolutely believe I am rich to live a life filled with opportunities and I get to be around people I love. As Seth explains in this blog post, every person has a completely different perception of the word “rich” as the next person. The fact that I am currently writing this course blog response for an assignment in a college course proves the fact that I am a lucky person, my family has a fair enough amount of money, and my parents care enough about my well-being that they are willing to help me receive a top-tier college education. While those are three different types of “rich” in themselves, they all ultimately come to the conclusion that the people around me care for me to the extent that they will assist me in my aspirations. This post also brings up the fact that, “for many people, feeling rich is a choice.” Of course, this does not suggest that somebody can declare themselves rich and magically summon a million dollars. I interpreted this statement as a person can decide how appreciative they are about their lives, whether that be a billion-dollar trust-fund baby or a person that performs on the street for money in order to buy food. “Richness” is a situational concept and for that reason, there is no true definition for the word.
It’s one thing to be rich in terms of money, but a completely different thing to be rich in terms of happiness. I definitely do not know what I want to pursue as a career once I complete my education at this university, but the fact that I even have options available to choose from, proves that I am a fortunate, “rich” individual. On the other hand, a person who never had the opportunity to attend college and has significantly less money than my family, could potentially be richer than I consider myself to be. Being “rich” truly is not dependent on the money in one’s pocket, but the amount of appreciation that one holds for their life. The CEO of the biggest company in the world can wake up every day miserable, while a person making minimum wage can love everything about their life. Each person is richer than the other, but in different contexts. Honestly, I believe that richness can be measured in the satisfaction level of your life and everything it includes.
The fundamental definition of the word rich, is to have a plentiful or surplus amount of something. One can be rich in health, love, happiness, or knowledge, unfortunately in today’s money hungry society being rich is solely based on the amount of materialistic items one has or their position on cash. This ideology of being rich is so extreme that people will lie, cheat, steal, and even kill to get the “rich” status we all so desperately desire. I, on the other hand, think being rich is relative. I come from a poverty stricken country, Cuba, where 95% of the population are well below the average United States citizen’s income. There are people in Cuba who have to struggle and fight on a daily basis just to get their hands on food and water, let alone clothing. Seeing this makes me overwhelmingly grateful that today I have access to commodities whenever I please. That to me is being rich. Being able to pursue a higher education without government interference is being rich. Being able to eat meat without worrying about possible time in jail for just consuming cow meat, is being rich. Other people define being rich differently.
The saying “to each their own” should be taken literally when viewing one’s own interpretation of having a rich status. There is no problem if a person defines being rich as having wealth, then by all means strive for that, but when the act of becoming rich encourages a person to lie, steal, cheat, etc, then that person has to take another look at their ethics and their thoughts on being rich. Seth Godin puts it best in his, Do You Feel Rich Yet, blog post. He states,” for many people, feeling rich is a choice.If that choice encourages us to be imperious, selfish and a bully, it’s probably best to avoid it.” Having the basic standards of living is sufficient enough for me to consider myself rich, having family and friends all the more makes me rich. That to me is feeling rich.
When I think of being rich, I oddly think of my mother’s Facebook page. My mom and aunt post frequently for everyone to see. Most of the posts include me either out eating dinner or at a professional sports game. When I see my mother’s friends in person, they always say, “you’re lucky you get to go everywhere”. Yes, I am grateful and lucky that I can go to many sporting events in my young life, but there is no other thing I spend much money on. People have the perception that my family might be rich because we go to many sports games. On the other hand, I do not spend money on new clothes, shoes, or any accessories. So, the perception of someone being rich might not be the truth.
However, the definition of rich is in the hands of the beholder. Rich does not have to allude to monetary wealth. A person can be rich in happiness. If a person is rich in happiness, they do not care about feeling rich in money. One quote said, “my goal is to be filthy rich. Rich in knowledge. Rich in adventure. Rich in laughter. Rich in health. Rich in family. Rich in love”.
The article Do You Feel Rich by Seth was quite a fascinating and eye opening article to read. It affirmed my beliefs that being rich is indeed a mindset—not in the way that if you give a billionaire $1 he can turn it into $1000 in a year—but in a purely psychological way.
Focusing on how people of different richness act in certain scenarios has always intrigued me, but to see the world as one where everyone can be rich is something that never even occurred to me. Even if being rich is a mindset, and therefore a choice, that isn’t the main point that the article is trying to portray; the article is trying to convince the reader that if considering yourself rich will make you a worse person then consider yourself poor—but if being rich will make you a better, more generous and happy person, then by all means, however much money you may have, whether it be $15,000 or a penny, you’re rich.
This article got me thinking about how poorer people always tip more (so I’ve learned from my experience shoveling snow, hire me by the way). Being poor can be a good thing if it truly does make you more generous; they seem to be more focused on non-material joys in life, and hence value their money less. Could they actually be living happier lives than billionaires, so wrapped up in their corporeal possessions? For some, considering yourself poor may make you work hard to strive towards the ultimate goal of being rich; or maybe being poor gives rise to a new kind of happiness that makes one not want to achieve great wealth. It is said that many uber wealthy people are unfulfilled, and the wealthier you get the more unhappy one becomes. I believe this is because anticipation gives us more gratification than actually getting the things we desire; we need to have things to aspire to get, and this is why maybe being rich actually isn’t a good thing, and is in fact more of a curse.
But until we learn that lesson ourselves, we all strive to be rich one day; but I often wonder, will we all become selfish misers if we inevitably reach that goal? Some of us may hate the selfish billionaire, but does it take the forsaking of our morals to get there? I hope we can all retain our ethics, whatever our economic status will be.
Until then, though, we’re all just equally broke college students.
The short article, “Do you feel rich?” by Seth correlates the concepts of rich and connects them to moral consciousness and happiness. Everyone has a different perception of being rich. For some individuals, monetary wealth is their ultimate goal while for some others, great memories and gaining more knowledge is their objective. A common question within our society in this generational era is, “Can Money Buy Happiness?” According to a recent study conducted by a senior researcher at the Wharton Business School, money buys happiness no matter how much someone already has. This also means that someone who makes one hundred thousand a year is not happier on a day-to-day level than someone that is making seventy-five thousand. The new study says that money improves happiness no matter how much someone already has. I think that when the money is earned through hard work, determination, and aspirations, it will make an individual happy. In addition, you can obtain various different travel experiences throughout the world and acquire many unique skills by spending money. Furthermore, helping people in need and generously donating to charity is one of the easiest and most convenient ways to become richer in happiness. I would like to mention a famous quote by Tony Hawk; a legendary skateboarder, entrepreneur, and founder of The Skatepark Project, “You might not make it to the top, but if you are doing what you love, there is much more happiness there than being rich or famous.” Not everyone can make the next exceptional invention or create an extraordinary business, but each person has a passion for their interests. Pursuing your interests and being grateful for the privileges you were blessed with is what truly makes you happy. To conclude, money will help you gain short term happiness by spending assets on material items but to achieve long term and sustaining joy, you must invest in yourself, chase your goals, learn new things and uphold your family.
Wealth is subjective. We all have different definitions of what constitutes being rich. Everyone believes that a different amount of money is needed to be wealthy. In particular, I believe that most people believe that they aren’t rich, and that they can easily identify someone who has more then them, which causes them to label that other person as being “rich”.
There is no magical bar which people need to cross in order to become rich. People simply need to make enough money to satisfy their personal and families wants and needs. If someone can provide their family with most of their families wants and needs, then they are rich. Since everyone wants and needs different things, then the amount of money needed to be wealthy is different for each person. Some people are very thrifty and don’t need much to be happy in life. These people are just as rich if not wealthier than someone who is a multimillionaire.
People born into a family which has millions and millions of dollars may be viewed as being wealthy compared to the average person, but these people are likely to not be content with what they have. They will crave for more things, and for more power and influence. Such desires to live an extravagant lifestyle may cause this person to spend money uncontrollably. This person will try to find happiness in there materialist lifestyle, and will likely never be content. These desires will cause the person to spend to much of their money, as budgeting money was never really a concern in this person’s life before. So, in the end, those who live life within or below their means and save their money may actually be wealthier in the end. Countless privileged people lose most if not all their money by making stupid decisions in order to chase an unattainable idea of happiness.
Those who live modest lives won’t need high salaries to be satisfied in life. They will find pleasure in the small things in life and they will feel like they have a more rewarding life. Regardless of how much money someone has or makes in their life, they only need enough to satisfy most of their wants and needs. Wealth is relative. We all know some one who has more than us, but they may not be as frugal as us. In the end, those who are happy are wealthy, and those who save their money are wealthy. Those who save their money may actually have more money than the people who they consider to be “rich”, who have very high incomes.
While reading this article I initially believed it would explain; how the rich become rich, and stay rich. I thought it may lay out their success strategies throughout their lives and for the future. However, I have come to disagree with my initial beliefs about Seth’s short article “do you feel rich?”.
Throughout reading the article I found myself disagreeing with certain statements, for example “The neighbourhood or industry or per group you choose has a lot to do with whether you’re relatively rich or not.” This statement is something, in my eyes, only someone who has fallen into money could say; I strongly disagree with this statement as in most situations no one has the choice of the neighbourhood they grow up in, which then if not directed down what is deemed as a ‘good path’ they end up in either a bad industry or no industry at all and succumbing to a ‘failing life style’.
Although billionaires lose money when the stock market adjusts (drops in value) this does not mean they become ‘poor’, assuming poor is the opposite to rich in this case. The world in the 21st century has become a money hungry place, for example universities are now being classed as businesses, non-profit organisations are becoming less in numbers.
If I was asked the question “do you feel rich?” my answer would be yes, I would consider myself quite rich, but in order to be rich you need a lot more than money. We as a society are rich by the advancements of technology, medicines, and the access to education. We are a very lucky generation in my home area as we have not had to witness great wars. So therefore, in order to be rich you do not have to have a full safe or wallet, but a full mind and life.
When asked what does the word rich mean to individuals their will be many different answers. The reason for this is because rich can be classified as ones wealth, health education and much more. For me when asked what does the word rich mean I actually think of ones wealth status. However, after reading the article “Do You Feel Rich?”, by Seth’s Blog I took on a different meaning. For me personally I feel that the word rich defines one overall happiness and mental health. It’s being in the state of mind where you are at peace with yourself and are physically in a good shape. So if you look good you automatically feel good meaning your mindset is richer than those around you.
The feeling of being rich or wealthy is mostly relative to perspective. For example, someone who was born into poverty or a difficult situation, middle class would be their idea of rich. They might not expect families to have multiple cars or houses, but to someone in the middle class, it would take more to consider someone “rich”. Not everyone has the same definition of success, so the feeling of being rich does not always mean money, even though it is implied. Some people could feel rich because they are enjoying their life and getting the most out of their time with their family and friends.
There are different levels of wealth, the common middle class person becoming “rich” because he got promoted and can now afford the beach house he has always wanted. In his mind, he feels rich because he is doing well financially and can afford luxuries like a vacation home. To someone who was raised in a poor area without a car and renting an apartment, feeling rich would take less. If they purchased their own car or house, they would feel rich because they surpassed their expectations and are able to make large purchases. To someone that is born into a royal family, it would take a lot of wealth and luxury items for them to feel rich, because they have been surrounded by it their whole lives. They would be considered the 1% of the 1%, making them rich in the eyes of almost everyone on Earth, while even millionaires would not be rich to them because they do not have private planes or other luxuries.
The perspective of someone who is not rich in mondy, but rich in happiness is an interesting one. They could feel more rich than millionaires because they are enjoying their life and are rich with experiences. It all depends on the perspective you have that decides when you will feel rich, and everyones is different.
I found this article very interesting. In this article, the author makes being rich a choice. I tend to disagree with his statement about neighborhoods. He claims that the neighborhood that you live in shows if you are rich or poor. I tend to disagree with this statement because there are people that are rich that decide that they do not need to live in a mansion or be in a rich neighborhood. I personally know people that are rich but live in middle to low-class neighborhoods because that is just the lifestyle that they like to live in. That is why I disagree with Seth’s statement about neighborhoods. In addition, the author makes it seem like if you are rich you are a piece of garbage by saying “Which means that for many people, feeling rich is a choice. If that choice encourages us to be imperious, selfish and a bully, it’s probably best to avoid it.” This statement is completely false. The majority of rich people donate to the poor and the sick. For example, Youtuber Mr. Beast is someone who is rich and he uses his money to help out citizens all over the United States. In my opinion, though being “rich” has a different meaning to everyone like how Seth stated in the beginning about our grandparents thinking that we are rich because we have all of this information and technology. Other people, can view feeling rich as having a lot of money or finding true love. I believe that feeling rich is living a life that you truly enjoy and are happy with.
To me this article was very interesting. I had a talk with my dad about my grandfather. He is born and raised in Ireland. The highest level of education that he had was up to was the fifth grade. His family was very poor and lived on a farm. Their house was very small. He had ten brothers and one sister. By the time he was eighteen years old he decided to come to America. He then started his business. He opened his own bar and called it our last name, “McQuaids”. He has been running the family business for forty six years now and became very successful. It will forever be passed down through our family. The point that I am trying to get to is that in order to be “rich” or “successful” you are going to have to work for it. My grandfather had nothing when he first came to America and started something that will forever be passed down through our family. Everyone knows him as a very hardworking man who does not put up with anything. He made something out of nothing. When I think about being rich, it does not always have to particulate to money. I believe that just having your loved ones around you, having freedom, and living a happy life can also be considered being rich. Sometimes people can underestimate that and not realize how much it means until it is gone. My own personal goals is to start a family and be successful in whatever I do in life. By accomplishing that I will be able to call myself rich. Even though, I always have “McQuaids” to fall back on, I want to try something else and make something new for my family. My grandfather is a great role model for me and set the standard for my family. Put the work in and you will get results. Even if you do not have anything, make something. Value your family and what makes you happy in life and you can consider yourself rich. It is not all about the money. Enjoy the process of coming up and working hard.
The quality of being rich is something that everybody across the world has thought about, both in a positive way and a negative way. Throughout this article many aspects of the feeling of being rich are discussed. Contrasts were also mentioned from the opportunities we have compared to those of which our grandparents have. This creates an interesting discussion of how the term “rich” has changed in context throughout time within a certain country.
With blatant advances in technology and education, the world has changed in many different ways. This means that the opportunity for us as a newer generation has also changed drastically. In earlier ages, it was common and almost obligated for the son or daughter of their parents to carry whatever it was that their family specialized in throughout their life. For example, if your father was a butcher in the early ages, you would grow up around his work and learn how to be a butcher yourself. With the outstanding advances in education, we have a very different way of generational upbringing along with the choices our kin can make throughout their life. This poses the question; Do we have more opportunity to become rich than our grandparents? Yes, of course we do. This is because of the diversification of work opportunity we are now given throughout society. For example, a child can choose to do whatever he or she wants to do in life, work very hard towards it, and become successful in that specific trade. There is no limitation on what someone could do with their life in present day. This is something we obviously take for granted.
In contrast, I believe that while we are given advantageous means of opportunity than our grandparents, there are negative aspects of life that can be more prevalent within this day and age. One of which is comfort. This leads to a lack of work ethic an urge to be successful, just as our parents had. As Americans, most of us have immigrants in our ancestry line. When our ancestors first came to this country, the urge to be successful was very high. While it is unfair to say that the urge to be successful has generally dwindled in new generations, it is apparent. This is because generational wealth did not come to our ancestors as it does to particular parts of our generation. This causes kids to become lazy and live off inheritance rather than working towards their own good in life. With this being said, the following statement remains true; work ethic can only be taught, not inherited. Therefore, one thing can be said about our earlier generations, they knew they needed to work towards what they have. Unfortunately, sometimes today, that certain urge to do good in life is overshadowed. With this being said, I can conclude that while our grandparents may have had less choice in the way they carried their lives, they for sure had the will. When there is a will, there is a way. Therefore, I believe while we are much better off than our grandparents were, they generally had more of an urge to do good in the new country they were now living in.
I found this article to be very interesting because it gives you a deeper perspective of what it means to be rich. When you initially think about someone being rich, you think about how wealthy they may be and the amount of businesses or properties they own. But in this article they talk about many different ways you can be rich. A quote that really intrigues is “Which means that for many people, feeling rich is a choice.” I like this quote a lot and has to do with the essay by meaning that you can make your choices in life to be happy and how you treat others will make you happier. In the article Seth says we are rich compared to our grandparents.
I agree with this statement because i feel like this is true because we have more opportunities when it comes to having technology and more resources. Growing up my grandparents were never rich and didn’t the opportunity that some people day and age have today. Overall, this article was great because it gave me a new perspective of how to think about what the true definition of being rich is in todays society.
I don’t like when people relate the idea of richness to money. Think about so many ways in which we use the word rich as an adjective for other things. For example, one could say “the nature in this city is rich”, or “there is so much richness in this person’s beliefs and ideas”. Unfortunately, the world we live in nowadays, especially in the United States and other wealthy countries, drove us to this crazy pursuit of money, leading us to a very materialistic culture. When I think about money, I think of a human creation that was able to take over people’s lives, to the point so many people will work a job they hate or do things they don’t desire for money, which they will spend in things that they don’t necessarily like but that cost a lot and can show others they have money. There are so many examples in the world nowadays such as cars, clothes, and houses. The key is that any element that I put in this list will be material and have a price.
What I like to think of richness is everything that lies inside us and in the natural world. Nature, fauna and flora, playing an instrument, a good conversation, being happy, helping others, living a simple life, a hug, a kiss, a tear… The list goes on and all these things are probably accessible to someone who has one billion dollars and to someone who only has a single dollar. Richness is when someone is fulfilled and satisfied with its life, meaning its purpose is being put into practice. Some find this through their family and friends, some through their faith and others find it in nature.
What I like to think is that richness is what either stays with us when we die or what we leave about us with others. For example, a person who helped a community throughout their whole lives and caused an impact in the development of so many children will die and be remembered by her teachings, help, and kindness. This can’t be thrown away, won’t be forgotten and can’t be sold. But think of the most expensive car in the world with an owner who just passed away. The car will be sold to someone else and then all the false richness this car brought is gone, just like that.
In conclusion, richness lies within our human essence and it is not material at all. There are so many people in the world, many of which I have seen, who are living a simple life without any luxury and are much happier than many people I have seen that have an immense amount of possessions. In Brazil, for example, there are communities who are very simple and live in the surroundings of beaches in Sao Paulo. Their life is to work enough to get some food and pay their house and then be happy playing soccer in the beach, enjoying nature and interacting with others. I would like to leave the link to a video from Bob Marley speaking about richness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GkyZr9VzPY
Throughout my life, I’ve tried to never take anything for granted, due to the way I was brought up by my family. For instance, my mother always told me that if I have a roof over my head, food on the table, and my family members and I are safe/secure; I am truly rich. The term “rich” can be defined differently by almost every human being. For example, I believe I am rich because I live in America which allows me to have freedom and access to a lot of opportunities that may not be accessible in other countries. As the author perpetrates throughout his blog, each individual has their own idea and meaning of the word “rich”. For example, someone who lives in Africa and may appear to be “rich” could be someone who simply has water, food, and family. Due to people’s values varying differently from each other. Another example of someone who’s rich could be Jeff Bezos in terms of him having over a billion dollars in net worth. Personally, I am glad that this topic of being “rich” is a conversation today because I believe that it will make people more conscious of the things we value in life the most. Especially since in America, we as people often value the wrong things such as wealth, clothes, cars, etc; objects that are materialistic and hold no spiritual value in life. Specifically, currently, I would say I’m the richest I have ever been. I believe in this because currently, I’m attending college with opportunities knocking at the door every day. All in all, no one can determine how rich someone else is because it takes both the internal and external thoughts of that individual to determine how truly rich they are in their very own life.
The title of the article “do you feel rich” definitely hooked me to read this article. Being rich has become such a desirable destination for so many people now in human society. In society today, if someone was asked who the most rich person in the world was, that person would probably respond with the name of someone who has a lot of money. Most people would assume that these people are also some of the happiest people on the planet with so much to appreciate. However this might not even be the case. People typically equivocate having money to being happy. People want to be successful in life so they can have a lot of money and that means that they are happy. But this in my opinion is not entirely true. I believe in order to be rich and successful goals are key. If someone lives their life with no money and has a lot of goals and continues to complete those goals, I believe they would be significantly happier than someone that has a lot of money with no goals at all. People need goals because it gives them a reason to live, and a reason to get up out of bed in the morning. Professional athletes are the prime example of this. A lot of professional athletes go their entire childhood dreaming about becoming a professional athlete and maybe even winning a championship. But when their careers end whether they like it or not their lives change so juristically. They have to create entirely new goals. Goals that no longer surround them competing on the court or field to be the best that they can be. This is why they often will switch to occupations that are so close to their sports. They do not do this because they need the money but rather because they need a goal- a carrot at the edge of a stick to chase after. Many retired athletes will switch to coaching, or broadcasting if they would like to stay close to their sports. Others will take an entirely different outlook on life doing new things such as acting or spending time with their families. But at the end of the day, these athletes would probably consider themselves successful at all times of their lives because they have a goal that they are trying to reach. To me being successful and constantly having a goal to try and achieve means that someone is rich.
Being rich does not only apply to money. As it says in Seth’s Blog, “for many people, being rich is a choice”. In such a materialistic world, this is an important topic for people to think about. If you focus on everything you do not have, anything bad that has ever happened to you, and so on, you will never be happy. For as long as I can remember, my teachers in grammar school always told my classmates and myself to count our blessings. When you take a moment to count your blessings, you realize how fortunate or how rich you really are. If you take a look at overall quality of life on a global scan, you may not be as rich as Jeff Bezos, but you could undoubtedly be worse off. In my life, I try to remind myself as often as I can of how “rich” I am. I am employed, so I am grateful to have an income, regardless of the hourly rate. I am attending Seton Hall University, so I am grateful to further my education and be apart of the student body. The most frequent reminder I find I give myself is that I am fortunate enough to have a roof over my head, dinner with my family every night, and a car to drive. As a commuter, I often wish that I had the money for room and board so I do not have to sit in the ever so horrible I-78 and 287 traffic, or wake up at 4:45 am to get to Seton Hall on time for ROTC. Overall, it is important not to take anything for granted and think of what we do not have. As the article said, being rich is not a certain amount that you have in your bank account, or driving a certain car, it is a choice we must all make in order to live happier and more fulfilled lives.
Seth Godin touches on an important way to think about wealth and feeling rich in this article. There are two ways you can break down wealth: physical wealth and metaphorical wealth. physical wealth is physical money or money that you can spend. It is what most people think of when talking about wealth. But metaphorical wealth is often overlooked, even though it is much more important to have over physical wealth. Metaphorical wealth relates to what a person contributes back to society. How we treat other people, how we treat the environment, and how we contribute as a whole to society. For example, a successful lawyer who is very rich but does not contribute to cleaning up his community has less metaphorical wealth than that of a person who does not have a lot of money but still takes every opportunity they can to help out their friends and family. We only have one life on this planet, and we have to give back and help those around us as we expect them to do the same. As Godin says in his article, “After a stock market adjustment, billionaires give less to charity. They still have more money than they can count, but they’re not as rich as they used to be, and not-as-rich is easy to interpret as not rich” (Godin, ‘Do you feel rich?’). Wat he means by this is that billionaires are not made rich by how much money they own. What makes them rich is what they do with this money. If they were to buy a new car for themselves they would not be contributing to the overall good of the world, rather investing in their own self-image which has no wealth in the overall scheme of life. We can’t be blinded by the false beauty we see in owning material objects, for after we die they will have no value to us. What will hold value is if we leave a lasting reputation for ourselves, and our legacy will be carried on throughout years. It is easy to lose sight of the overall goal of our existence, but once we realize that money has no real value to us we can live more fulfilling lives.
Seth’s blog really opened my eyes the importance of perspective in this world. Being Rich can have many meanings as it could be talking about wealth or it could be talking about being personally fulfilled in life. Most people in life have the goal to be wealthy but often people overlook being rich at heart. Wealth is important but if one is always unhappy or miserable in achieving it, the money will never amount to anything. In the article he talks about the time period and how we are always being compared with previous generations or for that fact the future generations. We often see how many of the worlds elite keep their belongings to their selves while there are also many wealthy individuals who regularly donate to charities and shelters. The matter of perspective is important because as we try to attain our goals to be wealthy we also have to ask what type of person we want to be. Often it is easy to forget that your actions often have consequences whether or not it may affect you personally. In relation to this article, Is it worth it to become rich if it means you will step on those that are closest to you? Whether or not that is a path that we want to take, it is very important that accumulating wealth should not coincide with your morals and treatment of others. Personally although I have goals and aspirations in life to be successful, I also know that in order to achieve those goals I also will have to be careful in how I treat myself and others as that is of utmost importance.
This article really opened my eyes to how fortunate we are to be living in a time like this. For most of humans existence, living a life like most of us do is unimaginable. The technological advancements we have made have increased the quality of life for the average person tremendously. For example, take a millionaire in the 1800s and compare it to the average person in 2022. No amount of money could have bought indoor plumbing and an air conditioner for their house in the 1800s because it simply did not exist yet. They still have to go to an outhouse to take care of their business or bathe in a tub full of water because they do not have plumbing for a shower. The big difference between a millionaire in the 1800s and now is pretty much labor. The rich today are able to buy things, and the rich back then was largely able to hire people. So a rich person today would have a nice television, car, hour, etc. A rich person then would hire someone to iron his newspaper, or bathe them. This article has made me realize that I may not be rich monetarily but am rich in my abilities. Many other people today, including myself have the ability to do things no one was able to do in the past. I can call anyone from pretty much anywhere in the world, I can travel to surrounding states in under an hour, and I can even travel to a different country for a few hundred dollars, which was all unimaginable only 200 years ago. Think about it, for most of human existence we could not light up a room with a switch, heat/cool a house with the click of a button, or even get food delivered to our house by clicking a few buttons. We even have more opportunities today to become monetarily rich than ever before. For someone to become monetarily rich in the 1800s they would have to exploit the working class for the sake of profits (which a lot of companies still do today), while today you can go to college and work your way into a high-paying job, start your own business, invest in the stock market or real estate, etc.
After reading this article, I’ve come to realize how important it is to view the term, “rich,” beyond it’s singular definition. Sure, one may view the word in terms of possessing tremendous wealth, but what does that offer to oneself in the grand scheme things? One should instead strive to “feel” rich by noting the blessings that are present in one’s own life. Personally, I feel rich thanks to everything and everyone in my life right now. The fact that I’m even able to commute and attend Seton Hall University is a blessing in of itself.
Furthermore, we live in age filled with advancements in technology, medicine, and more. In turn, this has caused standards of living to improve drastically compared to the lives of many a few decades ago. This in itself is truly a blessing which therefore should provide a sense of “richness” for all of us as well. Even the fact that we all have access to the world wide web, which encompasses all of human knowledge in an accessible fashion, is certainly something substantial to consider and appreciate.
Nonetheless, society often idealizes the monetary version of the word instead. This is especially the case for social media, such as Instagram, which features influencers posting themselves in ways which highlight their glamorous lifestyles. As a result, many become discontent when comparing themselves to these wealthy individuals, failing to find the value that is present in one’s own life. Specifically, one fails to appreciate their current situation since it often seems insignificant and trivial compared to the rich lives of others. As a result, many incorrectly assume that being wealthy is the only way one can find joy in their lives. However, while being rich can provide oneself with many commodities which can provide a sense of happiness, none can deny the joy that can already be found in our lives as well.
Therefore, in this way, we are all rich in a sense. Not in the monetary sense of the word, but in the fact that we all have a roof over are heads and are able to spend time with family and friends. Additionally, it is important to note the we all live in an advanced age which has certainly enhanced all our lives. Clearly, everyone should view the term rich beyond it’s singular monetary definition, and instead view it as a means to note the “richness” that is present in all our lives.
From an early age, my family has always tried to drill in the idea that I am impossibly privileged to be able to live such a lifestyle. In their eyes, we are extremely rich and enjoy benefits that other families rarely have the opportunity to experience. I did not realize how true this was until recently, as it appeared to me in my early years that we were pretty average. I will admit I had a sense of entitlement and I was used to the comforts that I had growing up. Before graduating high school, I took the time to learn my family’s history and how they eventually got to America. My mother came to America from a small farming village in Shantou, while my dad’s side rose up from a poor corner of Hong Kong. Compared to the circumstances from which my parents were able to work their way out of, the lifestyle that my family is privileged to live now is indescribably rich. Just being a citizen of the United States of America was a privilege to my parents and grandparents, and to be able to enjoy the technology and opportunities that are available to Americans today is something that only my siblings and I have been able to experience recently. My grandparents were not able to go to college, and only me and my father in my immediate family have had the opportunity to do so. The work that my parents have done to change their lifestyle from their humble beginnings to our comfortable lifestyle now is indescribable. To not only be born into comfort and during a time when technology advanced more in several years than in decades is a privilege I did not know I had. Despite how comfortably my family lives, they told me to pay for my college education on my own – this was one of many steps they took to prevent me from being entitled. I can say now that I feel extremely rich, and I try not to take even the small comforts in my life for granted. Based on my family’s story, I have enjoyed so much more in life than my parents had the chance to. My privileges are the fruits of their work, and forgetting that would be a disservice to the hardships that it took to make us so rich.