Wealth does not lie in money, but in the ability to make real what is hidden in the imagination
Are you one of those who cares a lot about money? Don’t worry, you’re not part of a very modest club. The truth is that you are part of a very long list of people who believe that money is the solution to all their problems and that is not entirely false, because without a doubt, money is the engine that drives us many times to strive to grow and live a better life. However, it should not be the most important thing in your life. Instead, it should be the richness of being able to materialize your ideas and everything that lives in your imagination.
Are you a successful person? If you answer yes, what do you base it on? You might say you are because you have a great job, because you have built a home, because you have a fairly large salary, or because you have too many friends. And so, no doubt much of the success we achieve in life, we find in those things. But only if they were achieved for the right reasons.
I mean, now that you have a home, did you always dream of it? Are your children by the man or the woman you dreamed of? Did you marry the person you love who you know loves you? Is that home like you always said it would be?
In the same way we can talk about work and friends. Is it the work you always wanted to do? Do your friends treat you like you always imagined they would? Many people embark on their lives in often comfortable scenarios with satisfactory results but which they did not dream of, which they never imagined and which they certainly do not like.
For example, you can find a person who works trying out video games and earning a huge salary even though his real passion was swimming and being an Olympic medalist, but the circumstances of his life took him elsewhere. Or you may see a woman who is very loving with her child but when she goes to sleep she feels sad because it is not from the person she loves but she had it as a result of a slip.
From your point of view, both people look happy, stable and living a great life, but you don’t know what goes on inside them. Well, this is what happens to many people in the world. They spend their lives doing something that they are passionate about, perhaps to make a lot more money or to hold on to an idea of success in front of others.
In Henry James’ book “A Portrait of a Lady”, you will find that true happiness is found in your ability to materialize what is in your mind. The writer actually explains it in one sentence:
“I call people ‘rich’ when they are able to satisfy the needs of their imagination.”
If you want to be truly rich, focus all your strength on doing what you truly love to do. Get only what you want, live your dreams without having to close your eyes. It doesn’t matter if the result leaves you with more or less in your pocket, you will always be glad you made it this far.