Build Wealth. Keep Your Soul.

I have always been wealthy. But it's only recently that I've had money. 

The semantics battle between being wealthy and rich cannot be solved in a blog post. But I'd like to contribute to the conversation by sharing my own personal experience. 

I grew up in rural America. Indiana, to be specific. The latest census data reveals my town to be home for 1,050 people. This number is just a bit smaller than the number of cows in the dairy farm a few miles outside of town. I know this because my family has become close friends with the dairy farmers who own the land. My hometown is that kind of place. Where you know the neighbors. And the farmers. Wave to people on your street. If you don't recognize them but stop to chat, you probably know their parents or cousins. 

My hometown is also a predominantly low income community. While I was growing up there, the median income was around $35k per year. The house I was raised in was made possible only by a government loan program for low income families, accessible only to those whose income was low enough to be approved. Our family income hovered at the poverty line, often falling below, and never rising far above. I was on reduced and free lunches as a student and have memories of having to stand in those lines for kids like me. 

It would be an understatement to say money was tight. 

But at the same time, we were wealthy. I came home from school each day into the outstretched arms of a loving mother. Most of my evenings were spent playing outside in the yard, pulling crawdads from the creek a few blocks down the road, or jumping on my bike for a spin around the neighborhood. I was regularly reminded of how loved I was by God and by my parents. My mom loves to tell the story of how one time at a very young age I grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes and said, "Mommy, I'm glad you're my boy." This of course was the line she had said to me many times. I did not fully understand the sentiment obviously, but I knew it was something you say to someone really special. 

I watched my father get up and go to work each day. Even during times of joblessness after the factory he worked at moved to Mexico, he took on odd jobs and heavy day labor work. He would come home exhausted, but somehow not too exhausted to play with my brother and me, read to us from the Bible, and close each night in prayer. We went on one vacation a year, most often a road trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. 

We had very little money, but lots of wealth. The spirit in our home was one of peace, abundance, gratitude, and joy. We didn't have items or things to back that up, but instead had the conversations, faith foundation, and relational depth. Things money can’t buy. Things that comprise wealth, not riches. All of these things have been crucial to who I have become.

Life today is a bit different. Through diligent investing and saving, my wife and I not only have the peace, abundance, gratitude and joy I gained from my family, but we also have significant economic resources. We are wealthy now in all definitions of the word. 

I have become inspired in recent years to share my story for the purpose of encouraging others. I have experienced wealth while being poor and wealth while being rich. I believe there is a path towards building wealth without losing your soul. By soul, I mean the things that make us human. The elements critical to our existence such as peace, gratitude, and joy. A holistic definition of wealth should include things such as time wealth, health wealth, and relationship wealth. I think it is entirely possible to intentionally pursue the development of these attributes of wealth while also being intentional about the financial resources as well. 

Building financial wealth without losing your soul is possible. It takes intention and clear goals both on the human side and the financial side.