To be rich means to have a surplus, plenty, or more than enough (an abundance). In material terms, the greater your resources, the richer or more affluent you are.

You lack for little or nothing.

Do material riches do away with all impoverishment.

Fundamentally no.

There are two types of riches (wealth), material and immaterial.

Material riches include all things that one may purchase or acquire through liquid and non-liquid mediums of exchange (property, clothes, jewelry, stock, bonds). The more material wealth you have, the richer you are. Moreover, if the accumulation of those assets is long-standing, the more wealthy you are perceived to be.

While material wealth satisfies the lack of physical needs and desires of the ego, it does nothing for the impoverishment of the spirit.

Lack of love, respect, security, and belonging.

So, it begs the question, can one truly be rich if only materially wealthy?

This is a question my son posed to me a few weeks ago. I thought it an inquiry worth exploring in depth.

A Conversation with My Son on Riches

My son had a conversation with some others about whether money could make one happy. So he posed the question to me. He suggested that fundamentally yes.

When I questioned why? He said because you have no lack of money, and without lack, you are happier.

Then I proffered, well, what of the people who have no money but are still happy?

So, this begged the question if riches equate to being happy? If not, what are true riches?

Exploring How Material Riches Equate to Happiness

First, one must begin with an essential question?

If one were to obtain an insane amount of money or material goods, then what?

How would it make one happy?

And if it were to make one happy, how long would one feel so?

You see material resources deplete, tarnish, lose value, etc……

Because they deplete, you must consistently earn more, upgrade, or get new.

In the words of Marty Rubin, “If enough were really enough, how rich we’d all be!”
― Marty Rubin

So, if riches equate to happiness, one must consistently maintain that state (amount of money or resources to achieve that feeling. And that, in turn, would mean that happiness is fleeting because It only exists in direct proportion to what you can maintain materially.

So, is this true happiness?

Why do I ask this?

When will it ever be enough? And what of fatigue, uncontrollable circumstances, or change that renders one unable to maintain? Is happiness then sacrificed?

Breaking down the truth

Many strive to be rich, to reach some unknown number or asset that we feel will make us happier upon achievement.

Yet, we never stop to ask ourselves, if we get that, then what?

Will we be satisfied?

That is the question.

My teacher refers to this as chasing the white rabbit, a never-ending chase for acquisition. That is a tiring game.

What we believe we want isn’t always what we want? And truth be told, it still wouldn’t be enough if we were to get it.

There will always be more to desire; a better car, a better phone, a better job, and more money.

But why is this?

The happiness many search for is not found in the material. If that were so, all who have obtained would be happy.

But that’s far from the truth.

Examples are Plenteous

In fact, many who have obtained find themselves more miserable, exhausted, and lonely. The saying it’s lonely at the top exists for a reason.

One only needs to consider the number of rehab cases of those who have obtained riches. Or look at the number of suicides among the rich and famous. Watch a video or two of UnSung or read the biographies of some of the wealthiest. It is easy to see that riches don’t equal happiness.

However, this is not easy to recognize or see, especially when you have little or have nothing. Because money provides a sense of security. And a sense of security lends itself to a sense of peace. So, it is easy to see why money and material goods are equated with happiness.

The prevalence of Unhappiness

There are many unhappy people around the world. And it’s not because they lack material resources, but I garner it is because they lack true love and acceptance, which translates to a lack of security and no sense of peace. So, they are constantly in survival mode.

However, If they were to get to the other side, they would see things differently.

True Learning Never Ceases (A lesson to drive this home)

In a course that I am currently taking, my teacher relayed that we never really chase the goal. Instead, we pursue the feeling that meeting the goal will give us.

We chase riches because we feel it will make us more secure, loved, accepted, respected, and at peace. But riches are temporal and temporary. So, it only provides temporary security, affection, toleration, and a false sense of peace. Because if those things exist only due to the obtainment of riches, then when the riches vanish, so will those things. That puts one on a hamster wheel of perpetual masking and endless fatigue to maintain that false sense of those valued things.

So herein lies the difference between false and true riches

True riches (wealth) come when we obtain love, respect, and acceptance regardless of the material assets we have accumulated. When we are truly loved and accepted regardless of what we have or earn, we feel a sense of profoundly authentic peace. We will be complete whether we have a material abundance or not. That is how people without much materially can still be happier than those who have it all.

For those who have found true riches, everything that comes above is icing on the cake. That type of wealth is ever-expanding and liberating. That type of wealth is what indeed equates to joy.