Sometimes I feel rich when I have lots of toilet paper and paper towels. It’s simply one of those things, the I-have-everything-I-need-in-stock feeling, especially as I have house mates and there is nothing worse than running out of essential paper goods. As a child, I used to feel this way about packs of gum and quarters (that I would steal from my Dad’s bathroom and laundry), but it’s not really the things that matter, it’s the feeling. We are programmed to look for security, whatever that means to us, and most typically, as Americans, we pursue the mighty dollar.
I admittedly do love shopping, but I want my vision wealth and the role of money to be different. The past 48 hours have been rough physically for me. After doctor’s visits, co-pays, prescriptions, and eleven hours of much needed sleep, I finally feel like a new person again. Yesterday, as I debated on whether or not I wanted to go to the doctor and pay my $50 co-pay, I went only after much urging from my friends and family. It turns out that I made the right decision and a doctor visit was essential.
This internal debate that I had over spending the $50 co-pay on my health made me realize that I don’t value my health the way that I preach that I do. It was a fresh reminder to be to go back to basics, to remember that the absolute most important in life is to take care of the body I have been given so that I may use it to love and help others. There is nothing in this world more valuable than your health. Every single penny that you spend on your health is an investment into your true bank of wealth.
I like the way Soren Kierkegaard speaks of wealth as a discovering your potential. He says, “if I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential — for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints; possibility never.” With good health, the possibilities we have in our lives are endless, and possibilities keep our hope and dreams alive. Put your health first, be proud of every financial commitment that you make to care for your body, and I promise, you will have limitless toilet paper rolls of wealth at your disposal.
In health there is freedom there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties.
– Henri Frederic Amiel