Wealth – What is it?

Much like the term trophy, the term wealth is subjective.  Look no further than the internet and you’ll find many different ways to define it; look no further than individuals you come across and you’ll find living proof of those differences.  What constitutes wealth for one man can be vastly different than what constitutes wealth for another.  A castaway on a deserted island might consider himself wealthy to have all the fish and fruit he can eat, and all of the fresh water he can drink.  On the other hand, another man might consider that same abundance of plain old fish, fruit, and unpurified water – repulsive.

Just as there are differing viewpoints on the meaning of the term “wealth”, so too are there differing viewpoints on what it takes to attain it.  For the man on the island, attaining his wealth of fish comes from his ability to shape a piece of stone into a projectile point, which is then fastened to the end of a stick.  With that stick in hand he waits by the shoreline, sometimes for hours on end.  In the end, he gets his fish and considers himself wealthy.  For the other man, his road to wealth is different – and, that’s okay.

The allegory above may mean nothing to you, but to me it means a little something. A recent experience in my life led me to question what the word wealth means to me.  In today’s world of material, it’s easy to get caught up on all of the things you don’t have or all of the things you want, so much so that you lose sight of all the things you’re fortunate enough to have right in front of you.  A man asked me the other day how many “trophy” bucks had been killed on a property I lease.  Another man floated fast cars and private islands before my eyes when trying to sell me on his “opportunity” that would lead to wealth.  I couldn’t relate to either of them.  Don’t get me wrong, I like nice deer, nice things, and private escapes from the real world.  I mean, even the castaway would be lying if he said he wouldn’t prefer a fishing pole to his spear.  And, just because the other man doesn’t like fish and has chosen to take a different road to wealth, doesn’t make him a bad man – just a man with a different idea of what it means to be wealthy.

For me, I measure wealth in moments of time.  Moments when I’m surrounded by the ones I love.  Moments when I’m afield surrounded by the wildlife that I hold dear to my heart.  Wealth, to me, is long days on the tractor.  It’s knowing, when the dirt filled Q-tip reminds you later that night,  that the food plot you just finished planting earlier that evening will do wonders for the wildlife that roam your lands & for the lucky hunter who may find success upon it.  I find wealth to be a fish on the end of my daughter’s line and wild turkeys doing what wild turkeys do in the Spring.  My kind of wealth, as simple as it may seem, is checking your trail cameras to find that a nice buck from season’s past is still around, and that he’s gotten bigger and better with age.  I understand that to some, wealth is fast cars & motorcycles.  I understand that to others, wealth is a “trophy” buck to hang on the wall. But, to me, being wealthy means less about the material things that money can buy and more about the moments of time that do wonders on your heart & soul.