Rich like chocolate

I require that my purchases make me rich. When I’m considering buying something, I always ask myself: “Will this enrich me?” and I use the broadest possible definition of the word enrich.

Enrichment is about more than just financial benefit or return.

In these moments, I am asking myself: “Will this thing make me better off tomorrow than I am today? In my possession, will it bring a lasting benefit to myself or others? Will I have more peace of mind by having this thing (or will I regret it even a little)?”

In short, if I am going to make someone else financially rich with my purchase, I’d better be enriching myself in some other way.

What it means to enrich ourselves

Let’s think of the word rich like how it is used in the context of a piece of chocolate or a fine dessert.

Those things are rich, not as in full of money but as in full of deliciousness and enjoyment — the way a piece of chocolate can consume your senses, make your eyes get big, and compel you to go “mmmmm” out loud. “You’ve gotta try this. It’s so rich.”

This is the experience or feeling of wealth:

Having your awareness brought into the present by the engrossing grandeur of what you have and what you are experiencing.

By expanding our definitions of wealth and rich, we can reconnect with our innate sense of enjoyment in the experience of our lives.

Unlocking wealth

The piece of chocolate can make us feel rich because it can be a perfect complement in the context of a moment. It is what the moment deserves, and we feel that we, too, deserve the enjoyment. In that moment, we do not hustle for that feeling of wealth; we discover it and welcome it, as if it were already ours.

I would argue that wealth is our natural state of being.

We are born with an innate connection with the richness that blesses our lives, for life is rich — like the chocolate that makes us swoon, life’s sweetness was made for our enjoyment. The inborn richness in our lives includes all the non-financial gifts or assets we are born with — assets like your body, your family, your mind, your spirit, etc.

However, we have been talked out of our appreciation of our inborn gifts.

Growing up, we were told myths about who deserves what and what it means to be “wealthy.” If we believe these myths (indeed, it is hard not to believe them), our conception of wealth shrivels only to include financial success. With this narrow definition of wealth, our inborn gifts no longer make us eligible for the experience of wealth.

Instead, we are (mis)led to believe that wealth must be bought or earned by struggle and self-denial, so we deny ourselves our appreciation of our inborn wealth. We convince ourselves that we will deserve the experience of wealth in our lives as soon as we have enough financial wealth to be “wealthy.”

We have lost touch with joy and richness in our lives because of these narrow definitions of the words wealth and rich. Let’s expand those definitions.

You are already wealthy, and I can prove it.

If money were the only factor required to experience wealth, then we would be able to buy the experience of wealth. However, we know wealth cannot be bought.

Think back to the blissful moment with the piece of chocolate. Money cannot recreate that moment, although it can buy a whole bag of those chocolates. That experience of wealth was unique to the context of that moment — who you were with, what you were doing, and what you were feeling, etc.

The experience of wealth is the appreciation of multiple experiences simultaneously; it is an expansive and inclusive act of gratitude.

Wealth requires the openness to appreciate what you have and what you are experiencing in the present moment.

That means that wealth is willful. It is created by making the choice to believe in your worthiness of the present moment.

Therefore, if you are capable of deciding what to eat for breakfast, you are capable of experiencing wealth.

Worthy of wealth

You came into this world worthy of the wealth and richness in your life. You never need to hustle to deserve or enjoy what you have.

If you struggle with this insecurity, you just need to tell yourself and others: “I am wealthy.” No matter your financial situation, it is the truth. After you have decided to believe it, you will feel it to be true.

Say it: “I am wealthy.” How can anyone refute you?

This is a personal finance article of Zeneration Wealth — a Gen Z-led platform encouraging our generation to discover how money can be used in service of our values, not in place of them.

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