Rewilding wealth

Traveling is an incredible privilege.

I’ve known this for so long. But I’ve been punched square in the face by this fact every day of this trip. To be honest, it is incredibly uncomfortable.

In the states I am not what you would consider wealthy. I have exactly what I need and am incredibly grateful for what I can afford to do. Most of my life I lived like I didn’t have enough. I was frugal to a somewhat unhealthy degree. I believe this is from growing up in an environment where appearances and wealth were highly regarded. I never lacked anything growing up, but I was often surrounded by people who had a lot more. In general, the American way is to always want more. We are subliminally fed a message of lack and scarcity constantly. And I ate it up.

I have been deconstructing this scarcity mindset for years. At first it felt very odd to spend money on things I wanted but didn’t necessarily need. For example, my entire career as a physical therapist I wore crummy $15 watches from target that I would have to replace every few years. In 2020, I finally decided to gift myself a nice Garmin watch for $350 and I am still obsessed with it today! I still wonder why I didn’t feel worthy enough to get myself something like this sooner. But that is a topic for another day.

Over and over I practiced seeing my own worth and taking care of myself well. This also translated to taking care of those around me. I found the more I gave, to myself and others, the more I received. I am seriously still in awe of how transformative having an abundance mindset can be.

I am still someone who loves to keep a budget and stay in the green. And I knew quitting my stable job and not having an income would be the ultimate test of my abundance mindset, especially while traveling. Could I still feel wealthy while living in the red every month?

So I hate to admit it, but my scarcity mindset slipped in so quickly during this trip. But then I would be hit with the fact that I was able to fly half way around the world and pay for someone to drive me around Sri Lanka for two weeks! The cognitive dissonance between my perceived wealth level in the states vs my perceived wealth level in this part of the world is unparalleled to anything I’ve felt.

Again, comparison and judgement come into play. Everything is relative to what it is surrounded by. But also, I have been musing a lot on how I define wealth. My definition has absolutely shifted over the years as my mindset has shifted away from scarcity.

I have seen people here in Sri Lanka as well as india that would be considered poverty stricken in the states but carry themselves with a sense of wealth and abundance. It is really beautiful to sense the peace and ease they live with despite their less than ideal circumstances. The ways they embody a simple idea of wealth is beautiful. Wealth is not all about money. It is not all about things. It is about having our needs met and feeling safe and secure. When I see people living simply and happy, its a beautiful reminder of how little we need to be wealthy.

One of my most beautiful memories from the first time I was in India taught me a lot about abundance. I recall visiting a friend of the family we were staying with. This friend had a tiny house in a tiny village. Despite having so little, we were so warmly welcomed into their home. They brought out fresh juicy mangoes, drinks and sweets. What was likely a special treat for them was offered generously to us. And they kept bringing out more and more sweets. They truly wanted to give to us because we were honored guests even though we were really just strangers brought by their friends. We had nothing to give in return and they did not expect anything from us. If they lived in scarcity, they would not have so graciously shared what they have. This lesson has stuck with me for over ten years now.

Coming back to how relative it all is. We often talk about the 1% in the states. The obscenity that 1% of the US population holds whatever insane percentage of the wealth. But when we zoom out on a global scale…myself and likely everyone reading this, is part of or close to the 1%. Check out this website if you really want to know how wealthy you are globally. (*I did not check accuracy of this website but it seems pretty legit.)

https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/how-rich-am-i?income=60000&countryCode=USA&numAdults=1&numChildren=0

So statistically speaking, I am wealthy. But what can I do to remind myself of this? Gratitude. I will always come back to gratitude. I won’t go down the rabbit hole of research on all the benefits of gratitude, just know that there are many! For me, after almost 12 years of keeping a daily gratitude journal, it slowly helped me to move towards abundance.

When I am feeling like I do not have enough, like I am in over my head and shouldn’t have planned such an extravagant trip, I simply have to remember how little we actually need and truly how much wealth I have. Food, water, shelter, community, and safety. Gratitude for each of these core needs brings me directly back to the wealth I contain.

For me, wealth has become far more about the people and relationships I have in my life, the moments I get to experience and the sense of safety and peace I have begun to cultivate within. Of course, I can’t live without money to a degree, but should we really be hanging our idea of success and wealth on slips of paper that we assign imaginary value to!?

I believe it is time for me to move beyond the traditional idea of wealth I was raised with. I am allowed to unlearn scarcity to relearn abundance. I am actively Rewilding what wealth looks like and feels like for me.

Today it feels like savoring fresh cut mango and delicious black tea for breakfast, staying dry from the rain in the safety of a car, and being able to text and connect with my people half way around the world