I'm rich.

I took a quiz yesterday that asked me to pick my socio-economic status from a drop down menu.  Aside from being completely irrelevant to the quiz (it was about being right or left brained, I'm obsessed), the options were intriguing to say the least.  They ranged from Lower Class with an associated $ amount in parentheses to Upper Class, again, with an associated $ amount.  There are SO many reasons that was a dumb question, particularly the $ amount of earnings having such different implications based on geography.  What I make is peanuts compared to someone in the northeast or California...and on the other hand, probably seems like a lot to people in other parts of the country.  So of course my mind starts going in a gazillion different directions.  (Must...stop....the tangent........)

The point of the blog is this:  What is your definition of rich?

Dictionary.com (one of my all time favorite websites, along with it's counterpart thesaurus.com) gives MANY definitions for the word:

1.  having wealth or great possessions; abundantly supplied with resources, means, or funds; wealthy
2.  abounding in natural resources
3.  having wealth or valuable resources (usually fol. by in)
4.  of great value or worth; valuable
5.  (of food) delectably and perhaps unhealthfully spicy, or sweet and abounding in butter or cream
6.  costly, expensively elegant, or fine, as dress or jewels
7.  sumptuous; elaborately abundant
8.  using valuable materials or characterized by elaborate workmanship, as buildings or furniture
9.  abounding in desirable elements or qualities
10.  (of wine) strong and finely flavored
11.  (of color) deep, strong, or vivid
12.  full and mellow in tone: rich sounds
13.  strongly fragrant; pungent
14.  producing or yielding abundantly
15.  abundant, plentiful, or ample
16.  Automotive(of a mixture in a fuel system) having a relatively high ratio of fuel to air
17.informal~highly amusing

I realize how nerdy this must be of me, but there really are just so many ways to use this word, I figured why not put it to rest right now and look the darn thing up. 

So the next question...considering only the 1st definition...do you consider yourself rich? 

When I ask you this question, what does your mind immediately turn to?  Money, right?  But money isn't the only "resource" by which wealth is measured. 

In light of certain events in my life recently, I stopped and did a little soul searching.  I took notice of the sheer amount of *stuff* in my house and it made me kind of sick to my stomach.  I have no right to complain...ever.  In terms of material possessions, I have everything I could ever need and WAY more.  (Before I continue, this isn't some big brag-fest.  It's true, and I'd venture to say it's probably true for most of you reading this, whether you realize it or not.)  But you know what, if I lost every bit of that stuff...I would still be rich.

I would be rich because of the other infinitely-renewable resources in my life.  These include, but are not limited to: 

~The love of a husband who will stay the course, no matter how windy/bumpy the road may get
~One set of blue eyes and one set of brown eyes that look at me with complete love and trust in a way that only an innocent child can
~The love of a Heavenly Father who never leaves my side and lets me fall asleep in His arms
~The comfort of being able to confide in a close friend, no matter how far apart we might be geographically
~The support of two parents who reared me in a God-loving home with way too many rules (and OH how I appreciate that now, as a parent)
~The memories of my childhood that will never go away...from our annual beach trip to Rehoboth, to catching lightning bugs in the backyard in Joppatowne, to I-don't-even-know-+how-many-hours spent at church retreats/functions, to that amazing summer tour of New England
~The friends I made throughout my life that will forever mean the world to me, even now that we hardly (if ever) talk to each other...and who helped me become the person that I am now

While I still can't figure out what socio-economic status has anything to do with how right or left brained a person is (I'm 93% left brained in case you were wondering...even worse than I thought), I do know that socio-economic status has absolutely nothing to do with a person's wealth.  And I am thankful for that.  And I am thankful for that ridiculous quiz…for helping me to realize how incredibly rich I truly am.

[And I'm thankful for you, if you're reading this...because you probably fall into the category of "friends who helped me become the person I am today".  And I'm grateful that you're a part of my life!]