Top 10 vital life signs money has no impact on

It’s good to remind ourselves of what we already know. One of these things is the really important stuff which our financial position has no influence on. Here’s my top 10 list.

1. Being a good family member: Integrity, love, caring, effort, understanding and being able to listen have no price.
2. Our fitness levels: Having a gym membership, or exercise equipment is not a requirement. Walk, run, push up. Move.
3. Eating health foods: The healthiest foods are the cheapest. Fruit, vegetables, raw oats, milk, water.
4. Being happy: We’ll be as happy as we chose to be, right now. I know plenty of rich miserable people.
5. Education: Library cards are free, all libraries have internet access. University courses are now free.
6. Enjoying who we work with: If we don’t like who we work with, we can leave. We are not trees. Our roots are not fixed in the ground. Walk on.
7. Giving: Sharing what we are lucky enough to already have costs nothing. Whether it is a physical good, advice, or knowledge. At the time of giving there is no price.
8. Friendship: The to and fro of sharing life with a friend is a pure gift.
9. Faith: Not necessarily the religious type, but the ability to believe in something, anything which makes the future a place worth arriving at.
10. Work: The joy that comes from doing. The willingness to put in effort now, because it’s worth doing, not because of the reward.

Why did I decide to write this blog post? Well, last friday I had lunch with a friend who I hadn’t seen in a while. During the lunch I got to thinking about how there was nowhere I’d rather be at that moment. That no amount of wealth would change how enjoyable it was, or create a desire to be elsewhere. That moment was in itself one which existed outside of our financial construct. Turns out, that most of the important things do.