A Different Kind of Wealth

There are moments in life that reveal something about us, not because anything extraordinary happens, but because we notice what is happening within us.

Today was one of those days.

Before leaving the house, I was already aware of the familiar thoughts that sometimes arise when stepping into an unfamiliar social setting.

Over the years, I have noticed a tendency to feel different, unsure of where I fit, or more comfortable remaining on the edge of a gathering than stepping fully into it.

Recently, however, I have been reflecting deeply on presence, trust, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.

Perhaps some of those reflections stayed with me today.

Showing Up Differently

When I arrived, I noticed something interesting.

Instead of staying close to what felt familiar, I found myself joining the conversations.

Instead of spending the entire time occupied with practicalities, I allowed myself to connect with the adults around me.

Nothing dramatic happened.

No great transformation occurred.

Yet something felt different.

There was a little more ease.

A little more openness.

A little less concern about how I might be perceived.

As I stood there, I found myself remembering a thought that had emerged during my recent camping trip.

Life feels different when we participate in it.

Not perfectly.

Not fearlessly.

Simply more fully.

The Arrival of Comparison

At some point, I became aware of another familiar visitor.

Comparison.

It arrived quietly.

As comparison often does.

Noticing aspects of other people's lives.

Noticing things that appeared spacious, organised, and comfortable.

Then noticing the immediate tendency to view my own life through that lens.

What fascinated me was not that comparison appeared.

What fascinated me was that I could see it happening.

Almost in real time.

Part of me noticed admiration.

Part of me noticed aspiration.

Part of me noticed the old tendency to measure.

And another part simply watched.

The Moving Finish Line

As I became aware of these thoughts, another realization emerged.

Comparison has no natural ending.

There is always something larger.

Something newer.

Something more impressive.

Someone who appears more successful.

Someone who appears more secure.

The finish line moves every time we approach it.

The mind quietly promises:

"When I have that, I will feel enough."

Yet history suggests otherwise.

There is always another standard waiting to replace the previous one.

The problem is not wanting beautiful things.

The problem is expecting them to create a lasting sense of enoughness.

A Different Kind of Wealth

As I reflected on this, a sentence appeared almost unexpectedly:

I was not born into wealth.

But I am wealthy.

The words surprised me.

Not because they were untrue.

Because they invited me to reconsider what wealth actually means.

I was not born into financial privilege.

Yet over the years I have accumulated other forms of wealth.

I am wealthy in experience.

Wealthy in resilience.

Wealthy in courage.

Wealthy in perspective.

Wealthy in lessons learned through challenge.

Wealthy in the willingness to take risks and begin again.

Wealthy in curiosity.

Wealthy in exploration.

Wealthy in growth.

Life has been an extraordinary teacher.

Some lessons arrived gently.

Others arrived through difficulty.

All of them have contributed to who I am today.

That too is wealth.

Wealth That Cannot Be Bought

The more I thought about it, the more I realised that there are many kinds of wealth.

There is the wealth of meaningful relationships.

The wealth of wisdom.

The wealth of having loved and been loved.

The wealth of surviving experiences that once felt impossible.

The wealth of self-awareness.

The wealth of compassion.

The wealth of being able to sit with another person's pain and not turn away.

The wealth of knowing who you are becoming.

These forms of wealth do not appear on spreadsheets.

They cannot be measured by income, possessions, or status.

Yet they enrich our lives in ways money alone never can.

Richness Within

As I reflected on the day, one thing became clear.

I remain open to growth.

To greater ease.

To greater abundance.

To opportunities I cannot yet imagine.

There is nothing wrong with that.

Yet I do not want my sense of worth to depend on what I acquire.

Because there will always be someone with more.

The kind of richness I seek feels different.

It is the ability to appreciate what is here while remaining open to what is possible.

To honour how far I have come without dismissing where I hope to go.

To recognise that wealth is not merely something we possess.

Sometimes it is something we become.

Perhaps true richness begins when we stop measuring our lives solely against external standards and start recognising what life has already given us.

As I sat with that thought, I found myself returning to the same simple truth:

I was not born into wealth.

But I am wealthy.

Yet even as those words arose, another question quietly followed.

What if I have been measuring wealth too narrowly?

What if there was wealth there too, and I simply could not see it?

Not financial wealth.

But the wealth of love.

The wealth of family.

The wealth of culture and language.

The wealth of stories.

The wealth of community.

The wealth of curiosity.

The wealth of imagination.

The wealth of resilience.

The wealth of faith.

The wealth of beauty.

The wealth of learning how to adapt.

Not enough to erase hardship.

Not enough to deny suffering.

Yet enough to recognise that a life can hold both struggle and abundance.

The truth is not that I was born into wealth.

Nor that I was born without it.

I was born into some forms of wealth and some forms of struggle.

And I suspect that is true for many of us.

What changes across our lives is often not the amount of wealth we possess, but our understanding of what wealth actually is.

Wealth is not only something we acquire.

It is also something we learn to recognise.

Looking back, I am no longer sure that I was comparing lives at all.

I think I was exploring the question of what it means to have enough.

The greatest wealth may be the ability to appreciate what is already here while remaining open to what may yet come.

As I reflected on the day, a different understanding emerged:

I have been wealthy in ways I did not always know how to see.

And I am only now beginning to recognise them.

🌿

Dr Maliheh Taheri
M.A.L.I. Neuro-Somatic Practice