Because people who make a whole lot less money than you are no poorer than you

You’re not poor.

You’re not even close to poor.

People who make a whole lot less money than you wouldn’t count themselves as poor.

Compare yourself to those people.

Sure, you can buy more expensive clothes than they can.

Sure, you can go on more expensive vacations than they can.

Sure, you can live in a more expensive house than they can.

But how do your lives really compare? moment to moment? day to day? at the hour of your death?

You bask in the warmth of the spring sunshine, just as they do.

You’re left breathless by the cry of your newborn child, just as they are.

You’re in awe at the beauty of the mountains, the deserts, the forests and the oceans of this planet, just as they are.

You suffer the inexpressible grief of losing a loved one, just as they do.

You’re shocked at the shadow of your own death after a health scare, just as they are.

You bitterly regret the years lost to meaningless toil, just as they do.

You’ll come to terms with your life in the autumn of your years, just as they will.

In every way that really matters, your life is no richer theirs.

Except one.

You could elect to work less and still make as much money as these people.

Would you really be poorer for it?