Stop Being Poor

I'm rich, readers.  No, really. And I'm here to give you one piece of advice on how you can find your riches. Are you ready? Here it is:

Stop. Being. Poor.

You read correctly. Stop being poor. Guess what? If you're reading this, you're rich! If you're sitting under a roof with heat, wifi, and some sort of electronic device at your fingertips, you are already there. Did you eat today? You're loaded!

I think where we really get it wrong is we use the term "poor" incorrectly. Technically, according to America's standards, I live below poverty level. However, by America's standard BMI scale, I am underweight, yet a "plus size" in their modeling industry...so where has technicality gotten me? Nowhere.

I woke up in a warm bed in a home with heat, with food in the fridge, and between four walls where love lives. I was able to get dressed in nice clothes, eat a healthy breakfast, and even have the luxury of watching Netflix with the world's greatest dog curled up next to me. I drove to a job that I love in a car that runs.  I had ears to hear my favorite songs on the radio. I had my health! If anything, I am rich.


As the Fab Four once said "money can't buy me love." and gosh darn it, those boys were right. There are a lot of other things it can't buy--health being one of them. I know several people suffering with life altering diagnosises right now. If they could buy their way out of them, they would. The fact that I woke up at all...was able to go do this in my yoga class the other day, and have a fully healthy and functioning body? That makes me royalty, practically!

I hear a lot of people around me say they can't do things because they are "poor" Most are employed, have some source of income, have never been hungry a day in their lives, drive cars (even a subpar one is a luxury to most places in the world) and yet they still complain. They don't know what poor is.

Am I perfect? No. Do I get fed up with not wanting to be in the exact financial position I want to be in? Of course. However, I do know where a wealthy attitude gets you. You know those Facebook challenges for the month of November? The Gratitude list is a challenge in which that person posts three things they are grateful for each day, and why they are thankful for them. I know the laws of the universe, I know that you get back what you put out. However, when you aren't forced to focus on all of the beautiful things in your life, it's really east to get caught up in what you don't have. We live in a society that thrives on comparison and dying to fit in...I don't have the designer bag I want, my house isn't as big as my neighbor's, she's thinner than I am, they make more money. These things are what prevent us from moving forward and growing. Comparison is the thief of joy. Poverty mindset only furthers poverty lifestyle. So, I decided to be rich.

The second I started to focus on my abundance I already had instead of lack, my phone started to blow up. I have been booking jobs more now than I have ever in the last six months. I've had experiences that people who live in poverty certianly don't get to have. When I decided I was rich, and going to live my life as a wealthy individual, the universe has lined up in accordance and shown me just that.

I wish that people realized more that you choose your thoughts. Even in my deepest, darkest, don't want to get out of bed depression, I knew it. I knew that I was only going to perpetuate my life of average.  I was only going to stay on subpar health, in mediocre relationships with others and myself, and would always be struggling. And then one day, I found my journal from when I was eighteen. In my scribbled handwriting, I had written every detail of my life...what sort of house I wanted to be in, what sort of relationship I wanted, what kind of job I required in order to feel fulfilled, what I wanted to look like...down to my jean size, and as I got to the part about wanting a little white dog, I looked over at my precious Arrow, and realized that I had it all. So what was I complaining about? I started a new page in my latest journal and wrote a continuation of that entry.

I plan on continuing my life remembering every day that there is always something to be grateful for...that even if the bank account is in the negative, there is always more on it's way. Even if I'm eating at home every night, at least I'm eating. Even though I would like new clothes, the ones I have now are beautiful. Even if I don't have everything I want right now, I am still richer than most people in the world.

So, readers. I'm telling you now.

Stop being poor.