Today I Choose to be Prosperous – How to be Prosperous

For years, I thought prosperous meant dollar signs—bigger paychecks, bigger houses, bigger bank accounts. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve chased those things. The spreadsheets I manage as CFO for 18 companies are all about financial prosperity.

But the older I get, the clearer it becomes: prosperity isn’t about accumulation, it’s about richness.

I’ve felt most prosperous in moments that had nothing to do with money.

The Prosperity of Buffalo Plaid

Like the Keystone trip, standing in the kitchen of that rented townhouse, buffalo plaid pajamas all around me, watching my grown kids and niece play Pictionary. Tyler’s terrible drawing that was supposed to be a giraffe but looked like a deformed ladder. Jesse’s laugh that shook his whole body. Everyone joining the chaos. Everyone shouting wrong answers, getting more ridiculous with each guess.

My heart swelled so full I thought it might burst. I remember thinking: this is wealth. This moment, these people, this joy that money can’t manufacture.

Or like the first time Enlightenzz readers wrote me to say something I’d written had changed their day. A woman in Ohio dealing with her own menopause chaos. A CFO in Texas who felt less alone. Those messages were returns no stock could match.

Financial prosperity has its place—bills need paying, retirement needs funding. But real prosperity is a state of being. It’s when your life feels full of meaning, connection, and possibility—when you realize you already hold more than enough.

The Physical Sensation of True Prosperity

Prosperity isn’t just a concept. It has a feeling in your body:

• Chest expansion: That moment in Keystone, my ribcage literally felt bigger, like it needed more room for all the fullness
• Warmth spreading: Not from the townhouse heating, but from inside—contentment radiating outward
• Eyes softening: The way they do when you stop scanning for what’s missing and see what’s present
• Shoulders dropping: The relief of recognizing you have enough, are enough
• Breath deepening: From the shallow pants of chasing to the full breaths of having

That’s the truth about being prosperous—it’s less about chasing what you don’t yet have and more about noticing the abundance already in your hands.

How to Be Prosperous (Beyond Your Bank Account)

When you measure prosperity in relationships, joy, purpose, and health, the numbers in the bank account become just one line in a much bigger ledger. Here’s how to cultivate real prosperity:

Take a Non-Financial Inventory

List your wealth that can’t be deposited:

• Relationships that sustain you through everything
• Skills you’ve developed over decades
• Wisdom earned through experience (and mistakes)
• Memories that make you smile at random moments
• The body that’s carried you this far
• Passions that light you up
• People who love you despite your quirks

When I did this exercise, my list included: Curtis’s steady presence, my sons’ independence, the ability to understand complex financials, 61 years of stories, hands that can create Dutch pour art (badly), and readers who connect with my words.

Practice Prosperity Mindset

Prosperity is as much perspective as possession. Start noticing abundance instead of lack:

Instead of: “I can’t afford that vacation to Italy”
Try: “I have the freedom to choose how I spend my resources”

Instead of: “Everyone else has more”
Try: “I have exactly what I need for today”

Instead of: “I’ll be happy when I have X”
Try: “I can find contentment right now with what is”

Create Prosperity Rituals

Build regular practices that remind you of your abundance:

Morning gratitude: Before checking bank balances or work emails, name three non-financial prosperities. Mine today: Curtis brought coffee, the cardinals are at the feeder, my back doesn’t hurt.

Prosperity pause: Set a daily alarm for 2 PM labeled “prosperity check.” When it goes off, notice what abundance surrounds you in that exact moment.

Evening accounting: Not of money, but of moments. What made today rich? The unexpected call from Jesse? The perfect temperature on your walk? The chapter that finally came together?

Invest in Prosperity-Generating Assets

These aren’t stocks or real estate. They’re investments that generate ongoing prosperity:

• Relationships: Time spent deepening connections pays dividends forever
• Skills: Learning something new creates prosperity of capability
• Health: Every walk, vegetable, and good night’s sleep is prosperity investment
• Creativity: Making anything—badly or well—generates prosperity of expression
• Service: Helping others creates prosperity of purpose

The Prosperity Paradox

Here’s what I’ve learned at 61: the more you chase prosperity as a number, the less prosperous you feel. But the more you recognize prosperity in what you have, the more it multiplies.

It’s not that money doesn’t matter—try paying bills with gratitude. But money is just one form of prosperity, and often not the most important one.

My friend with the seven-figure income and empty house isn’t prosperous. My neighbor with the modest pension and Thursday poker group is wealthy beyond measure.

Prosperity in Different Seasons

Prosperity looks different at different life stages:

In my 30s: Prosperity meant climbing ladders, accumulating achievements

In my 40s: Prosperity meant providing, securing, building

In my 50s: Prosperity meant stability, respect, expertise

Now in my 60s: Prosperity means connection, purpose, presence

Each season has its own prosperity metrics. The key is recognizing which season you’re in and measuring accordingly.

Creating Prosperity for Others

True prosperity overflows. When you feel genuinely prosperous, you naturally share it:

• Compliment freely—prosperity of encouragement
• Share knowledge—prosperity of wisdom
• Listen deeply—prosperity of attention
• Celebrate others—prosperity of joy
• Be present—prosperity of time

That night in Keystone, my prosperity wasn’t just in having my family around me. It was in creating the space for everyone to feel prosperous too—safe to be silly, free to laugh until it hurt, rich in belonging.

When Prosperity Feels Distant

Some days, prosperity feels laughable. Bills pile up, relationships strain, health wobbles, purpose hides. On those days, micro-prosperities count:

• Hot coffee that tastes right
• A text from someone who cares
• Fifteen minutes of sunshine
• A problem solved, even a small one
• The choice to rest instead of push

These aren’t consolation prizes. They’re prosperity seeds that can grow even in difficult soil.

The Compound Interest of Prosperity

Financial prosperity grows through compound interest. So does life prosperity:

Each moment of recognized abundance makes the next one easier to see. Each practiced gratitude makes the next one more natural. Each shared joy makes the next one more likely.

That’s why that Keystone moment matters. Not just for the memory, but for how it trained my prosperity vision. Now I see it everywhere—in Curtis’s morning greeting, in successful Dutch pours (rare but celebrated), in solving complex spreadsheet puzzles, in readers who get it.

Your Prosperity Invitation

Whatever your bank balance, whatever your circumstances, prosperity is available to you right now. Not the kind that requires winning lotteries or landing windfalls, but the kind that requires only shifted vision.

Look around. What wealth surrounds you that you’ve been too busy chasing dollars to notice? What abundance have you been taking for granted? What richness lives in your ordinary Tuesday afternoon?

Start there. Start with what you have. Start with seeing it as prosperity rather than baseline. Watch how that shift changes everything—not your circumstances, but your experience of them.

Because at the end of life, no one counts their prosperity in dollars. They count it in moments like my Keystone kitchen—buffalo plaid pajamas, terrible Pictionary drawings, family laughter that money could never buy.

That’s real prosperity. And it’s yours for the noticing.