Joseph’s family was average in terms of socioeconomic status. They have a simple home, a small vegetable garden in the yard and enough food for every meal time. Joseph has to work hard to make ends meet but he couldn’t imagine living another life. He is happy with the way things are for him and his family. On the other hand, Jacob is Joseph’s total opposite. Everyone envies his big home, designer clothes and elite friends. To untrained eyes, Jacob appears to be the more prosperous man between the two. But Jacob lost his wife to an older man, his friends backstab him and he lives in constant fear of one day losing all his wealth.

Who is a man of prosperity, Joseph or Jacob? What is prosperity in the first place? What is an example of prosperity? Is it merely composed of tangible wealth? Is it an elite status? True prosperity is more than having all the world’s treasures, or the capability to have them. True prosperity, in fact, is about the following:

• Mental abundance. No, it’s not about having an IQ of 150. It’s about having a healthy state of mind. A mentally abundant man is someone who is not consumed by fear – fear of losing something or someone or of having a future that is dark and gloomy. He is not worried that the world will someday realize that it will be better off without him. A mentally abundant man is someone who can enjoy life and take his share of its ups and downs.

• Emotional abundance. It means being happy—laughing so hard that it makes a person cry, giving second chances, and loving someone so badly that it hurts. It means being able to experience positive emotions and making other people experience them, just as well. It means allowing oneself to experience pain and in the process grow from the agony.

• Physical abundance. What good is all the money in the world if a person has terminal cancer? Good health and physical fitness is something no amount of money can buy.

• People abundance. No matter how gigantic a person’s house is, he can never call it home if he is the only one living in it. A prosperous individual is someone who has a family he can go home to every night. He has friends who stick with him even when the rest turn their backs on him. His life is filled with people who love him dearly and constantly.

• Spiritual abundance. It’s about knowing that your soul belongs to something bigger than yourself. It’s about faith and believing that you are not alone—that there is someone up there who loves you and who you can love in return through loving those around you.

So, what is an example of prosperity? Money and the things it could buy are not the only examples of prosperity. Prosperity is meeting all the needs of one’s mind, body and soul. When one has achieved all of these, then he is truly a prosperous man.

For you, what is an example of prosperity?