Being something of a romantic idealist, my first response to the question “is health more important than wealth” was a resounding “YES”.

Then I stopped to consider. I have known some happy unhealhy people. I have known some unhappy people with plenty of money. I have seen impoverished people in African tribes with a happier disposition towards life and all its tragedies than the celebrity rich and I have seen the celebrity rich enjoying life in ways which are far beyond the experience of the beggars on the streets of India.

In a capitalist society I would venture to suggest that it is hard to be either happy or healthy without money. Life on a city street without job or home is tough and not conducive to a state of physical or mental well being. To live a fulfilling and healthy life in an urban environment, money is an essential tool for ensuring shelter. heat and food. Money can buy warm clothes, good food, healthcare and transport. Even in a rural environment , although it is slightly easier to be poor with dignity , some financial wealth is neccessary becase the days are long gone where one could build a shack in the woods with your bare hands and live a self sufficient life feeding off the bounty off nature. I would thus argue that to be a human being without any wealth in a capitalist society is to live a hard life which would not be conducive to the maintenance of good health. The human being in the Western world is forced to live in ways which are against the rythms of his own body and of the natural world. He works in daylight and darkness, he works when he is sick, he travels when the weather is treacherous. He denies himself the true treasure of darkness, silence and restfulness.

Wealth is not just money. One can be wealthy in other things too which are possibly more important. To be rich in optimism, love, joy and laughter is to have assets which will see you through the bleakest of times when the cupboard is bare and health is failing. This are the spritual attributes which keep the tribes people laughing and singing through the times when the crops die and the rains don’t come. Of coure there is worry and fear and pain but the a true joy in life lifts them aloft and loss is accepted as part of the great dance of life.

Of course, financial wealth is not the only form of abundance. One can be wealthy in time, rich in talent, abundant with ideas, filled with hope. All these can serve to maintain health and if you are healthy you will have more resistance to the knocks in life. You will not sink so easily into despair when things go wrong. If you are healthy , joy will be part of your life experience. But we live in an imbalanced world full of pollutants, additives and processed foods. We are assuaulted daily by unwholesome attitudes and thoughts in the media. We are slaves to the system in terms of our time. So maintaining health is a challenge which needs often requires professional intervention. Organic foods, alternative healthcare, therapies, are bg business and they don’t come cheap. Even a visit to the healing spaces of nature costs money for fuel.

There is such a strong correlation between health and wealth it is nigh impossible to separate them. Keeping the two in balance is probably the answer. If one is healthy in mind and body this is the natural state to be in, balanced. The wealthy business man who makes plenty of time for relaxation, recuperation and pleasure is probably just as happy and healthy as the hermit monk who lives a simple life and who has chosen spritual growth over material gain.

Perhaps that is the answer to the arguement. Neither health or wealth alone will create true happiness. Both are transient states, subject to famine and plenty. Emotional love ebbs and flows Spiritual wealth, however, may enable humanity to live happily in whatever material condition it finds itself, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. And the beauty of spiritual wealth is that it doesn’t cost a cent. It is ours for free, for eternity.