I had the most intriguing conversation with a colleague the other day. A woman with sparkly eyes, a lively demeanor, and short, gray hair, she shared the most interesting story about her life. She was one of 12 children, whose family was so poor that they walked everywhere. Heck, her siblings used to grocery shop and transport items in carriages. She remembers not having the required 4 cents needed to buy milk.

However, even in the midst of what she realizes today was poverty, she had no realization of the severity of her circumstances because of the way her parents raised her and provided for her. She always had food to eat and clothes to wear. Her father helped her mother change children’s diapers, helped raise the children, and shower his wife with elaborate titles such as “Lady of the House”, “Mother of My Children” while making the case that she wasn’t “just” a housewife – and this was in 1950s, which makes her father pretty progressive for his time.

She said one thing in particular that resonated with me: “Things don’t matter. They never have.” I was blown away by her calming, confident, rooted aura. Though she is earning great money today, her upbringing showered her with the rock solid knowledge that money is a tool to be used in order to attain other resources – it is not the end all, be all. This healthy disconnect with money is what has helped her maintain perspective by allocating $125 per paycheck for each of her grandchildren’s educational trust fund.

I found her energy to be refreshing, welcoming, and life-affirming. We are not the sum our money. We are not our profession. We have a duty to ourselves, to live a grateful, fulfilling, and abundant life. And that abundance, by the way, does not depend on money. The way she referred to her parents love for each other demonstrated to me the degree to which that healthy relationship has influenced her in her life. It reminded me that we have a precious opportunity to make the most of what we have, today.