How To Become a Millionaire

Wise Words from an 81 Year Old Bus Driver

Our family had enough growing up. I went to private school and never suffered from food insecurity. Our lights were never cut off and in 8th grade we took our first big vacation on a plane, a trip to Disney World.

That being said, I knew our family was different from the majority of the rest of the families at our school. When my boots got holes in them, instead of buying new ones, my very resourceful mother gave us bread bags to put on our feet and into our boots to avoid our socks from getting wet. That way we could make it through the season with the same boots we had.

We shopped at the Sears Surplus Store and got beautiful hand me downs from different families at church.

Her resourcefulness rubbed off on me. I am very careful not to be wasteful. Whether it’s the peanut butter on the side of the jar that I scrape out with a spatula or dismantling the self propel motor on the lawn mower so that I could bypass it and continue to use the lawnmower in push mode guaranteeing more years of use and with the added bonus of more exercise.

After working hard in Corporate America for many years, I got to the place where I didn’t need to put bread bags on my feet to keep them dry while stretching the use of worn out boots. Yet, I am still inclined to use things past their prime.

When I suffered a severe reaction to the COVID vaccine 4 years ago in April 2021, unfortunately where I spent my money shifted significantly. I spent tens of thousands of dollars on medical bills that I never anticipated to have to spend until well into my 70s.

So much of that money felt wasted to me. And, as I mentioned, I don’t like waste. I went to doctors and most didn’t know what to do. I walked away with prescription medications that often caused more new issues in the form of side effects than they did alleviate the symptoms I was struggling with. More wasted money.

Even worse, in some cases, I was paying my own hard earned savings to have a doctor tell me that “it couldn’t be Small Fiber Neuropathy” (but it was), because it doesn’t normally present the way I was describing it.

This is an age-old issue for anyone who has suffered from a rare disease. While frantically looking for answers, those suffering get their own mini medical degrees. I had different nurses and doctors both ask me if I was in the medical field. Nope. Never. I was just fighting for my life trying to find answers as my body was constantly sending me signals that my life was in danger.

I was dizzy and would run into walls, I would get strong heart pounding and rushes of blood to my head, my right pupil would dilate so large that I couldn’t see temporarily, there was a sharp unbearable and burning pain in my right thigh and worst of all. The. Fatigue. Was. Crushing.

Picture Source: Anna Botz Photography

You are probably wondering why this article is titled “How to Become a Millionaire” when all I am talking about is my humble beginnings and my medical expenses. When you experience a major medical issue, you quickly realize that all the money in the world isn’t going to cure you. That was certainly true in the case of my severe adverse reaction to the COVID vaccine.

So how do you become a millionaire? To quote Wes, a wise 81 year old bus driver that my husband works with, “You are a millionaire when you have your health.”

So many financial millionaires and billionaires have the funds to try everything and fly their private jets anywhere to get expensive treatments in world class facilities, yet even they are not immune to the ultimate fate that connects us all, our mortality.

I am writing this post not to be morbid, but to share the importance of never taking your physical and mental health and well being for granted. They are worth more than gold, more than one million dollars in the bank and more than a luxury trip around the world (not just to Disney World) in your own private jet.

I didn’t realize I needed to appreciate what my body did for me day in and day out, until that luxury was taken away from me and I couldn’t walk more than a block unassisted with no clear path back to sustained, unassisted mobility.

Please be careful and wise about all of the inputs to your body and your soul. Both are worth millions. Follow your gut in regards to:

What (foods, medications, media)

Who (friends, family members, politicians)

Where (cities, communities, jobs, housing)

Why (passions, talents, interests, intuitions)

When (now, in a month, in a year)

are right for you, your body, your soul and your spirit. When you get those inputs right, your own health and well being follow, even if you have suffered from a physical or mental health setback.

My life post severe reaction to the COVID vaccine is dramatically different than it was 4 years ago. My what, who, where, why and when have all changed. In some cases, I was forced to change them. For example, I lost my job. In other cases I made conscious decisions to change them. One of the most important ones was to build a new community. That community is Team Humanity, where we come together in unity.

If you want to be a millionaire, start by recognizing the quiet miracle of your own breath, your own heartbeat, and your ability to get back up when life knocks you down.

Real wealth is waking up without pain and walking without fear with someone who cares by your side. And when we build each other up—when we create community rooted in compassion, truth, and shared humanity—we tap into something even greater than healing.

We remember we’re not alone.

And that, right there, makes us all millionaires.

To learn more about Team Humanity please read this beautiful post that our supporter Lindsay wrote: