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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

MONEY MATTERS

     If I sit and contemplate the reality of money, of coins and bills and stock portfolios, it seems more conceptual and symbolic than it does real. It's paper and plastic and numbers on a screen, and yet, it determines so much in our lives, both how we see ourselves, and how we experience our world. Money largely determines how others perceive us as well, and the choices we are able to make. It dictates the things we do, and the things we purchase. But we never even put our hands on most of the money that we make and spend. It's all representative, the moving of numbers on a page from one place to the next... all controlled by the great, giant tracking system.
     And this whole system has enormous power to upset our equilibrium and potentially fill us with more fear on a daily basis than anything else in our lives, except perhaps the fear of death. If we have money, we are afraid others will try to take it from us, or that we will lose it in some way and become impoverished, that the stock market will crash, that our investments will not pay off, that we will not be able to afford the taxes on our second and third houses. And if we don't have money, we fear for our livlihood. We envision some kind of ultimate punishment if we cannot pay our bills. From a practical standpoint, we worry that we may lose our house or not be able to eat, and from a more psychological perspective it feels like we might cease to have any value whatsoever, or else struggle forever in a state of dirt and misery.
     But it's all fantasy! Our worth is no more determined by the balance in our bank account than it is by the opinions of other people. Our quality is in our character. We can be poor and noble. We can live a simple and clean life with very little income. We can be kind and express love even if we don't have fancy cars or huge savings accounts. And the reverse is true as well. We can be rich and noble, or rich and miserable. It is really not money that determines the quality of our lives at all, but the quality of our lives that determines the worth of our money.

I have given too much power to money in my life. I let go of my attachment to fears of economnic insecurity. I realize that I can be happy and healthy whether I have millions or I live hand to mouth. It's in my attitude and my character that my real worth is determined.