1) Being the "ahh" person at toastmaster for the first time tonight.
2) Discovered basil pasta. Yummy!
3) Signed up with Mary Kay. Another fun new adventure.
Next week is St. Patrick's Day so wealth seekers worldwide will be chasing down leprechauns in hopes of finding the elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! But those leprechauns are crafty little guys. Really tough to catch. :-)
What is it about money anyway? What makes us so obsessed with it as a society and as individuals that so many are willing to kill for it? Lie, cheat and steal for it? Work ourselves into early graves and neglect our families for it? Why do we tend to measure the personal worth of an individual by their net worth? And define success in life in monetary terms?
It is true that money can buy us creature comforts. Having enough food to eat, a roof over our heads and clothes to wear are essential to our health and safety. Working hard to provide these things for our families because we love them and feel responsible for their well being is a noble thing indeed. With money we are able to give to charity. Have exciting adventures like world travel and opportunities such as a college education. Money improves the quality of our lives in tangible ways. Without it we are far less secure and comfortable. So I'm not down on money per se. Money is great! It is a powerful force that in generous hands can do many good and wonderful things. Money itself is not the problem.
I think we get into trouble when our priorities shift to putting the pursuit of money above other more valuable things. When we let greed seep into our hearts and begin to dictate our goals and behaviors. It is one thing to work hard to have a nice home to live in. But to work two jobs and travel all the time just to have an even bigger fancier house like your friend has? Or a sports car instead of an ordinary one like the guy down the street? If it means that you rarely see your children and miss all of their soccer games is it really worth it? Is an Italian suit or designer handbag really worth dying younger of a heart attack because of the stress of overwork? Is climbing to the top of the corporate ladder really worth the cost of trampling others to get there or destroying your character in the process?
My husband and I married very young so for the first decade of our marriage we struggled financially. We ate a lot of rice and potatoes. Shopped at thrift stores. Drove a clunker car. Went without all but the necessities...and often didn't even have them! It wasn't easy. These days we are very comfortable. Have a beautiful home and more fashionable clothes. Drive dependable cars and are able to travel and go to concerts. I would not necessarily want to go back to the starving student days, but yet I do have to pause and ask myself if the extra money has brought more happiness? It has definitely brought us more pleasant physical circumstances. But ultimately genuine happiness is still found in the same simple things that we had all along. Hanging out with the kids. Taking walks in the sunshine. Interacting with friends. Serving others. Things that money cannot buy like faith, meditation and dancing along to the radio (when no one is looking of course).
There is nothing wrong with dedicating yourself and finding fulfillment in a career. Or in having nice things around you. We all need to define needs vs. wants according to our own hearts and consciences. It's not for anyone else to determine what we should think or feel or do. Only we know what motivates us and it's different for every person. I just think it's important not to lose focus on the things that are MOST important. Faith, family, friends, character. At the end of the day these will be all that we have left and all that really mattered after all. We don't want to be like the Miner's of old who wasted their time only to find fool's gold for their efforts. Shiny, but worthless after all their hard work.
I remember when I visited Jamaica watching a group of people and thinking...wow...they live in such a poor country. Probably have so little of what most Americans take for granted. But yet here they sit laughing and chatting together on a beautiful Caribbean beach. They seemed so unrushed and carefree. Their countenances shown with inner joy. Can you really say that the high paid executive who hasn't seen his kids in weeks, is taking pills for stress and working 11 hour days to finance his expensive vacation home that he never has time to visit is more successful than these people? I think not. I am thankful this day that we are blessed with enough money to meet our needs, but even more thankful to know that even if that all disappeared one day that I would still have the gifts of family and friends in abundance. Priceless!
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