Your (very) longterm relationship with money.
You can still decide what tomorrow will look like.
“It is not merely wealth, it is the means to power, influence, and the ability to do good that makes the pursuit of riches commendable.” — Xenophon
Define your relationship with wealth.
This is something I wish I knew much sooner in life.
Money can elude us, seeming so abstract and perhaps even confusing to keep or accumulate.
Many of us may ask, “What is the purpose in the pursuit of more money?” We believe it to be more noble to be content with what we have, that it is better not to constantly strive for new financial milestones, that the endless pursuit will cause us many problems — that one level of achievement financially is enough. For many, it is not necessary to reset the board and play the game of monetary expansion once more — for when will this pusuit ever end? Perhaps we should quit while we are comfortable….
Many believe that whatever will grant us an increase in funds is not worth the hassle, so people are often content with where they are and dare not reach beyond what they initially thought was possible.
Whatever it is you want in life, you are the decider about whether it’s a worthy pursuit or not; you are the decider of how your relationship will specifically look.
Let’s take a relationship with a colleague as an example, or a romantic relationship with a new partner. If you do not put in the effort often, if you do not monitor, direct, or at least consciously influence the relationship in a specific way — checking in with the other person, establishing emotional boundaries, nurturing the relationship, responding to the relationship’s challenges in bespoke and dynamic ways — then that relationship increases in its ability to overrun or disturb your peaceful life.
In the same way, if one does not nurture the garden in the yard of their home, the weeds may grow in a chaotic manner, making the land look unkempt, stealing sunlight from the vegetation. By tending to the land, by cutting the yard, one is able to define the boundaries of the space, to shape its nature, to cultivate it how he or she sees fit.
Money is like this. If you do not check in with it, if you do not direct it, nurture your relationship with it, it will be a pesty weed in your life instead of a spectacular fig tree, bearing sweet fruit of delight.
Decide what you want your relationship with money to look like — decide what you want your relationships to look like in life. Do you want to be exploited? Do you want to be abused and misused? Do you want to be made tired, exhausted, anxious about money? If not, then decide that you will be the director of your relationship with money. Decide that you will be the commander of it and it will not drain you; it will be your servant, your facilitator, the ease in your operations, your gift to the world.
You decide.
