At an Online Marketing Mastermind in Phuket, Thailand, a very renowned speaker asked this question “what is money?” Immediately my brain was scrambled and recoiled! A commodity to exchange goods and services with? Its too simple, must be something much deeper? So what is money? What will your answer be to this simple question?
The speaker provided an interesting definition – Money is an an idea backed by confidence.
I have been thinking about this definition since Phuket. I did not have good relationships with money. I grew up believing that money is the root of all evil. When my dad was simply a struggling medical intern he still spent time with him. But when he became a doctor and had his own practice, I hardly get to see him. Growing up in Hong Kong, the rich can be extremely rich and wasteful and the poor can be desperate and desolate! I felt an injustice to capitalism thus my dislike of money.
I did not place too much “value” on money. I used money to fill a void. When I feel depressed, I would go shopping, buy something in the hope to feel better. Ten out of ten I felt more anxious and nervous when I made the purchase, yet I did the same thing when I felt depressed again! It’s a vicious cycle to self destruction!
I recently read a book by Lisa Messenger “Money and Mindfulness – Living with abundance”. It really resonates with me. She said “money is a means to fill my life with positive experience – and to extend that positivity to people I love and the inspiring community growing around myself….” And ‘it’s okay to allow money to be the driving force of my life….”
Thank you Lisa! I finally get it! I do not need to view money in a negative way. I now focus on how money can fill me life with positive experience, like renovating my husband’s family home, which is his life long dream! Or paying for my daughter’s university veterinarian science degree which is her passion and choice of career!
In Lisa’s book, she wrote “…it’s okay to allow money to be the driving force of your life” and “I stopped seeing money as a root of all evil and saw it as a fuel to fulfilment…” Again, it really resonate with me!
Every morning when I wake up, I meditate how happy my husband would be when this house is brought back to its formal glory! I imagine my daughter having a great future as a veterinarian (like the Bondi Vet) That is what money is to me!
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