Sharing the Wealth
Have you realized what a bad word that apparently is?
Dirty money. Blood money. Daddy’s money.
We’ve got a thing about money and it seems it’s not a good thing.
Think about it: How many negative sayings and opinions of money did you hear while growing up? Was the topic of money or finances ever raised and discussed in a positive and joyful manner? (If you answered yes to the last question - good for you - you just might be light-years ahead of the rest of us.)
For the most part, Americans are wary when it comes to talking money, especially on a personal level. Most employers frown on any type of salary discussion between co-workers, in fact, it can get you fired from some companies. But even safely outside the workplace, do your friends know your annual income? Do you know theirs?
As I’m writing this, I realize I don’t really know my partner’s salary beyond a broad guess, and we talk openly about everything. Endlessly.
Off the top of your head, think about some quotes about money …
Money can’t buy you love/happiness.
Money is the root of all evil.
Money changes everything. (Never seem to hear any positive changes.)
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Money won’t keep you warm at night.
I’m sure you can add more.
But what it we want money? I mean, really want it? Does that mean that deep down inside we are actually evil incarnate waiting to spring forth and step on flowers and throw our cans in the trash instead of the recycle bin?
Maybe the Universe has some tips for us …
When I was looking for inspirational quotes for this blog, I first searched the keyword money. I was dismayed and discouraged by the negativity of most of the quotes - I hadn’t planned to write a point/counterpoint type of rebuttal to acquiring wealth here. I’d rather write from a strong, positive standpoint.
But I saved 20 or so of the quotations on my USB drive, hoping that I could come up with some encouraging posts despite the definite lack of encouragement from the authors. When I got home and tried to open the file though, there was nothing but garble … the file had somehow become corrupted.
The Universe at work? It appears so. When I got the time to get back online, instead of reflexively typing money as the keyword, I typed wealth.
And found a whole ‘nother world.
Apparently we love and respect wealth. Wealth has given philosophers all down line the warm fuzzies instead of the cold shoulder. Wealth encompasses so much more than the impersonal fact of having lots of money. You can have a wealth of knowledge. You can be a wealth of information. People “share the wealth” much quicker than they’d share their money, because wealth in its context can include paper clips, bottles of beer, M&Ms, French fries … anything a person has in abundance.
Ah, abundance. Now we’re getting to the heart of the matter. All this complexity and negativity around money seems to be sending us the message that seeking money is a losing game. Seek money and people see you as cold and greedy. Seek wealth and abundance and suddenly the world is on your side. Somehow we see abundance as something right, something for sharing and enjoying, seeming to forget that the abundance of M&Ms on our desk was bought with money.
The Universe loves contradictions. And there’s no point fighting the Universe. So, let’s gather wealth, the more the better. Let’s seek out abundance and let it fill our lives and bank accounts. I still think it will be important for us to remove the stigma of money and learn to talk about it positively and openly, because it is nothing more than a tool. And as we gain more tools and use them to create lives of abundance, we can help others fill their toolboxes.
Money is not a four-letter word. So use it.
~$~
