UNITED STATES—Money. It is the one thing so many of us strive for, some who have plenty of it, and it is the one commodity almost everyone I know always wants more of, MONEY. That green, that plastic, that mobile app (as it has become more common) today, as what drives the behavior for so many Americans. We work because we want money. We work because we need money to live. We work because we want to purchase goods and services. We want money because it is a form of power.
Money is quite powerful, even if you believe that not to be the case. I can almost guarantee you a person with money is not complaining about life as much as someone who doesn’t have money. If they are complaining it is in relation to things they can afford to complain about. Those who don’t have it are complaining to others about that desire to get more of it, and various ways they can do it that are legal.
That is the one issue about money, you can get it the legal way, or you can get it the illegal way, but guess what, people are still clamoring to get it and that is where the danger comes. It is a sad day in America when you have to hide expensive things that you normally would wear out of fear that you might be robbed as someone tries to take those items and turn it into liquid currency for themselves. Why do you think the bank is such a dangerous place to go into nowadays? To be honest, I cannot tell you the last time I stepped into a bank with the constant evolution of technology. Hell, it may have been a month ago, and you’re talking to someone who used to enter a bank once a week to handle business transactions and things related to money.
I do want to understand the psychology behind the motivating factors when it comes to money at times. For me it is not about excess or having a ton of something. I just want to be comfortable and feel like I have that financial safety net in case something unexpected happens. I don’t want to be stressed about having to work so many hours at one job and then jumping to another job just to make ends meet. When you’re stressed about money it simply leads to more stress.
It doesn’t just go away because you want it to as so many people seem to think. That commentary is usually coming from someone who has an abundance of it, and you sometimes just want to tell them to shut up. You have to walk in a person’s shoes to truly understand what is unfolding in their mind. When I think of money, I look at it two ways: income and expenses. You have to know what you’re bringing in and what you’re sending out to budget effectively.
You might think you have a lot of leftover money after all the bills are paid, but that is NOT always the case and you have to navigate the unexpected expenses, because trust me they are coming your way, even if you think they are not. Hell, I just had to replace two doors in my home, and they were cheap, in addition to fixing broken locks on a few doors and now having to replace ceiling fans that are running on their last life. Money is always going to come and go that is how life works and it is not something you can change with the snap of a finger.
I think the more we focus on having more, the less likely we are to have it. You just have to allow it to come to you. Think, positive, stay calm and understand when it comes to life if there is ONE THING that bonds all of us it is money.
Written By Jason Jones
