What does money mean to you?

Abe F. March wrote:

Putting money in its proper place might be explained this way:
Let’s suppose you were placed in a room that was stacked from floor to ceiling with $1000 bills. There was just space for a chair in the middle of the room and that was where you sat. Then they locked the door. You were filthy rich but you were going to die since you couldn’t eat the money and you would eventually starve to death.
Having money means little unless there is a purpose for which to use it. How much is enough depends on the individual’s needs and wants. Money does not bring happiness. The more money you have the more problems you have and that can lead to a different subject. Money is a means to an end. Do you know what the end is you seek?

I think you've put money in its proper place. Value is relative; all the money, securities, and treasure in the world is worthless if you can't get what you want and need with them. Personally, it took me the first 14 or 15 years of my life to figure out that material things, no matter how plentiful, could not bring happiness. In fact, I think too much money can be just as bad as too little, as when people become extremely rich, all too often they are corrupted by greed.

I agree with you Gordon that too much money can be as bad as too little - makes me think of all those folks who've won a huge lottery and then whipped through it like a bag of candy. Which almost brings us full circle, to when we were talking about chocolate. It's funny how some of our conversations turn to food! Chocolates all around for everybody!!

I'm eating a triple choc homemade cookie right now. It's about 6" in diameter and it's yummy!

Homemade cookies -- that sounds like a very good activity for this afternoon. Maybe that's how I'll treat myself for getting through my daily word ration. Unless I can convince my daughter to make 'em since she is on a week's holiday from University...wonder what my chances are.

George there's a good chance I may just be thinking about your cookie, so if you decide on a second of those monsters, think of me!

Ok, Ok, George and Pam. I realize now that money to you both means the ability to have more cookies.
So where is the "cookie" cookie?

Oh Abe, I think you hit the nail on the head!

Cookies all around.

I generally think of money in terms of what a lot could do for folks who need a little help. Wouldn't it be nice to just hand money to a friend who was in a bind, or to someone with serious health concerns and money worries? I would love that.

To be able to just pick up some little something for a friend...no matter the cost. Just because it would be perfect for them.

To provide comfort for someone who is hurting. Pay for a day at the spa, a pedicure, a massage--for a caregiver who is on her/his last bit of energy.

That's what I would like to do...

I'd like to add a few more thoughts about money.... what it is and what it is not.

Money is:
-a measure of economic value
-necessary for survival in 21st. century America (and the rest of the world for that matter)
-a medium of exchange
-able to purchase material things

Money is not:
-God
-the key to happiness
-the sole measure of value
-the sole measure of success
-capible of fufilling our every desire

One thing I do know about money. I've not measured my happiness by it.

I've been happy when I was poor.
I've been happy when I had enough to be comfortable.

Money cannot buy happiness, virtue, love, peace of mind, ect. I think happiness comes from within, not from how many things one can acquire. Happiness is a state of mind, which money has no effect on, unless one allows it to have such an effect.

For years I had a real problem with money: afraid of having too much. *grin* I can hear your comments now. *giggle*

Really, my husband was involved in a mining claim. He is, or was, a prospector. He still considers himself one even though there are none where we live. Anyway, his partner and himself had a deal going through where we would get paid quarterly on a daily income of $36,000.00 a piece. He was ecstatic. I tried to sabotage it. Why? Because I was afraid it would give us the ability to do what we wanted to do individually and thus we would grow further apart. Today, I realize that it wasn't money that would do that. It would be our different attitudes toward life in general that would.

The day before the contract was to be signed, Sante Fe railroad pulled out of 3 deals: hubby's being one of them. To this day he has not recovered from that blow.

What some people consider needs are luxuries for me. What I consider needs, most people don't even think about. I have lived in a car in the winter in an orange grove. When it rained we slept with the suitcases in the backseat and the seats upright. On nice nights we reclined the seats and had the suitcases on the ground outside the car.

Today, our house and car are paid in full. We have electric, propane, phone, car insurance, and food that need to be paid for in money. We can barely survive on $1,156.00 a month. For me though, it is enough. The only extra money I want is to be able to promote my book to get it into the hands of those who want or need it.

My perception, my take on money is usually seen as completely different from other people's perception. Money scares me. Big money scares me even more. I have had a big problem promoting my book because of the success I might get and thus the amount of money that may come in.

To me, money is a curse that is required to just survive. If we can barter or exchange I feel better about it. It is not money that is the root of all evil. It is the "love" of money that is.

Sue,
your insights are right on target.

Sue Sunshine wrote:

For years I had a real problem with money: afraid
of having too much. *grin* I can hear your comments now. *giggle*

Really,
my husband was involved in a mining claim. He is, or was, a prospector.
He still considers himself one even though there are none where we
live. Anyway, his partner and himself had a deal going through where we
would get paid quarterly on a daily income of $36,000.00 a piece. He
was ecstatic. I tried to sabotage it. Why? Because I was afraid it
would give us the ability to do what we wanted to do individually and
thus we would grow further apart. Today, I realize that it wasn't money
that would do that. It would be our different attitudes toward life in
general that would.

The day before the contract was to be
signed, Sante Fe railroad pulled out of 3 deals: hubby's being one of
them. To this day he has not recovered from that blow.

I'm sorry Sue but the fact you tried to sabotage your partners deal
because of your fears and because of your attempted sabotage, the fact
that he has not recovered from the blow really sent a cold chill down
my spine

It's a shame that you could never discuss your fears with your partner,
negativity breeds negativity which flows out to the universe, did it
make you happy when the deal fell through?

Money means not having to worry about money.

I'm with you, Lin. To me, money means security.

Oh, Rainbow. I guess I didn't explain myself well enough. When I said sabotage I meant that I tried to get him to quit. There was nothing with that deal that I could have done to hurt it except maybe to leave him. He felt I jinxed it because of my feelings about it. He knows better now. No I didn't feel good because it hurt him so. We were both young then.

Yes, we have talked about it and even went to therapy over it. He hasn't gotten over it because it was suppose to be his retirement. It was back in the early 80's before we became involved in our lifestyle now. Now he sees how it was not to be and that no matter what I did or said it wouldn't have made a difference.

Our lifestyle and beliefs are so different today. What you put out into the Universe is what you get. We didn't realize that then.

Thank you for your concern. I was just trying to show in my post that money can cause more problems then the lack of it can. At least for some people.

People who have money are afraid of losing it. People who don't have money are afraid of not surviving.

When we lived in Scottsdale in a $300,000.00 house (that was before our orange grove days), the people we hobnobbed with were so concerned about losing money that they were obsessed with making more. Today if everyone had only a certain supply of money, some people would find it difficult to survive at all.

I need to add something here. The loss of the claim I originally mentioned didn't stop hubby. The deal didn't go through. However, less than a year later we ended up living on a mining claim just outside of Prescott, Arizona. If you ever have wanted to live in the 1800's, live on a mining claim. It will definitely change your perspective about money and material things. I believe everyone should live on a mining claim the way we did for a year. Then money and material things wouldn't mean as much. People could see how they can get a long with much less and still be happy.

I made a lot of money - became a millionaire and then lost it all. I was ready to take my life. At this critical moment, I reflected on my family and what they meant to me. I knew in my heart that they would rather have me than all the material things money could buy. I awakened from my depressed state and my life started over.
When I say, money is not important, I don't mean to imply that it is not important to live and survive. I mean that in the sense of working simply to have money. Material things can dissapear overnight but what you possess inside, is your most valuable assset. If you have self-confidence and determination, you can create what you truly need.
Each person must determine what is important to their life. Is it love, is it possessions, or what? What does happiness mean to you? Are you looking for prestige? If you get it, then what?
We are all unique and have a different set of priorities and ideals. I know what is important to me. Only you can determine what is important to you.

Respectfully,
Abe

Money may bring security, but it is not good to be obscesed with it. Fear of loss will only serve to inhibit one's progress both physically and spiritually. Some people are so afraid of loosing their money that they never take the time to enjoy life. I don't see much point in dedicating my life to pursuing things that are here and gone before the blink of an eye, figuratively. You can have a million or a billion or even a trillion dollars, but in time it will all rot away to dust. A certain amount of money is needed to live, but to spend a life completely dedicated to the pursuit of money and material things that ultimately crumble to dust is foolish.

Sue Sunshine wrote:

Oh, Rainbow. I guess I didn't explain myself well
enough. When I said sabotage I meant that I tried to get him to quit.
There was nothing with that deal that I could have done to hurt it
except maybe to leave him. He felt I jinxed it because of my feelings
about it. He knows better now. No I didn't feel good because it hurt
him so. We were both young then.

Yes, we have talked about it
and even went to therapy over it. He hasn't gotten over it because it
was suppose to be his retirement. It was back in the early 80's before
we became involved in our lifestyle now. Now he sees how it was not to
be and that no matter what I did or said it wouldn't have made a
difference.

Our lifestyle and beliefs are so different today.
What you put out into the Universe is what you get. We didn't realize
that then.

Thank you for your concern. I was just trying to show
in my post that money can cause more problems then the lack of it can.
At least for some people.

Sue, thank you for explaining I'm glad you did talk about it and sorry
the deal fell through. You're right money can cause problems as a
line in a song by Clarence Clemens goes, 'If you got too much or too
little, it can bring out the worst in you...'

Rainbow, I had never heard that before. It is so true, though.

For the past 10 years or so we have changed our way of life: New Age, Metaphysical, etc. Hubby isn't into it as much as I am, but don't get him started on The Great Shift or "putting it out to the Universe." He will talk your ear off. *grin* The new lifestyle is helping me learn about sabotage and helping him get over his loss.

Thanks for the concern, Rainbow. I am seeing by some of the posts in here that some of the members are 'into' some of the same things I am other than writing and publishing.

Sue Sunshine wrote:

Rainbow, I had never heard that before. It is so true, though.

For
the past 10 years or so we have changed our way of life: New Age,
Metaphysical, etc. Hubby isn't into it as much as I am, but don't get
him started on The Great Shift or "putting it out to the Universe." He
will talk your ear off. *grin* The new lifestyle is helping me learn
about sabotage and helping him get over his loss.

Thanks for the
concern, Rainbow. I am seeing by some of the posts in here that some of
the members are 'into' some of the same things I am other than writing
and publishing.

He was and suppose still is the saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen and I
bought a casette of his many years ago, it has some great tracks and
great lyrics on it, actually I'm reading a book at the moment about
'feeling good' so that positive vibrations get sent out and supposedly
good vibrations will come back, as you usual there's a lot of 'New
Agey' stuff but the basic premise is eternal, it's all about attitude
although in times of stress it's not so easy!

At one time a few years back I 'played' with some Pagan Groups and
while their basic tenet is 'Perfect Love and Perfect Peace' I found
most of them wouldn't know it even if you slapped them in the face with
it, in England there's a saying, 'There's more bitchcraft than
withcraft!' and it's so true. Yes some of us writers are a strange
bunch and hooray for our strangeness

P. Gordon Kennedy wrote:

Money may bring security, but it is not good to be obscesed with it. Fear of loss will only serve to inhibit one's progress both physically and spiritually. Some people are so afraid of loosing their money that they never take the time to enjoy life. I don't see much point in dedicating my life to pursuing things that are here and gone before the blink of an eye, figuratively. You can have a million or a billion or even a trillion dollars, but in time it will all rot away to dust. A certain amount of money is needed to live, but to spend a life completely dedicated to the pursuit of money and material things that ultimately crumble to dust is foolish.

I like your philosophy, PGK. I think the phrase "money makes the world go round" is scientifically flawed.

I love that we refer to it as new age, too. Kind of like we have just figured it out that what we need and want are not the same things for all of us, or that money does not provide us with love and peace that we can get from relationships with things that are important, as you discovered in a very meaningful way Abe. New age we call it, self help, new religion, and yet there are ideals underneath all of it that have persisted across millenia. Life is a such a wonder.

A Ahad wrote:

P. Gordon Kennedy wrote:

Money may bring security, but it is not good to be obscesed with it. Fear of loss will only serve to inhibit one's progress both physically and spiritually. Some people are so afraid of loosing their money that they never take the time to enjoy life. I don't see much point in dedicating my life to pursuing things that are here and gone before the blink of an eye, figuratively. You can have a million or a billion or even a trillion dollars, but in time it will all rot away to dust. A certain amount of money is needed to live, but to spend a life completely dedicated to the pursuit of money and material things that ultimately crumble to dust is foolish.

I like your philosophy, PGK. I think the phrase "money makes the world go round" is scientifically flawed.

Actually the world goes round because it started out going round and round and as Newton's laws state, an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by a force.