What’s the point really? Why bother getting oneself in a good financial condition? Why all the bother?
At one time, I would have just scoffed at such questions. Wasn’t it obvious that having good finances was better than the alternative?
Now that I have somewhat more perspective on the world, I see that whatever seems obvious to me is not necessarily how others see the world. My “it’s obvious” perspective is just one of habit, conditioning, training, culture, and inculcation.
The normal process of cultural maturation includes the bending of one’s thought to a foundation that supports the cultural and political needs of the group, one that is associated and approved by one’s social dynamic. What we think is normal and obvious is only our narrow view of the world. Others often do not agree.
It’s a process easy to see when one spends time in a foreign country. What seems so logical and normal in one’s home country is not necessarily so in a foreign country. Their “logical and normal” would be so inappropriate, out of place and awkward back home.
So, truth be told, my focus on my financial well-being is a decision I made. While much of our culture is geared to consumption, I saw that if I focused on consuming, I would have less than I would need and want. So rather than follow someone else’s desires for me, I set out a path for myself.
Of course, in our culture, there are endless individuals who have set themselves apart from the mainstream, so my decision to follow my own path was not as individualistic as it could have been if we were in a more repressive or restrictive culture. But the mass of persons in our culture are normally so entrenched in what others do, what other tell them to do, what the mass culture expects them to do, that the individualistic ones do not provide much of a force in the totality of the culture.
Deciding to break from the cultural “norm” was freeing and liberating but also scary and frightening. One fears reprobation from one’s peers. One seeks approval and endorsement. Depending on the situation, sometimes the main support can come only from one’s own thinking.
When I realized that no external entity will take care of me, when there was no expectation of some societal or organization arrangement with my best interests as its objective, I knew then that it was I, and only I, who was the one who must take actions to secure myself and my future.
The first steps were the hardest. At first it was a often disheartening. After all, who would not want some assistance and guidance and have someone else stronger, wiser, smarter, and richer, to pave the way. And who wants to look at themselves, compare themselves to their peers, and find themselves lacking? But after a short time, even after making a small amount of progress, I was comparing myself to my previous self, not to others. Small first steps then become large and vigorous in the face of a strengthening self.
A financial condition that is improving is usually a mirror into a life that is also being enhanced. Namely, financial positives are not isolated. Someone who takes care of themselves financially is usually one who is attempting to improve in other ways as well. It does come down to a personal perspective on one’s life.
A good attitude improves one’s life in many ways. An improved life enhances one’s attitude. It works both ways, as they are two sides of the same entity.
I have read where some say that a good financial state gives them “freedom.” This is true, yet there are other results. In addition to that freedom, it gives one options. Options to not worry, to live with reduced stress, to have choices and opportunities. When I was a burdened and indebted person, there were roads and paths I avoided because of my fear of not being or having enough. Or sometimes then I made some poor choices, and was felled by the results of my actions.
So my focus on financial well-being was in the same direction of a focus on healthy living, healthy eating, and appropriate behaviors. Living while “burning the candle at both ends” seems like fun only for a short time, eventually, it becomes more and more detrimental. Certainly, wanton conduct can be seemingly appealing at times; it is only is considering the outcomes of what may occur that I became aware of my own patterns of thinking and behavior.
Not everyone may think of personal finances in the realm of personal accountability and maturation, but in looking over my life, I believe that seeing the connections between the two–between personal financial behavior on the one hand, and my personhood on the other–that I was able to add motivation for positive growth in one area influence positive growth in the other.
There is no attempt here to say that a good financial condition means anything about me personally, such as whether I am a good person, or a kind person, etc. What I am is that taking care of myself in the world includes taking care of myself financially. Sometimes taking good care of myself has been easy, at other times it has been hard.
If I strive for a good life for myself and those around me, then I strive to do well enough in the financial realm as well.
Unfortunately, we see many on our world whose strong financial condition presents many opportunities to propagate destructive and harmful behaviors. So therefore it is obvious that financial strength does not automatically mean a positive role model.
It is up to each and every one of us, individually, to determine how to be in the world. How and what we learn, grow, and behave all are mirrors into what we are. So the path to financial stability is another platform we have that reflects on us and who we are.
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Illustrations of water lilies by amateur botanist John Fisk Allen from Victoria Regia, or, The Great Water Lily of America: With a Brief Account of its Discovery and Introduction into Cultivation (1854).
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