Money And The Meaning Of Life
The love of money is the root of all evil. That’s all well and good, but the reality is, whether or not I love it, I still need it for my day to day. Yes, I could remove myself from society, find my own Walden Pond and take myself off the grid. But short of that, what place does money have in our lives and how we can we resist the urge to believe it will solve all our problems?
<h2>Money As A Necessity</h2>
Jacob Needleman, a philosopher at the University of San Francisco, published a book a couple of decades ago, entitled ‘Money and the Meaning of Life’. In it, he suggested that “You can’t escape money. If you run from it, it will chase you and catch you”. What he felt was our essential problem with money was the lack of understanding we had about our relationship to it. For instance, that feeling when you don’t even notice money as you spend it and then can’t think of anything else once it’s all gone, suggesting that we haven’t appreciated what value money has for us until we have none of it. Acknowledge what role money plays for you- security, status, a means to be involved in the activities you enjoy. Is it about your relationships? Once you’re closer to understanding that, you’ll in all likelihood find it easier to balance your money as you will have found its rightful place within your life.
<h2>Life Would Just Be So Much Easier If…</h2>
How many times can I say it. “All I need is…”, “If I just had…”. Just a couple of extra dollars an hour, hundred a week, thousand a year. As if that would really make all the difference in how I feel about things. As Needleman points out, if you’re a worrier now, you’ll be a worrier then. It’s self-delusion to believe an external (money) will really dramatically change how you feel about the world, which is essentially an internal reaction. So perhaps the way to change how you feel about money is not to increase the amount of it you have, but to look at how you react to situations, especially financial ones. You can’t always change how much money comes in, but you can change what you do with it, which is inevitably change how you feel about it. And once you’re more positive about your finances, you’re likely to make better, more innovative, more positive decisions.
<h2>Money As The Path To Fulfillment</h2>
A life of poverty is no way to achieve a fulfilled existence. Food in our stomachs, a roof over our heads, all of these things are wonderful. But the reverse is also true- a life of great wealth is no closer to being a fulfilled life than one where we pinch and save for our weekly groceries. Needleman suggests a fulfilled life in one of developed character, and that a developed character often has a respect and love for the rewards of hard work. Why else would some people continue to prosper with their money, while others lose themselves to fraud or greed despite all their wealth? And it’s not just Big Bucks that suffer like that- we do as well. So examining what meaning money gives your life might be a good way to improve your relationship to money, and your financial security as a result.
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