About Money

Over the years, what makes me feel special has changed. I think it’s a combination of getting older and the general direction society is taking.

When I was a teenager, I was easy to bribe and felt special anytime someone bought me something or gave me money. It could have been anything; I wasn’t picky. I felt if someone bought me a gift, they must care about me.

My mom and stepdad barely bought me anything extra (which in and of itself isn’t necessarily bad), but sometimes I even bought essentials myself with my babysitting money simply because “I had the money” – not because they were short on funds.

I quickly felt the need to buy things for other people I cared about, even if they barely knew who I was. All I wanted was to spend on everyone I liked because I wanted to make them feel special, but when I didn’t eventually receive anything in return, I’d get disappointed and felt like, perhaps, I wasn’t special. I thought everyone expressed love through money and this created a vicious cycle of depression that has taken me years to recover from.

As you can see, I developed an unhealthy attitude toward money. It wasn’t a tool; it was a twisted form of validation for me. I wasn’t able to save my own money or learn to invest it in ways that would help better shape my future because I was too busy trying to please everyone on a superficial level.

Living life through the blind, naive eyes of a teenager is a tough but necessary experience, meant to turn us into better human beings. We are all served up different life lessons, and this was one of mine.

Now, as an adult, money matters very little to me other than that it allows me to trade for the daily goods and services I need to maintain a comfortable life. I am trying to pass on to my son the lesson that I learned the hard way: that money does not equal love. Of course I want him to be financially literate and know all about cryptocurrencies and other forms of investment and wealth building, but at the same time, I want him to recognize money for what it is: a means to an end.

It’s satisfying to spend money on family and those close to you, but not in a reckless way or as a way to compensate for not spending time with them.

Money and time are not interchangeable!

Money itself is not evil, but can certainly influence evil people and movements.

We all need to stop putting money on a pedestal. If you’re a show-off, I urge you to re-think your purpose in life.

*Fun fact: At first, this post was meant to be about something different entirely, but now it will end up being worked into a different post.