Your money may be enough to last you a lifetime if you follow this

The real measure of your wealth is how much you would be worth if you lost all your money.

-Bernard Meltzer

Money matters!! Let me guess… One big worry that keeps raking your senses probably everyday is,have you made enough money to last you a lifetime? Are you doing enough to sail you through these tough times where Covid led recession has overwhelmed the future and your financial planning has caved in. Life is limping and prospects are not so cheery either.

So long as I worked I often lost hold of my calculations and combinations as my finances and planning were always desperate to spin out of control no matter how carefully I went about reigning them in. Heart burns, dry throat and a palpitations all conspired and left me worried stiff. Frustration raged inside me,every time I rummaged the pages from my personal diary.

Am I earning enough? Have I saved enough to last me a lifetime?What more could I do to ramp up my coffers?…. It was painful… obnoxious… stressful.You name it .. I too have braved the same pangs. Worst still, lungful of disapproval will squarely hit me whenever I chose to parade my financial planning before my family.

But then, the time changed and so did I and believe me it was only after months altogether before I could realize that good things always await to happen!!.. All you need is to reach out to them .I realized that nobody was going to help me and I alone can gift myself a free life … a life build more on happiness than loads of money. Spiritual snobbery..eh? You may say so.. but then opinions differ.

Ask yourself….When was the last time you questioned your wisdom in money matters? Can you really draw a financial plan that will outlive in these troubled times? Are you ready to cross swords with scarier times that will follow the pandemic? And who knows how things will take shape in times to come. We are yet to ascertain the extent of damage done, remember. What the life will be like is anybody’s guess.

The fracas is deceptive and the arguments are enormous….

It pains me to know that somehow everything that relates to money has been painted dark and we have been scared out of our wits by a handful few who so often tell us that world will be left with very thin to lean on, that we have underestimated the perils of not having any income or at best very little of it and that we may lose all that we possess now, if we are not careful.

Is it that dreadful? Is it really all about money and its adequacy?

Let’s find out…

In every stage of our lives as we grow up, we all develop that uncanny lustful fancy to money, worthy of its value for what it buys for us and what changes it could bring to our lives. See….this mindless fascination has an enchanting grip. Our day begins and end with greenbacks hammering out every other thought from our minds all the time … struggling all day long for more and more of it, even changing ourselves, sometimes for good but often for worse.

What did I do to salvage myself ?

It’s hard to prescribe one bitter pill that will last you a life time !! .. but what the heck!! Let’s give it a try. Perspectives die hard but have tendency to change …and change fast.

Make a smart beginning; just look back at your years of work and see if you could smell some satisfaction and happiness. ‘I think I could have done better’, many of you would argue. Possibly yes .But see, you earn only what you yearn for. Nothing comes cheap. Be contented with what you always thought was enough to be useful and gainful to you .

Find peace with yourself, make truce with your worries, failures and that gut wrenching feeling of utter disgust, and you have already taken the first step towards a great planning.

In the years I grew up and went to school and then to college, nobody bothered to ask what I liked to study or what I could become. Maybe times were like that or maybe I chose what came my way and hastened to get a job that paid. That’s all that mattered then . Rest….the life kept spinning in circles around that.

But then, I never regretted myself. I never toyed with the idea that I shall remain what I did for a profession for the rest of my life. That I will guard all those years of knowledge and experience and keep on shoving to the world till I live,that if it happens and my ideas on money matters are jinxed, I won’t regret it.

I could never get a hang of these trappings of the job I pursued. The world outside appeared a much bigger and important place than the job I held. I could never come to terms with that puffed up importance of what I did, the post and the power that followed. So, I looked around and knew better things were awaiting to happen.

And so should you … shun the pressures of work you do, stop pushing yourself to please your boss, be a passive presence to mindless meetings and refrain from networking with people you do not like.

Believe me you will not fall short of what you get in return… a true freedom of sorts. You can be anything and anybody you ever want. Rejoice the ordinariness of things and you will discover the pursuits that bring joy and happiness free of conscious or pretentious efforts.

Once you step into the world of simplicity ,amazing things will begin to happen to you . Three sets of clothing and perhaps two sets of footwear. No more…and the change has already begun.Those ,who work from home these days shall comprehend better what being simple is all about. To be frugal but not a miser has an overwhelming sense of being free . But then, don’t break your heart either , if it cries out for your favorite pajamas or blue suit. Go for it..Remember you are not settling scores with yourself.

How you dress up does not mean the end of the circle of people around you. Your charisma, power and position carry you better. Simplicity merely soothes the soul and discourages the irrelevant. If you have just begun, may be you should take a break once in a while and let the heart rule a little. You will figure out what it means to let things happen to you without you being in the driver’s seat all the time.

What you must do though are three things in that order.

Three wonderful ways to discover your true self

To begin with, start living simple and simplify everything you own .. from assets to investments to strategies. Make a beginning and you will be amazed how all that you have will last you out… if you draw a little and use a little . It’s all about striking a balance between what you need, if it is necessary and how much you need.

Once you have learned the ease of use, simplicity of need and willingness to draw,you will be astonished to find yourself free of money worries in no time . Of course, this does not mean that you should pussyfoot around selling your house, car ,gadgets and stuff like that, merely because you are trying to live simple. You really need not push yourself to a wall only because you think you need to kick the ball harder to hit the goalpost ASAP.!!

Second, be useful and include the world around you the way you see it. Be purposeful and find ways to engage and contribute. Work wherever and whatever matters. The impact and influence that it will have on other’s lives will bring your abilities and skills to table besides leaving you thrilled with joy.

Last but not the least, find out what you need most. Laughing your heart out, strolling in golden beaches laced with crimson sunsets, soul stirring music and heaps of comfort food, or cars, gadgets , mindless assortment of clothes and jewelry. Choice rests with you and remember lure of consumption is an entrapment of sorts. Search yourself , and you will find that things that really matter do not need much money anyways.

I reckon you could be anything but reckless or lazy if you have searched yourself truly with all honesty and rejigged yourself to be the one you ever wanted to be the in the first place.

Once you learn to learn, engage ,contribute and participate your life will change for good.

So, where does this all lands us? Doesn’t money really matter or does it makes things worse? I wouldn’t argue but if your everyday life is simple and desires are less, how much of it would you need anyway.

If you worry that this will turn you into a someone, who fears that he would be walking around alone, sharing food at rundown restaurants with strangers, hastily gulping down those drinks without tossing since no familiar faces are around and sleeping in night shelters or worse still under the stars, it’s time to reshape your life. reinvent your strategies and revisit your wallet.

Just do it right this one time.

….And remember money is merely a consequence of success and not a means to happiness.