11-28-2014, 06:31 PM
This is something I just can't seem to get over. I acknowledge that all money comes from other individuals and thus in order to in any way obtain money it must be received from or taken from other individuals. Thus, there must either be the incentive for other individuals to give you their money, necessitating some kind of service or exchange, or of course, one can steal, but that isn't really my thing.
The spiritual traditions I have interacted with all have varying values and ideas towards money, what it is, what it means and why it exists. There are also some that touch on what you can do with it. However, the difficulty I run in to is valuing things according to a monetary value. People don't have consistent, universal values so what may be worth a lot of money to one may be worthless to another. Yet, in the spirit of equality, there is the desire to give everyone a fair and equal exchange, even though what everyone determines is fair and equal may not be the same.
I work for a living at a restaurant. I exchange my labour, and for some reason because I am leaving my home, going out and doing something with my body, I feel that I am justified in receiving the payment. However, there are few other things or methods I have found comfortable in regards to payment as I feel that unless I am giving a physical effort then I can hardly say I have "worked" as mental effort is something I do almost habitually so turning that focus towards helping others never seems like "work".
I have contemplated a billion other ways of making money, from the lottery, to owning a business, to selling spiritual services (like Reiki) or even just doing things for donation, or selling home-made items or doing coaching and support or teaching music or writing books, and all sorts of things. I suppose I could do all of them if I really wanted to and I like the idea of doing them for the sake of doing them but as soon as I include the logistics of money in with them they suddenly become frustrating and hard to think about and focus on.
Money has always been a challenge in my life, but at the same time my family have always had an outlook that even if you aren't doing well financially there is still a lot to be thankful for and it's always better to look towards what can be done to make life a fulfilling experience than dwell on the fact that there are financial challenges. So, even so I am very much struggling financially and with a mountain of debt there is some kind of comfort I have towards that since I have "accepted" it. The idea of having freedom of finances is almost a dream, a wish that is too good to be true and I have a hard time imagining myself in that state. I have very much defined myself through my constant struggle with the different sides of myself and one of these that is a foundation is certainly my perception of myself in terms of societal wealth.
I have lauded up the "bum" lifestyle and look, always considering myself to be poor. Poor, that word sounds dirty in my mind, but it feels so comfortable knowing that I am that, being poor I have no expectations and no one expects anything from me. Being rich would mean I would have so much more to lose and so much more to be responsible for.
Yet, I am doing financially better than a great many people, at least keeping a home, working and managing some hobbies. So there I feel I should have no complaints about the state of my life and I should just accept it how it is and struggle as I am meant to struggle.
I am still always fighting it though, even though it is such a part of me, there has been a glimpse of other possibilities, faint on the other side of the veil, but I see them there. Sides of myself that can emerge and will completely change the personality I exist as in the world. Money is freedom in the social world, but it is not freedom anywhere else. I do not know how to work with money beyond labour without feeling every time I receive it I am in some way taking something for nothing.
What do you all think, what is money to you?
The spiritual traditions I have interacted with all have varying values and ideas towards money, what it is, what it means and why it exists. There are also some that touch on what you can do with it. However, the difficulty I run in to is valuing things according to a monetary value. People don't have consistent, universal values so what may be worth a lot of money to one may be worthless to another. Yet, in the spirit of equality, there is the desire to give everyone a fair and equal exchange, even though what everyone determines is fair and equal may not be the same.
I work for a living at a restaurant. I exchange my labour, and for some reason because I am leaving my home, going out and doing something with my body, I feel that I am justified in receiving the payment. However, there are few other things or methods I have found comfortable in regards to payment as I feel that unless I am giving a physical effort then I can hardly say I have "worked" as mental effort is something I do almost habitually so turning that focus towards helping others never seems like "work".
I have contemplated a billion other ways of making money, from the lottery, to owning a business, to selling spiritual services (like Reiki) or even just doing things for donation, or selling home-made items or doing coaching and support or teaching music or writing books, and all sorts of things. I suppose I could do all of them if I really wanted to and I like the idea of doing them for the sake of doing them but as soon as I include the logistics of money in with them they suddenly become frustrating and hard to think about and focus on.
Money has always been a challenge in my life, but at the same time my family have always had an outlook that even if you aren't doing well financially there is still a lot to be thankful for and it's always better to look towards what can be done to make life a fulfilling experience than dwell on the fact that there are financial challenges. So, even so I am very much struggling financially and with a mountain of debt there is some kind of comfort I have towards that since I have "accepted" it. The idea of having freedom of finances is almost a dream, a wish that is too good to be true and I have a hard time imagining myself in that state. I have very much defined myself through my constant struggle with the different sides of myself and one of these that is a foundation is certainly my perception of myself in terms of societal wealth.
I have lauded up the "bum" lifestyle and look, always considering myself to be poor. Poor, that word sounds dirty in my mind, but it feels so comfortable knowing that I am that, being poor I have no expectations and no one expects anything from me. Being rich would mean I would have so much more to lose and so much more to be responsible for.
Yet, I am doing financially better than a great many people, at least keeping a home, working and managing some hobbies. So there I feel I should have no complaints about the state of my life and I should just accept it how it is and struggle as I am meant to struggle.
I am still always fighting it though, even though it is such a part of me, there has been a glimpse of other possibilities, faint on the other side of the veil, but I see them there. Sides of myself that can emerge and will completely change the personality I exist as in the world. Money is freedom in the social world, but it is not freedom anywhere else. I do not know how to work with money beyond labour without feeling every time I receive it I am in some way taking something for nothing.
What do you all think, what is money to you?