What I choose to pursue

Picture by Jennifer Belanger

​Spring has sprung and with the arrival of green grass, green leaves, warmer air, bluer skies, singing birds, daffodils and seedlings popping up in gardens all over so arrives the overload of all things money.  
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Yes, it is spring and rather than focusing on the beauty of nature, we are being inundated with the reminder that not only is grass green, but so is money.

Billboards with huge pictures of money pouring out of windows, reminding us to update our air conditioning, borrow money for home improvements, grow money with higher interest CD's, plant seeds of money today and watch them grow all summer.  
Commercials telling us to save money at the local Home Depot or Lowes for all of our weekend warrior projects.  

Money, money, money...how to earn it, how to grow it, how to cultivate it, how to keep it, how to love it, how to have more of it, how to whatever you can imagine, there is a way to do it. 

Life runs on money, especially, it would appear,  in spring.  

I love spring.
Well, maybe not the May flies and allergies, but the rest, yeah, I love it all.
I love the renewal of energy that comes with spring.
The simpleness of spring and the hope it grows for a new season. 
Tiny sprouts getting ready to grow into food for us.  
Whether it be edible, nourishing food or food for thought,
Spring sprouts bring us nourishment after a long winter rest.  
 
We are awakened and ready to grow and boy does commercialism know it.  
We've been programmed to always think about money, but never more than in spring.  

Every day I open up an email offering me a new way to think about money, to learn about money, to allow money to flow to me, or to give away my money in order to bring more money to me.

Every time I turn on the tv there is a commercial, a new report, a guru, a something to guide me into the dark, the scary and complex world of money.  
The world in which I must need help in because so many are offering to help me in it.  
The world where green grass means nothing unless it is growing money somewhere and where leaves aren't the only things that grow on trees. 

Oh, Yes, Money. Great and Wonderful MONEY.

All these reminders, these classes, these commercials, these teachers who so graciously remind me how worthless, how uninspired, how useless, boring, simple and small I am without enough money.  How absolutely insignificant my life is without abundances of money and in just a few easy steps for the easy payment of only... or by shopping at the right store and investing in the right bank and listening to the new guru I too can be fulfilled by having money.

I'm calling bullshit on this.  

BULLSHIT!

Money Sells.  Money sells faster with the insinuation of fear and I'm not buying into it.

No amount of money will fulfill me or enhance my life unless I understand what is of value and what is not.  

Yes, money is indeed very helpful in today's society and money does tend to make the world go round money is necessary for basic survival.  I like being able to pay my mortgage, drive a car, be warm in the winter, eat,  but for fuck's sake, can we stop being intimidated by money?  
 
Could we just enjoy the little flowers that are smiling at us when we smile at them without wondering how much money it will cost to enjoy them?  

Can we enjoy the symphony of the birds during the day and the owls at night without fearing if we are wasting our time enjoying rather than working?

Could we stop looking at our bank accounts and start looking at the hiking path that will lead us to the most beautiful of waterfalls and see the riches that Mother Nature offers us free of charge? 

Is it possible to enjoy all that we have and enjoy earning money pursuing what we love without the constant fear of never having enough or never having what the other guy has?

Can't we have it all without having all of it?

Dear God, what do we have to do to catch a break?  

For one, we have to understand that money is not what propels us. 

 Money is what holds us back.  

Money, no fear of the lack of money, keeps us from exploring life"s boundaries. 

The boundaries that our souls are here to explore and break.  

 Think about this for a moment.  

 Think of the word MONEY.  

Five letters when put together in this pattern elicit incredibly complex emotions in our egotistical, human mind.
This five letter word has the potential to raise us or ruin us, but very rarely will it balance us, and balance is exactly what we need when it comes to money.

I grew up in small town, USA, the grand-daughter of a highly respected businessman who resided on the main street of small town, USA.  
My grandfather was a good man who worked very hard for his respect and his money and I was graced with financial blessings because of this.

 I was also a motherless daughter.

At 7 years old my mother died leaving behind my 10-year-old sister and two-week old baby brother. 

 Money doesn't buy back the dead.  

My girlfriend, a very beautiful and successful singer lost her brother a few years back to cancer.
He left behind 2 young children who will forever be without their father. 
Parents who will be forever without their son.

 Money doesn't buy back the dead.  

My best friend lost her dad at an age when she was just starting her own family.  Her father won't be attending her children's weddings, nor did he attend their graduations, birthdays, holidays and other significant life events. 

Money doesn't buy back the dead.

I could go on and on, listing every friend I have who has lost a child, a father, mother, brother or sister, but I don't need to because you have lost them as well.  
Money can't buy them back no matter how much money we have.  
Love and loss aren't dictated by money.

Nor should our lives.  

Our lives should be lived and memories built in the pursuit of happiness, not the pursuit of money.  
Money does play a part in our lives, but never should it be so important that it consumes us and clogs us from simple joys and basic blessings, which are of course never basic at all.

I type these words not as someone who has risen above the fear of money, but as someone who is guilty of falling prey to it almost on a daily basis and is lucky enough to have caught a few tidbits of wisdom here and there and nip the fear in the ass when it rears its ugly face.

I caught myself last night when talking to my adventurous daughter, Paige, who packed a few bags last year and headed to CA in pursuit of her happiness.  
I fell right into the "you should be a nurse" conversation.  
You know, the "you need money, it is safe, it is respectable, it is secure" conversation that great mom's do when they think their babies need protection because somehow money and security go hand and hand. 
I caught myself quickly last night and for that I am grateful.

Wisdom speaks very softly but does indeed speak loud enough to those who are willing to listen.  

Wisdom tells us that money is indeed a wonderful energy to surround yourself around without getting lost in its allure.

Money offers us opportunities to grow, to expand and experience.

 It offers all things material for ourselves and our loved ones. 

It offers us tomorrows adventures if we are smart enough to live for only the magic of today.

Money is an invaluable asset and I don't discount the necessity of it, but I also will never pursue it so much that it ruins my Spring.

Typically the more money we have, the more we can spend, grow, share, explore, expand and play and in that way, money does make the world go round.  Money in of itself holds no value, but how it is used, what it is used for and how it is managed is of value.  The energy of money, like all energy is movement.  Money must be used in order for it to be of value, but what is of value is what I pursue.

Money can't buy me abundance. 

I can't plant money seeds and get money bushes.  

I can't call money on a Monday night and talk to it about football.  
 
I can't hold money on a cold night and I sure as hell can't feel its warmth from a tender hug or a passionate kiss.

I can't hold it tight to me and nurture it as I did my children.  

Money doesn't text me out of the blue and asks "Are you smiling today?" like my friend, Steve, who I haven't seen in twenty plus years does every few weeks since he saw me falling down the rabbit hole during the elections.

Money doesn't read my blogs and offer me thoughtful insights like my friend, Chris, who also isn't a daily confidant but an old high school friend. 

Money doesn't message me with some calming words of advice after he notices I may be heading into the crazy zone after the election of 45 in the way my old friend Ed did, who again I haven't seen since high school and currently lives in VA.

Money can't give me A- blood like my best friend Stacey can.  
Money also can't get stupid silly drunk with me like Stacey can either!

There is something to say about old money, but it doesn't hold a candle to old friends.  

Money is an energetic vibration that will rise with us when we pursue that in which we rise to.  
 
Maybe because I am a child without a mother I can see differently the pursuit of happiness or maybe because being without money doesn't frighten me as much as being without people does, but for whatever reason, I would rather pursue the joy of wealth rather than the pursuit of money. 

Happy Spring, everyone.  Enjoy the abundance it has to offer.

​“Money is a guarantee that we may have what we want in the future. Though we need nothing at the moment it insures the possibility of satisfying a new desire when it arises.” --Aristotle 
“If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free. If our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed.” —Edmund Burke

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