I suspect you may have some objection to the title of the article before you even start reading. But I want to make it clear what I am saying. I am not saying that money cannot solve problems for you. If you’re struggling to pay the rent or mortgage payments, having more money would be immense relief.
If you’re struggling to provide child support, or if you’re having trouble with your ex-partner not paying child support, more money can make a massive difference in your life. I’m not trying to tell you that there aren’t any aspects in life that don’t make having more money easier. However, I hope to communicate that almost everyone is stressing about finances.
You might not expect this to be the case (I certainly did not expect it), but I have spoken to many rich people who have told me that finances are causing them stress. I’ve also talked to poor people about money. Less surprisingly, they shared that finances are also causing them stress.
Like most people, I always thought that if I had enough money in the bank I would be peaceful. But after hearing from several people who are very rich, I discovered that money just doesn’t bring peace. No matter how much money a person has in a bank account or other investments, the stress over money rarely goes away.
I know it is difficult for many of us to imagine. We are constantly faced with the stress of not having enough money to do everything we want, and investing is a pipe dream. If we’re realistic, the problem for most of us isn’t that we don’t have enough money to live on.
Rather, we don’t have enough money to live as comfortably as we’d like. We have enough money to meet our real needs. It certainly isn’t always the case, but often our financial pressures are the result of wanting more than we really need and spending more than we should to get what we want.
My son and his wife sold their house a few years ago and bought a cheaper house that was a real fixer-upper. The bank asked them to write and sign a letter explaining the reason for buying a house that was cheaper than the one they were selling. Think about it for a minute. That really tells the story of what the expectations are about how we all spend our money, doesn’t it? Just like a company and the stock market, we all work to keep this income line trending up and to the right!
And I encourage us all to do an internal review today. It may be that we have placed too much hope in finances. If so, I encourage you to put them back in perspective. Of course, I want you to have enough to pay your bills and take care of the things in your life, but I also want each of us to understand that peace comes from our own personal growth.
I encourage you to seek peace that goes well beyond finances. Peace that is less dependent on circumstances, bills, and paychecks. Working towards this will make a good impact on your children which is a good place to start to win more often at home.
– Dan Seaborn is the founder of the Zeeland-based group Winning At Home Inc., which celebrates 20 years of supporting and caring for marriages and families. Email any questions or comments to [email protected].
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