Wealth Redefined
Some People Are So Poor, All They Have is Money
Walking into church last Sunday, I was struck by a quote projected on the screens above the altar. Spray-painted on a wall, it read, “Some people are so poor, all they have is money.” I was struck by the departure from the typical projections of Bible images, but more importantly, by the stark nature of the quote itself. Most any definition of “poverty” references money or material possessions, but this was obviously different.
Working in Human Resources for past 30+ years, I have been involved in many conversations about money. Businesses ideally want to make the world a better place, but they are also in business to make money. We want to make money too, ideally having a positive experience along the way. As the saying goes, we make a living so we can live a life. Living a life is expensive though, so money is understandably an important focus for us. Here are a few thoughts which were inspired by this image:
⏳ Time Wasted: I have wasted too much time worrying about money – salary, bonuses, equity - overall being rewarded fairly. Yes, these things are important, but not worth losing sleep over. I am privileged without concerns about making ends meet; just managing my ego and the perceived slights I felt along the way.
📊 We’re Not All Above-Average: Just as everyone thinks they are an above-average driver, everyone thinks they deserve above-average rewards. As an HR practitioner, I have had the benefit of seeing the compensation records for all the organizations I have supported and, you know what? The problem wasn’t usually the comp decisions; it was the lack of candid, timely feedback to explain those decisions.
⏰ Missing out on the Present: I have spent so much time replaying scenes from the past and preparing for activities in the future that I have missed out on a lot of the present. I am not sure I was ever 100% present in business meetings, and I’ll admit that yes, I do rehearse what I plan to say next while you are talking. But I am pretty sure you do that too!
The topic of managing money shouldn’t be trivialized or generalized. I come from privilege, but these are just some of the ways I have allowed myself to be “poor.” I have found two behaviors helpful, however, so I pass them on for your consideration:
🤝 Be of Service: While you don’t need to take time off to build houses in another country (though you could!), there are service opportunities all around us - helping out a coworker, sharing lessons learned from a class or workshop, coaching an intern or someone new, and yes, supporting non-profits, working in shelters, and thousands of other options. Speaking just for myself, I have found acts of service to help me count my blessings, appreciate my privilege, worry much less, and minimize the degree to which I cause and get pulled into drama!
Rabindranath Thakur was a Bengali poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and Renaissance painter. I found the following quote especially inspiring:
“I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.”
🤗 Be Grateful: A few months ago, I pulled out one of the many journals I had acquired from my years in the corporate world. Across the top of the first page, I wrote the title, “Joy & Gratitude,” and committed every day to jot down one or more bullets from the day for which I was grateful – big or small. Lately I have moved this habit to be the last thing I do before bed which not only sends me off to sleep feeling grateful, but also ensures that the last thing I see isn’t the bright light of email on my phone (which is just about the worst thing you can do before bed!)
I hope you found this helpful. If it resonated with you, I’d love to hear: What do you have besides money?