Money and Life

Sometimes, the Oprah show can be touchy-feely. And unlike most people, the lives of celebrities do not intrigue me much. But I do catch shows that interest me, like the one's about leaving your baby in the car just to do a quick shopping (never do this), never letting your kidnappers take you to another location (how you do that, I forgot), doing negative things you wouldn't do as an individual person but you would do as a part of some group (an unbelievable and captivating social dynamic that I observe everyday), and, best of all, men and women of extraordinary contribution to society (where I just go: Wow!).

Then, there's this one: The American Debt Diet. In this show, three families, deep in debt, spending nearly twice their income, are getting some help. I was able to watch the second show of the series yesterday, and the financial advisors mentioned some statements that stung:

1. "We shop because we want to fill a void inside."
   
   • No, I'm not an avid shopper, except maybe of books, stories, and grand ideas (haha!). But I could re-word the statement to fit me: I strongly want to achieve so and so because I want to fill a void inside. Or: I strongly want the situation to be different because I want to fill a void inside. I believe it boils down to a lack of patience. My situation could and can become different, but things have their own time for fulfillment. I realized I must do only what is necessary then wait; the seasons cannot be rushed. I always have to remind myself of that.
2. Four words that can save you: "Can I afford this?"
   
   • Enough said.
3. "It is a lie. You are living a lie."
   
   • Even when the parents, the mothers in particular, have a limited budget, they still want to splurge on their children. The financial advisors admonished them: "You can't afford it. You just can't," which started a mild argument between them. In rebuke of the parent's defenses, the financial advisor said something like, "It is a lie. You want your child to believe in a lie."
     
     That was very powerful.
     
     Since we tend to lack a belief in our personal worth, especially when our "neighbors" get ahead of us, we create a compensatory persona of who we think we should be instead of who we are now. I think, to some degree, all of us does this. But it has some purpose: it puts us in the position where we question ourselves about what's really important...for us. In this search for what's really important, I have always found it inspiring to rely on my top four favorite quotes, which I write on my next post.

Note: I was surprised that the desire to write a little, internal note about the show's topic exploded into a full-blown blog post. The blogger's block has momentarily melted...crushed...exploded to pieces...crumbled...fallen off...disappeared. Cheers!