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They say money is the root of all evil.  It has also been said that money makes the world go round.  If both of these statements are true, the world is truly an evil place.  While I believe evil does exist, I don’t think it has saturated the world to the point of no return.  I will admit, there is an extremely unhealthy amount of emphasis on money these days.  Who has it, who wants it, how to get more- it never stops.  If you ever need a glimpse into how crazy people get about money, play a game of Monopoly…and may God bless your soul.

We were all raised to believe that being rich and success go hand in hand.  Some people even think being rich will you bring you happiness.  This is true.  It just depends on what you are rich with as far as how happy you will actually be.  Being rich doesn’t always equate to being wealthy.  Being rich is so much more than what is in your wallet.

There are things you need in life and things you want in life.  There is a VERY big difference.  If you look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, money is not listed.  Some people put money in the safety category but it’s more under the idea of employment.  If it were up to me, we would go back to the barter system.  Money seemingly divides us all when the reality is we are all very similar without it.  Every single person you meet has the same basic needs.  We all crave and seek the exact things the person next to us does.  Every passenger in an airplane, every patron at a restaurant, every swimsuit-clad human in a water park, every drunk idiot watching the ball drop on NYE, all of us.  It’s human nature.

I will say this.  Every financial problem I have ever faced has passed.  I had a pretty rough time when I first moved to LA and at one point I had .17 cents in my bank account. #Fact  Somehow I survived.  I have no idea how.  Silver lining:  I was the skinniest I’ve ever been in my adult life…but I was also miserable and incredibly sad because self-worth has become synonymous with the number in our bank account.  Our salaries have turned into personal price tags.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to Scrooge McDuck my way into a pile of money every afternoon…although I’m fairly certain diving into a pile of gold coins would break human bones.  I get that we need money to get by in this life.  I understand that if I had unlimited access to funds, my life would be “easier”.  I would love for my student loans to disappear.  I’m not entirely naïve.  If I won the lottery, you better believe I would be skipping around town in a unicorn state of euphoria without a single care in the world.  I also know there are things and people in this life I would never give up, not for all the money in the world.

You are much more than a net worth.  You are your experiences,  your relationships, your likes, your dislikes, your smiles, your aspirations, your manners, the love you give and the love you receive, your favorite hat, the way you sleep, the joy you find in the small things, your pet peeves, what makes you laugh uncontrollably, what you stand for and what you stand against, your honesty, and what you find beautiful.  These things are what make you invaluable because none of these things can be bought or taken.  They are within you, your heart, and your mind.

If you have love, friends and health, you are luckier than most.  In the end…and I mean the very end…you don’t get to take anything with you.  If you want to be surrounded by bags of money all your life, that’s your prerogative.  But money can’t talk (literally, as in converse), money can’t feel, and money certainly won’t buy you love…unless you’re Richard Gere.  All of the things and the wealth you’ve acquired get left behind for your family to argue over.

So stop focusing on money and start focusing on what truly makes you happy because money will come and go.  Even if you have money, it’s not guaranteed happiness.  Happiness comes from within us…money is just a perk.  If you don’t believe me, imagine you were stranded on an island and you could have 3 things- what would they be?  I bet money isn’t one of them.  So stop obsessing about $$.  Life is so much more than that.  Find your happy 😀💜