A friend of mine wants to make money by any means so that he can later use it to make positive change. His goal is a good one, because money runs society. Money has value because it can afford the power to do anything.We can use money to get what we need to survive. We can use money to keep ourselves happy and entertained. We can use money to impact the world positively or negatively.
My upbringing has taught me about the power of money. As a newborn I was adopted into an upper-middle class family, but drug addiction ate up a lot of the household income, and led to a divorce. As a child, I had to make a lot of sacrifices because we just no longer had the money for many of the activities I did before. I also had to help around home more.
Through this experience I learned how drastically one’s income affects their lifestyle. Seeing how all the money disappeared taught me the importance of financial responsibility. Being smart with money is vital, regardless of how much we have. We have a responsibility to contribute to society, and this responsibility should affect the spending decisions we make.
While money is powerful, I don’t believe it should dictate our lives as much as it sometimes does. There are things that we should value above money. We should prioritize our relationships with other people. We should support our own health and happiness. We should value time. Time is money, because wages are hourly. We trade time for money, and money for power. Limited time is what holds us back the most.
Money will not last forever.
Having extra savings is comforting, but money is not permanent. In the words of rapper Fetty Wap, “When you die you cannot take it with you.”
Keeping this philosophy about money in mind is what eases my mind when I am worried about money. When I look back on life I would rather say that I was happy than rich and these two things do not necessarily come together in a package.
While my mindset is that money really is not important to me, I am not in a position where I do not worry about money. As a low-income college student, my access to money is limited to what I am able to earn. I am aware of this especially when many of my peers are able to get the same education, travel, and enjoy more luxury at the expense of their families. It does not upset me that they have that privilege, but I always hope that they are grateful. I am definitely grateful for what I have, even if it is only a little for now.
My limited access to funds affects some of the decisions that I have to make about my life, and keeps the financial element of decisions relevant. Instead of working for the job that I most wanted this summer, I worked for one with better pay. The financial worries I have now motivate me to continue making smart financial decisions, so that my children will not have to worry about money as much as I do.
I am not determined to be rich. One day I want to have enough to provide myself and give to those who I care about and I will be happy. I do not like the control that money has on society, but I understand the necessity for organized trade. Money is powerful, whether I like it or not. It is up to me how much power I want, and then it is my responsibility to choose what I do with that power.
