Money. Money. Money.
Money. One of my favorite lines my pastor always says is "People get funny when you start talking about money". If you go out on the street and start asking people if they are addicted to money I'm sure the response would be full of smiles and a big YES! But as with our moral code of life our view on money gets shaped as far back as we remember. We are influenced by what we saw, heard, even sometimes smelled. I don't know about you but I always liked to smell money it was very distinct. Everything about it was designed to make it stand out to our sense of touch, smell and sight.
The color of the paper and ink, the smell, and even the way it is printed has a purpose. Even as I sit here writing this I'm not sure if I can even define the addiction I had. I mean after all it was just paper.
All the things that flow to mind when I think about my pursuit of money don't have a single thing to do with the smell, feel or visual appeal of it. It was all about the thought of freedom, the thought of living life how I wanted with nobody telling me what or when to do anything. I wanted the ability to not just change my life but to be able to affect others as well. Some in a positive way like helping those in need and some in a negative way by bragging and being flashy.
My parents divorced when I was young, I honestly don't remember the age but I think it was around 6 when my stepdad became a fixture in my life. I never really had much of an emotional relationship with my real father or my stepfather but when asking who had the most parental influence (even though it was little) would be my stepdad. That being said the single person who forever shaped my view on the subject of money was my real father. He was a life insurance agent for Prudential. I don't feel his job had anything to do with his view on money I think his view on money shaped what he settled on doing for a job.
I still remember all the flashy jewelry he wore , his stylish sunglasses, his gold chain resting in the hair on his chest (it was the 80s) and his green Cadillac. I also remember the time I asked him for money for a comic book and he went on to explain it was a loan and it would gain interest, like I cared at 7 which I guess that's why they don't give us credit yet. Do you have an idea yet of where my view on money was going? I'm 30 years old and to this day I don't drink, smoke or do drugs because I think they are all a waste of money. The drinking and drugs do have a side note of the fact that I also don't like having my judgment impaired because mental illness runs on my father side of the family so I wouldn't want substance abuse to trigger who knows what. Anyway as I start this journey I want to end with some things to think about.
What are your memories of interacting with money or any other addiction you are dealing with?
Who's interactions have influenced you and do you view them as positive or negative influences?
In your addiction (if you have admited to having one or more yet) start to analyze how you got the views you have on what you are addicted to.
As I stated before and this doesn't apply to just money but how we interact with everything shapes us. Every person is different it's like branches on a tree, each event branches us in one direction or another and we do not branch the same as anyone else. Yes there may be a lot of similarities that help us express and connect with each other but no story is identical. Try and find some of the major branches in your life that took shape from events so you can start looking at how they shaped you. It's understanding these things that can help you change how those branches will grow tomorrow.
