BeMeBetter with Money

How we view our relationships to money varies widely among us. To some, just enough money to get by is fine, while others never find the point when they have enough. There are a couple key points to be made here. First, it is true that money does not buy happiness. An extreme lack of money can, however, be a big obstacle to happiness. Money is not an end unto itself. It is a tool that provides opportunities in life that we need and want to do. Finally, the only real security we have in life is our confidence in our ability to make things happen, not is a certain sum of money sitting in the bank. There are some good general guidelines we can follow to evaluate our money situation. If we live far beyond our means, this usually is a problem. If we are in debt beyond our ability to pay debt off, we are in trouble. On the other end of the spectrum, we can deprive ourselves of things that can bring joy into our lives by being too fearful of spending money. It is important to give some money away to those less fortunate, to charity, to our church, just somewhere…if we do this, it will come back to us many times over. The amount is not as important as the act of giving. We should have financial goals and make progress towards them. Ultimately, money can give us freedom, choices and a greater ability to help others.

Survey says????

Well, I took the BeMeBetter survey and I am committing to improve my financial fitness. Every day for the next thirty days I’ll physically put some money aside (the physical act is important, the actual sum of money is less important) and at the end of the thirty days I’ll go to the bank and deposit it in my savings account. I was actually kind of surprised at my results on the survey. Sometimes I think I really know myself and then by some objective device or outside assesment, I realize that it’s easy to think what I want about myself, rather than face the facts. So there; I’ve made my declaration and I will follow through. I don’t expect I’ll retire after the thirty days, but that’s not the point at all. I’ve identified my best  BeMeBetter opportunity (for now anyway), and I’m taking action. That feels good! I guess that’s the point. Just working on these things make me happier, not to mention how much happier I am when I accomplish the goal set forth. I’ll report everyday on my progress.

Something that occured to me last night about this social movement is that even though we’re just a few people now at the start, that’s absolutely perfect. Any social movement worth it’s salt must, by definition, be grass roots by nature. Otherwise, it’s just another manufactured entity with no collective soul or culture. As it grows, it will define itself based on the personalities and dynamics that influence it. What an exciting concept. We, not me, will form and mold this thing and it will become all that it is meant to be. All I have to do is show up and do my best. Which is, by the way, to post on a regular basis, provide all the help I can and be honest about myself and what I’m doing to BeMeBetter. Hypocrisy and ego have no place here. For that matter, they don’t have any place in life IMHO. I hope someone enjoys reading this post as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. I must say it’s really fun when I see on my Blackberry during the day that someone has commented on the blog. Although it may be later that I’m able to read and reply to the comment (replying to all comments is my goal), it’s kind of like wondering what’s in that package under the Christmas tree. So, to those of you who have already commented and to those yet to, thank you for the gift. And Merry Christmas.