Money: ’tis better to have it than not

Money isn’t my issue this time around, not that it’s easy or abundant all the time. I’ve earned my own money since I was twelve. I’ve saved it, spent it, lost it, found it, stolen, borrowed, gambled, lent, collected, stashed, donated, and shared it. I have frittered it away and hoarded it close. I’ve been foolish and wise with it, thoughtless and smart. I’ve even dreamt about it: feeling lucky, finding a small pile of small change at the curb, or feeling frustrated, coins just out of my reach at the bottom of a pool.

I have put money to good use for myself and for others. I’ve been on welfare and in the top 2% wage earners in the United States. I can be annoyingly stingy in small amounts, surprisingly generous in large. I have been completely broke, and trusted that somehow what I needed would show up. It’s amazing, it always did, and still does. I’m not attached to it, and, I appreciate having it. I have given to others when it was needed, and even when it wasn’t. I have earned it and invested well. I know how much easier it makes life, and I’m grateful for how it appears in mine.

I have a money incident which clung to me like tar: Bobby (my brother-in-law’s little brother) stole my 1954 plain, the best coin in my penny collection (which I still have by the way). I was ten years old. Every time I’d get off the phone after talking about that side of the family with my sister LIz, I’d tell her to tell that little sonofabitch I wanted my goddam penny back. I groused about the theft of that penny for over forty years, until my friend and business partner Linda bought me one for my birthday from a client of hers that was a coin collector. Seventy-five cents it cost her. Man, that was a lot of energy for me to spend on one penny…

Lincoln head penny, 1954 plain

I had a teacher who said, “When you get your limits, you get your maturity,” meaning if you haven’t experienced something, gone through it and come up against it, you know it not. I surmise that’s why money stuff doesn’t dog me so much. He also said, “The only thing I know about money is that it’s better to have it than not.” He had a very good point, and… he also had money issues. Ahhh, the old ‘we teach what we need to learn’ thing…

I have plenty of other issues to work with that keep me busy, places where I’m not quite so “together,” like, my mother, for instance.

Note: My friend, Donna Colfer is a coach on our relationships, behaviors, and patterns around money. I took her MONEY TYPE quiz, sent her a note about my experience, and she featured a version of the above in her newsletter last year. If you’re interested in your money archetype  you can also take her quiz on the attached link. http://www.buildingwealthfromwithin.c...

A Magician’s Story