Piggy’s Blog - Journey of Success and Greatness

This is a rewrite of a post that I improved and not want buried in archives. I hope you enjoy.

Today is a continuation of the discussion in Money is not the Root of all Evil nor by Itself Evil.

At this point, you should no longer feel negative and apprenhensive about money, learning about money, talking about money, and having money.

Now that we treat money as tool, it follows that the value of money is entirely dependent on how we utilize it. As such, the responsibility becomes yours to decide what to do with your money.

While that mentality is sinking in your mind, let us talk about how money can buy happiness. You may ask, “What happen to the old saying of money cannot buy happiness?” I will clarify the fact remains that money cannot directly buy happiness; however, it is also a fact that money can buy a lot of things, which may or may not bring happiness. And certainly, we all know that money cannot get us everything we want.

Money cannot buy friends, real friends.
Money cannot find you love.
Money cannot magically give you new abilities.
Money cannot revive the dead.

So what then?

Money Means Survival

Remember in the old days our ancestors had to hunt for food and find shelter in caves or otherwise be dead… Well, earning money is a subsitutation for that. Money lets us buy food and a root above our heads. Money allows us to survive in this society. We are animals too, and survival is a priority, so let us be glad that each of us is surviving because we have some money, if not a lot.

Money Provides Sense of Security

Because our survival is linked to money, having more money allows us to thrive by reinforcing a sense of security. Having money saved up means less stress about survival.

How do I pay all the monthly bills?
What if I get laid off?
What if my car breaks down?
What if I have a health-related emergency?

If you have one or more of those scenario above, you can come out with no or less worries and stress if you have enough money. I can subscribe to that because I worried a lot about making it through my graduate school, paying tuition and living expense. Fortunately, I made it out alive in fair shape by taking leave of absense to work full-time and selecting only subsidized loans, along with some support from my dear sister.

Since I mentioned loan, let me add that lowering and eliminating debt has the same effect as having more money. That’s why we should also strive to be debt free.

Money Provides Flexibility

Laid off is mentioned above. If you have money saved up and not have to worry about financial burden such as mortgages, you have extra time to look for your next job. Laid-off aside, if you current job is unpleasant, you can choose to venture into starting your own business, or simply take some time off to find the right direction, or travel the world. By flexibility, we can also think of it as the next topic…

Money Lets Us Manifest Our Values

Despite not able to let you buy everything we desire, you can still put your money to good use toward the important things in your life, like:

• Continuing education
  With money, you can go ahead and get the master, PhD, MBA, CPA, degree in whatever field you have always wanted
• Assiting parents and family members
  Some of us have aging parents that could use our help financially. Actually, having money may also make it easier for you to help them out physically too, through flexibility in selecting schedule and location of the new job.
• Hobbies
  Use money toward the classes and equipments for your favorite hobby. I do for lessons on singing and piano!
• Buying things that you like
  Let’s be real. We all have things we like. Clothes? Shoes? Watches? Artwork? I love gadgets… A little indulgence can be constructive on our well being.
• Vacation
  Travel the world. See other cultures and people. Build perception with extra experience. What great ideas!
• Housing
  Having a comfortable, cozy place to call home lets us feel safe. Though I would say it is overkill where 2 people living in a 10,000 sq. ft. house. Oooooh, ain’t I sarcastic.

After all, it is not About Money…

Being rich does not automatically make you happy.
Nor can being poor make you happy either.

What money can do is… Money can contribute to your happiness depending on how you spend it. Therefore, it goes back to the general theme here that much like success, happiness has everything with knowing yourself and your values. So I suppose I should say that money can indirectly buy happiness, that is, only if you know what you want in life.

You can choose to spend all your money on materials, but that means you value materials above all else. If that makes you happy, be my guest. As Wolverine kindly said to Rogue in X-men: The Last Stand, “I’m not your father. I’m your friend.” I am not here to tell you what to do. I am here to get you to think for yourself.

This is a rewrite of a post that I improved and not want buried in archives. I hope you enjoy.

Money is evil is a misconception and self-limiting thoughts.

We know that…
The world appears to be obsessed about money.
The entire human society runs on the circulation of money.
Almost everyone is into making money, one way or another.

We also often observe that…
People dedicate their lives hoarding money.
People stuck worrying everyday about money.
Friends turn against each other for money.
Family and relatives break blood bonds on money issues.
People of authority sometimes do horrible things for money at the cost of the public.

The list keeps going… but…
Money is not evil.

People mistakenly carry this antagonistic mentality about money despite they would like and even love money themselves. So then, they prefer not to talk about it because of their mentality. They may worry that having and liking money will cause other people to think they are evil. However, whether they show it or not, they want more money. And don’t we all. What a paradoxical relationship.

The society supplies and feeds this negative connotation that the word “money” carries because of the bad things that happen when money is involved and what people would do for money.

At the end of the day, humans are the ones responsible for the evil.
The people who made the choice to do bad things for money are responsible.
There is no other explanation.
Stop blaming.
The responsibility is on us.

Money is not a negative thing.
Money is just a tool.
It is just a dead object.
It is just an invented abstraction for us to trade like people trade goods in the ancient time.
Let us stop putting the responsibility on a dead and abstract thing.

Mone is like any other tool we use in our everyday life.
Screw driver, hammer, drill, etc.
People can kill people with those tools, but we never say a screw driver is evil, a hammer is evil. Heck, we can kill people with our fists, aren’t we the evil one then?

As a tool, money provides us leverage.
It gives us power…
Ah, power…
That is the key.
That is where we can attribute why people consider money evil.
As the old saying goes, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Money provides power in this society.
Lots of money provides lots of power.
Having an inexhaustible amount of money means absolute power.
Money cannot buy everything but you will have “nearly” absolute power, at least.
So I suppose we can suppose that having a lot of money can screw with your mind if you had not master your mind in the first place.

That is exactly why I write this post.
To get your minds out of the gutter where money is evil.
To clarify that money is a tool.
Money is just a tool.
It is neither good or evil inherently.
It is all about what you do with it that matters.
It is why it is important to understand your values and priorities in life.
What you do with it will dictate its usefulness and meaning, which is why hoarding money for no reason is not good (save, save, save… without spending). And that is exactly what some people are doing.

Another good reason for the clarification is when people think money is evil and as a result…
They don’t think about it.
They don’t learn about money management.
They don’t read about personal finance.
They don’t learn the rules and laws concerning money.
Which becomes a bit of a problem…

It is going to be a problem because they won’t care to read my post!
Ok, just kidding.

It is going to be a problem because in this society, we simply cannot do away with money.
Their ignorance will incur extra cost.
Their ignorance will make them lose their hard-earned money.
They will likely be trapped in “rat race”.
They will likely stay poor.
If they are born rich, they may cease to have financial stability.

Any of that happening would suck. Majorly suck. And it sucks for me too because it is my intention and my hope that people can improve, as I always insist. A hope where people can have happier life because happiness is what we are looking for, after all.

Why don’t you help me spread this message out?

I am going to reflect on the comment from Meg from the last post. She said:

… whether you realize it or not, this [”Do I really give a shit?” question] can be used to determine what you really care about. If I blow $250 on a new dress rather than put it in my EF that month, it doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t give a shit about being financial secure. It means I really care about looking good at X event that month more than I give a shit about boosting my EF fund by a couple hundred bucks!

I agree with Meg 100%. But Meg, didn’t we turn EF into FU fund? I really like the sound of the FU fund.

In Meg’s scenario, it is perfectly okay to blow $250 on a new dress, assuming her priority of her own wellness and feeling is above money. And since spending the $250 probably does not risk her financial security, as she already has an EF, it is appropriate to invest in herself and make herself look good at event X and feel happy about herself by purchasing the dress.

On the flip side, if you place money in a higher priority, in terms of future financial freedom and security, and save those $250, it is also okay.

There is really no strict and set-in-stone rules that tell us how to act because we are all unique. We are unique in a way that we have different priorities in life by nature. It is just a matter of acting in accordance to your priorities, and be aware of your own action to not get caught up with excuses like, being too busy, not having choices, anxiety, stress, and worry… for which in the end would only cost you to waste effort, time, and money on things you really don’t give a shit about.

You can have many priorities in life, but not everything can be important at the same time because that would mean no priority.

To digress a bit, I share Meg’s sentiment where she said:

When I am asked about other various charities, it turns out that I just don’t give a shit. I give generously, so I don’t feel bad about this; you can’t care passionately for everything/everyone. I’m glad there are people out there campaigning for the whales, or the owls, or the homeless cats, for instance; but frankly, I just don’t give a shit. I also don’t give a shit about my alma mater’s alumni fund or my sorority’s foundation for which I am continually hit up for donations.

I personally don’t give a crap when Stanford pegs me for money relentlessly with mailings. And frankly, no amount I am able to give them will matter much anyways. On top of all that, if I seriously want to donate, I will choose to donate to my undergradate school, Michigan State University, whom I feel is my true alma mater.

Talk about contribution, it is one of my priorities to contribute what I can to the life of others, which is a reason for me to write this blog. At this point of my life, instead of donating money, what I try to do everyday is to be kind in the best of my ability to people I come across. It makes me feel great to make people smile. Or sometimes I would simply have a conversation with them and listen, which is all people need sometimes to feel better. And this last point, totally relates to a quote that my roommate coincidentally shared with me tonight, from Marilyn Manson who responded to Michael Moore in the movie, Bowling for Columbine.

Michael Moore: If you were to talk directly to the kids at Columbine or the people in that community, what would you say to them if they were here right now?
Marilyn Manson: I wouldn’t say a single word to them, I would listen to what they have to say and that’s what no one did.

Honestly, I do not listen to Marilyn Manson nor have a good impression of him. “Ironically” (and to my original surprise), Manson is the one who speaks words that truly make sense, and especially if you also read his other answers to Michael Moore in the same movie.

I like to simplify things. That is why I am sharing with you today the question, “Do I really give a shit?”, as a tool to unravel some of the more complicated things in life. Most likely, you can ask yourself that question when you are making a decision or about to start/continue an argument. It will not solve your problems, but it is a first step to figure out if you care enough so that they are actually YOUR problems. For example, here is how it works…

Next time you are playing with the idea to exercise or to go pump iron in the gym and before reading about exercise routines, muscle training, and all that, first ask yourself, “Do I really give a shit about my health/look/future lifestyle?” If the answer is yes, you have a clear motivation to go and override your “I’m too tired to go to gym because I have been sitting in the office all day” dilemma. Or if the answer is no, then clearly, you have all the reasons to be a happy couch potato.

Next time you are about to argue with your partner, ask yourself either, “Do I really give a shit about [topic]?”, or “Do I really give a shit if my partner gets totally pissed off?” Or better yet, “Do I give a shit about the [topic] more than my partner?” That shall reveal to yourself if you truly want to argue before you end up on the couch, or have to eat ramen noodle for the rest of the month.

Next time you wonder if you should save/invest/spend, before learning how to budget or buy stocks, first ask yourself, “Do I really give a shit about having money in future or havnig financial freedom?” If not, why bother wasting your effort and just go swipe away with your credit cards in a frenzy.

Next time you are preparing to insult somebody, aks yourself, “Do I really give a shit about other people’s feeling?” If not, then fire away with your insult and swearing. Tear them apart.

Next time you… well, I think you get the idea. As you can see, “Do I REALLY give a shit?” can be apply in many scenarios to clarify the next course of action. Be creative.

Most importantly, it is a good question to ask before you begin any endeavor and waste your effort in something you don’t really care. Ask yourself the question to understand if you care enough to do all the things needed in order to make permanent changes. It underlies the motivation for anything you want to do, or you said you want to do. How much you give a shit affects how likely you are to go through with the endeavor from beginning to the end. If you don’t care enough, you probably will not go from start to finish anyways, so why bother.