Ok so i have been listening to the Mamma Mia soundtrack a lot, (Can’t wait for the second movie to be released later this week!).
But the truth is, how often do we use Money as an excuse for not doing something? Yes i realize that it is a legitimate excuse for lots of things (Buying a mansion, new sports car, luxes trips around the world)… but to a certain degree it is an easy excuse… if you want to do anything and your passion is behind it, it’s all you can focus on then you will be able to accomplish it. But you have to make sacrifices. Don’t buy a $7 a day drink at an expensive coffee shop (Maybe do to a gas station and get a coffee for $1… or make it at home). I for one have a bad habit of going and getting a Venti cup of coffee pretty much daily. When i was a kid i was fantastic about saving money because i looked at every penny and said “How long did it take me to earn this?” I wish i had kept this mentality up but i was brainwashed by society into spending money i shouldn’t have… I don’t regret it but hind sight is always 20:20.
I always tell people there will never be enough money, because as you earn more, you for some reason seem to spend more and you are in the same spot consistently. The thing is money doesn’t bring you happiness (I know that is a cliche) but think about it, there are plenty of places where people live with next to nothing but they are happy, they have what they need… maybe not everything they want… but really thats where a lot of our issues come from in western society… its the wanting. We spend our entire life wanting more money, wanting more status symbols, wanting someone to want us… but what if we were just happy with what we have? The adventures in life come from us having a happy place to start. Yes i want to travel and yes i want to explore everything everywhere… but for me its about needing to understand “Happiness”. If you ask the people in your life if they are happy most of them will reply something along the lines of “I am happy enough”… some will be blunt and say “No but what can i do?”.
I am in the happy enough position where i know i have a fantastic life with people who care about me and a decent job. But there are things out there that i do want to explore but when i look at them most of the time i make excuses… “Oh i don have the time, I don’t have the money”. But really… i do… everyone has the same amount of hours in the day whether you are a rocket scientist, surgeon or a fast food worker… but its how we spend them that really leads to us having “enough”. there was a video i stumbled across recently on line, the summery on it is if we look at time in a day like money… break every hour to $100 with 24 hours being $2400, the average person is spending $800-$1000 sleeping… $200 getting ready for work and commuting, $800 at work. that leaves you $400 a day to “Spend”. On your days off you have a lot more but you spend your time watching TV shows, laying on the sofa… Maybe this is the time that would be better used exploring life and figuring out little ways to add to your happiness tank. Wouldn’t it be great to go back to work on Monday and be Happy… because you did something that filled you up with excitement for being alive. Sure Mondays are terrible but they are the count down to the next weekend… they are days to plan out the next adventure… maybe remember that when you are going to spend that $10 at the coffee house, that $10 could cover the entry fee to that state park, or be spent on the food to take on a road trip to watch the sunset.
Yes we would all love to make more money… but remember the money you have is more than some and yet those people are happy. Are you truly happy?
Explore Life Always 