HEALTHY LIFESTYLE HABITS Part Three - Cash Money
Money, money, money, money, money, mon-aaah. Money, money, money, money, money, mon-aaah. I see you bobbing your head over there, as you hear the song in your mind.
Some people got to have it. Some people really need it. Talking about Cash Money. Dollar Bill, Y’all.
We all use and need money, that’s a given. However, money should never be used to determine a person’s self-worth. You are not more valuable as a person if you have more money. Nor are you less valuable if you do not have a lot. That would be unhealthy, and our focus is on being healthy.
Having money is temporal, which means it is subject to change. One minute you can have it, and the next minute you do not. The healthy and balanced viewpoint of money is to see it as a tool. A means to accomplish a goal. It should not be our destination. If money was the goal, then it would serve no purpose once you obtained it. We gather money for a purpose. So, then the purpose is our destination, and money is just one of the means by which we can get there. The amount is not important, only the purpose is. That is why your money stays here when you leave, so that someone else can use it to fulfill their purpose.
A healthy lifestyle habit to develop towards money, is to strive to be good stewards over whatever portion that comes into our hands. But what does good financial stewardship look like? Allow me to show you. I believe it would be more helpful if we see money as a seed. That is why I said it is a means to an end. Your paycheck cannot sustain you. That is why we seek to get them recurring. Even multi-millionaires seek recurring money because they know one is not enough. One check is not big enough to be your harvest for life, therefore it must be your seed.
Your seed along with your treatment/care of it dictates the size and type of harvest you will receive from it. We should be intentionally faithful with the seeds we are given. I was taught by my father to consider distributing my seed into four areas to have a healthy lifestyle. My first consideration is to properly balance/offset our resources and abilities with our responsibilities. It is key to make sure we acknowledged those areas first so that we can incorporate them in our distribution plan. Next, I was always taught to give to others in need. Choose whatever organization or charity you believe will help those in need and give. By helping others we help ourselves. The owner’s manual states, that as we give, we shall be given unto. I am glad it does not specify what we will be given. Sometimes I might not need money in a situation, it might be mercy. We do not always need a dollar, for dollar, harvest. The third area we should consider spreading our seed is over our personal savings. I think it is a good idea to always have cash accessible to use in the event of need. Remember the amount you save is not as important as your consistency in doing so. And the fourth area to sow your seed is incidentals reserve field. Reserve some back for the unexplained things that can happen in life. The miscellaneous things that can easily pop upon us.
All of these are to be tempered by self-control. Seeking wise counsel from advisors can also be a great resource. Just to recap, every time we get seed/money in our hand we should divide it into four parts. Part for our responsibilities, part for giving to others in need, part for personal cash savings, and the last part for incidentals or repairs. As we maintain this healthy lifestyle mindset towards money as seed, we will yield a harvest based upon our diligence to sow that will lead to exponential growth.
This is a Thompson Truth.
