Taking the past few months off to evaluate my place in the world has given me ample opportunity to determine what money actually is to me. I have the traditional understanding of what it is meant to be used for hard wired and sufficiently tangled with my sense of self worth. This time has given me the chance to see this entanglement is unnecessary.

Like so many of us, I’ve given money entirely too much power over who I am and where perceived value lies. Now I am deliberately separating money the thing from value the concept and seeing that they have little to do with one another. Approaching 40 years of indoctrination as to what money is and it has become clear that I’ve spent my entire adult life being tricked into believing it matters when it doesn’t. This sets me up for an absolute truck load of worldly failure but I’ve done all of the thought experiments to see where the dust settles and it’s nothing that will kill me. In fact, down many of these roads, there is an overarching sense of peace. A tranquil stroll, free from the persistent drive to get more for the sake of it.

Balance has become a theme for what achievement looks like in my world. In order to find something approaching this balance, I first need to unload all of the traditional ways of thinking. This will take time but it is time I have and am willing to trade for the bargain.