Money. It’s on everyone’s mind these days. In fact, there are very few people living in such a state of financial stability that they don’t consider their finances before making even simple purchases. A report by Newsweek proclaimed that coupon use has increased by 35% over the past 12 months and that credit card purchases, new home buys, high-ticket item purchases, and vacations are still on the decline. Today, when you shop at your favorite stores, you are likely trying to be more careful than ever before.
The Mental Toll of Financial Struggles
By the same token, with these financial struggles, doctors are seeing more instances of depression and anxiety-related disorders. Emergency room visits due to stress-triggered illnesses are at all-time highs, yet more and more people are less likely to see a doctor for routine visits in an effort to avoid high medical bills. With unemployment at record highs and more people losing their homes to foreclosure than ever before, it is clear that money makes the world go round. Few people have planned or expected a time in their lives when money woes would interfere with their happiness. This indicates that the strings between our finances and happiness are perhaps tied too closely together. This is sad, first and foremost, because there is more to life than money.
In order to embrace this lesson, we must all begin searching within ourselves for the simple pleasures in life. From walking in the brisk evening air to experiencing a summer thunderstorm while eating popcorn on a screened porch—it is time to get back to the real world. This real world might have us carrying an empty wallet, but it can also offer us a full heart that truly appreciates all the “non-things” we have in our lives. The trick is to replace our preconceived notions of happiness and success with feelings of satisfaction, rather than constant feelings of lack. For hard-working families, this can be a hard lesson to learn and teach to their children. It can be painful to say “no,” to deny their cries for new jeans or a new softball uniform when just a short time ago, you wouldn’t have given either a second thought. And while extending the “no” can hurt, stretching your finances to a painful breaking point will make you feel even worse.
The truth is that we reap what we sow. This old-age lesson parallels the new-age metaphysical thought that we create our own realities. For those who don’t buy into this idea, it can seem naive to dream our way into a new life of prosperity when we’re eating potatoes for dinner for the fourth night in a row. Yet, it’s worth a try! There truly is more to life than money. If you spend your time worrying, fretting, and feeling disgruntled about the bills flooding your mailbox—or struggling to get through one month just to make it to the next financially—you’re overshadowing your own life with gloom and doom. This unfortunately steals any opportunity you have to enjoy the simple pleasures or to dig deep back into the creative and passionate world inside you. You will become saddened, and each and every moment will be framed by the quotation marks of “not having enough.”
On the flip side, should you decide, gratefully, that you are at least able to rob Peter to pay Paul each and every week, you might see sunlight between the trees. There are many people who are so stuck financially that they have tapped out every resource and have no further options. Being grateful for what you do have—your job, family, and the simple pleasures—can get you through one day at a time without making you feel as if your life is a failure. Many people have become accustomed to entertaining themselves with things that cost a lot of money. You want the expensive family vacation, the nice new car, the perfectly decorated house. Yet, remove these things or the ability to maintain this plastic lifestyle, and you instantly become drained of enthusiasm for life.
Embracing Simple Pleasures
So what are the simple pleasures? It’s easy to be trite and list things like snuggling with a spouse, the smell of your clean baby, or the food on the table. But simple pleasures are more than that, and they should be. Each and every moment that we live presents the chance to live authentically and fully, or to spend it feeling a lack of something. Rather than feel that the only way you can enjoy your summer is by spending it at a timeshare, you should find the same feelings of togetherness and rest with the people you love right in your own home. If you can recreate feelings of satisfaction and success in each moment, you can live your life experiencing a string of simple pleasures, one after the other. Teach your children how to make scrambled eggs, start a family exercise program where you walk together each day. Utilize public facilities like ballparks and bike trails to get in your recreational activities, and stay close to home to swim in lakes, visit beaches, and experience nature. Simple pleasures can be saving money on your groceries and living with much less yet feeling fuller than ever before.
If you can strip away all materialistic thoughts and balance your wants versus your needs, you will be left with a life that is not only simpler but much easier to enjoy as well. Think for a moment about all the things that are causing you stress and fear. Chances are, most of them revolve around money, and you are spending your time thinking about not having it. If you decide to focus on what you do have, rather than what you don’t, your focus will shift to the positive, and you will quickly change the direction of your life for you and your family. If your children see you living fully every day despite the lack of material things, they too will be reminded of the simple pleasures. You will be allowing them to live happily, no matter what the world around them is doing.
Obviously, money is important. However, it’s important to realize that money is not the measure of success or familial happiness. Money doesn’t take things away from us—it actually gives us a chance to get our mindset right, so that we can live with or without it. Millions of people in this world live in a state of poverty that most of us could not imagine. While we shouldn’t feel bad for expecting or wanting more for ourselves, we also shouldn’t be limited by a number in our bank accounts. Our dreams, aspirations, and future are not dictated by what we have or do not have. Yes, money can make many things easier, but it can also act as a blinder that obscures our vision. If you are interested in learning and doing something new, you can buy bitcoin and discover the world of cryptocurrencies for yourself. If you can live with money, you should also be able to live without it. Living without money abundance doesn’t mean living an unfulfilled life. Rather, it forces us to be creative in our thinking and simple in our choices for finding pleasure. When the money returns, we will be much better off for having lived without it and reconnecting to the simple things in our lives that bring us happiness.
