R.A.D.I.C.A.L. Thoughts
"Money can be a huge insulating cushion that can obscure your view of adventure. Money can seduce you into thoughts of scarcity and fear of loss."
SARK, author, artist, child abuse survivor
Well, it's Monday after a great May weekend. I've had visiting family to enjoy. A medical school graduation. A Literary Festival. A seven year old's soccer game. A hot dog cookout, the brainchild of a 10-year old to raise money for his cousins who have diabetes. A whirlwind weekend full of good things. Now I'm back to my "work." I hesitate to call it work because it's my passion. My way to serve on earth right now. My livelihood. My delight. We have to have money to live ... to pay the bills ... to eat ... to take care of those we are responsible for. During and after divorce, our finances are in a uproar. Sometimes we lose virtually everything. Some have had to live in a motel or a car for awhile. Sometimes, we barely have enough for daily necessities. Movie stars seem to get a fair amount of what they deserve ... but most of us feel financially violated after all we have put into our marriage and our husband's successes for all those years. But whatever financial agreement we come to, we almost always have less than we're used to. And it feels so uncertain. Our lack of money causes worry and sleepless nights. And all of this is usually going on while our ex-husband is still doing great financially (in spite of all of his complaining) and he can go on doing what he has always done while we have to figure out how to make ends meet. I used to get angry about that. But you know what? I've discovered for myself, worrying about money doesn't help. Learning how to NOT worry about money does. We have to figure out how to support ourselves. We have to learn to be joyful about whatever our financial situation is. Being mad doesn't help. Feeling sorry for ourselves doesn't help. Figuring out what we are going to have to do and then getting started doing it does help. It's hard to believe, but our happiness has very little to do with the amount of money we have. It has more to do with the kind of person we are. In all of my research since my divorce, I have heard many stories of financial struggle; but I have more stories of amazing life lessons learned, spellbinding success stories, and incredible discoveries of new passions and ways to serve which bring the biggest treasures of all. How much money we have does not determine how happy we are or how fulfilling our life will be. The real treasures of life have nothing to do with money. They have everything to do with our personal character and fulfilling our real purpose on this earth. God wants us to give up our worry about money. He wants us to be concerned about more important things. He has promised to provide what we need. Believe that, and just for today, give up your worry about your financial situation and start looking for God's purpose for your life. When you do that, abundance is the promised result.
"You can be sure that God will provide everything you need ..."
Philippians 4:19a (The Message)
