Money: the story we tell ourselves

Once we have enough money for the necessities (food, water, shelter, clothing), money becomes a story.

There are two types of stories: either you have enough or you don’t have enough.

Sedrick has the mentality of someone who has enough. It took Sedrick four years to save $320 for a passport and some extra cash to serve a church service mission.

Some quick math: $320 divided by four years equals $80 per year. There are 260 working days a year (although I doubt that Sedrick gets the 4th of July off) which equates to 30 cents a day he was saving.

Of course, Sedrick has to take care of the necessities of life (he isn’t just saving money). My guess is that Sedrick was saving about 10% of his income to pay for his passport. Which means Sedrick is roughly making $3 a day.

So what is the story we are telling ourselves?

I am going to go out on a limb and say if you can read this you are making more than $3 a day.

In the United States, the typical family makes about $50,000 per year (in 260 working days that is $192 per day, $24 per hour). The average American household will make 40 cents a minute while working today.

Yet, somehow in a nation where more money is spent each year in storage units than in going to the movies, we are worried we don’t have enough.

That story can change. We can be outrageously generous (tipping 200%, donating to a church or foundation, slipping a 20 to someone on the streets). Someone who gives like this cannot but tell a story that says, “I have abundance. I have enough. Someone needs this more than me.” You can’t possible say you don’t have enough if you are giving money away.