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Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Soul Searching

I read this today at Velveteen Mind. I thought it was well written and I hope the same for Samantha, no matter what financial situation we are in when she is in school. With Christmas and birthdays coming up, it is so easy to get caught up in all that. My intention for this year is to now get caught up in that, and to teach Samantha that family and friends, not money are most important. I have to remind myself of this when I find myself coveting that Bugaboo stroller or Volvo.

Here are Velveteen Minds words:

"My response to speculations about our financial situation is always the same. I am not my money.

I don't define myself by how much money I have in the bank or how stylish my clothes are. I don't see myself in how impressive my house is or by the model of my car.

But these things are not me, they are just my circumstances. And my circumstances don't begin to scratch my surface.

Despite my circumstances that suggest that my life is a bit in shambles, I am confident. I am confident in who I am and in who I will be. I am confident in my past decisions and my future plans. I have faith and I have hope.

I am a have in this world, but I just so happen to have not.

More than anything else, I hope I am teaching this perspective to my family. We are not our money.

But then what happens when your circumstances change from mental fortitude toward financial strength? The temptations of the GAP mom will rear their ugly heads and what keeps you from folding? What keeps you from succumbing to the power of the Volvo wagon and the day spa?

The difference is that when I have money again, when my circumstances change and I can breathe again, I want and plan to remember one thing: I am not my money.

As much as I don't define myself by my circumstances now, I do not want to define myself by my circumstances later, no matter how glossy and glittery.

If I do anything right as a mother, I want to raise children who view the world from the same financial perspective. We are not what we have materially.

I would love nothing more than for them to be able to seamlessly blend into groups of both the privileged and the struggling."

1 comment:

Mommy Daisy said...

Wow, that is powerful. Definately something to think about.