I was in another crossroad.
I do feel like the universe placed me on another lesson to learn to decide.
Similar with previous occurrence, this crossroad was related to money.
I know that I have learned a lot in the past year, especially since the pandemic. About what I need, about my partner’s needs, about our aspirations, our family, our hopes, our dreams, and our belief.
It seems that in multiple phases in my life, the universe tries to tell me to understand that money should not be the top priority. I know, we still need money for a lot of stuff; for the foods on the table for the many members of the family, to pay the bills, to have a sense of security, to have a little sense of power, to invest for the future, and many more.
But, it’s hard not to think about this panel. This is from a comic titled Black Science by Rick Remender and Matteo Scalera.
You start chasing money, your life disappears.
As soon as that becomes your priority,
then everything that really matters crumbles away.
- Grant McKay (Black Science)
I deeply feel that. Personally within my family, and also within me. In many ways, for me it’s also related to the trap of marginal thinking that I shared few weeks ago. Sometimes, the things that really matter do not crumbles right away after we prioritizing money. But, they will crack their way to crumble and we will pay the cost.
Maybe, there is no middle ground after all. And sometimes it’s not easy to really pay attention on the really important stuff. As cliche as it sounds.
But, I know I need to maintain my relationship with money healthily. I want to have a better balance between time, health, and money. Another important rule of three that I just learned, that I will share more on the next post.
I have been there, having less time, earning more money. The money helps, I guess how we manage what we have is much more important than how much we manage. I remember one quote from Forrest Gump: it’s funny how things work out. The struggle decades ago in my family teaches me to learn to manage money. Right when the hard times came in a different shape, I am grateful that I still have privilege and luxury to stay at home comfortably.
I know, there are many people out there who might still struggle day by day for money to eat, and to have a place to sleep. I admit that what I write here is not for everyone. And the panel I shared might be taken out of context. We do still need to have empathy for people that really need to chase money first before everything else. As Naval said, the common saying “money won’t make you happy” is not an individual truth.
But, for the crossroad that was presented to me, that words on Black Science feel like a reminder. A reminder for myself to ask, which road I will continue to walk on?
Maybe, this is the time for another learning.
Learning to manage my priorities.
