What I’m grateful for
If you're in control of your life, then thank yourself
When I was in my early twenties and working in financial services, I had just begun really building any sort of financial cushion and saving money.
One day I looked and realized I had roughly $13,000 in my bank account.
Not only did I think to myself, “Wow this is the most money I’ve ever seen,” but I immediately felt scared to lose it all.
Isn’t that funny, the first emotion that came to my mind was fear?
This likely had to do with seeing my parents struggle as debts piled up when our restaurant business slowed down, and developing unhealthy ideas that money could solve any problem.
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One way to re-center and calm down my anxiety was to say a little prayer.
I’m not religious, but I pray.
I may not put my hands together in a praying gesture or bow my head, but I close my eyes and focus.
My parents are devout Buddhists; I don’t favor any particular religion or denomination. I take inspiration from various religious and spiritual teachings or texts.
So, going back to my younger self, I created an evening mantra, which started out something like this:
Dear god, thank you for all of my blessings. Thank you for blessing me with a roof over my head, food on my plate, and warm clothes on my back.
To me, if I had the survival basics of shelter, food, and clothes, then that was a pretty darn good start. Then, I included personal blessings:
Thank you for blessing me with happy and healthy family and friends, and for my own health and wealth.
Lastly, I’d be grateful for any and all mental clarity, strength, and peace of mind. (This bit evolves with whatever I’m going through, but it generally goes like this):
Thank you for blessing me with my work ethic and for my strength. Thank you for the strength to not only acknowledge my weaknesses, but to also be able to do something about them.
In addition to prayer, there are numerous ways to practice gratitude on a daily basis. You can write down 3 things you’re grateful for, as part of a journaling practice.
It can be a sunrise. Waking up early and feeling good about it. A friend’s text message.
Happiness boils down to being in control of your life
In his book The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel hits the nail on the head when describing what he believes most people don’t know, but equate with personal happiness.
Financial freedom is part of it, but it’s mostly about autonomy over yourself. That comes with a lot of courage and trust in yourself and your abilities, and knowing yourself.
As a free-spirited sagittarius, this is the most poignant part of his book for me.
Housel says that personal happiness comes with the ability to be in control of your life. “The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, is priceless. It is the highest dividend money can pay.”
Now, whether you have expensive hobbies or interests and how you live your life is a big factor for how much you think you need.
A daily gratitude practice and perhaps even prayer may help to center and bring you some perspective.
If you’re able to, as they say, get your head out of your ass, look at the world around you, see that you are blessed with not just the survival basics but also bonus blessings and mental clarity, then you’ve got a lot to be grateful for indeed.
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Until next time,
Shindy
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