Do you know what has me excited (in a good way)? The word “grief” is getting thrown around a lot more these days on social media. Not really on the news, from what I’ve seen, but on social? Yes.
This progress means the conversations are starting to shift to calling our emotions what they are – grief. The human experience of every one of us does not go on without grief. We cannot escape it. We all have our walk with it at different stages and phases of life. However, not usually collectively, as a globe.
The correlation I want to make today is how money and grief are similar amplifiers in our lives. When a miserable person wins the lottery, often, it is not the money that makes them happy. What happens more often than not, is the person ends up even more miserable.
Some people may argue they were happier before winning, and, in some cases, that may be true. However, I believe that if you’ve not processed anything that is emotionally incomplete and you win the lottery, all those feelings that have been lying in wait, deep in your heart and subconscious, will rise to the surface and create chaos in your life. Add the grief that comes as a result of winning, too, and life itself can feel unbearable. And, you know what happens when life itself feels intolerable, we look to STERBS (short-term energy relieving behaviors) that help us feel better in the moment. One may resort to gambling, drinking, promiscuity, food, drugs, or other behaviors, maybe never before experienced, to feel better.
On the other hand, let’s say you’re a well-balanced individual. You have a spiritual practice; maybe you’ve been working with a therapist to process your childhood wounds, you’ve gone through years of personal development and growth, your life is full of connection, support, and love. This person wins the same lottery windfall. Do you think this person will have a very different experience? Do you think they would likely enlist the help of a C.P.A to handle the money responsibly? Do you think they are more likely to open a trust or donate to humanitarian efforts/causes freely and abundantly?
We treat ourselves, money, friends, family, co-workers, etc. very differently when our hearts are rooted in grief, then when we’ve done a substantial amount of inner-work to process those feelings.
However which way we lean, in the positive of conscious awareness of our grief and addressing it, to downright avoiding it, directly impacts every area of our lives. Money is no different.
When we ignore our deepest emotions (or our money), the issues that arise because of that avoidance manifests in our lives. This comparison is what I mean when I say money and grief are amplifiers in our lives. What’s emotionally present and the state of our financial matters – expand. Because what we focus on expands; this is the law of the universe
The beautiful thing? We have a choice. We can choose how our tomorrow’s start to look. We can choose what our lives would or could be like if we were fortunate enough to either win or inherit a windfall. Likewise, we can choose how we view money (good, evil, or neutral resource). And, we get to choose if grief will keep our hearts stuck in the past or if we will face it head-on; allowing it to create forward-momentum (for good) in our lives.
What will you choose?
