Blog 2474 – 08.03.2022

In This Life

My dad, as most good dads do, tried to pass on the hard learned lessons of his life to me. And I in the tradition of most sons, prodigal or otherwise, had to learn most if not all of those painful lesson for myself. One of the things my dad said over and over was how important it was to save a little of everything I earned as a hedge against those rainy days that seem to always catch us unprepared. We know we are poor indeed when there never seems to be enough money to cover that sudden unexpected expense and we are forced to go deeper in debt to cover it.

I encourage everyone who will listen, few if any do, to “pay yourself first” from all the money that passes through your hands and become rich enough to always have enough to be self-insured against whatever may come at you.

I grew up and was long held captive by one of those guilt religions, you know the kind with the bait and switch dogma that teaches trust God on one hand but not your neighbor or yourself. The kind of gospel that seems to imply God pours out abundance on his chosen ones but that remaining poor is some kind of badge of honor. It is not but in most cases is only evidence of poor money management skills.

You must have a little treasure to learn what life’s truest treasure is. If you are always in want it is impossible to know abundance. Life’s greatest currency is love. The poor Elenor Rigby’s of the world, and the poor Father MacKenzies, always seem to be looking for love outside of themselves. To paraphrase the song Mirror, Mirror, “till you find love in the mirror you’ve got a long way to go.” In my daily self-talk I use a couple of similar phrases to remind myself of my greatest treasure. I say, “I mirror you. I admire you.”

Like the old country song, I have spent too much of my life “looking for love in all the wrong places.” Just like having a little treasure laid by to cover those bills that life often presents it is a good idea to maintain the well-spring of love in our own hearts means and not be dependent of anyone outside ourselves when a little extra love is needed to meet any given situation.

The reason fifty-fifty relationships do not work is that if one or the other is unable to meet their quote the relationship is less than one hundred percent and love is lacking. If both aim at one hundred percent there is always enough and a growing reserve to draw from and more than enough to share with others.

“In this life I was loved by you” and I am so grateful for that, but had I not learned to love myself first I would never have known what a treasure you are. Treasure yourself, then you can know the true value of everyone and every thing in your life.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dQkNhFAp2MntoB7P90CAjHEEEm3KIfB3/view?usp=drivesdk

In This Life