Money Notes and Quotes

It's black fly season here on the shores of Forest Lake. For those who are unfamiliar with black flies... count your blessings!

Black flies are tiny little flying bugs that swarm about one's head and body. Each one bites with the vengeance of Attila the Hun. Millions of Attilas all hell bent on sucking one's blood and leaving itchy bite marks! Midget misery!

Why am I grinning about getting a free canoe with a one foot rip in the bow?

I spend my summers in a gorgeous spot on the coast of Maine. Last summer I decided that I wanted an old rowboat to fill with dirt and use for a big container garden. I put an ad up on Craigslist, asked my brothers to be on the lookout for a suitable boat.

Summer came and went. I had no boat.

Yesterday, I drove home from church. There was my new garden! Sitting at the side of the road waiting for today’s trash was a red canoe. It had a gash at least a foot long splitting the bow. Perfect!

The other night as I settled into my comfy, cozy bed, I flipped onto my stomach, my favorite sleeping position. I was happily dozing off when I remembered that my new chiropractor had recently reminded me that in the interest of my health, I needed to sleep on my back or on my side.

Then began the debate in my sleepy head. Do I disturb my comfortable self and switch out of my favorite position in the interest of future benefit or do I, just this time because, I'm oh so comfortable right now, stay where I am?

I've long-loved Gandhi's comment, "Be the change you want to see in the world." This morning, I felt judged by a staffing coordinator who asked me to cover a shift this weekend. My lack of booming health at the moment indicates that I first need to take care of myself. So, my self-assigned task for the day is to be compassionate with me because I am not being as productive as I would like. I am also self-assigning me to be compassionate with her; she, like all of us, is doing the best that she can.

I was very young when I first met money -- it was love at first sight! When you are a child of parents who deeply and profoundly love you and who provide safety, security and support and you are eightenn months old, you love EVERYTHING. I did!

Everything was a source of delight, intriguing and enchanting. The world was my oyster (actually, it still is). Actually, no the world was/is the pearl within the oyster. Each delightful thing was made just for me. At eighteen months old, I KNEW the truth. It hadn't yet been obscured by contradictory experiences.

I'm celebrating this afternoon after getting turned down for a loan. What's to celebrate you may wonder? I didn't take it personally, I didn't dip into feeling bad, not even for a minute! I am celebrating the verification that I have purged myself of all the bad feelings and shamefulness I picked up about me and my money in my long ago childhood. Yippeeeee!!!!!

Recently I heard a Harvard educated physician who holds esteemed posts within the university assert definitively that "Money Corrupts." At first swing, it would seem to be true, especially as we've witnessed the news about Bernie Madoff over the past few days. Corruption in living, breathing color.

I was on track for an Olympic record for avoiding meditation. Although I had read and heard for two and a half decades -- at least- that meditation would bring great benefits into my life, I could not get enough obvious and quick benefit to justify the effort it took for me to meditate.

Like a beginner at any sport, my meditation efforts found me frustrated because I wasn't getting relaxed and easy as a result of it, I was getting frustrated. No, I know that's all about judgment and one does meditation to stop being in a place of judgment. But, that was my experience for decades.

In the middle of the night, well, okay, it was ten p.m., I had an interesting thought. I thrilled to Obama's Inauguration and was remembering his words: "Pick yourself up..." I thought, "He said nothing about waiting for a government bailout." I'm not going to wait for the "bailout." Hey, I didn't even get my stimulus package last year. My earned income was only $1000 for 2007 so even though I've paid taxes since the middle of the last century, I didn't qualify.