Considering my family DNA, I have gratitude for every morning that I wake to a sunrise or an alarm clock. My father passed away at age 54. I’ve outlived him.
But honestly, I take many mornings for granted. Modern life often presents a barrage of financial distractions: concerns about the welfare of family members, debt, healthcare expenses, or worries about job security, a volatile economy or unpredictable investment markets. Country music legend Merle Haggard captured the perspective of many Americans in song, “looking at the world through the bottom of a glass, all I see is a man who’s fading fast.”
Still, maybe even Merle’s whiskey glass was half full.
If we lift our gaze, we can see many things for which we are grateful: loving relationships, a reliable car, children who are good and productive citizens, education and employment opportunities. And, after a particularly contentious election cycle, I much appreciate the freedoms provided to me as an American.
Borrowing from a blog post by the team at Money Quotient, a financial life planning resource: “The word ‘appreciation’ has at least two essential meanings and applications. In the world of finance, it refers to the increasing value of an asset. In the inner realm of thoughts and emotions, appreciation involves recognizing the value of and feeling gratitude for specific people, things, and circumstances.” Having gratitude doesn’t mean life is perfect. It merely means that we can identify some goodness in our lives.
Of course, tomorrow holds no guarantees and in this period of extended uncertainty, what can we do to focus on the good? For myself, I feel convicted to pare down toward the essentials.
In his bestseller, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, author Greg McKeown writes “It’s a mindset – a way of life. Unfortunately, we live in a world where it’s considered a positive thing to take on more and more, thinking that the result will be a greater success. This is not the case.”
During this holiday season, take some time to think about what is important to you. Consider what is fundamentally important in your job, in your personal life, in your finances. Then say “No” to everything that doesn’t help support those values or get you closer to those goals. “If it’s not a clear yes, then it’s a clear no,” McKeown says.
Let that advice sink in – think about the practical application of applying essentialism to your financial plan, including budgeting, debt management, car, and housing decisions, investing, retirement planning, etc.: “if it’s not a clear yes, then it’s a clear no.“ It is a countercultural approach to financial freedom.
Essentially I am blessed. Mostly, I woke up Tuesday morning and had the opportunity to write this column. It was a good day.
