I get stressed about money. Sometimes I kick myself for frittering away small amounts on little treats that add up to a lot. A scone. A cute top. Another pair of black shoes. My stress lessens when I focus on the satisfaction I feel about my impending trip to Sweden. Already, I have started dreaming about other things that money can buy to help bring that same kind of joy and satisfaction.
- A regular gardener that would relieve the stress of feeling like our yard is always the eyesore on the block.
- Another trip abroad in two years’ time to celebrate my 15th wedding anniversary.
These dreams stoke my motivation to make more money. I find myself making new business connections every week and refreshing already established connections. I want to create the conditions to attract more work, more money and, therefore, more funding. I don’t need unlimited abundance, I just need enough. I am practicing honing my focus, defining my container and working to fill it up.
Deciding to spend a few thousand dollars on a trip to Sweden was not an easy decision for me. But, the other day I was listening to an interview with Carl Richards, author of “The Behavior Gap” and he said, “If you’re money isn’t making your feel good, you’re not spending it the right way.” I found that he was paraphrasing an article written by Elizabeth W. Dunn, an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia. Dunn, who specializes in research on consumption and happiness. Dunn posits that how we spend our money can indeed buy us happiness. It’s not about how much money we have, it’s about how we spend it. The key seems to be in using money not to buy things so much as experiences. It also seems heavily influenced by our choice to spend money in ways that allow us to spend more time with our loved ones.
To some, my trip to Sweden may seem unnecessary, a luxury, especially when they see I “should” have the ceiling patched from a leak three years ago. But to me an adventure with my daughter, who at age 11 is straddling the fence between childhood and adolescence, is a worthy expenditure. I’m pretty sure it’ll bring us more joy and memories than a newly patched ceiling.