Let’s say that you’re reading a book one day and you begin to deeply ponder the information presented in that book. Let’s say THAT book leads you to ANOTHER book on the same subject and pretty soon, your entire life is surrounded by books on that particular subject, all you notice around you is people talking about that subject and every thought you have is centered on that subject.

This is one aspect of what’s commonly referred to as Reticular Activation. You know…that’s when your reticular is activated! OK, basically, RA is when you become aware of something to a point that you see it everywhere. Like when I was pregnant with my son, Andrew. Everywhere I looked I saw other pregnant women. Now I rarely see them at all unless they are right in front of me!

Financial literacy and money has been that way for me, and most others in this fascinating field of financial education. Well, fascinating and frustrating at the same time.

Fascinating because the ways in which money controls different aspects of our lives never ceases to amaze me. Frustrating because it seems like humanity is destined to relegate financial education to what I call ‘elective’ status and not ‘critical if you’re going to be responsible for yourself’ status.  I have my opinions about why this is so but that’s not what I want to explore today.

All The Rage

Distraction Du Jou

What I want to explore is the all too commonplace rush to become rich quickly these days. Let’s call it the FINANCIAL FREEDOM RAGE and it’s everywhere. It used to be that people went to school, got jobs, saved up their money, did some investing, retired, blah, blah, blah. Now it seems that everywhere you look (I look) you see seminars on how to make a killing by investing in real estate or workshops on special stock market strategies or the latest and greatest internet affiliate marketing strategy.

Now don’t get me wrong. You CAN make money in all of these areas but it’s the RUSH, the FERVER, the HYSTERIA around it I’m referring to. It’s as if there is nothing else in our lives but this and until we get ‘this’, we can’t relax, enjoy our lives, remember we have families, take a breath or just chill.

The definition of ‘rage’ encompasses the idea of intense anger and sometimes madness. How fitting as it seems people are mad these days with the idea that they have to become financially free tomorrow or else.

Or else what, exactly? Where the heck do we think we’re going so fast and quite honestly, what would you do it you WERE financially free tomorrow?

Before you answer that question, let’s just put the definition of financial freedom on the table. According to Robert Kiyosaki, and others, financial freedom occurs at a time when you have more money coming INTO your life from your investments passively (in other words, you aren’t trading your time and energy for the money anymore) than you have going OUT for the expenses of your CHOSEN lifestyle. That means there is no set dollar amount that means you are free; it’s all completely arbitrary.

So back to the question…what WOULD you do it you didn’t have to go to work tomorrow? I mean, really think about the answer(s) to that question. What WOULD you do? And for how long would you do it?

Let’s say you start to paint. How long would that last? What would happen if you got really good at it? What would you do with all of the paintings? Would you start to sell them to friends, start a gallery, start teaching others how to paint? See where this is going?

Or you’d travel. Once you visited every country on Earth, then what? Would you do it again? Would you write a book on how to travel safely, learn how to market the book so that others could have your great experience, do little seminars on your adventures?

Or maybe you’d just spend more time with your friends, volunteer your time to help the homeless kids in your city, get fed up with what wasn’t being done and start your own nonprofit (this is sounding familiar) so that you could do a better job and pretty soon you’re ‘working’ 60 hours a week again!

Wait! I though you were FREE now, free to do exactly what you wanted with your time and energy? What happened? I think that if most people actually woke up financially free tomorrow they’d have no idea what to do with themselves.

You see, we’re ALWAYS free to choose what to do with our time and energy, every moment of every day. And if you don’t think so, sit down with Viktor Frankl’s “A Man’s Search for Meaning” sometime in the near future. This book will stop you in your tracks (I’ve been stopped here for a long time:-) and provoke very deep questions for you to ponder along every step of your journey here on planet Earth.

So where IS the fire and what IS the rush?

Josh Shipp, aka Hey Josh, said it best in one of the little videos I saw him in. He said, and I paraphrase, “Bad things are going to happen to you.” And when those bad things happen, it’s who you choose to be during those time that really matters.

The older I get the more I observe others rushing around, not seeming to enjoy their lives (their words) and it just makes me question where the fire is and what all the rush is about.

So I’m just going to leave you today with these questions:

1) Where is the perceived fire in your life? Is is real? How do you know it’s real and how would your life be different if you changed your belief about this perceived fire.

2) What is the rush in your life that keeps you from enjoying what is right now? My own belief is that ‘the rush’ is the distraction du jour and that it keeps us from pondering the important questions and more importantly, having to deal with the answers to those questions.

Taming Your Own Financial Freedom Rage

Here’s some simple tips on how to deal with that little voice (sometimes it feels like a BIG voice) inside of you that says you must become financially free soon or else:

• Notice when you’re not noticing the little things around you: children, dirty house, flowers in your garden, your partner’s cries for a little of your love and attention. When you notice these things, stop and take a nice deep breath and smile because noticing is the first step to your ultimate freedom from the rage.
• Plan a little time each day (I know, one more thing but I promise you this one thing will begin to be a priority in your life because of the peace it brings to the other things in your life) to stop. Yes, just stop. Again, notice what’s going on around you. Notice what you smell, see, taste, feel. What’s the temperature on your skin? What sounds can you hear if you really listen? Become a ninja of life by simply giving your attention to your life.
• Notice when you seem to be rushing and making ‘mountains out of molehills’ as my Mom used to say. Remember, in the end we’re all dead anyway so stop thinking that stuff is so bloody important. It ISN’T!
• Notice when you’re happy. Notice when you are at peace. Notice what you’re doing when you notice these things and do them more often.

Most people I know and watch just don’t seem happy and content when they are rushing around constantly putting out fires and it’s very challenging to be around those people sometimes as well. By slowing down, breathing, continually taking inventory of what’s really important to you and those you love, you might just find that the fire you think you have to put out isn’t very hot and the rush to get ‘there’ ceases altogether, replaced by a quiet contemplation of simply what is at the moment.

So right now, stop, take a few deep breaths, ponder your latest rush to get to or accomplish this or that, notice any fires you think you must put out, or else, and just let it all go in exchange for a little peace and enjoyment of right now.

Now THAT is freedom.

Just something else to think about.