Excuse me while I speak candidly for a moment. Recently, after being faced with the hardships and harsh realities of adulthood I realized the importance money can in ones life. Kanye said it best: "Having money's not everything. Not having it is." And as a struggling, young professional in a profession where I am seeking to do good more so than to earn six figures I've run into much opposition. To understand my current positioning I have to give you some prospective. I come from a middle class (if that even exists any more...but that's another subject for another time), struggling, black family. My parents both worked to provide for both me and my brother. They put us through the best private school St. Louis had to offer with the hopes that one day we would go on to "be and do better than them" as the often put it. Fast forward about six years, I am in a position where I am on my on. And for people my age this means very different things. For some it means parents still pay the rent, but they pay their own cell phone bill, and for those like me it means complete and total self-reliance. And even in calling home and asking for help I know these attempts could, in most cases, be futile and a burden to my parents and that thought is both terrifying and remarkable at the same time. It's pushing me to a place where I have never truly been: independence. Yes a family with money or a history of wealth would have made my growth, development, and present situation easier, but now that I am truly coming to know struggle I will be all the more prepared and all the more appreciative of success. Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that success ultimately comes from acquiring money, at least not by my standards. But I will say that it does make it easier to see those loftier, more expensive dreams to fruition. In the end, wealth is of the heart and the mind, not the pocket. I plan to pursue happiness to satisfy the heart and the mind and if the deep pockets come I will be ready.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Money, Money, MONEY
Excuse me while I speak candidly for a moment. Recently, after being faced with the hardships and harsh realities of adulthood I realized the importance money can in ones life. Kanye said it best: "Having money's not everything. Not having it is." And as a struggling, young professional in a profession where I am seeking to do good more so than to earn six figures I've run into much opposition. To understand my current positioning I have to give you some prospective. I come from a middle class (if that even exists any more...but that's another subject for another time), struggling, black family. My parents both worked to provide for both me and my brother. They put us through the best private school St. Louis had to offer with the hopes that one day we would go on to "be and do better than them" as the often put it. Fast forward about six years, I am in a position where I am on my on. And for people my age this means very different things. For some it means parents still pay the rent, but they pay their own cell phone bill, and for those like me it means complete and total self-reliance. And even in calling home and asking for help I know these attempts could, in most cases, be futile and a burden to my parents and that thought is both terrifying and remarkable at the same time. It's pushing me to a place where I have never truly been: independence. Yes a family with money or a history of wealth would have made my growth, development, and present situation easier, but now that I am truly coming to know struggle I will be all the more prepared and all the more appreciative of success. Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that success ultimately comes from acquiring money, at least not by my standards. But I will say that it does make it easier to see those loftier, more expensive dreams to fruition. In the end, wealth is of the heart and the mind, not the pocket. I plan to pursue happiness to satisfy the heart and the mind and if the deep pockets come I will be ready.
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