A rumored ancient Chinese curse goes, “May you live in interesting times.” Whether it actually originated in China, England or America is not known, but we definitely live in them.
The U.S. debt is more than $14 trillion. Per citizen it hovers around $46,000 and per taxpayer around $129,000, according to the U.S. National Debt Clock. Money we owe. Money we’re obligated to pay back. Money we don’t have.
Yes, interesting times. We’ll have to print more. More of what we don’t have. Then watch it disappear. Where does it go?
At Amazon.com you will find 97,729 books on money with intriguing titles such as Free Money, More Money Than God and When Money Dies. Perhaps the last one might reveal the secret to where money goes.
You will find even more books in the overlap categories of investing and money management. Not to mention other bookstores and libraries. A wealth of information on money is at our disposal on how to attract it, earn it, invest it, save it and, yes, spend it. Silly authors — we know how to spend it.
There are different schools of thought regarding money.
Stuart Wilde, author of The Little Money Bible, says, “Life is energy, money is energy and there’s plenty of both.” If that’s true then why do we borrow money? Why do we use credit cards? Why not use cash if it’s just energy and it’s all around us?
Are you living on borrowed energy? To tell you the truth, I didn’t know you could borrow energy. After my next exhaustion binge, I’m checking that theory out.
Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney calls the current economy a “moral tragedy of epic proportion.” It possibly is. But I have trouble trusting the judgment of someone who straps his crated dog on the top of his car to travel from Boston to Ontario on a family vacation. To his benefit he did make a windshield for the pooch’s comfort. However, I doubt if Romney knows where the money goes anyway.
The late Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh, according to a friend of mine, decided one day that he wanted to have a festival for the town’s people. He gathered his close followers around him and began spouting off a list of food and drinks they were to fetch for the celebration.
To their astonishment it was far more than they felt they could afford. “But master, where will we get the money?” Nonchalantly, he replied, “From wherever it is now.”
It doesn’t sound like Maharishi ever worried about money, where it comes from or where it goes. It’s simply always there — the energy theory in action.
If money is energy, then how much energy will it take to pay down the national debt? Is that energy in terms of hard labor, or as Wilde says, “There are trillions of dollars zipping about electronically on any given day. If you stop and think about the millions flowing through your hands at the moment, imagine making a slight flick of the wrist in order to halt some of that loot in transit, so it sticks in the palm of your hand.”
I like that. Think and grow rich. Now we’re getting somewhere. At last we can stop the fist-fighting and simply open the palms of our hands. Mine are covered with crazy glue just to help it stick better.
Another book just caught my eye. Umm, it’s in the children’s section — Little Critter: Just Saving My Money (My First I Can Read).
I just ordered it. Just in case the wrist thing doesn’t go so well.
— Susan Ann Darley is a creativity coach, writer and author. Through coaching and writing, she specializes in motivating people to use their talents and market their creative projects. She offers a free 30-minute coaching session. For more information, click here, e-mail her at susan@susananndarley.com or call 805.845.3036.