Living in Scare City..........

In Scare City there is a particular mindset around money:

Being in Survival - the scarcity mindset keeps us worrying about our bills or diminishing savings. It takes our mind away from what we want to with our lives or for others and makes life a bank statement. When we have money we can breathe easy, we have staved the creditors from our door. When we have little money then it is as if the very air we breathe is in short supply. We start to breathe shallowly and focus on all kinds of nightmarish scenarios. We need money to live but linking money to survival keeps us playing very small in life and locked in a prison of our own making.

Power Struggle - In the scarcity mindset money equals power, not the kind that offers greater personal choice and opportunity, buit the kind that seeks more control and manipulation. Parents can manipulate their children and bosses can cajole their workers through the promise of more money or the threat of withdrawing money. Scarcity gives money the power to build or destroy friendships, enhance or crumble self-esteem. It can determine how relationships begin, continue, or end and sustain or topple nations.

The Love of Money - In the scarcity mindset money equals love. A parent can give money as a symbol of love. Some parents give money instead of love. In relationships the amount of money lavished on a partner is for some an indicator of the amount of love in a relationship. Although money can’t buy us love a diamond is still a girl’s best friend. A flashy car may get an ordinary man more sexual attention than he might get otherwise.

Where money buys self-worth. The scarecity mindset is one where we become more worthy the more money we have. The problem is when we spend money we are spending our self-worth. When we gain or lose money we are gaining or losing our self-worth. Our monthly salary then determines how worthy we feel.

Money equals success - In the scarcity mindset money is an indicator of success. The more successful, goes the thinking, the bigger the house, the grander the office, the more stylish the mobile phone and the expensive the clothes the more successful a person is assumed to be. Many not very financially successful people are very good at putting on the show of success.

Scarcity is a game we play where life speeds up. In this mindset we need to move faster and work harder for money. Money is a central issue in many people’s lives, how to get enough of it and how to keep hold of more of it. In this game money is at the centre of our lives. Other meaningful things such as family, friendships and life purpose get shoved to one side. Now is this the game you want to play????