Savvy Budget

One question that came up from recent posts ( “Can a Rich Person be Spiritual?” and “Imagine if you won $200 million” ) is “How do you avoid greed?”

First, per the Webster’s dictionary, greed is defined as “an overwhelming desire to acquire or have, as wealth or power, in excess of what one requires or deserves”. This is difficult to quantify because what does a person require or deserve? If we look back at life 200 years ago, most of us have more than what was deemed needed to live on 200 years ago (including having a refrigerator). If we look at who we are (children of our creator whether it is God, Allah, Buddha, etc.), then don’t we all deserve the best?

In my opinion, defining greed should focus on the first part of the definition “an overwhelming desire to acquire or have, as wealth or power …” Desire is usually created from feeling lack. This can apply to several situations, including

• Lack of self-worth – need to compare oneself with others by having the same things (or more than) in order to feel good about oneself (e.g., keeping up with the Joneses)

• Lack of self-love – need to buy things when a person is sad or depressed due to feeling unloved

• Lack of money – believing there is a limited amount of money in the world thus feeling the need to fight for their share (and keep it when they have it)

“How do you avoid greed”? This is a statement is usually about how can I have money without being greedy, thus coming from a place of not having money. Many people look at money as the cause of greed. Many try not to be like those “greedy rich people” by avoiding money. Yet, greed is not about the money. Greed is about the reason why a person wants money. Trying to overcome greed by avoiding money does not solve the problem because greed is only a symptom of the problem and not the real issue. By avoiding money, you are actually just intensifying the feeling of lack which is the cause of greed. You may believe that “I will lack spirituality or kindness if I have money” (and thus become greedy). Or, to be spiritual and kind, “I need to lack money”. The key is to drop your beliefs that money created the greedy people, the same greedy people who you are vilifying.

In either case, if you are avoiding money in order not to be greedy or if you may be greedy, you can transform your situation by changing the feeling of lack into abundance. Yet, you may ask, isn’t greed about abundance (having too much)? No, greed is about feeling of lack. If a person believes in abundance then he would not feel the need to acquire excess wealth or power, rather he will share it freely. This is the distinction that I was making in “Can a Rich Person be Spiritual?” A rich man feels the need to acquire money to define who he is. A spiritual man will let wealth pass through him without the need to acquire it because he does what he loves and the money follows.

The first step in transforming lack into abundance is to identify all areas of lack (or fear of lack) in your life or an area that you fear having lack. Look at any areas where you believe if you have a little bit more, you will be happier. For some, this may be money. For others, it may be love (self-love), respect, self-worth, kindness, caring, etc.

The next step is to believe that you already have an abundant supply of what you lack. A good way to do this is to tithe and practice gratitude. Taking the opposite action (being thankful and giving it away) is what changes belief in lack. To practice gratitude, make a list of things you are grateful for around the area of lack. To practice tithing, give what you believe you lack because the action of tithing symbolizes that you already have enough. By being grateful for what you have and freely giving it away (tithing) will show you that you have enough versus having a lack. If you believe you are lacking money, be grateful for the money you have and give it away freely. If you believe the world lacks kindness, then give more kindness and see the kindness that is already all around you. This is because what we focus on (with gratitude and tithing) will expand.

Money can freely flow your way. There is nothing wrong with having money. The problem is when we define ourselves by what we have or do not have.