I have resolved to start thinking differently about money this year.

The hard truth is that I equate money with human worth. I look down on people who are poorer than I am, and I feel jealous and inferior when I'm around people who have more than I have. You do these same things, by the way, and don't try to convince me otherwise unless your name starts with Sister or ends in Piotrowski. Everyone feels this way and nobody admits it. Don't believe me? Watch what happens the next time a wealthy, powerful, or famous person enters a room. Observe the awe, the admiration, the fear, and the jealousy; and then try to tell me that people don't believe that wealth equals worth.

Still don't agree? Consider this: When NBA All-Star Alonzo Mourning announced that he needed a kidney transplant, dozens of strangers offered him their kidneys. Yet thousands of people die every year in this country because we, a nation of three hundred million people, can't scrape up enough organs for just plain folks.

I'm kicking the habit. I'm forcing myself to take a fresh look at the role money plays in my personal pursuit of happiness. I've pointed out before that the average American today enjoys wealth and convenience unimaginable to the average American just a century ago. We live longer and enjoy modern health care with anesthesia and antibiotics. We have nearly unlimited entertainment options and access to information. We can communicate at the speed of light. Obesity poses a greater threat than starvation. The average American owns or has access to: a television, a computer, an electric or gas stove, climate control, electric lights, a stereo system, a refrigerator, a car, a VCR or DVD player, and countless other gizmos and gadgets. If material wealth brought happiness, we should be the happiest people in the history of the planet. We should be constantly gibbering with glee, skipping in merry circles and exchanging high-fives, delirious with joy over our good fortune. But we're not.

So I've decided to stop feeling smug about the things I have. I've decided to stop feeling bad about the things I don't have. And I've decided that money serves three purposes in my life:

1. Basics: Housing, food, utilities, car, Netflix, etc.
   
2. Security: paying off debt, money in the bank for emergencies, saving for retirement.
   
3. Happiness: That is, I spend money to create genuine meaning in my life. For example: spending $95 on running shoes to train for an ultramarathon creates happiness. Spending $95 on dress shoes to impress my coworkers does not create happiness. Spending $1000 on a never-to-be-forgotten trip to visit my friend Tim in Morocco creates happiness. Spending $1000 to get my car repainted so I can avoid the disapproval of others does not create happiness. You get it.

More to come on this.

+posted by Lawrence @ 1/09/2004 11:53:00 PM