Musings: If Money Didn’t Matter…
“Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.” Nelson Mandela
Musings: If Money Didn't Matter... Do what you love, the rest will follow?
Are you doing what you truly love or what pays you the most money? If you won the lottery tomorrow, would you quit your current job? When I first read the Plinky prompt on jobs we’d do if money didn’t matter, the thought that flashed in my mind was “Do what you love and the money will follow…” Yet, as I thought about the prompt, it became clear that the question wasn’t really about what we’d do if money didn’t matter but what we ought to pursue regardless of the material rewards. Many of us have interests and loves we set aside because of prior expectations and/or commitments. As time goes by, we ought to take a closer look at what we do and decide if we are truly satisfied.
“Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.” Benjamin Franklin
Musings: If Money Didn't Matter... Esteemed Yoga Teacher - BKS Iyengar...
Musings: If Money Didn't Matter... Yoga class - Sun Salutation... Surya Namaskar...
One thing that surprised me when I read the answers people shared on the prompt was the number of people who said they’d like to teach, be librarians, travelers and photographers… kindred spirits all. I’ve spent most of my life teaching, so it is something I already did for all the altruistic reasons in the world. However, over time, reality bites when you come to terms with family needs and household expectations and then you shift gears to other things you love. I still love teaching, just in a different way…
“Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.” Henry David Thoreau
Musings: If Money Didn't Matter... Mikao Usui - Father of Reiki...
Musings: If Money Didn't Matter... A Reiki session in progress...
I have to say that what the prompt did for me was to make me think about the things that get me excited; to look at what I am passionate about and look at how I am living or not living up to my interests. Two of the things that have always interested me are to be: A Travel Writer/Publisher and A Reiki Healer/Yoga Trainer… my third thing is below. I’ve done quite a bit of traveling in my lifetime and I would love to go back to places I’ve been to, as well as visit new places, and write about them and share my experiences, my interactions and my observations with others. Since I do love traveling, funding it would need sponsors and planning, so that is something I have done and still do and that I’d love to pursue further.
As per Reiki, I have taken all the levels of training and attunements and I’m what they call a Reiki Master. I offer my services at a Hospital as a volunteer, with a group of practitioners, so that is a start and something I enjoy doing… I am following that passion. I studied yoga and meditation for many years but balked at taking a teacher training course… not sure why. I might have to seriously consider doing it if I’d like to develop this passion further.
“There are people who have money and people who are rich.” Coco Chanel
Musings: If Money Didn't Matter... James Ricalton - travel photographer extraordinaire...
Musings: If Money Didn't Matter... Fashion photographers...
My third passion is to be: A Traveling/Travel Photographer. I love photography and take pictures regularly, but I need training in the medium. Since the Daily Post Challenge started in January, they’ve added a Weekly Photo Challenge component that I absolutely love. It has given me the impetus to take more pictures and develop my skills, however, I am still very much a novice at photography that I won’t even put myself in the amateur category. 😆 I’d love to take some professional classes for both D/SLR cameras and photography in general… So there you have it!
The three things I mentioned are passions that I already follow, but not on a large scale because other things call my attention. Is the issue one of time or money or both? Hmmm. What about you? What are your thoughts? What would you do if you didn’t need the money? Would you work for yourself? Would you pursue a creative venture? Do share! Thank you. 🙂
This post was inspired by a prompt from WP Plinky: List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.
Positive Motivation Tip: Pursue the things that call your heart; do what you love and the money will follow…
Related articles
- Prompt from Plinky http plinky com They say… (tercessociety.com)
- Musings: Staving Off Boredom… (eof737.wordpress.com)
- Reflections: An Anonymous Gift… (eof737.wordpress.com)
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos money, BKS Iyengar – esteemed yoga teacher, yoga sun salutation, Reiki session, Mikao Usui – Father of Reiki, James Ricalton – travel photographer, fashion photographers, via Wikipedia…
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
haha very nice! i guess i’m already doing something where money doesn’t matter and it’s blogging, but of course i want the money to follow! anyways thanks for a great and inspiring post!
Thanks for stopping by Jonathan… Yes, blogging is another love that we do with passion and that many are not compensated for… The daily writing and friendships formed is its own reward… 😉
Of course, we all want the money to follow; sooner or later. I concur. TY! 🙂
Hi Elizabeth, it was good to learn more about some of your interests/passions.
cheers
Lorraine
TY! The interesting thing is that I set out to write on a different topic and ended up writing on this… It was meant to be written I suppose and I gained some insights from it too. 🙂
Gosh! talking about money, I totally experienced being broke! I had a stable job several months ago, but I quit. I no longer enjoyed working for my former boss and somehow I realized it had an effect in my work performance–somehow I felt I was inefficient, so I might as well quit. I love spending my time online, reading, surfing, blogging, etc. So, I thought of making myself productive. I searched for sites that hire article writers/bloggers. Fortunately, I was hired just last week and my task is to write local showbiz articles. The compensation is far from the amount I receive from my previous job, but it doesn’t bother me at all as of now. It would be very nice if we earn money doing what we love–we never have to work a day in our life doing what we love.
WoW! I’m glad you found something else that you enjoy doing and I bet you’ll do a better job and be happier for it… The showbiz angle should be fun… Best wishes and I’ll stop by your blog to say hello shortly. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I think you are a GREAT photographer with so much potential! 🙂
TY Sharon, I’m a work in progress and hope to be a great photographer some day… For now, I’m a student and that is okay too because there is much to learn… TY! 🙂
Many years ago I managed a Sales team of 40 people. As a newly promoted manager I conducted a survey to discover what motivated people.
Top of the list was “Recognition” way down the list was money.This really surprised me.
I’ve just returned to the UK for a few weeks. Living in a semi rural coastal area of Portugal where there are not that many shops I am amazed how materialistic it is. I’d forgotten the spend, spend SPEND attitude.
Retiring on fresh air, we only buy what we really need not what we want.
It’s only when you really detach yourself from material things, as we have done, do you realize how your lifestyle and priorities change. However, would we resist temptation if we lived here all the time?
Hi PiP,
Your findings don’t surprise me because everyone wants to be validated and recognized for their work… Even those who say they don’t care would, if credit for their work was given to someone else. I’m glad your findings confirmed same… 😉
Your question is key PiP… Perhaps it is easier to focus on needs when we are away from the hustle and bustle and excessive wants of life in a cosmopolitan city…? I suspect so as I know that when I spend time in areas where there are limited things to have and want, I don’t think about it… 🙂
Welcome back or are you still in the UK? 🙂
Hi,
I am still in the UK and then onto France so more of a “Spending Orgey” opportunity 🙁
The problem is money does matter and at the end of the day you cannot escape it.
If money was no ojcet I would love to travel more so I could spend more time with our family
If money were no object, I’d spend more time with my children. At the moment I am the first to leave each day and the last to come home each night.
Would I change career? I always wanted to be a doctor, but at my age I think a medical degree would be a waste of resources – I don’t have enough working life left to make the investment of education worthwhile to the community.
I’d probably look at more philanthropic pursuits.
I wanted to be a doctor as a child too and I guess that is why I am still drawn to the healing arts. We doctor in many ways; including being parents, so you are not really far away from that goal. I think what is becoming clear is that we do our best work when we do what we love or at least something close to what we love… TY! 🙂
Elizabeth, itś nice to read about the things you love to do. It would be nice to be able to do all these things and still don have to worry about money. The problem most of us have is that we generate our money by trading our time for that money and our time is limited. Everybody has 24 hours a day. If we can generate our money needed to do whatever we want, when we want, with whom we want, then we will have both ,ave the money and the time to do what we love to do. I love the quote of Margaret Bonnano “Being rich is having money, being wealthy is having time.” We should have both;don’t you think? I think we can have it, if we can generate our money in a way that it is not connected to time. Deana Wilmink-Martina
Hi Deana,
What a nice surprise to see you here! We should have both;don’t you think? Yes, I believe it would be wonderful if we had both… I think many people don’t pursue their dreams because they are concerned about not meeting their family obligations and not having enough time.
Of course, it is easy to say follow your dreams and the rest will follow… but not everyone has the desire or the gumption to abandon their responsibilities to pursue what might potentially be a pipe dream; even harder when family and children are involved.
Time is a factor and, while we all have 24 hours, we use our time differently. A working parent uses their time differently from a working single person. It is easier to jump on things and make sudden, arbitrary plans when there aren’t others to consider… Time is a huge factor especially for those who are challenged by other equally important commitments… However, when we feel compelled to do a certain thing, nothing will stop us, so the motivation to do must also be strong… so strong.
I love the Bonanno quote as it reminds me of the Coco Chanel quote too. “There are people who have money and people who are rich.”
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
hi Eliz, my thank you to you: I give you the versatile-blogger-award
Thank you for the blog award Frizztext… Phew! I will have to work on a post soon to thank and share the awards received… Please forgive me everyone else as so much is going on back here at home. Blessings to you Frizztext. 🙂
Excellent and thoughtful post! Although it can be scary to let go of the security of a regular income. If you are not OK with what you are doing, no one benefits from it. Which is why in the past year I have been totally devoted to following my passion. Hence, not making very much money. BUT it is finally starting to pay off and I am now beginning to make money off doing what I love. Yay! :p
It can be scary and the lesson we learn as we get older is to jump into the fire while the rod is hot… Do the thing when the desire is strongest, when we feel compelled and even most afraid… Something about faith and trust in the process… but we must respect our obligations too..,. So it’s a delicate balancing act. Good for you that your work is finally paying off. What do you do? TY! 🙂
Thanks for the motivation, Eliz!
TY too for stopping by Freedom… love that name! 🙂
I LOVE this post! It has me thinking of my own loves and what I value. Thank you for the inspiration as always 🙂
Hi Dori,
Long time no hear! Thanks for stopping by and I’m glad you are having the same reaction I had to the post… Definitely jugged my memory on what fuels my passions too. TY! 🙂
I’d love to be a travel journalist/photographer also, Eliz. Once I retire from teaching, I’m going to try to make this happen. I know I need endless funds to accomplish this, but if I combine it with teaching perhaps that might be the way to go. Reiki Master? My sister-in-law is also one. i admire anyone who goes the Reiki and Yoga route–not as jarring as my strength training. You have motivated many readers with this post, and i thank you for that!
Thank you terry for your comment… Same here on making it happen. Now that i see it in writing, it is clearer on some level. Kudos to your sister-in-law. I do live Reiki. What do you do in strength training? TY! 🙂
We need enough money for food, clothing, and shelter . . . once those needs are met, I’d rather have the time to do what I want than money for doing something I don’t enjoy.
Passion is power! Thanks, E!
I hear you… We do need to take care of our responsibilities and then we can do whatever. Time and money to do it… 😉 TY!
About 7 years ago I became disillusioned with corporate america and began to pray about what was next for my life. One day I woke up with a desire to own a coffee shop and bookstore. Having never worked in retail or in a restaurant setting I was a bit dismayed about my new hearts desire. As I prayed and pondered this thought it became as much a part of me as the color of my eyes. I could think of nothing else. Then it happened, there was a job opening at our church for a Cafe/Bookstore volunteer organizer. Not exactly what I was thinking but life is funny that way. 5 yrs ago I walked away from corporate america and a 6 figure income. I am now doing exactly what I was created to do…I know this is true because I have never been happier and I cannot see myself doing anything else. I love food, I love books, I love helping people and I love that God called me to work in Ministry. There is more to life than the number my bank account.
Good for you Jeanne. Once we find our calling and follow it, all falls into place. I’m happy for you that are doing something that gives you joy. Not everyone can afford to walk away so when once can, there is a lot of grace and gratitude required. TY! 🙂
I can’t believe you would not even call yourself an amateur photographer! You have a gift, Elizabeth. Yes, I can understand wanting to take more classes but really!! Your photos are beautiful. Interesting to learn so much more about you. There are two things I would love to do instead of law. One is write a novel and second is to read… Who’s going to pay me to read? Hmmm… 🙂
Read and write! You are doing plenty of it already and you could turn the contents of your blog into a book… I believe it will be well-received. It is an important subject too. 🙂 Oh, TY for the praise and I will keep it in mind when I take a class. 🙂
I’d be a speech therapist and provide services for free.
“Of two men looking at a green field, one estimates its yield in bushels and calculates the price of the bushels in silver and in gold. The other drinks the greenness of the field with his eye, and kisses every blade with his thought, and fraternizes in his soul with every rootlet and pebble, and every clod of earth.” Mikhail Naimy
Beautiful quote…. and wonderful idea. I would love to offer more services or free too. realistically, we all need to tend our gardens and feed our families so it’s not always so easy. At least, we can hold unto our noble ideas as hey, you never know. TY! 🙂
you’ve been in Europe, the money tells…
Yes, I have and I do have some change from different places. However, the picture is from Wikipedia… credit added at the bottom of each post. TY! 🙂
This post has given me a lot of food for thought because while it is important to earn a living, it is even more important to do what we love or something in the realm of what we love.
I read your passions with great interest and I believe you’d be of great service to any company in corporate America or a nonprofit. The skills you have and the creative endeavors you pirsue are all valuable ones that show ability to commit and perform with compassion. Keep it up!
B
Ty for your kind words and suggestions… I have worked in both environments and in education too. They are all familiar territory to me and I am not adverse to any of them. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. TY! 🙂
I thought about that when I saw the prompt. I guess I’ve been doing what I want for more than 20 years now. I enjoyed my job at the time but I realized one day that I was feeling boxed in. My unacknowledged creative side was calling but I thought law was the answer and tried for 3 years to get into law school. But I found the admissions exams challenging and after the third time, I realized I was trying to swim upstream. I decided to give the “art thing” a try. Almost as soon as I decided, doors started opening up. Artists began coming to me to manage them and even though I had no art background, I decided to give it a try. I realized then that it wasn’t my knowledge of art that they wanted, it was my management skills.
After working with artists, I went on to manage two art galleries, curating and organizing art shows, and writing. During that time, I worked in the theater, studied reflexology and realized I was very interested in bodywork. These experiences helped me to began listening to and trusting my instincts more. It was probably the most creative period of my life and while my creativity blossomed, my income shrunk. I made less then than I had working part-time during my university years but boy, was I happy!
Following that experience, I couldn’t imagine having an employer control my time anymore. It also gave a deeper appreciation of the remarkable gifts I’ve been given, something I’m so very thankful for.
Marcia,
Thank you for sharing your journey so beautifully. I’m glad I am getting better at going back to make sure I’m reading the comments. You have had a rich and varied life and you bring up one of the challenges most creative people fear…. That we will make a lot less while doing what we love. It is a tough balancing act because we also know that some parlay it into great wealth and others don’t … The lines are not so clear and then there are other challenges… I, like you, am listening more to the promptings and voice within and when it becomes clear, I will know it. TY! 🙂
I thoroughly enjoyed your post. Presently I am on the road to doing what I’ve wanted to do for years, and in fact I’m partially there. Writing via blogging, photography and creating notecards are things I’m doing now. What I am working toward: to be a licensed professional clinical counselor and eventually to hang out my own shingle. Another part of the dream, travel and travel photography for publication, is still in the future. As I am doing these things and moving forward toward other long term goals, I find that I am happier than at any other time in my life. The fact that we are barely making ends meet doesn’t bother me. Our next goal is for Richard, a nuclear engineer/scientist, to retire from his job and open a juice bar, something he’s wanted to do forever! He loves making juice from fruits and veggies. He’s a health nut. A simple, healthy juice bar sounds like a great retirement “job” if you ask me.
Your post triggered all kinds of thoughts of what we are doing now to be able to live out our dreams in the very near future. Great post. Great life.
Cecelia,
WoW! We are kindred spirits and I can relate to everything you said… I am enjoying the process of discovering the joy in following and learning more about the craft I love and the things that capture my heart…
Like you and Marcia above, the challenge is recognizing that we can’t eat air or live under a bridge if we want to have a normal quality of life and still do our work. So our creativity will still demand practical options too. 😉
I always put my hearts dreams to prayer and follow the guidance that comes. I enjoy all that I mentioned and some that I didn’t,’ but time will guide us to the perfect place… I am confident of it. TY for your comment… 🙂
This brings up a lot of questions in my mind. I don’t often think about what I would do if money didn’t matter. I am a firm believer in doing what you love and love what you are doing, or else life becomes a drag.
Good for you so that is not a hurdle you have to jump… I agree that doing what we love or enjoy is important. We bring all of ourself to what we love. TY! 🙂