Dear Money,
First of all I just want to thank you for always showing up when I need you. Ever since I went out on my own, I have never really had to chase you down or beg for you. I have always been able to pay my bills and do some of the things I enjoy because you were always near. Even when other people tried to get between us, we still managed to fix things. I respect you and I know that no matter what people say about you ultimately you aren’t bad. That’s why it is hard for me to listen to people tell lies about you. They say you think you are God or that you prostitute yourself. They say you put yourself out there in a negative way and cause people to fight over you, but I know it is not the truth. The more accurate thing is that you are often kidnapped and violated by people who don’t understand you. They think that you are playing hard to get and so they come after you aggressively with the intent to dominate you. The truth is that you are nothing like that. But people treat you like a trophy and don’t respect you. I know that you want nothing more than to be a part of honest relationships that are based on mutual respect and not on low self esteem, lies, and manipulation. I know that you just want to be expressed at the highest ideal. I also know that you are abundant. You are not in short supply. You flow like a might river, but people who fear lack dam you up and cut off your tributaries. There are places that you want to go, but they want to regulate you because they think they can control others by controlling you. It is really sad. That’s why I don’t get into those types of conversations with people.
All they see is dollar signs.
When people treat you like you are just and end in itself I get uncomfortable. I feel the same type of discomfort that I would feel if I heard someone telling me how they only cared about one thing in their relationship with another human being. What is the difference between only seeing dollars signs when they think of what they would do to get to you and only looking at a person’s physical attributes when they try to get in a relationship with them? I don’t see much of a difference. Of course this not to say that this type of attraction is in and of itself distasteful. I don’t think that. Attractions exist for a reason too. It is just that it is not the end all be all. For example, if I wanted to go on a trip that costs $1700 and then I found a writing gig that paid $1700 of course I would get excited about the dollars signs. But if someone told me that I could make $1700 by robbing someone or selling a faulty product to some unsuspecting person, then I cannot let the dollar signs cause me to go that route. Money, I know you know what I mean and I trust that you would not like for me to go that route because I believe you hate being used that way. What I believe is that you love it when we do honest work that provides honest value to people who appreciate what we offer. And I believe that you help encourage us by showing up very easily when we are in the flow. That has been my experience with you and that is what I will continue to trust. I hope you don’t prove me wrong.
As you know, I am taking this class this weekend called Money and You with Marshall Thurber. Part of the reason that I am taking this class is because when I asked Marshall some advice on how I could better monetize my talents so that I could do more of what I love, he told me to come to his class. The other part is because even though you and I have a respectable relationship, it could be better. We can play more. We could have more fun if we spent more time together. I know that. I want to take our relationship to the next level. What I’m hoping is that at this class I will be surrounded by people who really know how to treat you. People who understand how I feel about you. You know how it is when you are considering getting into a committed relationship, but everyone else seems to be so miserable in theirs that you just hold off declaring that commitment. That’s where I am. But I don’t think it has to be that way. You’ve been good to me. You’ve treated me fairly. Even when I was selling cars you were there for me making sure that I could pay all of my bills in advance just in case later months were lean. I don’t care about what other people say or how they use you. I’m going to do good by you. Let’s be full partners. I won’t simply use you and I don’t expect to be used by you. I know that we’ve done a lot of good together. Let’s do more.
Respectfully,
Pedro S. Silva II
Seriously Tripping Through Life 