Useful Thinking
A lot of helpful ideas have been around for a long time.
Discovered and re-discovered, taught and re-taught in plenty of cultures and times.
One is the Serenity Prayer.
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
This sounds pretty heavy, and somewhat religious.
But this is the exact structure of becoming “enlightened” according to The Buddha.
According to Buddha, there are two kinds of suffering.
Normal suffering that comes from every day life.
Crappy bosses.
Long lines at the store.
Noisy people behind you in line screaming at their spouse on their phone.
Bosses in meetings that drone on and on because they love the sound of their own voice.
Getting sick and waiting around for your immune system to take care of business.
Level One Pain
This is what Buddha calls “first level suffering.”
Second level suffering is the suffering we impose on ourselves by worrying about first level suffering.
Getting ourselves all tied up in knots over things we cannot change.
To become enlightened is to release any concerns for things we can’t change.
To accept the things we can’t change.
The Enlightened Person doesn’t float around on clouds without any pain.
They’ve just learned to accept the things they can’t change.
This is why they say, “before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood carry water.”
But here’s the thing.
Following the recommendations of the Serenity Prayer isn’t so easy.
Our ego wants us to believe we CAN change the things we really can’t.
And our tendency toward feeling like a victim makes us believe we CAN’T change the things we really can.
Money and everything surrounding money is a perfect example.
Many societies have evolved a kind of organic, two layered belief system about money.
Elites
There’s the top level folks who HAVE all the money.
And they teach that money is “bad.”
Wanting money is “bad.”
But they CAN’T really believe this since their entire lives have been driven by the PURSUIT of money and power.
BUT, those dudes at the top won’t want competition.
So they propagate the belief that money is bad.
What about the people beneath them?
This is something plenty of people LIKE to believe.
Because making money is hard.
Making money requires tons of trial and error and rejection.
That’s why most people are broke.
So this belief gives people an excuse.
A handy reframe.
“I’m not broke because I suck at making money. I CHOOSE to be broke because making money is BAD.”
This allows us to believe all of or money woes are things we CAN’T change.
Victim Excuse
So we can believe it’s NOT OUR FAULT.
But we can change our money beliefs.
And we can change our money making and money saving skills.
And we can EMBRACE money, in all its forms.
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