Would You Rather Be Happy or Rich? You Don’t Have to Choose Between Money and Happiness

Either / or. One, or the other. The message is clear. You can’t have it all, so don’t want it, don’t expect it, don’t even think it.

"Why can’t you just be grateful for, and satisfied with, what you have?" 

They want you to accept your limits. Choose one. 

We’ve been taught, by our well-meaning parents, friends, teachers, and leaders, all kinds of ideas about lack, limitation, and, “How it is.”  The ideas are so pervasive, so widely accepted and repeated, that we often accept them as facts, limits we must live within, realities that we must set our goals inside of. From a very young age many of us heard so much more about what's NOT possible than we heard about what WAS or IS possible. We were encouraged far more often to be prudent, realistic, and careful, than to follow our dreams, take risks, and expect the unknown to work out in our favor.  

Why?

Why are we taught so early and often about, “How it is,” and what’s NOT possible?

How far do you need to look to find an example of someone who tried but didn’t create the result they wanted, and whether after one attempt or multiple, eventually declared the desired outcome impossible? The perception is that the ideas about limitation are spread:

• for your own good.
• so you won’t be disappointed.
• so you set realistic goals and plans.
• to help you choose the right path.
• to keep you safe.

Recognize any of this guidance? It was probably offered to you a long, long time ago, before you were old enough to politely discard it and choose another truth. It was thrust onto you as reality, before you were old enough to test out your limitations for yourself, and see what’s actually true and possible for you.

Will you continue to accept it? 

Will you blindly continue to accept those ideas as your truth, or question them, and decide for yourself what’s true, realistic, and possible? 

My invitation to you is to begin noticing the limits you’ve set for yourself in your mind, and then question them. Question every assumption you have about what isn’t possible for you, and about you.

• Why do I think / believe that?
• When is the first time I remember thinking this, and feeling this way? 
• Is this what I truly desire? If not, why don't I want to claim my actual desire? 
• Why? But why? Yes, and why is that? 

These limiting thoughts and ideas aren’t clear and obvious, reg flagged for review. They are far more subtle, dressed up as, “The way it is.” They’re so pervasive, and we’ve held them for so long, that we often don’t notice them at all. They exist under our radars, so to notice them we have to intentionally slow down, get mindful, and really look with curiosity. Like all new skills, it takes intention and practice.

How can you put a regular practice in place to build awareness of the thoughts and ideas that you’ve adopted as truth that are (perhaps unconsciously) limiting you?   

What’s true for you is what you take on as truth. Your reality is the one you create. And what I can tell you for sure is that it’s an option to live in a reality where one good thing doesn't come at the expense of another. 

Both / And

You can be smart and sexy.  

You can be content and successful.

You can be a damn good mom and a damn good career woman.

You can be strong and express emotion.

You can be fully and deeply grateful and content, and want more.

What do you do with the limiting thoughts, beliefs and stories you uncover?

What do you do when you uncover a limiting belief rooted within you, guiding the decisions you make, the goals you set, and expectations you hold? 

QUESTION IT. Poke holes in the logic. Disprove the idea. Find examples in the world of people having/doing/being both. Find proof it’s not actually true for everyone, and so, doesn’t have to be true for you.   

Here's my truth:

I’d rather be happy than and rich.

I’d rather be smart than and sexy.

I’d rather be content than and successful.

I’d rather be a mom than and a career woman.

I’d rather be strong than and emotional.

I am fully and deeply grateful and content, and desire MORE: growth, expansion, love, abundance, joy.

My truth, the reality I choose, is that it's all available, for me and everyone else. What reality do you choose? What’s true for you? Drop me a DM and tell me about a belief that you’re going to question and reframe.

Every reality is an option. You just have to choose it. You GET to choose.