The art of transitions

Looking back at the path of any master, you will see many transitions. Masters in their trade have come to acknowledge and embrace transitions in their life.

Thinking isn’t as easy as it seems

From the minute we wake up till the minute we fall asleep our brains work producing thoughts faster than we can speak them; actually even while we sleep our brains keep on working. So you would think with all that practice we would be really good at it!

Give as much as you can (within reason)

Giving is a beautiful way of serving yourself and others. Benedict of Nursia (400 A.D.) gave the following definition for power: ‘power is the freedom to serve’. Alternatively you could say the following: having money gives you the freedom to serve. Money brings lots of possibilities. Chances to support others, to create things with others, to help the weak, to build a healthy future together with the new generations.

Safe as much as you can (within reason)

If you know what ‘enough money’ is to you, and if you earn as much as you can (within reason/in a healthy way), then you can safe a lot of it! Just, why would one safe any though? Well, it seems to be something natural. Saving and creating stocks is a perfectly normal phenomenon in nature. To survive the ‘winter’ you need to be able to safe up.

Earn as much as you can (within reason)

The credo is, ‘earn as much money as you can, given your unique skills and experience – but within reason’. John Wesley motivated his friends and students to work in a more professional manner. He taught them to get better and better in what it is they are good at, and to make more and more money while doing so. Not to become greedy, but to be able to provide well for their family, and to contribute to society. This principle is just as valuable now, as it was all those centuries ago. Besides, we are returning to a time that people have to take responsibilities themselves a lot more again. Because of the changing markets, more and more people are going to be running their own little company (just like 250 years ago), instead of being employed.

Money: What is enough?

The funny thing with money is that it often seems like you never have quite enough. When I was 18, and went to college, I could make ends meet with 400 gulden a month. When I was 21 I got married, I was still at college, but it was hard to make ends meet with 700 gulden a month (which – by the way – really was rather little). Then I started to work as an architect and suddenly I had 1500 mark (since I worked in Germany) to spend each month. That went well for some months. But our spending had changed too. So, within a year we seemed to be barely making ends meet with 1500 mark a month. When I was 40 I earned a whole lot more, but (you probably know where this is heading) again it seemed it was barely enough. Obviously changing circumstances, like awesome kids, a house etc, play an important part in such stories. Fact remains, money seems to be always slipping away. And if you are not aware of your income and expenses it might look like you are being robbed all the time.

Resilience and healthy finance

Money is like time, if you do not organize it well you never have enough of it. Besides it seems the more money: the more worries. And the less money, also: the more worries!

Once the walls of Ninive were so huge and wide that three war-chariots could ride it next to each other. Ninive was truly an unconquerable city. During daytime tens of thousands slaves worked on the wall, to repair it and to increase it. At night the slaves were chained to the wall. So, they were quite literally chained to the wall for life! Who were these slaves? About 50% of them were people that Ninive had captured from its enemies. The other 50% were people that used to be citizens of the city! As a citizen of Ninive, if you were in debt and you did not pay your debt in time, you were forced to become a ‘slave of the wall’. And if that was not enough in order to pay off your debt, then your entire family had to share your fate. It gets even worse. Even if you ‘paid off’ your debts after years of hardship, you could not regain your freedom. Once a slave, you remained a slave for life!