You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. ~ Kahlil Gibran
Isn’t it amazing what happens when money and material wealth are taken away?
This post was inspired by Mary’s story (and those of GoodLifeZEN readers) as shared in her recent post, The Lost Art of Giving. What occurred to me as I read the post, and the comments that followed it, was that the true spirit of humanity is stronger now than I can recall in my memory.
What I find encouraging and rewarding in the midst of this financial crisis is that, as the excesses of greed, scandal and consumerism are exposed and reduced, what remains for many of us is an enhanced necessity and desire to give of ourselves. In some cases, there is no other choice but to find creative means of giving because the monetary means of giving has been minimized or even removed by the destructive forces of the financial crisis.
Our net worth may be less today than it was one year ago, but our self worth is now enabled to be discovered… and we have been given what may be the greatest gift in a generation - the opportunity for profound personal growth…
One’s own self is well hidden from one’s own self; of all mines of treasure, one’s own is the last to be dug up. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Why is it that something traumatic is required for us to properly align our priorities?
I believe that social conventions actually cover our true selves and act as inhibitors to reaching our full potential. These inhibiting social conventions tell us to choose an area of study in college that will produce the most financially rewarding career; they push us to climb the corporate ladder, to earn more money, to buy a bigger house, and to show our love and affection by giving “things;” and these social conventions have us (knowingly or unknowingly) misguiding our children down the same path.
Now enter the devastating “financial crisis.”
What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly. ~ Richard Bach
As a financial planner and investment adviser by trade, I could find many reasons to be pessimistic this 2008 holiday season. To the contrary, I choose to find a beautiful silver lining surrounding the darkest of clouds hanging over our heads…
If you know anything about financial markets, you likely understand that they are cyclical in nature. I won’t spend time or energy here discussing the quantitative dynamics of financial market movements, but my optimism with regard to the human spirit is that the end of economic cycles is marked by a removal of excess - what the media will call a recession and corresponding bear market for stocks - and this process of removal is one of rebirth and cleansing.
What is to give light must endure burning. ~ Viktor Frankl
What the removal of excess brings is something truly amazing: The tragedy brought forth by the worst in humanity simultaneously enables the best in humanity - much in the same way a devastating storm brings neighbors together and inspires the “victims” to reflect on what is most important in life:
- When we give, we give of ourselves, rather than “things;”
- As we observe all that we have “lost,” our survival instinct reminds us of what we still possess - those things that go beyond the physical and material - our health, family, personal relationships and our capacity to hope;
- And we are reminded that the pursuit of money, material wealth and social status (collectively called “the rat race”) does not bring us closer to happiness, but paradoxically takes us further away from it by diverting us away from the path to meaning and purpose in our lives.
I tell you that virtue is not given by money - but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man… ~ Socrates
As we end a year that history will remember as the worst for the economy and stock market in a generation, I will remember 2008 as the greatest gift in a generation - the opportunity to realize our misplaced desire to pursue money, material wealth and social status is a pursuit void of meaning and purpose.
May we all remember, maintain and teach our children that life is not about making money - money is about making a life. This would truly be the gift that keeps on giving…
If you enjoyed this article, please visit Kent Thune’s blog The Financial Philosopher
Virtual Retreats:
Mary Jaksch is will offer virtual retreats on Natural Spirituality in 2009. Virtual retreats are ten day periods in which you are guided to focus on a particular aspect of spirituality, while still continuing in your everyday life. The first virtual retreat, Awareness: The Miracle of Now, will run from 22 February to 1 March, 2009. This virtual retreat is going to be by donation so that no-one is excluded because of financial hardship. Read more about the retreat and register your interest here.
...
I plan to offer a series of
virtual retreats next year. Virtual retreats are ten day periods in which you are guided to focus on a particular aspect of spirituality, while still continuing in your everyday life. The first virtual retreat,
Awareness: The Miracle of Now, will run from 22 February to 1 March, 2009. This virtual retreat is going to be by donation so that no-one is excluded because of financial hardship. You can read more about the retreat and register your interest
here. ...
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译文:
金融危机：献给一代人的最伟大的礼物
本做客邮来自 Kent Thune, 博客《金融哲学家》作者
财产上的施与是微不足道的，只有奉献了自己才是真正的施与。~ 哈里利·纪伯伦（1883-1931 黎巴嫩诗人）
你能想象得到社会离开了金钱和物质财富会是什么样的吗？
Mary Jaksch最近在http://www.goodlifezen.com/张贴的文章《消失的施与艺术》以及一些GoodLifeZEN读者的跟帖深深地触动了我的心弦。（了解Mary的这篇文章请登录http://goodlifezen.com/2008/12/15/the-forgotten-art-of-natural-giving/）。文章和读者们的评论唤醒了我灵魂深处的人性博爱精神。
让我感到欣慰的是在当前金融危机形势下，随着人们过度贪婪欲和消费欲的暴露和日益锐减，施与的精神重新被唤醒。金融风暴的威胁下，物质手段的施与被大大缩减，这就为精神上的给予提供了舞台和空间。
和一年前相比我们的物质财富可能减少了，但我们的自我价值却大有潜力可挖掘。。。金融危机献给了我们这代人了一件最伟大的礼物--一个实现自我价值的广阔空间。。。
在所有的个人财富当中，自我价值是最难被挖掘的。~弗里德里希·威廉·尼采 （1844.10.15-1900.8.25 德国哲学家）
为什么我们需要外界的刺激来激发内心的主动性？
我认为长期以来的社会惯例约束了自我意识的实现。这些惯例告诉我们要上大学攻读某一领域以后便能物质富有；要进公司挣更多的钱，买更大的房子，送东西给我们爱的人。。。这些社会惯例有形或无形当中将我们的下一代领向了同样的歧途。
金融危机的飓风向我们刮来。
“失之东隅，收之桑榆。” ~李查·巴哈（美国作家）
作为一个金融规划者和贸易投资顾问，金融危机带给我个人的冲击使我完全有理由感到悲观。然而，我试图换另外一个角度来审视这场灾难性风暴。。。
如果你对金融市场有所了解的话，你会发现它的周期性本质。对于金融市场动态我不加赘述，这场危机将会给人们的精神境界带来重生和净化，对此我感到很乐观。
苦尽甘来。~ 维克多·弗兰克（1905.3.26-1997.9.2 奥地利神经学家，精神病学家）
经济危机消除了物质过剩,带给我们真正意义上的惊喜：这场空前的灾难促使人性得到了最大限度的发挥--它增进了人与人之间的交流，激发那些受害者去反省生活中最重要的东西是什么：
- 当我们给予时，我们给予的是我们自己，而不是物质层面的东西；
- 当我们感到若有所失时，生存的直觉提醒我们依然占有物质层面之外的更有价值的东西--我们的健康，家庭，人际关系和对未来的信心；
- 经济危机使我们反省当我们置身于对金钱，物质财富，社会地位（统统被称为“老鼠竞赛”-无休止的竞争）的追求时，并没有得到任何精神上的愉悦，相反它诱导我们踏上了一条背离生活意义的歧途。
金钱并不能创造美德，但美德能够带来金钱及一个人的任何优秀品质。。。~苏格拉底（前469-前399 古希腊哲学家）
08年离我们而去，但历史会永住在这一年中经济和股市遭受的空前灾难；我会永远铭记08年，因为它献给了我们这一代最伟大的礼物--一个让我们意识到对于金钱，物质财富和社会地位的追求最终会使我们变得精神虚无，空无一切的机会。
希望我们能够记住，实践并教导我们的下一代：生活的意义并不在于赚钱--赚钱只是为了生活。这将是一份代代相传的真正有意义的礼物。。。
如果你喜欢这篇文章，请访问kent Thune的博客《金融哲学家》
