Thursday
Mar172011
St. Patrick Teaches Personal Finance?!
Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 3:37PM JAPAN RELIEF CHALLENGE! I know on posts I am usually reaching out to you, my awesome readers, to help support Financially Digital and Financial Literacy. Today I’m reaching out to give aide to a much bigger and life supporting cause. I want to issue a challenge to you all that the amazing patronage here can raise $5,000 to be donated to the Salvation Army’s Japan Response efforts. Everyone that donates gets their name and website published on the Benefactors Page as well. I will post a weekly update to show you all where we are and how we can make an impact together. I’m also trying to come up with something to give away/do if we hit that mark so if you can think of anything you’d like to see just leave it in the comments below!
Saint Patrick is as much a historical figure as he is a religious one. What can Saint Patrick teach us about our personal finance - I think I can make a few corollaries, as long as you give me some literary space to do some re-imagining. Before you read any further though, seriously give some thought to becoming a Benefactor and donating to the Japan Relief Challenge. Ok, shameless plug out of the way. I want to tackle or make connections to two of the bigger iconic remembrances of Saint Patrick. His banishing of the snakes and the shamrock might have some finance lessons in there for us. First though and foremost though this is a feast day so go out and indulge however you so choose and if it’s in the form of imbibing some tasty spirits I ask two things: 1. Pour an extra Guinness for me and 2. Be safe, no drinking and driving!
Saint Patrick is credited with banishing serpents/snakes from Ireland. This could be a metaphor for so many things, but we are focusing on finance. What are the things that you might be able to chase out of your life? Where are your money sinks and how can you make your life easier by banishing them? The thing about snakes is that they are really efficient hunters and really hard to catch so flushing financial snakes out of your life might take a little bit of reflection and be a little less obvious.
St. PatrickAnother part of the myth is that snakes were really representative of the pagan religions being flushed out as Saint Patrick established Christianity throughout Ireland. So if we very liberally take what he did and apply that to your spending behavior there could be another financial lesson in there. I AM IN NO WAY SLANTING OR PRAISING ANY ONE RELIGION - We accept and support denomination at Financially Digital. Just thought I would put that in bold first. But historically pagan religions were viewed by outsiders as being magical, unrooted, and unsophisticated compared to formal more organized religions. Think of what Saint Patrick did as a way of introducing a spending/savings plan. Before a plan you might have been prone to doing mental math and rationalizing all of your savings and spending. Now Saint Patrick comes along and blammo - instant formality and more efficient uses of your hard earned money.
The last bit I wanted to cover was the Shamrock. It already has something in common with financial issues because it’s the same color as money. Not only that but we are always looking for more luck, which the Irish seem to have an overabundance of, when you find a shamrock or rather a four leaf clover. The shamrock has been used as a symbol in Christianity to represent the Holy Trinity. I am not even going to attempt to get close to making a connection between the components of the Holy Trinity and your financial situation. What I will do is make a connection between what the shamrock represents and balance.
Even when you are out feasting today, as you should be, moderation and balance should never really be too far in your personal rear view mirror. To live a healthy life everyone from doctors to nutritionist and even Saint Patrick himself would tell you that balance is important. If you spend all of your time fretting about the bills and the pennies accruing in your nominal savings account you will miss out on a lot of life. Savings and financial freedom are absolutely important but you don’t have to deprive yourself and add heavy stress, caused by fear, to get there. When you are chasing your snakes away and working on your spending behavior take small steps with larger goals in mind that you have to work for. A financially fit lifestyle can be effortless and even painless - it just takes a little work and lots of baby steps. When you are crafting your plans make sure you are keeping your own personal balances in mind and how you plan to reward yourself along the way. Remember these are positive plans and changes you’re making for yourself.
In my very roundabout and literary empowered way I hope that St. Patrick helps you keep your finances on track. If you can think of how else he might be able to help out feel free to leave them in the comments below - besides the fact that cabbage is a really inexpensive green vegetable.
Saint Patrick is credited with banishing serpents/snakes from Ireland. This could be a metaphor for so many things, but we are focusing on finance. What are the things that you might be able to chase out of your life? Where are your money sinks and how can you make your life easier by banishing them? The thing about snakes is that they are really efficient hunters and really hard to catch so flushing financial snakes out of your life might take a little bit of reflection and be a little less obvious.
St. PatrickAnother part of the myth is that snakes were really representative of the pagan religions being flushed out as Saint Patrick established Christianity throughout Ireland. So if we very liberally take what he did and apply that to your spending behavior there could be another financial lesson in there. I AM IN NO WAY SLANTING OR PRAISING ANY ONE RELIGION - We accept and support denomination at Financially Digital. Just thought I would put that in bold first. But historically pagan religions were viewed by outsiders as being magical, unrooted, and unsophisticated compared to formal more organized religions. Think of what Saint Patrick did as a way of introducing a spending/savings plan. Before a plan you might have been prone to doing mental math and rationalizing all of your savings and spending. Now Saint Patrick comes along and blammo - instant formality and more efficient uses of your hard earned money. The last bit I wanted to cover was the Shamrock. It already has something in common with financial issues because it’s the same color as money. Not only that but we are always looking for more luck, which the Irish seem to have an overabundance of, when you find a shamrock or rather a four leaf clover. The shamrock has been used as a symbol in Christianity to represent the Holy Trinity. I am not even going to attempt to get close to making a connection between the components of the Holy Trinity and your financial situation. What I will do is make a connection between what the shamrock represents and balance.
Even when you are out feasting today, as you should be, moderation and balance should never really be too far in your personal rear view mirror. To live a healthy life everyone from doctors to nutritionist and even Saint Patrick himself would tell you that balance is important. If you spend all of your time fretting about the bills and the pennies accruing in your nominal savings account you will miss out on a lot of life. Savings and financial freedom are absolutely important but you don’t have to deprive yourself and add heavy stress, caused by fear, to get there. When you are chasing your snakes away and working on your spending behavior take small steps with larger goals in mind that you have to work for. A financially fit lifestyle can be effortless and even painless - it just takes a little work and lots of baby steps. When you are crafting your plans make sure you are keeping your own personal balances in mind and how you plan to reward yourself along the way. Remember these are positive plans and changes you’re making for yourself.
In my very roundabout and literary empowered way I hope that St. Patrick helps you keep your finances on track. If you can think of how else he might be able to help out feel free to leave them in the comments below - besides the fact that cabbage is a really inexpensive green vegetable.
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