President's Blog

Let’s face a simple fact:  money matters.

It doesn’t matter as much as your health.  But it is nice to be able to afford medical care and drug therapies.  It is important to have enough money to buy good food (even though lots of people with plenty of money can’t seem to make good decisions here).  And having funds sufficient to make good exercise choices has advantages.

It doesn’t matter as much as your relationships.  It is sad that the landscape is littered with people who have sacrificed their relationships in the pursuit, protection, preservation or procreation of money.  Add to this relationship/money crisis those people who only survive because of the money part, and not the relationship part.  Still, relationships grow when there is the ability to have enough to cover the basics. Additional money allows for pursuits, which can enhance a relationship or provide expressions of joy supplemented by those additions.

Money doesn’t matter as much as your honor or good works.  So many of the people I’ve come to describe with those kinds of words don’t measure themselves much in the way of financial resources.  Their difference is that they take what the do have and use it with integrity and effort, regardless of how much or how little.  It gives the appearance of more through the pure dedication that is used to put it to work.  And then, there are those who have money in abundance, but just can’t seem to stop giving: time, talent, and resources are poured out without hesitation or reservation.  Little or much; they are honorable, and that matters more than the counting of the dollars.

It doesn’t matter as much as your life, liberty or pursuit of happiness.  These are such simple concepts that we hold dear, but fail sometimes to hold closely.  For many, the trade of life for money seems so natural.  Just look at the lights on in the high rise office buildings late at night (only some are being cleaned) and know that someone is choosing to trade their life in pursuit of the financial reward being offered.  I wonder if their family has the same alignment.  And who hasn’t heard that just a little more money wouldn’t make that person happier?  The Lottery is a case study in the pursuit of the happiness factor that money could bring.  I don’t want to judge, because I know that I trade a significant piece of myself in pursuit of my job; but I have to remind myself that it’s not as important as some of the basic concepts that should guide me on a daily basis.

Yes, money matters.  It allows us to store the wealth of our efforts until we want to trade it for other goods, services or just plain old stuff.  It serves very efficiently as a unit of measure.  Comparative shopping exists because of this fact.  And time, trial and error have made it a perfect substitute as a medium of exchange.  I never want to loose sight that it should serve us.  And sometimes it is best exchanged for ice cream.

—Gregory Patton