What’s the Story of Your Life?

“Don't ask what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

                           — Howard Thurman  

Carrie sobbed as her grandmother Bea shook her.

“How disgusting and evil of you,” Bea raged. “Taking advantage of your friends like that. You stole their money!”

“I didn’t steal it!” Carrie wailed. “They wanted the candy. I just sold it to them.”

“You know that candy was only one cent at the store. You charged them two cents—that’s twice as much. You robbed them blind!”

“No, Grandma Bea, I didn’t rob them! The candy store closed at 6:00. I just bought a bunch of candy early so I could sell it to the kids when they wanted it later. I thought I was smart. I thought I could make a little money from it. Isn’t that okay?”

“No, no, no! It’s not okay to sell one cent candy for two cents and take advantage of your friends. You are going to give every penny of that ill-gotten money back. I am so ashamed of you!”

Carrie hung her head weeping as Grandma Bea called all the neighbors and told them to come over to the house with their youngsters. Carrie was made to apologize and give back every cent to each child who had bought candy from her. She cried herself to sleep for weeks.

She learned her lesson well: It’s a sin to make a profit.

Carrie was still shaken by the memory of that day when she related this story in my workshop. Everyone in the class shook their heads at the power of that bitter lesson. Now a savvy young businesswoman, Carrie had owned her own business for a couple of years. 

But the most powerful authority figure in her life had impressed upon her in that wrenching emotional scene making a profit was evil. Especially from her friends.

Every time she had to ask someone for payment, she choked. Every time she felt friendly feelings towards someone (which was pretty much all the time towards everyone), she lowered her prices. She was embarrassed to charge them any money, let alone good money, for her services. Is it any wonder?

What is the story about life, success, and money that you were told as a child? Did your parents tell you it was easy to get or difficult? What did they value more than money? 

Suze Orman, in 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, recounts how she watched her father run back into the burning conflagration that had been his restaurant. He ran through the flames—not to save a life, but to rescue his cash register. It was blazing hot and burned him badly, but he saved the money. Suze learned that money was more important than life.

When I speak to groups or teach workshops, I always ask, “Who took a class in school about how to make or manage money?” 

Very few people raise their hands—most people never took a personal finance class in school when they were growing up. 

When we’re not taught it, we make it up from what is around us. We make it up from what our parents say to us when we’re young. We make it up from what our teachers tell us in school. We make it up from the television shows we watch, the newspapers and magazines we read, the stories our friends tell us. We make it up from our milieu. 

We’re all graduates of MSU—Make Stuff Up.

So what have you made up about money? Take some time to reflect about money and the role it has played in your life. 

Pay attention to your first memory of money. Was it received as a gift or did you earn it? Note your first job—what it was, how much you were paid, whether or not you liked it. 

Did you ever think of going into business for yourself? If you did, what made you willing to take the risk? If you didn’t, what stopped you from taking the risk? 

Who said, “That’s a great idea. Go for it!” 

And who said, “That’ll never work. You’ll lose everything if you do that.”

Do you want to change your story?

My life’s work is to help people create a life and a living they love, surround themselves with dolphin friends who have their back and have fun doing it!

Chellie Campbell, Financial Stress Reduction Expert, is the author of bestselling books The Wealthy Spirit, Zero to Zillionaire, and From Worry to Wealthy: A Woman’s Guide to Financial Success Without the Stress. She has been treating Money Disorders like Spending Bulimia and Income Anorexia in her Financial Stress Reduction® Workshops for over 25 years and is still speaking, writing, and teaching workshops—now as Zoom classes and The Wealthy Spirit Group on Facebook—with participants from all over the world. Website: www.chellie.com.