I realized that a major reason why people are broke is because it’s wayyyyy more fun…Yeah I said it…it’s more fun. I mean really, when you have money you already know the outcome; the outcome is whatever you want it to be…really not much creative effort there.What can I create if I already know what I will get? It’s like playing the lotto and knowing you will win…what’s the fun in that?

The fun in playing the lotto is not so much whether you win or lose but how you feel and the emotions that flow over you from the point where you decide to buy a ticket until the drawing takes place. The fun is to buy the ticket, hope you will win, think about all the wonderful things you will do with the money and sit in front of the TV with your heart in your hands as the numbers roll…the anticipation, the excitement…the drama. Will I win or not?…stay tuned to find out.

I realized that one of the reasons people are and remain poor is that it makes them feel alive. This is the key to a lot of life…This is the key to your entire life! Yeah we’ve all heard that the key to life and what people will do anything for is to survive, but if you break down survival what is it? – Knowing and realizing that you are ALIVE…

How do we know that we are alive when we feel that we basically live pretty boring lives? Well enter stage right our mini dramas that constantly remind us that we are alive. Throughout history man has struggled to survive…animals trying to kill us and we had to go out to hunt…but now fast forward several hundred years and most of us live away from deadly creatures, and the only hunting we do is in our grocery aisles, and so we have had to be a little more creative.

We no longer have the stories to tell of how we escaped a deadly tiger and killed it for food so what’s left?…For us to create these little story lines that show how difficult our life truly is and how we have conquered it. It’s more fun to NOT know how you will survive for the next week; it’s more fun to wonder where the money will come from to buy gas, pay the rent and then to figure out ‘Hey, I’ve got a solution!’ It’s more fun to be in pain and anguish because you cannot afford something…Most people believe that having money is boring. What do rich people do all day?…shop, lunch and then spend the rest of their life bored silly…

Don’t believe me?…Let’s analyse this: When you are broke and you need $40 to buy gas you now have to think ‘How will I get to work with no gas? How will I get money to buy gas?’
There is a problem, and you can now become your own superhero, saving the day by figuring out ‘Hey, I’ll borrow some money from my friend Jo Doe to solve the problem.’

‘I’m a genius’ you think, then you have to go ask Jo and then wait for an answer, then you have back-up plans in case Jo says no…You feel embarrassed to borrow gas money, pain that you can’t afford the gas, anxiety about whether you will get the money, fear about running out of gas. Let’s look at another situation. Your rent is due…you have no money. You don’t answer your phone can’t risk the landlord getting you on the phone…you hear footsteps…’Oh my god maybe he’s coming!’ You are filled with paralyzing fear, anxiety, dread…what if we get put out on the street, we will have no place to sleep…everyone will know I am broke…Loads of emotions to keep reminding you how alive you truly are…

…but when you have money, the problem is already solved, isn’t it? Have no gas? Go to the gas station, pull out your wallet and pay for the gas. No problem! No emotion. Rent due? Write a check, pay the landlord. No emotion, no problems. No paid advertisers (we will come to that in a minute). No struggle, no solution to find…pretty darn boring don’t you think?

Most of us have spent 99% of our lives fixing problems, finding solutions. We can’t let a simple thing like being rich mess with a good thing, now can we?! You keep wanting to find solutions to show the creative genius that is you. After all, you must be alive or else you couldn’t have lived through no money for groceries. You couldn’t have lived through the gas drama and just like a soap opera…you never know what will happen next, so stay tuned for tomorrow’s show to see if you will have enough food, money, clothes, gas or if you’ll even survive…

This article is excerpted from the book ‘You’re Not Rich Because Your Life is a Min Drama’ by Ophelia Nicholson.