For most of my life I was what could best be described as financially
indifferent. I didn’t keep track of money coming in and I certainly didn’t keep
track of it going out. Utility bills were what they were, gas prices didn’t
faze me, I bought whatever looked tempting at the grocery store, and
convenience shopping won over comparison shopping hands down. I had multiple credit
cards, all operating at maximum capacity. And if friends or family members
asked my advice, I could be depended on to rationalize a big house, a new car, take-out
food and an all-frills vacation for them. In my view, money should be exchanged
for happiness and the less money, the more happiness.
So that went on for a long time. Then about 2 years ago I
got divorced and did a financial about face. The money I had (or didn’t have)
wasn’t about happiness, it was all that stood between me and homelessness. Money
meant not showing up on my mother’s doorstep with a suitcase. And that meant
taking stock. It has been a 2-year process. I started with selling my half of
the house, then I sold everything in the house that I didn’t need. It turned
out I didn’t need a lot. When I had all the money in a figurative pile, I paid
off the credit cards, moved to a one-bedroom apartment, bought store brand groceries
in bulk, changed to energy-efficient light bulbs, stopped using the air
conditioner and started washing clothes only when they were good and dirty. I
drove less and rode a rented bicycle. I downgraded my phone after I decided paying
$200 a month wasn’t that “smart.”I read internet tips on saving money and
realized that I already did most of them. I learned how to invest money and
started buying stocks and mutual funds and kept track of gains and losses. I
allocated half my paycheck to my retirement account.
It turns out money can’t buy happiness. Being in control of
money does. Actually it buys something more enduring than happiness,
contentment and peace of mind.
To me, this life lesson translates to teaching as a way of
providing the different, but no less vital commodity of knowledge. Until
students realize they are masters of their own destiny, taking control of their
own learning, owning what they learn and appreciating the value of that
knowledge, they will be “educationally indifferent.”
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