None of us ever imagine we will lose our jobs, homes, spouses or everything we own but for me it happened for real pretty much over night, leaving me completely unprepared for survival without money. Although my humble beginnings all those years ago had taught me many skills for survival, back then I was not suffering from status anxiety.
(The fear that being or having been financially poor makes you less of a person in other people’s eyes, or even in your own.)
(The fear that being or having been financially poor makes you less of a person in other people’s eyes, or even in your own.)
Even though I was born into poverty, when I lost all my money it was hard to reconcile those feelings of my past with the world of money I had become accustomed to, for fear of being judged. I found to get beyond poverty I had to start to value myself and stop measuring my worth by the standards of others around me. In effect I had to step off the treadmill and stand still for a while. Without the possibility of another well paid job in the pipeline, I was forced to find out what my purpose in this life was in order to be really happy going forward. I had to go back to the start and decide what my core values and goals were. Did I want to be materially rich again and miserable or could I imagine my life materially poor but rich in spirit.
The truth is, as soon as I became rich I was never humble about my roots or where I came from, how hard I had worked to get there or how difficult my life was at the beginning for fear of being judged by others, instead I just made up a second life to keep up with the Jones. Having humility is about being kind to yourself and to others and I practise it everyday now which why I am happy with my real life. When we compare ourselves to others who have more than we do, we feel small and insignificant and when we compare ourselves to those who have little, we don't always feel grateful, something so important for your journey to true happiness, regardless of financial status. The more you have, the more you spend and the less you care about security because you think you are invincible.
One great top tip for those who just cannot bring themselves right now to face life on a budget for fear of being judged by friends, is take your old empty bottle of designer shampoo and fill it up with a cheap supermarket brand because in reality its the expensive packaging you pay over the odds for in the first place.
Your situation may seem difficult to change but it is possible so always hope for the best and leave your status anxiety to the rest!
Venus Cow is a free brutal truth, common sense life coaching course with a free on-line journal for you to work on yourself and learn how to make better choices in your search for happiness without money based on my own riches to rags experience.
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