In making a far-reaching financial decision, I was asked: “does this make you feel powerful or powerless?”
Now I’d have to say, it depends.
J. Paul Getty once said, “If it appreciates, buy. If it depreciates, lease.”
Boy was he ever right about that!
To curb expenses several years ago, I chose to buy rather than lease both my car and my laptop. But you can’t cut costs to prosperity any more than you can borrow your way out of debt.
My Saab hasn’t been right since the accident in May. There’s a possibility that the frame was bent; it should have been “totaled.” It also has some age deterioration that needs repair.
I’m having an “l” of a time with the “l” sticking on my laptop. While my desire wants a new toy, Wisdom says it’s more prudent to replace the part. Why spend $800 when $45 does the job?
In the past, when a car troubled me, I traded it in. BMW won’t go forward on ice and snow. Hello front-wheel drive. I replaced parts on my laptop, but when the warranty ran out, I leased a new laptop.
I have some sense that this is my karma – chickens coming home to roost. All the time I avoided facing up to the mess I was in, I worried: what if something goes wrong with my car? What if I need cash for that?
And so it is.
Today I am not in a financial position to either buy or lease. Repair expenses are mounting. Cash reserves are dwindling.
I’m feeling powerless. Am I?
Money always equals power, doesn’t it? But quite frankly, money comes and goes, ebbs and flows in my life. Maybe this juncture offers an opportunity to take a different view of what’s powerful.
Powerful is being able to delay gratification. Powerful is being willing to wait. Powerful is setting and sticking to priorities. Needs must be weighed against conflicting desires. Some needs must give way. Today. All in good time. Powerful is cutting your losses. Powerful is deferring to forces beyond one’s control. For example, we can’t control the weather. We can modify our role in climate change. Powerful is owning my choices and accepting my consequences with grace and humor. Powerful is admitting I erred and cleaning up the mess. Powerful is letting go the mistake and keeping the lesson. Powerful is forgiving myself and loving myself in all my glory and my messes. Powerful is recognizing what I can change in my attitude and action. Powerful is following through. Patience. Persistence. Poise. These are my allies. Powerful is turning it over.
I can’t know the outcome. Whatever, it’s all to the good.
