Last month I wrote about the importance of drawing up money priorities and its impact on individual health. There were other thoughts on money I wanted to share. I promised to do so in my next column, so here goes.

I grew up believing money is unworthy of notice. How that happened I’ll never know. Maybe I always knew that I had my family to fall back on and could afford to be disdainful towards mammon. As long as I had enough to get by, I never cared to save or give a thought to the future. Perhaps because of this mental make-up it was always important for me to keep a job or business alive rather than worry about bottom lines. I instinctively knew that if I kept my overhead expenses low, my business would keep going. That also gave me the liberty to spend occasionally on whatever my heart fancied if there was extra cash in my wallet at any given point of time.

However the day of reckoning came when in the course of running my organic foods business, one fine day I sent my office boy to draw Rs.5,000 from the bank and he was sent back empty handed because there was a mere Rs.187 balance in my account. Surprisingly the bank had allowed the balance to drop below the Rs.500 minimum required to be maintained.

That was a turning point in my life and in my attitude towards money. It was then that I decided to set myself a few monetary goals. Not because I needed material goods or couldn’t meet my basic needs. I think on that day I learned that even if one’s needs are simple, money is power. Power that can be used whichever way one decides to use it. It is neither evil per se nor a necessary evil, but simply a medium of exchange which heavily influences the life of every individual. But the importance you accord money, is entirely upto you.

In India there is a schizophrenic attitude towards money. On the one hand we pray to goddess Lakshmi for material prosperity, and on the other perhaps because of the pervasive poverty that surrounds us, there is widespread guilt about it. It reminds me of what a wise cousin of mine says, “Money cannot buy happiness but there is no happiness without money.” How true.

In this connection a quotation from an insightful book Omni Reveals the Four Principles of Creation by John L. Payne, (Soul Zone publications) is revealing: All things in your physical world are representative of the non-physical… Money is in a triangle of association with power and love. If you associate money with power and see power as dangerous, as something you are not to be trusted with, or as something that is harmful or lacking in love, then money will find it difficult to bless your life with its presence. There are many powerful beliefs in society that have embedded themselves deep within your consciousness. You have sayings such as, filthy rich, money doesn’t grow on trees, money is the root of all evil, and many others. Often people are hush-hush about money, sometimes feeling ashamed if they have too much or too little. In many organisations salaries are kept secret for fear that those who have less will resent those who have more. Money is very powerful, and why? It is your physical manifestation of the energies of love and power. When you have issues with money, you always, always, have issues surrounding self-love and appreciation and feelings of powerlessness. You either fear that you don’t have any power, or that, if you do, it cannot be trusted. Money is not the issue, and never was. The issue is always about your perception of yourself and how you feel about who you are.”

This book is truly worth reading. It made me take a hard look at myself and to thank God I had survived inspite of my negativity towards money and reckless spending, lending and giving away. Anyway since that fateful day when I discovered I had only Rs.187 in my bank account I decided to take charge of money in my life. Not only did I not delay in collecting my dues, but I set a target of the minimum balance I would henceforth maintain in my business bank account. At that point I decided it would be Rs.100,000. With a more disciplined attitude and respect for money, I achieved the target sooner than I imagined. The following year I made it Rs.200,000. Not being a highly ambitious person, I haven’t set sky-high targets. But I have no doubt that if one decided to reach for the sky, it would happen.

I end by quoting from yet another insightful book given to me by the same publisher friend — God bless her! — Creating Money by Sanaya Roman & Duane Parker. Here is what the authors have to say: “Money is magnetic; it flows and circulates. The more it flows and circulates, the richer a society is, just as the more times inventory turns over, the more prosperous a store becomes. Prosperity comes when giving and receiving are flowing freely. When you create money, you also spend it. You buy products, services, food and things that give you joy. The more you feel good about sending out your money, the more magnetic your money becomes. When you pay your bills, do so with a generous attitude, remembering that you are adding to the circle of money; you are enriching society. Imagine that as you do so, at least ten times more than the amount you pay out is coming back to you. Joy is an important attitude that will increase your prosperity.”

Try to be joyful about spending money productively; it works. While paying your bills remember also that you are receiving a service or commodity that you need. So be it a telephone/ electricity bill or your rent, pay it gladly. In fact thank the service and bless it for being available to you.

It’s important to change our money mindsets if we are to benefit from money matters. Doing so will make getting and spending a joyful rather than stressful exercise.

(Kavita Mukhi is a Mumbai-based eco-nutritionist and CEO of Conscious Food)