Pausing before I type, as I attempt to organize my thoughts from the spontaneous title that just swept through me, I note that we humans live moment by moment in the flurry of events. All of us abide in a world of macroeconomics, social systems, global issues that affect our microeconomics, our personal and social circles and individual issues. And where does our attention go? Attention follows what is most urgent (reactive) or intentional (awareness). At any given moment we can be reacting or we can be awake.
For me, in this moment my attention goes to the micro aspects of life with transitions. More specifically, aging parents, the sale of their summer home, clearing out the material possessions in that home, navigating familial waters at myriad levels of consciousness, and personally growing and clearing some of the debris I hold as a part of this family system.
At the same time, I am attending to “my” family. Children launched and yet they continue to relate to us with their questions, issues and growing up needs. The death of my mother-in-law and her estate settling, while her son, my spouse, attempts to manage these affairs and process his own grief.
At the same time, managing a business with many members and new talent.
At the same time, developing Somatic Finance® – bringing the wisdom of our body to expand views, practices and systems for integrating and evolving money.
At the same time… add whatever comes to mind, where attention goes.
All of us are immersed in the macro and micro at every moment. And the problem with the title “hold it all” is that we don’t hold anything. We can only abide in this moment where our attention takes us based upon our intentions. Our desire to be comfortable and in control believes that we hold it all. Let me bring this conversation to the practical, the exterior work of financial planning.
Paying bills, saving for retirement, revising liability protection, refinancing debt, investing wisely, establishing a charitable fund are typical actions in financial planning. These actions are the movement, the changing tasks that follow an interior inquiry of what matters most – now? What matters most now is an evolving question we ask to meet the macro and micro matters of your life. We all navigate life with similarities and differences – depending upon our stage in life, of course – but also more importantly, what matters deeply to us concerning these areas: health, relationships, money, legacy (purpose), and career.
For satisfying actions, we must ask the present question of what matters most, then explore the interior of why this matters so that the connection from our deepest longing to action taking has a bridge to communicate. Otherwise we risk actions that have little meaning or wandering in a fog of confusion or both. When we attend to what matters most with skillful action, our attention frees up for what’s next with confidence and intention. For example, when monthly bill paying is established in an auto-pay system, attention frees up to visit elderly parents every six weeks. When regular visits to elderly parents is in a rhythm, attention frees up for self-care and other-care.
The essence of a wealthy life is the integration of financial achievement – navigating complex or confusing financial structures, transitions and goals – and your unique values and passions. This integration weaves the interior and the exterior and helps us to focus on what Matters Most in the present. Now, more than ever before, we experience the rapid movement of life and the changes happening more frequently on the Macro and Micro level. When you feel overwhelmed by having to “hold it all”, take a moment and reflect and complete this sentence.
Your response becomes the bridge for focusing on those tasks that have the most meaning for you. And, if you have not told us already your answers, please send us your completed sentence.
