I met with a guy the other day who has been divorced twice and each time just gave his wife everything of their material wealth in their separation. He just walked away from his money.
I asked him about it and he shared an interesting insight: that for most people money is their God, and that, by walking away from 100% of his wealth, he felt great about the separation, and his children from both circumstances, and his ex, thought good of him for it which, resulted in him feeling right about making the money back again really quickly, without much trouble.
I look back at my own divorce where a court decided our settlement and it was more than I wanted to give. So I felt betrayed by the court, resentful about the settlement and caused my ex to be bitter about the generous amounts she received. All she remembered was the fight, the ugliness of my worship of money over friendship, and all I remembered was being an arsehole, and being cheated by the court during the cruelty of our fight.
Unlike my friend I didn't quickly make the money back because I felt like a real prick, felt angry, felt bitter about the settlement and felt like a loser over the disempowering circumstance. In retrospect, money was my God and i put it before the welfare of my children.
You see, the bitter taste I put in my ex wife's mouth was what she remembered when it was my time to pick up the kids, to have my time, to enjoy being their father. All she could remember, in spite of the generous court decided percentage of our wealth was how hard I'd made it for her to break clean and how I'd used the money to, in some way, "punish" her for our circumstance.
In 2009 I think it was, Julia Gillard the Australian Prime Minister gave every Australian a bonus payment of around $1,000. Most people spent that freebie on electronic goods like TV sets and other white goods which were 99% imports, so the money, I think $30 Billion dollars, blew away overseas to China and a few Aussie retailers made a buck or two in the process. So, you could say, it was a waste of money.
But one thing came of that bonus, and that thing was confidence. Australians were basically told that while the world was sinking in a Global Financial Crisis, we were flush, confident and buying TV's. Her strategy, or that of Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, more than stimulate the monetary economy of Australia, stimulated confidence, gave some emotional stimulation to a country, like others in the World, on the brink of trouble.
By arresting the emotional sinking, Australia's Government arrested the real sinking of the economy. Our emotions, how we feel about ourselves and our money is deeply routed in our ability to earn more, to drive through troubles and uncertainty. And that's why I think, in retrospect my friend who gave his ex wife a "more than she expected deal" .. voluntarily and willingly without resentment, acted more in the interests of his children, than I did in my divorce settlement.
Money is a God, especially to those who fear losing it. Money is, for a single mum, a whole different icon that it is to a single dad, no matter how you see it, somehow there's a difference in the value of it. Money given by decree is vastly different money to money voluntarily given in consciousness. A generous settlement in a separation will result in a "Gillard" affirmation of positive memory and that, frankly, is the best gift a separating father can give to his children (or child!).
Feeling like an arse, or having an ex who treats you like an arse because of the fight that had to have to get their "perceived value" in a "letting go" process will cause more poverty than any divorce settlement you can imagine. I cost me years of my life and millions of my potential wealth.
Conscious separation means "leave a great taste" in the mind and heart of those you are separating from. Stay positive about your goodness and kindness. Cause an indelible memory of generosity, warmth and appreciation. And, don't be attached to how that percentage of your wealth is used or abused. It's not yours.
Finally, the future value of present money is small, so commit to the best settlement and a discretionary future commitment to outgoings rather than err to the opposite. For example, if the school fees for the next 10 years are $15,000 - give it in the settlement and negotiate how best to preserve it for use over the 10 years.
With Love and Inspiration to my Three Beautiful Children who see past the bitterness I caused by making money my God over everything else all those twenty five years ago,
Sent from my iPad
"Evolve Consultant - We help individuals, teams, families, corporations and communities evolve through challenging times because evolving is happier, better, faster than changing"
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