The Financial Penitentiary

I doubt if you have been there. A place more or less like purgatory. I bet you, you won't like to go down there. But you must one day after unrepentantly breaking the codes of finance.

You must be there to learn the very hard way. The way that reveals you to you and makes you reflect on your bad financial habits.

You must be there before given another chance to thrive so as not to mis-use this opportunity because it might be your last.

The universe sends those she truly loves down there so that they could have first hand lessons on never-again-squander-money.

"What is the financial Penintentiary?" You may still be wondering. My dear, it is that ugly state one finds self after promising and promising over and over again to be wise with funds but never true to those promises.

You get a big buck today but yesterday, you were broke and had compelling ideas on what you could do and what you would do if you get funds. But as soon as the money comes, you forget all about the ideas you had while you were broke.

We keep making these mistakes over and over gain. But a time comes when the universe will turn her back on you, when your prayers will stink and it will seem as though your whole world is crashing down.

Those you had lavished your money with won't help you and you will start labelling them as ingrates. This is the time you will realize— "NObody really cares" and "nobody can help you" except you help yourself.

You will be locked up in this financial correctional state for longer than you expect. Before, you get broke for days before intervention but now, you must be broke for months or even years.

The N1000 note that used to be chicken change to you will now seem as a million naira. This time, sense will fall on you. You will learn to fast by force.

You will master hunger and get used to "soaking garri" You won't even care if there is sugar or not. Oga! you go dey drink am dey go just to survive.

Ma, the financial penintentiary no be beans o, it's not child's play. The universe during this time makes sure you learn lessons through hunger, neglect, dejection and maintain a contrite spirit. You will be broken and forcefully humbled so that next time, you will have sense when it comes to spending.

I bet you, if you have been here before, and out, you won't want to come back  and if you have never been there, in the voice of 2face "You don't wanna go down there"

BROKE AGAIN

Provided in this article is a major lesson the almighty universal mammon has taught me and I hope you can relate. But it’s funny how we refuse to learn from this lesson. We keep repeating the same mistakes all over like we enjoy it or we are addicted or something.

Imagine a man who is broke. I mean, very broke. This man has been searching for a freelance job. Let’s say he’s a writer. Heavens so good, he got this lucrative offer to help create contents for a major consumer company. The contract was simple. You work, we check your work and if we like it, we pay. I do not care how much he was offered, all I know is that he was dead broke before this job.

As a broke and hungry man, he worked his ass out and delivered his best. To cut the whole story short, he was paid. Immediately he received the payment, he went shopping and before he got back home, the money was gone. I mean he had spent every penny. Now, he’s back to square one. Broke again.

The funny thing is— while he was broke, he made a whole lot of promises to himself that the next money he gets was going to be optimally utilized. He was going to invest it no matter how small the investment was. But after he got paid, his senses flew off. He completely forgot his broke days. The money he got changed him. His true nature was revealed.

I bet, majority can relate to this story. While we are broke, we seem to be very wise. Financial intelligence seems to dominate our faculties but the moment we get money, we forget our initial state. We squander this hard earned dough on short ranged goals, pleasure, addictions and the like. Then we remember the list of investments we had written in that book of ideas when we were broke. We all have that book don’t we? Lol.

 We are always smarter when we don’t have much. We become chief financial advisers to those who have and a chief judge, judging how those who have should spend their money. We even go as far as rendering unkind remarks about the rich when they make investments we don’t find reasonable. Wow! What a reasonable broke man we have become.

When the money comes, I mean when the sunny days replace the gray skies, the reasonable broke man becomes a foolish rich man. And it’s a cycle. Since the foolish rich man who we become for a few days has no means of recycling funds, he becomes broke again.

The question is— “when or how can the reasonable broke man become a wise rich man?” When will this foolish rich man stop squandering funds and remain rich?

This is the major problem majority face in the society. Running through the day in a system designed to make us rich then poor before the month ends. It is the cycle and that’s how it has been designed— a rat race.

Only few break off from this cycle. They are mainly those who we call boss. I mean true bosses , not the self-acclaimed boss who fools himself or herself on social media.  The CEO of your company, the owner of your school, the founder of your church…… Those are the real bosses. They own, they make the rules, they are free, they are in charge. They are not bound by the rules they make but you are once you are in their organization. They feed you, they do not force you, you have no choice.

But I tell you today, YOU have a choice.

The only way out of this Always-broke-again cycle is to become one of them.  Create yours and make it work. Make it work for others. Until then, you will remain a reasonable broke man or a foolish rich man who has coins for a limited time before becoming broke again.