Are you measuring success by your finances?

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I have been thinking a lot about how truly blessed I am of late.  Even though I don’t have the material things I once possessed, I am now developing something so much more important.   When I used money as the measuring stick for success, I constantly ended up disappointed.   I am convinced that most of the anxiety that I have had in my life was the tension between what I should have been and what I actually became.  My anxiety was the realization that I might not reach that certain rung on the social ladder for which I had set for myself, forsaking all others to try and get there.  Looking back on my life, one of the most destructive things I have experienced was the desire to be more than I was created to be.   It was an unwillingness to let myself remain where I was in life and to be content with who I was.  Using money as the measuring stick for my life was the single most destructive thing that I could do.  This was because no matter how much my financial situation improved or weakened, with each level, there was a perimeter formed that existed where certain things were just outside my reach, financially.  So, at the end of the day,  I would constantly feel this  sense of lack without regard to where I actually was on the economic scale of success.   

Success needs to be measured not by the financial strength of our balance sheet but by the strength of our conviction to God and to the things that truly matter in life.  For if we only judge ourselves for what we have here on earth, we will be judged for that behavior as we move to eternity.  Money is not bad.  Its what we do with it and where it falls on our list of priorities.  When it becomes the all consuming,  most important thing in our life, it is time to re-evaluate and re-align our ideas and our priorities.  For happiness is a present attitude and not a future condition.  Happiness is with us now or it isn’t.  And, an extra few bucks or a new car isn’t going to give us that happiness that burns to be deep in our soul.   That only comes from God and from prioritizing life.   
So for those of you who are measuring success by your finances, take a minute to evaluate where you are in life and how happy you would be should you lose it all.   If you would still be thankful, then you have your priorities straight.  If you would consider jumping out a window, you may need to re-evaluate.  Then, make a commitment not to look at money the same way again.