In dreams, money symbolizes change.

Simple as that.

Money, in and of itself, is not an actual thing. Money is a representation of energy, of one point turning into another. The way I see it, it kind of works like this: You work. You get money. You buy stuff.

You’re not working for the money. You’re working for the stuff. Money is the middle man, the agreed upon unit of exchange that allows you to move from point A to point B with ease. Let’s pretend:

So there’s this guy Joe and he works at a crappy job. Let’s say he makes extension cords. Ok, so Joe has his eye on a new pair of steel toed boots. Now, we all daydream about once again living in a society that lives on the barter system, but realistically, it would take several extension cords to equal the value of one pair of boots. This trade might initially be a good deal for the shoe shop guy (because who doesn’t like extension cords) but there’s a hitch: boots are an item that must be replaced with some regularity. Extension cords? Not so much.

So here’s Joe, sitting on top of a pile of extension cords, tapping his well worn toe. What can he do? He could line up a system of trade, where he wrangles up everyone he knows that might need an extension cord, organizes a complex system of exchange (extension cord for three pounds of butter from Jack, the dairy farmer; extension cord for six pounds of oranges from Lucy, the slightly eccentric orange grove owner who has those things coming out of her ears for a couple of months a year; and anything and anyone that the boot shop owner might have an interest in.

That’s a lot of work for a pair of boots.

Joe also needs pants, a new fly rod, the tires on his truck rotated, and a six pack of beer. While that may not necessarily be a lot of extension cords, it is a lot of organization on Joe’s part in order to secure the barters and trades to get what he needs. To make life easy for everyone, there was a unit of measurement created long, long ago that is used to determine how many extension cords it takes to sustain Joe’s life and interests.

It’s called money.

There’s nothing bad about money. Money just is. It’s like air, water, wind, gravity. It’s mobile, indifferent, it changes. There’s no attachment involved. In very, very simple terms, money is a shortcut on the path of getting from Point A to Point B.

Your job does not determine your worth.

The product or service that you engage in all day determines the worth of your job. Not you.

You always have a choice. It may not always be a good choice or an easy choice, but you always have a choice.

As for me, I choose an unstable, high risk path that may or may not pan out. It’s true. The work that I focus my attention on has done very little to support us in the last several months, but I know that the foundation is there and that the day will soon come. When I set out on my own with two kids in tow, I knew there would be uncertainties. I knew it would be hard.

So I called a friend.

A friend who knows a whole lot about money. What it takes to start from nothing. What it takes to manage wealth.

And you know what? He’s been gracious enough to invest in this space and teach you too. Starting this Thursday, we’ll be sitting fireside with The Money Guy.