Some issues have come up in my parish over the past couple of days, that reminded me of "poverty". And it has reminded me, that poverty is very much a state of mind. It has nothing to do with the bank-balance (or lack thereof :-) ... at least when we are dealing with literate women, the kind that can afford and knows how to use a computer.

So ... Here's my point : You can be broke or you can be poor.
I have frequently been broke, but I don't think I have ever been poor.
I have had months, where I - with a sinking heart - realized that (the equivalent of) that 50 $ bill was my total budget for the next 4 weeks, once the rent had been paid.
I'm still standing, and so is my family.
Being broke and having too few money in your purse means living with that hole in the sock, slightly longer than is comfortable, means more macaroni without cheese, lots of potatoes, it means second-hand clothes, and not very much of the nice stuff, but you'll live.

Being poor on the other hand, is a state of mind, where you deny yourself, and deny your own dreams, wishes and work ... or, go overboard the other way, spend far more than you have, because you feel so sorry for yourself, and "everyone else" (wonder who they are, btw, never met them in any of the neighbourhoods I ever lived in :-)... "everyone else" has "every thing", and they are happy because they have "every thing", and I'm unhappy, becaus I have no-thing
... does anyone see the flaw here ?

Being poor means feeling sorry for oneself.
Being poor means depriving oneself (and those closest and dearest to same self) of joy.
Being poor means believing that money is the problem.

Well, here's the news :
Money isn't the problem. Just as it isn't the solution.
What might be a solution to the poverty-issue is a change of mind.
Money is a tool. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Some tools are suitable for one kind of work, other tools are suitable for other kinds of work.
We wouldn't dream of using hammer-and-nails to put a quilt together, they are inapproriate tools for that. But we also know, that needle and thread wouldn't get far with a faulty faucet ;-)

So : money, being poor, being rich, being broke, having too much or too little or not the right things or ... is very much a question on how you use the tool-box of your life :-)
First step is : getting your priorities straight.
And here I can - finally - use one of my favourite quotes : Personal isn't the same as important.

If being slim, wearing nice, fashionable, designer-clothes is your personal goal, then that's nice, but it does not automatically follow, that this goal is important. At least not if you compare it to the need for you and your family to survive.
You may be able to afford that dream / goal, but what if you can't do so, and still have new brakes for the car ? (and if you can afford a car, you're not poor, no, really, you're not !)
New brakes for the car aren't romantic or exotic, but they are essential, if you want to be a safe driver.
But even new brakes, or a car, is not as essential as food, necessary to keep your household together.
Food is essential
Brakes are important.
The new coat with the right tag on the back is just personal.

So. Let's face it. We who can afford our own computer, and access to the internet do not have serious money-problems. We can prioritize our spending, and if you put "needs" first and "importants" next, you might well be surprised at how many "wants" you can also afford most of the time :-)

Yes, I know, there are people, a terrifying amount of people, who cannot afford to eat every day, who have no place to sleep, who are wearing clothes that have been handed down so many times, that they should have been handed into the trash 4 times ago.
Compare yourself to those, and THEN tell me you are poor !

No. For people with their own computer, poverty is a state of mind.

So, what to do about it ?
I would start by praying :-)
I would pray to find enlightenment, wisdom and love to help me through this poverty of mind, and then I would practise opening my eyes.
Seeing what I have, rather than what I haven't.
Seeing what is there, rather than what is not.
Seeing, that I don't have to have it all, but that less actually IS more in most cases.

You are not poor.
You may be broke this month, but ... remember the lillies of the field. They neither work nor prepare, and yet, they are clad in more splendor than even king Solomon.
So ... let your poverty go. Find out if you're broke this month or not, and start prioritizing.
Needs first.
Importants second
and only when those two have been met : Wants

God speed on this particular journey :-)