Provocative title huh?
Actually, AIDS here stands for Acute Income Deficiency Syndrome.
Papa coined the term last May during my niece's baptism and surmised I'll be suffering from this later. Back then, I was fresh from my resignation and was still enjoying my honeymoon phase.
But yes. It did strike me. I got sick.
Actually, AIDS has less to do with money but with one's overall emotional state. Before I resigned, I already took a careful look at my financials and, considering my current expenses, estimated I'll be okay for six to eight months (provided that I go back to my parent's house). I saved and invested a decent sum of money then and I was sure I can survive on my rainy day fund until I found another job.
What I didn't account for however was the generalized anxiety associated with losing money. Every time I looked at my bank account, I got sad. Plus, the added uncertainty of the job hunt just magnified my already bad feelings.
So I suffered some "psychosomatic" symptoms along the way: loss of appetite, insomnia, tummy aches, the occasional migraine, and other stuff.
But the sickness did give me an insight on why people can be rich and not wealthy or vice-versa. Being rich simply means you're loaded with cash and assets. Being wealthy, on the other hand, means you go to sleep at night without having to worry about your financial status.
So, given these definitions, if one has a hundred million in the bank but he goes home concerned that it might disappear in a cataclysmic event, one is rich but not wealthy. In contrast, if one owns significantly less but is already content with what he has, he may not be rich but he's wealthy. He's a lucky guy.
Get my point?
But yes. It did strike me. I got sick.
Actually, AIDS has less to do with money but with one's overall emotional state. Before I resigned, I already took a careful look at my financials and, considering my current expenses, estimated I'll be okay for six to eight months (provided that I go back to my parent's house). I saved and invested a decent sum of money then and I was sure I can survive on my rainy day fund until I found another job.
What I didn't account for however was the generalized anxiety associated with losing money. Every time I looked at my bank account, I got sad. Plus, the added uncertainty of the job hunt just magnified my already bad feelings.
So I suffered some "psychosomatic" symptoms along the way: loss of appetite, insomnia, tummy aches, the occasional migraine, and other stuff.
But the sickness did give me an insight on why people can be rich and not wealthy or vice-versa. Being rich simply means you're loaded with cash and assets. Being wealthy, on the other hand, means you go to sleep at night without having to worry about your financial status.
So, given these definitions, if one has a hundred million in the bank but he goes home concerned that it might disappear in a cataclysmic event, one is rich but not wealthy. In contrast, if one owns significantly less but is already content with what he has, he may not be rich but he's wealthy. He's a lucky guy.
Get my point?
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