A very blissful morning

I had a wonderful morning today.

For a change, I asked a client out for breakfast. There was no other purpose of meeting, like reviewing his financial plans, but just to find out how he is doing. It's not new to me, just that I almost never (if not, never) meet a client on weekends unless it is extremely urgent.

This wasn't the first time I had breakfast with this client on a Saturday either (except the other time really had work involved), and this isn't the first time I met him dressed in casual attire, but today is the first time I met him being just me. Not Financial Advisor me, but just me.

The things we spoke about were not new either. He talked about his work, his girlfriend, his parents, his aspirations, and I talked about my family, my God, my work, my aspirations. But today was really completely different.

After 2 hours at McDonald's, we said goodbye, and I decided to head to a nearby shopping centre which I have not been for a long time. I took my time wandering about, marvelling at the huge change of shops in there, and even more marvelling at those shops who were still there since I was a kid.

I had no thought about my work or personal life troubles. My mind was entirely on a holiday.

I was curious about almost everything I saw. I stopped by at shops and peered into the windows. I browsed at books and bought 2. I was warm and friendly to the people working in the shops, and I had little or no agenda to anything and everything I did.

I was amazed at a small CD shop in the shopping centre that sold albums I never thought I'd ever see again. I didn't have any intent to buy any, but I was on free mode, and just took my time browsing without fear of being embarrassed of taking up the shop's space. The shop owner was watching a Claire Danes movie on TV, and I decided to head home fast to catch the rest of it.

Lunch was packed and I headed home by bus (wife took the car for the day). The house was peaceful and I folded my legs on the sofa and watched the Claire Danes movie - Shopgirl - while occasionally reading the book I bought and munching my lunch. I spoke to myself about my views about the show, and laughed heartily at light moments.

Yes, today's entry has little, or not at all, anything about financial planning. In fact, the only thing about financial planning I want to speak about is, wealth is not just about the money you have. Instead, wealth is a state of mind. I have read about and met men with lots of money and having the most miserable lives that you can possibly imagine. I have read about families with money just enough to pay the bills, but they are so blissful and filled with love. As far as I am concerned, the "poor" family is far wealthier than that rich man.

Today's episode had nothing to do with money, but the state of mind that I was blessed with. Even without thoughts of money, I sure felt like the most blessed man in the whole wide world. Monday will come whereby my mind refocuses on the technical aspects of managing my clients' money. The middle of the month will come when the mailbox is flooded with bills to pay again. But till the day that I can look at all these with lesser concern about what the money I have can do, I sure think it's wiser to count my blessings of what God gives me today -- even if it's just a blissful state of mind.

You should too.