Hope for your financial life and beyond

There’s a Robber Stripping You of Wealth

Hidden Nuggets #19 – “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest; So shall your poverty come like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.”  – Proverbs 24:33-34 ID-10074458

Robbers are all of a sudden a common topic for my 5-yr. old son. Several weeks ago his well-intentioned 7-yr. old sister informed him that there are people who sometimes come and steal little children away. She’s trying to help him be wary of strangers.

Now all the shadows in his room at night have him worried. A little bit of fear has crept into his mind. He is realizing, perhaps for the first time, the world is not altogether safe and he’s worried about being separated from his family.

However, in his unsettled frame of mind, he is forgetting all the elements we have put in place at our house for his protection. Dead bolt locks on the doors. The monitored security system. Two skeptical dogs that bark at ANYTHING! An equalizer locked in the gun safe.

We’ve taken measures at our home to protect ourselves from thieves. We have also taken measures in our personal lives to protect ourselves from ever experiencing poverty. That’s a place we never plan to go, mostly because we are not letting ourselves become vulnerable to it.

How so? By working hard.

In Proverbs 24, the Bible says that poverty and need can creep upon you like a prowler or an armed man. It’s sneaky, unexpected, and even deadly. It’s so subtle, you may not see it coming until it’s too late. And those who are most vulnerable are the lazy.

Know anybody that sleeps away the day? Or a 20-something college dropout still living at home, lighting up the X-box all day long? Anyone in your circle addicted to Instagram instead of searching the want ads?

Our bodies do need rest to rejuvenate and I’m not against forms of entertainment. In fact, later today I’ll watch some TV with my kids, then crawl into my Sleep Number bed and enjoy a restful night. But that will be after a long day of hard work. I haven’t been lying in my bed all day doing nothing.

Laziness is an emotional disease. It shatters people’s hopes and dreams. It robs them of success. And when that happens, poverty is stalking them just around the corner. So don’t complain to me about not having any money because you can’t break away from streaming movies on Netflix.

There is a solution for your money woes and it’s not sitting on the couch. It’s called work.

Do you get frustrated when you hear people complain about money and you know it’s because of laziness? Was there ever a time in your life when laziness got the best of you? How do you combat laziness? Image at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Next Post: What Good Is Freedom When You’re Told What To Do With It?

Prior Post: Beauty and Function From a Beast

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Comments

  1. Mike GetRichWithMe says

    Is laziness a form of mental illness ? possibly an outward form of lack of self esteem ?
    Then again – some people are just lazy!

  2. Color Me Frugal says

    Great post! I don’t know that I know as many lazy people as people who work their butts off and either do not bother to educate themselves about finances (so I guess are lazy about it) or get caught up in a really high lifestyle that sucks all their cash out of their pockets. Either way it’s a shame!

  3. I’m all for lazy and for a better work life balance where I will hopefully eventually not have to work nearly as much as I do. I don’t think it’s natural to work 8 hours a day, no other creature on this planet does it, there’s a reason we’re all so stressed! It’s a fact of society though, that we do need to work long hours and work hard if we ever want to see relaxation and of course, other experiences and security too. I would never want to be the ‘type of lazy’ that must depend on others or is broke beyond security or comfort. I hope that someday I can embrace planned laziness, where I work maybe only a few hours a day, or a few weeks at a time and am able to take a break (freelancing). You have to work hard though first to get to that even though!

    • “…the ‘type of lazy’ that must depend on others or is broke beyond security or comfort.” I think as long as you don’t go there, it doesn’t matter what type of work/life balance you have. If you can pull off all your needs in fewer hours per day, then go for it.

  4. 2-copper-coins.com says

    Laziness (or lack thereof) is one of the greatest factors in our financial health. However there are people who end up in poverty due to factors completely out of their control. My pastor (and co-worker) just had a stroke and it has completely derailed the financial future of his family, but it wasn’t in his control. I guess I’m just saying that a person’s prosperity isn’t always an indicator of their work ethic. When someone complains about their situation and I know they aren’t working hard, that definitely frustrates me.

  5. Six Figures Under says

    I have a family member who really struggles with this. He has a family to provide for, but doesn’t seem to be very motivated to improve his situation (but he really likes his video games). From the outside looking in, he just looks lazy, but I think there is something deeper. For him, I think a lot of it comes down to his self-esteem. He doesn’t feel like he can be successful, so he isn’t. I wish there was something I could do to help him get motivated and feel the joy that comes from hard work. Laziness and self-esteem can be a vicious cycle.

    • Once you lose that positive feeling about yourself, it can be a quick downward spiral. Sounds like he needs some simple goals he can accomplish to begin to build back his confidence. Right now, all he sees is failure. He needs to feel some success, even if it’s small. I don’t think you will be able to motivate him…that will have to come from within himself. Just encourage, love and support him.

    • Credit Card Shoppe says

      I have a family member just like that as well. He has all the time in the world to eat a bag of chips and watch TV all day, while his wife struggles to hold down a job while taking care of the kids and the house. I don’t think it’s as much laziness as that there is an underlying issue he needs to deal with. He also feels like he can never be successful….so he doesn’t even try. Quite sad and very frustrating to watch.

  6. Unfortunately one of my family members is pretty darn lazy, knows it, and doesn’t care. He barely graduated from high school, his mom got him a part-time job, and he lives at home playing video games constantly. When we go over their house, it’s a surprise if you even see him. I grew up with him and it’s disappointing to see what he’s become. He has no interest in learning and he can’t work this same job forever. I don’t know how people are happy being lazy!

    • That’s a tough situation E.M. If you have someone else supplying all your needs (food, clothing, shelter) then I can see why he’s like this. This will go on until the people in charge of the home tell him to get out. He’s is not being forced to fend for himself at this point.

  7. I consider myself to be pretty ambitious and hardworking so I don’t have a ton tolerance for the chronically lazy, especially those who mooch off of others. Of course, some people are highly enabled to stay lazy too. There is a fine line between supporting and enabling and sometimes, particularly parents, have a hard time distinguishing between the two.

    • “There is a fine line between supporting and enabling…” I think that is one of the most difficult challenges when it comes to helping people. At some point, if they simply refuse to help themselves, then you have to cut off the support. I’m not sure where that line is either.

  8. You know it’s hard because I don’t want to be in the category of “those that live in glass houses should not throw stones” but sometimes I do read blogs where they seem to STAY in the same patterns of bad behavior over and over and over and wonder why they are where they are at. BUT, at the same time, we all make financial mistakes, Myself included. And I certainly went through a period where I was playing beach volleyball and not being production and looking for actual work. I felt lost. But I can think of one person (family member) for who years (and still is) lazy, unappreciative, and mooches off everyone he knows. That kind of person…ooohh, don’t even get me started!

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