I'm reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, and enjoying learning from the author about the money mindset he learned from his two dads. His biological father is well educated and left his family with debt and his friend's dad only had a high school education but left him with generational wealth. It made me think about how the author grew up with such opposing views about his relationship with money that he had to pick a side as a little kid. His biological father sounded like a great responsible, caring, loving man but was bad with money but his friend's father sounded like a risk taker, unconventional, and good with money. However, I think there is some splitting in the author that he was not able to see his poor dad was not that poor, he was educated, loving, and respected by his colleagues, in my mind, that is rich. His rich dad is not that rich, he does not have much time to spend with his kids. Integration was later on when he wrote that both his dads were generous and gave back to charities.

This made me think about last May when I had to visit my dad in Los Angeles. I wanted to save money so I booked the cheapest JetBlue flight heading home back to New York. The morning before the flight I realized that the flight was economy light so it does not allow carry-ons and I had to pay extra for luggage. I needed a lock last minute and I was running late to the airport. Then there was traffic too. I decided to upgrade my flight last minute to seats by paying an extra $150 each, and an extra $20 to skip the TSA line. Because of the seat upgrade, I was allowed to carry on and to expedite the TSA line. Just as the gate was about to close and the JetBlue front desk was calling me and my husband's name, we made it to the flight.

If I had missed that flight and not made it back to New York, I would have missed a day of work, and cost me even more money. A storm was also coming in, so further delays would have cost another night of hotel stays. It hurt at the moment to pay for the extra upgrades in seats but now reflecting, I am grateful because my willingness to spend the extra money helped me get back to New York on time. It also taught me, to always check if the economy light allowed carry-ons, sometimes the cheapest ticket is cheap for a reason, they don't allow you to pick your seats upgrade your seats bring carry-ons, or cancel/reschedule your flight time.

If you resonated with what I wrote about money and want a therapist  in NYC that could understand and help you integrate your rich and poor mindset and have a healthy relationship with money, let me help you undo the aloneness and also help you separate and individuate. please contact me to book a free 15 minutes consultation.