On poverty
What is poverty?
Is poverty a function of lack of money?
Or is poverty a function of lack of freedom to engage one’s imagination in creating personally acceptable solutions?
My personal test for the poverty mentality in play: Is something unacceptable to my heart yet justifiable by my intellect? If I answer, “Yes,” then I know I am believing I cannot have or create something that is personally meaningful.
Most people when asked, “What is the opposite of poverty?” reply, “Wealth.” I am sure the opposite of poverty is personal freedom.
If you dream of winning the lottery, aren’t you anticipating that money will buy you freedom? Personal freedom is independent of one’s bank balance.
In communities throughout Kenya, we start four-hour workshops with the question, “Who here is poor?” Almost everyone raises their hand. During the workshop people examine their beliefs and discover that they believe they are poor and their behavior reflects this belief. Once they realize that only their thinking is poor, their behavior changes. They no longer merely act poor.
Suddenly they see resources they have been tripping over for years. The biggest resource they again see is each other.