Financial Focus

How to clearly navigate your financial life.

by Michael Kay

Peeling Bananas

Lessons learned at the breakfast table.

Published on June 28, 2011 by Michael Kay in Financial Focus

Sitting at the breakfast table one fateful morning, I grabbed a banana from the bowl and began tugging away at the balking skin.

Watching me from across the table, my son offered me a gem, a moment worth savoring, as much for the perfection of the statement as the source.

"You know, dad," he said sternly, "monkeys peel bananas from the bottom up!" He was emphatic in his statement.

"Why would they do that when there's this handy little pull-tab placed so conveniently on the top?"

"I don't know," he stated, "but I wouldn't bet against them. They're kind of professionals at this."

Ah, how does one argue with that statement? Simply put, it would be a mistake of gorilla proportions. And sure enough, I watched as he deftly peeled back the skin from the bottom of the banana, revealing a stringless tube of white fruit. Hmmmmm, perhaps he has something here.

Something that I'd taken for granted had been changed forever! It wasn't earth-shattering, nor will it threaten to increase global warming or fix the nation's economy, but it IS new and different, worthy of at least for a moment or two of wonder and appreciation.

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You might wonder if 'appreciation' is too strong a word when discussing the act of banana preparation and consumption. But, yes, appreciation is the right word because the new information inspired my brain to fire in a different way and to break out of my half century of banana malaise. Another reminder that I may not know everything...

This same malaise can affect how we deal with our money and our attitude about money. Think about how you spend, save, invest, or even accumulate debt - all within a proscribed pattern of thinking and acting. But perhaps you can approach your finances in a new, better and more effective way? How would your life improve if you were able to shift your thinking to save more, spend less and create a pathway to financial security?

We are creatures of habit, resisting change as if our very lives depended on remaining in our comfortable routines. That can all end today, this very morning. I heartily recommend that you turn over your financial banana and peel it from the bottom up!