Its not nice to talk about money, but what if we are wrong?

A Revised Reflection for Thanksgiving 2025

I originally wrote about this topic two years ago, but as Thanksgiving approaches again, I find myself returning to these ideas with fresh perspective and deeper understanding. This updated version reflects how my relationship with money has continued to evolve, and I'm excited to share these insights with both longtime readers and newcomers alike.

As we gather around tables this Thanksgiving season, conversations flow freely about gratitude, family, dreams, and blessings. Yet there's one topic that often remains conspicuously absent from these heartfelt exchanges: money. We've been taught that discussing finances is impolite, even vulgar. But what if this silence is costing us more than we realize? What if the reluctance to talk about money is actually blocking us from the abundance and freedom we desire?

The truth is, we hear so much about money when we are in business. The goal being get more money! And why is that? Because it will buy the freedom to spend our time doing what we want, with whom we want, where we want. We spend our lives stressing about making money and wonder why it is not coming our way. However, a negative money mindset can block us from earning what we desire.

What If We've Been Looking at Money All Wrong?

We carry these unconscious beliefs about the role of money from childhood, but what if there's an entirely different way to understand it? What if the problem isn't money itself, but how we've been taught to think about it?

This question led me to discover something transformative: the spiritual nature of money.

The Spiritual Nature of Money

I would like to share something I've recently discovered with you—the spiritual nature of money. As with me, many might not recognize there is a spiritual side to money and the process of making it. Rabbi Daniel Lapin, who wrote the book "Business Secrets from the Bible," helped me understand it like this:

When I provide a service and get paid for it, I receive money, whether it is in the form of cash or credit, and I think of every dollar as a "certificate of performance." Then I use some of the money I earned to pay for other services like a haircut or manicure, allowing that person to receive "certificates of performance" for the service they provided to me. Therefore, I am a part of a valuable circle of serving humanity.

When I have a lot of those certificates of performance—those dollars—it means that I have provided many services and helped many people.

This perspective transformed everything for me. I now see the process of making money as good, helpful, and necessary to help the world and myself achieve dreams of time and money freedom. I believe there is an infinite amount available and making money doesn't take away from someone else. I also believe I have the ability to impact and repair the world by using my money to further causes I support.

Money as Service to Others

How have I and Rabbi Lapin, as well as others like Zig Ziglar, come to this conclusion?

As Zig Ziglar says, "You get what you want by helping others get what they want."

And Rabbi Lapin says, "Because God wants us to be preoccupied with the needs and desires of others. We are rewarded for serving other people. Money is the consequence of one human being serving the needs of another. The more people you can serve, the more wealth is generated not only for the person serving, but those who receive it. Money is proof you served another human being well."

I say I have to make room for what I want by giving first—otherwise where would it go?

Rewriting My Money Story

I now see money through a different lens. Getting it isn't the goal; rather, it is a reflection of my service and of how I choose to value myself. Now my associations include:

• Money is meant to be exchanged

• Money opens doors for me and others

• Money is infinite, when I get more it doesn't mean you have less

• I am a philanthropist, now not later

• Money is a tool I use as a power for good

Now, that is a money script I can get behind!  What is your money story?

A Thanksgiving Reflection

This Thanksgiving, as you count your blessings, I invite you to also examine your relationship with money. What if we gave ourselves permission to talk openly about finances—not from a place of greed or materialism, but from a place of gratitude and stewardship? What if we recognized that money, earned through genuine service, is simply energy exchanged between people helping one another?

When we shift our perspective from scarcity to abundance, from shame to gratitude, from hoarding to circulation, we don't just change our bank accounts—we change our lives. We become free to serve more people, to give more generously, and to create the time freedom that allows us to be present for what truly matters.

So this season, let's break the silence. Let's talk about money—not as something dirty or shameful, but as a tool for service, a certificate of our contribution to others, and a pathway to the freedom we all deserve.

Always at your service,

Laura