Somewhere along the way, most of us learned to measure ourselves by numbers we didn't choose: what we earn, what we owe, what we've saved. On a good month, we feel like a good person. On a bad one, we feel like a failing one.
But you were a whole person before you knew what money was. You will be a whole person if the numbers change. Your worth is not liquid. It doesn't fluctuate with the market.
This lesson is a small act of separation. Money is a tool. Worth is a truth. And when you stop confusing the two, you make it possible to look at your finances without also putting yourself on trial.