> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.dafinasmith.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # An Empty Purse Can't Stand Upright - URL: https://www.dafinasmith.com/an-empty-purse-cant-stand-upright/ - Published: 2026-11-06T18:16:36.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-06T18:16:36.000Z - Description: Before we talk about purpose, passion, service, or the work you feel called to do, I think there is a more important question: What is enough? Not enough to survive, but enough to stop surviving. - Author: Dafina Smith - Tags: Money & Career, The Coveted Life Before we talk about purpose, passion, service, or the work you feel called to do, I think there is a more important question: **What is enough?** Not enough to survive, but enough to stop surviving. There is a difference. Survival is about creating stability. It is about knowing your bills are paid, your needs are met, *and you have enough breathing room to make decisions from clarity instead of fear.* Once you've reached that point, you can begin asking a different set of questions. *What kind of life do you actually want to build? What work feels meaningful? What relationships do you want to invest in? What kind of contribution do you want to make?* I think we often get the order wrong. We ask people to begin with purpose, passion, service, or charity before they have built enough stability to support those things. But survival has a way of creeping into everything. It introduces fear, desperation, and urgency into decisions that deserve thoughtfulness. If we want to protect our gifts, our values, and our ability to serve others well, we first have to define what enough looks like. ### "An empty purse can't stand upright." Benjamin Franklin's words have stayed with me for years. I think they speak for themselves, but I want to explore them through the lens of what I have observed in my own life and in the lives of many people I know. ## How You Fill Your Purse Doesn't Have to Match Your Dream I think one of the biggest traps people fall into is believing that the way they make money has to be a complete expression of who they are. We put enormous pressure on ourselves to ensure that every dollar we earn is perfectly aligned with our purpose, our passions, or the life we hope to build. Sometimes, making money is simply making money. There are seasons when your work is not meant to become your identity. It is simply a transaction that creates stability. It is the thing that fills your purse. If bartending pays your bills, bartend. If waiting tables gives you runway, wait tables. There have been times in my life when I literally sold bottles of water for two dollars at the West Indian parade because that income was enough to carry me for the next few months. It did not need to align with my larger vision. It did not need to become part of my personal brand. Nobody needed to know how I was creating that foundation. It simply served the purpose it needed to serve. There is wisdom in recognizing the season you are in. Sometimes you are surviving. Sometimes you are building. Those are different seasons, and they should not be confused with one another. ## Service Before Stability I went to Georgetown University, which has a strong Jesuit spirit. It is rooted in Catholicism, but there is also a deep focus on serving others, advancing social justice, and asking how we can use our lives to help people. I think that is beautiful. But I have also observed that, in our desire to serve, we sometimes avoid acknowledging that we have financial and transactional needs of our own. We apologize for wanting money. We feel guilty for having needs that come with financial realities. We want to create a nonprofit, give back to charity, or build something focused on service before we have established a secure foundation for ourselves. We become hesitant to be aggressive about our profit margins because we want to prove that we are focused on serving first. > **What I find interesting is that land ownership was historically treated as a prerequisite for participating in politics. I do not agree with that system, but I understand the underlying belief that a person should have some degree of financial independence before entering public service.** We know what can happen when public service becomes a means of pursuing personal wealth: corruption, greed, and decisions that fail to serve the people. But I would draw a distinction between pursuing wealth through service and having enough before attempting to serve. I believe financial stability is what protects service. Without it, fear slowly enters the work. It influences what we create, what we charge, what we tolerate, and eventually even what we believe. Scarcity has a way of corrupting the very thing we were trying to protect. ## Scarcity Can Pull You Away From Your Gifts Financial instability can prevent you from pursuing your true art because you hear that another genre or industry is where the money is. You may be a classical artist, but you pursue EDM because you believe that is the money-making opportunity available right now. Scarcity can also pull you away from your values. When your back is against the wall, it becomes much harder to say no, to be patient, or to think long term. Every opportunity feels urgent because survival is making the decision for you. This is why I think stability matters so much. It creates enough distance from survival that your gifts, your art, and your service can remain authentic. ## What Stability Changed in My Business I experienced this in my own business. Once I was able to take care of my family and meet my own needs as a business owner, I could operate from the perspective of building a company that genuinely served and grew alongside our customers. I was no longer making decisions through the lens of, "I need money," or, "This is a hot trend." I could ask, "Does this serve our mission and our vision?" If it did not, I could walk away. I did not care if it might make a lot of money in the short term because I already had money in the purse. I was not relying on that particular opportunity to survive. That is when I realized stability was not the destination. It was the thing that protected my ability to build the business I actually wanted. ## Know What It Costs to Stop Operating From Fear When people tell me they want to pursue something, regardless of what it is, I advise them to first determine what it would take to stop operating from a place of lack, fear, scarcity, or financial instability. What would it look like to no longer dodge bills or avoid calls because someone is asking you for money? Do you need to make money right now? Be honest about that. Take a close look at what you are already spending. Ask whether those expenses align with who you are and whether they are worth the cost. If they are not, cut them aggressively. Then, get a clear snapshot of your actual expenses and needs. Financial independence does not have to mean having enough money to stop working forever. It can begin with something much simpler: creating a reliable financial cushion. Since I was 24, I have kept six to twelve months of living expenses in some form of safe investment, and that alone has made a huge difference in my life. Having your own money allows you to be truer to who you are. It gives you the freedom to make decisions based on what is right for you rather than what you are afraid to lose. ## An Upright Purse Is Not an Overflowing Purse I want to be clear that an empty purse is very different from a purse that is upright and adequately full. This is not an argument for endless accumulation, nor is it necessarily an argument for wealth. It is an argument for building enough stability that you are no longer organizing your life around survival. Enough to sleep peacefully. Enough to walk away from what no longer serves you. Enough to make decisions from your values instead of your fears. Money is not the goal. Freedom is. Stability simply creates the conditions in which you can begin building a life worth coveting. ## Know When the Purse Is Full Enough We spend so much time asking people what they are passionate about. I think we should start by asking a different question. **What is enough?** - to stop surviving - to protect your values - that fear is no longer making your decisions Once your purse can stand upright, something remarkable happens. **Your passions no longer have to fund your survival. Your art no longer has to save you. Your service no longer has to carry the weight of your financial insecurity**. ### *Because the ultimate goal is a purse sturdy enough to build and support a life worth coveting.*