by Jasmine Zapata, MD
Hello, Welcome to this week’s edition of Brown Girl Green Money. We are a social network of women of color working to reach financial freedom and support each other along the way! Thank you so much for joining us this week. We truly appreciate all your support of this weekly column and are happy to be celebrating 1 year with The Madison Times! We can’t wait for what the future holds ahead! Usually when I write, I talk about empowering and uplifting things, but honestly this week was challenging for me! As a result of my current job/medical training program, twice this week, I was physically unable to be in the location that my heart was located at the moment. It was devastating! Let me explain.
This week my cousin from out of state experienced a devastating miscarriage. Her twin babies, my cousins, were born too soon (5 months into pregnancy) and as a result passed away due to their lungs being too fragile to survive. This was a hard blow to my family. It especially hit me hard because my own daughter was born prematurely, however, she was a few weeks older when she was born and was at an age she could survive with the help of life support. If my cousin’s babies would have been a little older they would have survived.
When I found out, I wanted to drop everything I was doing and fly to the state my cousin was in to support her and my family but I could not because of work. What made it harder was that my paternal grandmother who lived in that same city was having hip surgery the following day and I would have loved to be there to help out especially given all that was going on with my cousin. But due to work obligations I was unable to go. To make it worse, 3 days later my maternal grandmother got hospitalized here in Madison. Luckily since it was in my own city I was able to visit her in between work shifts but I would have loved to be by her side for her entire 48 hour hospital stay. Overall, I would have loved to have the entire week off work to support my 3 family members in need and be by their side. Thankfully I was able to call, text and spend some time with them, but optimally I would have been there for every second of each experience.
This week as I stood at work making calls and texts in an attempt to support my family from afar, I fantasized about a life of freedom where I could have multiple passive streams of income that would free me from working a 9-5 job entirely. I fantasized about being able to fly out of state at the drop of a dime to support a family member in need. I fantasized about having the freedom of time to do whatever I wanted while simply managing various businesses and passive income streams on a schedule I was solely in charge of. Reality then checked in as I felt an emptiness sink into the pit of my stomach. I was not there yet. But this situation did ignite my fire like never before to continue on my quest to reaching financial freedom!
Many people define “financial freedom,’ “wealth” and being “rich” by material things like nice cars, big houses, amazing vacations, etc. However, I firmly believe that the true definition of the above-mentioned items is measured in “time.” One is truly financially free when they have passive streams of income from multiple sources allowing them to have the freedom of TIME to explore the world, spend time with loved ones, and pursue their God-given purpose wholeheartedly. This is the ultimate goal I am working to attain! Although I was unable to visit my loved ones as much as I would have desired this weekend I am happy to announce that this June I will be finished with my 3 year medical residency and my hours will get much better! I’m so excited! This situation, however, made me realize that my ultimate goal is to never be in a position where I have to work so much that I miss out on important life events or important family moments. Being at a place where this is possible is difficult to obtain but if you remember your “why” and never give up, it is definitely possible! I am currently working on finishing my second book and working to grow my real estate business. I am also working on collaborations and other ways to create passive streams of income in my life that will allow me to eventually quit working entirely if I choose to do so. This is a big goal, but I am determined to reach it and you can too! Financial freedom is coming! Just never give up on your dreams and keep working hard to reach your goals! Take one step at a time and you will be there before you know it. Have you ever been in a situation where work or finances have prevented you from doing something your heart desired? What are you doing to create multiple passive streams of income in your life? Share your thoughts with us at www.facebook.com/browngirlgreenmoney or email us at browngirlgreenmoney@gmail.com. Have a blessed day!
Jasmine Zapata, MD is an author, physician, motivational speaker, entrepreneur and health empowerment educator from the Madison area, whose mission is to heal, uplift, empower and inspire. She’d love to keep the conversation going and can be reached at www.facebook.com/browngirlgreenmoney, www.drjasminezapata.com or at browngirlgreenmoney@gmail.com.