Growing up with parents who were children of the 1920’s depression era taught me that money didn’t grow on trees, was hard to come by, took incredibly hard work to attain, could be taken away in the blink of an eye, and that only a few lucky ones ever ‘made’ it financially. I learned that money was touted as the source of our safety and freedom and I had better figure out how to make some and save some if I wanted to be safe and free. When I was young, my mother would worry for hours about never having ‘enough’ money as a single parent raising a child on her own, and even now in her 80’s still lives with the same concern. As a working adult, I’ve been taught that the higher you go in your career, the better it is, and the more money you will make. Yes, you have to work harder and make more sacrifices, but if money equals safety and freedom, then it’s all worth it – right?
I was exhausted by working so hard based on my beliefs around money and survival. In fact, I compromised many of my own dreams and personal values to make more money and to ensure more money would be coming into our future. Although I ‘looked’ abundant (nice house, decent car, some travel, and vacations), I was always driven by a subtle fear of not having enough money and felt like I was constantly jeopardizing my safety and freedom.
How many of us have gone down a career path we didn’t care about, stayed in a job we hated or worked for someone where we could not be ourselves with the idea it helped us to stay safe and somewhat free? Many of us have given up on our passion, pleasure, and self-respect in the ongoing struggle to make the almighty dollar. We feel we have to pay a price to have the money required for safety and freedom. What if there is another way to look at the situation?
What if our belief that money equals our safety and freedom isn’t true? Let’s separate out those ideas for a moment. From a quantum physics perspective, money is simply energy vibrating at a certain rate, like everything else, and it comes to us when the energy we are expressing matches it. What I’ve learned is that the energy of money is the same as the energy of our unique authentic expression. When I’m doing what I love, things are easy, I’m in the flow and I feel good and money comes easily. From this perspective, we can simply create more money by fully expressing our uniqueness on a regular basis. No holding back, no dumbing down the message, no fitting into society’s ‘box’ that we have bought into through our culture, environment, and the media.
OK – then what about safety and freedom? If they are not tied to money, what are they tied to?
What if our safety and freedom come from our ability to choose what feels best for us, moment to moment? The only times I don’t feel safe, or I give up my freedom is when I choose something that doesn’t feel good to me. The other time is when I feel that I have no choice at all. When I don’t choose what is best for me or think I have no choices in a situation at work, in relationships, or with my health, I end up feeling trapped and end up giving up some of my personal power. I’m learning that I always have a choice – a choice to take care of myself by honoring what feels best to me moment to moment. This is where my true safety and freedom exist.
When I allow myself to express my authentic self in every aspect of my life, the money that I require to do what feels good shows up in surprising and delightful ways. When I make choices about what feels best to me, moment to moment, I feel safe, regardless of what anyone else is doing and I can fully embrace my freedom.
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There are many who work long hours, sacrificing their health, sacrificing their time with their families to get that engagement, to get that bonus. Some say it’s worth it. Some say after all the health complications it’s not. There is only one of us. We can’t just do a simple replacement once we’re worn out.
What do you say? Is the first option you mention above worth it given your own values and goals? What if it was our duty to be our most authentic, kind and caring selves? Would that help us be open to the second possibility? Where did we learn that the only path to just surviving is hard work and sacrifice? What if there is a better way to feel? I’m working on creating from the inside out and so far so good. Less of my focus on ‘making things happen’ and more on how I want to feel and the value I can add. Opportunities are starting to open up now that I’m clear about what’s important to me. How about you?
This is so true, it is difficult to break out of the Just Over Broke (JOB) as the monthly income is a relative certainty and just pays the bills. It is a mindset change to
It is a mindset shift Richard. The cool thing is that we DO have control over what we think and pay attention to. Our job is to notice when we are thinking/feeling the old way and stop, step back, question what we REALLY want, and then focus our attention there. Check out how the basic process works here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zWoH5bZgeU.
Money is very important when you don’t have enough. How much is enough? Well, that depends on what you want. What kind of car? How big should the house be? What foods and drinks are important to you and do you have to have designer cloths to be happy?
Does money relate to safety and freedom? Of course, to a point. It doesn’t keep you safe from a mugger or terrorist but it does keep you safe from starving or freezing. Does it relate to freedom. Of course, again to a point. It has little to do with freedom to vote or other broad scope freedoms. However, it gives you freedom to make choices that would not be available to you without money.
Certainly getting money is easier and more fun when earning it in a fashion or venue that you enjoy vs. a job where you feel trapped and undervalued.
Ken – thanks for your comment. The key is to understand as humans, what we believe can be limiting our choices and experiences in life. When I shift how I feel about money – from something that made me feel bad when I didn’t have it (unsafe and trapped), to something that is simply a reflection of my authentic expression and energy, I feel better. It has me realize that I have a choice as to where I focus my attention, thoughts and energy. I can choose to focus on what feels good, instead of what ‘is’ or what I don’t want. The good news is that the quantum field is responding mostly to our attention, thoughts and energy. When I focus my attention thoughts and energy around my fear of being unsafe and trapped, the quantum field returns more experiences of feeling unsafe and trapped to me. When I focus my attention thoughts and energy around feeling fully expressed, safe and free, the quantum field returns experiences that allow me to be fully expressed safe and free. That to me is the real definition of free will. Where I CHOOSE to put my attention and energy. My goal is to empower as many people as possible to make this new CHOICE.