What About Money??

“But I need money!”

This objection has, perhaps more than any other, squelched countless dreams and visions of an awake, inspired and fulfilling life. I’m always slightly amused when a client says that to me as we explore bringing their dreams to life, as if I’d never thought of it.

Believe me, I have thought of it.

So let’s be very clear: I require money. You require money. Everyone requires money. (Unless, of course, they’re living totally off the grid, in which case they probably wouldn’t be reading this post, anyway.)

I use the word “require” quite intentionally, because the word “need” often has more than a tinge of desperation in it. As in…needy. As in…I don’t have enough. As in…if I don’t get it NOW, very bad things will happen.

I’ve learned, on my own quest to develop a genuine consciousness of abundance, that one of the most loving things I can do is to consciously avoid anything that triggers a feeling of desperation in me, as the word “need” sometimes can. For me the word “require” is clear and straightforward, and presumes that the requirement will be met. I like that.

So…we require money. The question becomes, “In a consciousness of abundance, how is that requirement met?” We’re tired of the anxiety and struggle over money that we experience within a consciousness of scarcity, but how do we make the shift to that shiny new consciousness of abundance?

By being very clear that the true source of all of our good, including money and abundance in any form, is Pure Creativity. God. Love. The Quantum Field. The Divine. The Universe. Spirit. Source. Whatever you call the Supreme Intelligence or Loving Force which created Life , the Universe itself and everything in it. This limitless Source of all our good is infinitely abundant.

Things we normally consider the source of our prosperity, such as jobs and clients and investments, are actually channels through which Universal abundance flows to us. They come and go, as do all things in the physical world, so any one of them can appear to limit our prosperity when it no longer exists. But that’s only because we confuse the channel with the Source.

If you’re spiritually-minded – and I trust that you are, or you wouldn’t be reading my blog – this is not new news. It wasn’t for me, either. Yet it’s taken me a while to actually grasp the implications of it, and to act in confidence on them.

I’m reminded of one of my favorite episodes of Seinfeld, in which Jerry had reserved a rental car for one of his out-of-town gigs. As he stepped to the counter to pick up the keys for the car, the agent told him there were no cars available. He pointed out that he had made a reservation, and accused the company of not knowing how to take reservations. The agent assured him, in a tone dripping with contempt, that they did indeed know how to take reservations. Jerry replied that they might know how to take a reservation, but they didn’t don’t know how to hold a reservation.

That was my challenge: I didn’t know how to hold onto the understanding that God is the Source of all of my good, including money. I didn’t know how to anchor into that truth, especially when I was afraid. I didn’t know how to strengthen and stabilize my burgeoning abundance consciousness.
Actually, I didn’t initially know that was my job. I thought that simply understanding the concept was all I needed to do.

It wasn’t.

Developing a genuine consciousness of abundance requires us to, again and again, recognize when we’re thinking or acting from the old paradigm of scarcity, make a conscious choice to suspend what we’re doing, take a deep breath (or two or three), remind ourselves that God is the Source of all of our good – and then ask ourselves, “If I were living from the truth of an abundant universe, how would I be thinking and acting?”

And then just as importantly, “How can I love myself from where I am now to where I’m going?”

Here’s an example of how these questions can be helpful. Let’s consider one of the stickier money challenges we may face in making financial decisions: what to do about debt. If we have access to credit, should we use it? If we already have debt, should we put our dreams on hold until it’s paid off?

Those choices are, of course, very personal ones. Depending on your current financial situation and your mindset about money and abundance, taking advantage of available credit could be the most loving choice you could make…or not.

So I’m not here to give you rules to follow. (I’ve never been a fan of rules.) But what I can offer with this example is a new way to think about debt if you’re committed to shifting from a consciousness of scarcity to one of abundance, and you’re wobbling a bit between the two.

In our culture, for the most part, debt is seen as “bad.” I’ve worked with many clients who are deeply ashamed of the amount of debt they are carrying. The shame depletes and paralyzes them. Yet creating and living an abundant, fulfilling life cannot be done in a consciousness of judgment and shame. It can only be done by opening ourselves, more and more, to love and acceptance.

As I’ve grappled with whether debt is “good” or “bad” for me, I asked myself the two questions offered above. First I considered how I would be thinking and acting if I were living from an abundance consciousness.

I allowed myself to imagine being in an enlightened society, living fully in the truth that all good flows from the infinite abundance of God. At that level of consciousness, there would be no need to borrow because all requirements would always be abundantly fulfilled. There might not even be a need for money at all. But if money was in circulation, it would flow freely and the receiving and giving of it would not arise from a sense of lack or obligation.

In that enlightened state, I would not be in debt because debt as we know it would not exist. So it seemed that having debt was taking me away from the abundance consciousness I was cultivating.

Which brought me to the second question: How could I could love myself from where I was in that moment – with debt – to where I was going – free of debt? With the question focused on how I might love myself forward, I was able to create a mindset that supported me in doing just that.

Holding a clear intention to move forward with love and acceptance, I understood that debt is not inherently bad or wrong. Debt only becomes wrong in our misunderstanding and judgment of it. When we look at the essential function of debt, without judgment, we see that it is a temporary channel through which money can flow to people. The less we judge ourselves for having debt, the more energy we have for getting out of it.

And it is our very intention to shift from a consciousness of scarcity to a consciousness of abundance that makes the debt channel a temporary one. As we’re making that shift from one level of consciousness to the next, the best relationship we can have with debt is to actually appreciate it – yes, to appreciate it as having been a channel through which money was made available for our use.

In appreciating that we have been given access to money through this channel, we lift our vibration far above that of judgment or shame. Appreciation expands us, judgment confines us. Yet if we only appreciate the money to which we’ve gained access through debt, without also cultivating a new consciousness of abundance, we might forget that God is the abundant Source of all our good, including money. We might confuse the channel with the source, and keep relying on debt.

I know what you’re thinking – didn’t we just come full circle? How do we cultivate an abundance consciousness?

By going to the Source. By connecting with our Inner Creative Genius. By talking to God. By understanding that we are worthy of abundant financial support and that, in the limitless Divine Presence or Quantum Field of which we are a seamless part, all possibilities exist and all needs can be met. By making a clear request of this Presence for the abundance that is ours by Divine right and then listening to our own Divine inner voice for guidance.

And we couldn’t have gotten here – to a place of being able to talk to God – if we hadn’t, first, suspended all judgment of ourselves. God is Love, and judging is the opposite of loving. We can’t hear the voice of the Divine when we’re shrouded in shame.

Exploring ways to talk and listen to God is, of course, intensely personal. It’s also a subject far beyond the scope of a single article. But I’d like to offer a prayer that I’ve adapted from the delightful teachings of Tosha Silver, author of Outrageous Openness and Change Me Prayers. My hope is that it will stir within you a renewed sense that you are worthy of financial abundance – and that you are not alone in creating it. If it speaks to you, read it every day for a while until you start to feel more deeply at peace and supported in moving forward.

Divine Beloved, I know that I am meant to be of service in this world and I know that you want me to be fully supported in living a life of freedom, joy and loving service. Please orchestrate this outcome with ease and Grace, and guide me clearly with respect to any actions I need to take. Bless me with the ability to recognize opportunities that You have arranged for me. Free me from all self-judgment so that I may be a clear channel for Your Love, Wisdom and Abundance to flow through me. This is in Your hands, where it belongs, and I thank you from my heart for taking care of it.

Whether you resonate with this prayer or not, know that the essential elements of cultivating a true abundance consciousness are these: releasing all judgment of yourself for whatever your current circumstances are, appreciating the good already present in your life, and cultivating an ever-deepening connection with Source for support and guidance in moving forward.

You may need to apply these elements, again and again, until you anchor into the new consciousness. It will be well worth the practice.

The good news is, those elements are all within you, now.

Welcome, abundance.