WEALTH - PART 1
Favorite Articles from The Certain Way
Financial Plumbing 101 or, How Finding and Fixing a "Money Leak" Immediately Saved Me $2,142 and How YOU Can Do It, Too! By Rebecca Fine.
Not long ago I had the opportunity to meet and learn (a LOT!) from Dr. Maria Nemeth, the author of the terrific book, The Energy of Money. And what a gift that was! Now, Maria has a list of credentials as long as your arm that make it abundantly clear that she knows what she's talking and writing about. But when she stands up to speak, the REAL proof shines through. You cannot be long in her presence without recognizing that here is one smart, funny, articulate, and wonderfully caring person who has "been there, done that," and knows how to get right to the heart of our confusion and denial about the place and power of money in our lives.
Better yet, she knows how to help us see for ourselves what needs doing and shows — not just tells — us how to go about it. So today I'm pleased to get to share with you (in a longer than usual edition) just a tiny bit of Maria's practical wisdom.
And then I'll tell you about that $2,142 and point you toward more great stuff from Maria! Now, you may be wondering about that title, The Energy of Money. But if you'll stop to think about it, you'll see that it fits right in with our understanding of what Mr. Wattles writes -- that everything is created from the one "formless substance." There are other kinds of energy, of course — like creativity, spiritual power, physical vitality, enjoyment, relationship, and others. And, as Maria puts it, in each of these areas we can either be frustrated or fulfilled.
So the question becomes:
How can we be "conscious conduits of energy" in order to bring our dreams out of the formless realm of ideas and into physical reality? See if Maria's illustration helps you as much as it does me. First, what do we mean by "conduit?" Well, a conduit is something that allows energy to move in an orderly way from one place to another. For example, a water pipe moves water from the well or reservoir to your faucets. So, in your mind's eye, picture a body of water on the left side, and the water tap in, say, your kitchen on the right. Now connect the two with a pipeline. Now the pipe can move the energy of water in an orderly way from the source to the outlet. And that's what WE want to do with the energy of money: Move it in an orderly way from the Source, which we know is unlimited, to the place where it can "water the garden of our goals and dreams."
But in the normal life of a conduit, what happens? Sludge accumulates and leaks spring up. When we're not aware that’s happening, of course, our usual response is simply to turn the tap further — to call for more. But when more energy tries to come through, the leaks just get bigger and the sludge builds up more and increases the pressure until ... the pipe may burst. And now we've got a real mess on our hands. See, the SOURCE is unlimited, but the physical CONDUIT is another story!
Many of us are in just this state of disrepair as money conduits. We’ve got loads of SLUDGE built up that's keeping the energy from getting through. And that sludge shows up in the form of UNFINISHED MONEY BUSINESS.Ugh. Most of us have a little or a lot of sludge like this:
Do you have a will and other necessary legal documents to protect the financial interests of your loved ones? Yes? Great! No? SLUDGE.
Are you free of debt (or on a plan to pay it down)? Are all your financial records neat and up to date? Is your checkbook balanced to the penny? How about your taxes? Do you owe any $$ to friends or family that you've just sort of "forgotten" about (but that is hanging over you like a black cloud?) Is your home office neat and tidy? (How about your garage? Yes, it's related!) Any other questions you can think of? ;-)
OK, take a deep breath and relax. We'll get to solutions in a minute, but first let's look at the LEAKS. Now, I know YOU probably never do any of this, but I've known some of these quite intimately:
Spend money on stuff we don't need or even really want (for a whole truckload of "reasons" that would take several editions of this newsletter to cover!) Spend money without even being aware of it, perhaps just out of unconscious habit. Give money we don't really want to give — just because we think we should, or to "look good," or for other not truly generous reasons. Lend money, often for the same reasons as just above and often to people who we know in advance won't pay it back. Pick up the check so everyone will think we're cool (for about five seconds) or do similar things to "buy" affection, etc. And I'm sure you can add to this list!
So here we are — leaky, sludgy pipes all. And meanwhile we’re busily creating our mental images of what we WANT our lives to look and be like, expressing gratitude for what we have already, learning to be creative rather than competitive, and affirming and/or praying for MORE.
But remember the image of the WATER pipe? "When more energy tries to come through, the leaks just get bigger and the sludge builds up more and increases the pressure until ... the pipe may burst. And now we've got a real mess on our hands." Yikes! What's wrong with this picture? Could it be that "thinking and acting in the certain way" also means that we must be responsible for learning the skills necessary to make best use of the money and other resources we are given?
Could it be that if we TRULY understand the power of gratitude and want to express it authentically, we must also be careful not to WASTE what is already coming to us?
Join me in Part 2 and we'll see how we can take simple and authentic action RIGHT NOW to clean up the conduit and get the energy of money flowing free!
posted by Expect The Best! @ 11:20 PM
0 comments
