Consciousness
and Money
by Ruth Ross,
Ph.D.
Continued
from Part II
Money as
Responsibility
The stored
energy that money symbolizes is there to help us grow. This
energy must keep moving. Effectively directing this movement
of energy requires an understanding of how the laws of
prosperity operate in giving, receiving, spending, and saving.
Responsibility of money is knowing where we want to go with
this energy.
Prosperity
Key (#3)
To receive
more, we must be willing to give more.
Money doesn't
grow by being hoarded. Hoarding is for beggars. It doesn't
benefit anyone to grab as much as possible and keep it stashed
away in vaults or coffee cans. Trying to prosper by bottling
up money through accumulation will result in the opposite
negative effect. We hear tragic stories of those individuals
who die each year in poverty with their "wealth"
stuffed in their mattresses. It served no one, least of all
them.
In all of
life, receiving depends upon giving. There are no separate
rules for money. All spending is part of the circulating flow
of giving -- when done in the right spirit. Try it out. Next
time you spend, see yourself as giving to benefit others as
well as yourself. Spending with love can be a new experience.
Just as work can be love in action so, too, money can be love
expressed. When we give in this spirit, our return is
multiplied many times.
Spending is no
problem for some people. It can be too easy, in fact. After a
few experiences of succumbing to the temptation of unlimited
credit, leading eventually to unlimited debt, they quickly
discover the pain of overspending, of being out of balance at
the other end of the spectrum.
Part of the
responsibility that goes along with the power of money is
knowing how to save and invest for a purpose. Poet Ralph Waldo
Emerson, for example, saw money as a "stewardship"
or challenge. To him, each person with money has a mandate to
use that money to "carve out" work for others.
How do you use
money? What plans or direction do you see for your money? What
seeds are being planted with your money?
If the farmer
has no plan, and throws her seeds hither and yon, she not only
wastes her resources, she has only a small crop in return. And
she cannot tend her crop if it is scattered. Start planning
for your future now by investing in yourself. Spend some time
today thinking about how you feel about money. Ask yourself:
-
Are you
willing to create the money your life dream would cost?
-
What does
"being poor" mean to you? How does that feel?
-
How do you
feel about wealthy people? -
How do you
feet about earning "a lot" of money?
-
How do you
want to receive your money? -
How do you
want to help others with your money?
-
How are
you uncomfortable around money?
-
What do
you want to have achieved with your money when you die?
Far too many
people never sit down and think concretely about these kinds
of questions; yet, for prosperity, it is vital to know your
feelings about money. How do you feel when you spend money?
Pay attention the next time when you pull out your wallet or
checkbook -- are you spending from a sense of loss or giving?
Listen to what you are saying to yourself as you hand out
money.
What is your
attitude about giving? When is it easiest to give? When is it
hardest to give? Listen to the clichés ringing in your ears
during your transactions with money. Our attitudes toward
money are often indicative of our attitudes toward life
itself. Do you give freely of yourself? Is it hard for you to
receive?
In order to
achieve prosperity on a continuous basis, we must develop
balance. Momentary desires will have to be balanced with
long-term goals; savings, spending, and investing plans will
have to be devised. Prosperity requires planning, clear
intent, and commitment. Becoming friends with money and
recognizing what it can and cannot do for us is an important
preliminary step.
Money in
itself cannot make us happy, but with intention it can provide
the means of unlimited good for ourselves and others.
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