“Money is the root of all evil!”
Does that statement, or any of the following statements match your beliefs?
“Having a lot of money is a big responsibility; If I am rich, everyone will want something from me; The thought of a lot of money scares me.”
If any of those beliefs line up with your thinking habits (conscious thoughts or subconscious thoughts), you keep money ~ and all forms of abundance (health, love, comforts, adventures, education, opportunities, etc.) from being attracted to you. You actually repel money away from your magnetic energy field by attracting reasons to be afraid of wealth. For example: If I’m vibrating a negative money energy, out to the Law of Attraction (a measurable, quantum electromagnetic field everywhere in the Universe), I will ATTRACT more shortage in my life. I’ll miss the opportunities that show up through my self-sabotage. I’ll loose money or fail to collect money due to me. Things will break due to my incoherent thinking (negative energy fogs up your clarity). On goes the list of ways you will attract scarcity around money if you see money as evil or scary.
I love to teach my clients how to release resistance and attract money. But first, I make be sure they are in alignment with allowing an abundance of money into their life.
I used to be scared of being wealthy, yet I wasn’t even aware of that belief swirling around in my subconscious mind. That thought ran in the background, like a naughty child, stirring up trouble while I wasn’t even noticing. I went for years as an adult, working as hard as I could to acquire wealth, yet I always seemed to be just getting by. I had lots of stuff, but I didn’t have a lot of cash readily available.
Chasing. Chasing. Onward I struggled to get ahead in what I thought was a sincere attempt to become financially comfortable. I ended up with multiple companies, multiple rental investments, and multiple degrees all in the struggle to get ahead financially. Even though I had all this money coming in, it was going out just as fast. I was on a continuous treadmill with my money concerns. Money came in. Money went out. Bills came in. Bills went out. I kept getting more stuff everywhere I looked.
Except in my savings account.
I cut back on spending. I cut back on adventures. I cut back on playtime. And still, no money left over each month.
My conscious, thinking mind would ask, “What is it going to take to get ahead?” No answer. Again I would ask, “What is it going to take to get ahead?” No response.
All the while, that naughty child, named My Limiting Belief, secretly kept up it’s mischief in my subconscious mind.
It wasn’t until my career started to make a quantum leap and I could see the possibility of a lot of money coming my way, that I discovered this fear. When I would contemplate becoming wealthy, I noticed being nervous. Finally, after weeks of contemplating fortune and continuing to come up nervous (and I’m not a nervous person most of the time), I had to stop and take note. I thought, “I’ve worked so hard to get to this point. Why do I feel more fear than excitement at the prospect of plenty of money?”
I soon discovered, I’m not alone.
I’ve worked with thousands of people through my tax practice and in speaking to audiences. I had no idea so many people were stopping themselves from attracting wealth by holding onto their resistance to money.
Money Can Be Spiritual Too, By Allowing More Service
The More You Have the Bigger Difference You Can Make
Let me ask you, would you donate money if you were wealthy? Do you now? The truth is, the majority of the donations that support non-profits are from rich people. Not evil people. Rich people. Where did we, as a global society, decide that money is the root of all evil? Who started that false rumor?
I recall hearing that at church as a child. I didn’t hear it from my parents, but I did also hear it in my community. That phrase, money is the root of all evil, was tossed around and as easily accepted as someone saying it’s a nice day out. Our world accepted this and didn’t really question it. It does serve some purpose: It gets some rich people to donate out of the fear of being viewed as evil if they don’t. I’m sure there are wealthy people who make it known when they donate so they can stop feeling guilty, for they too live in this world that has the phrase of money being evil running around in their subconscious, or perhaps conscious mind.
List five wealthy people who have generously donated to large causes. Off the top of my head I think of Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Bono. I’ll bet if I spent some time on this I could come up with an abundance of names.
Can you think of someone who is rich and evil? No one comes to my mind. I’m sure there are some, but quite frankly, I can more easily think of people who aren’t rich that are evil.
Build Wealth, Go Play! Contact my CPA firm for consulting. Keep a balance of abundant wealth, huge tax savings, play time and spiritual practice. Attract the life you once only dreamed of. Here are some tips below.
Tax tips
Individuals*: Take in a foreign exchange student from a less fortunate country: some of your costs are deductible. Bonus: Learn from that student about their home town. You attract abundance to flow by realizing how much abundance you already have compared to the countries of some of the children seeking host families.
Business**: C-Corporations can deduct charitable deductions to reduce net profits. Non-C Corporations can deduct only the cost of items donated from business supplies (your cost) or services (wages).
Play Suggestion
Take a bouquet of balloons to a retirement center, just because.
Spiritual Suggestion
Clear ‘their’ sidewalks and don’t tell anyone. Be service-minded and move toward your purpose-filled life. Love and service above all else.
* Please consult an accountant in your country to verify tax deductions available for hosting a foreign exchange student.
** Please consult an accountant in your country to verify tax charitable donation deductions available for businesses.
Merry, your message really hits home. I’ve begun realizing lately how much I replicate the feeling scarcity of my childhood in the abundance of my adulthood. I don’t believe money is evil, but I’ve known others who have (or at least, are very conscious that if they have a dollar, that means someone else doesn’t have that dollar). For those of us doing what we love, I hear most often that it’s not fear of receiving money – it’s a fear of asking for it… that if our work is “easy,” (because we’ve found our calling) and we’re happy, isn’t that enough? It’s once we trust our inherent value that we can shift our relationship with money to one of a spiritual practice that feeds us and those that we do business with.
As a former nonprofit executive and current donor, what inspires me most is the person with the least giving from his or her heart. 80% of charitable dollars may come from 20% of the (wealthy) people, but that means 20% of the dollars are coming from 80% of the people (think of the Obama campaign). That’s a LOT of people giving $10, $25, $100… donations that may represent the same ratio to their income as the wealthy person’s. It’s like the woman in the Bible, giving her only penny. That’s where true wealth resides, and what I aspire to remember.
Thanks for the perfect Thanksgiving Day reflection
Thanks for this article, Merry. While I don’t believe that money is evil, I definitely have some strange ideas about it that I’ve carried around since childhood. I can definitely relate to Beth’s observation about not wanting to ask for money in exchange for doing something I enjoy. And because I don’t have a lot of material desires, I tend to think in terms of “how much do I need to get by” and undercharging. Which, of course, attracts people who have trouble paying.
I appreciate the reminder that the more money we have, the more good we can do. In fact, if we we’re worried about money being used for evil purposes, the best thing we could do would be to earn lots of it and use it for good.
I love your title, Merry. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. The most wonderful thing about wealth to me is, as Patty said, “…the more money we have, the more good we can do.” It’s the giving part of it that excites and attracts me.
For those of us who were brought up attending church, those messages were all over: “Money is the root of all evil,” “It’s harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven,” etc.
But it isn’t a sin to want money! And what a lot of good money does in this world.
I needed to hear this. And thanks for the tips, too.
Merry – thank you for your clarity on this important topic. I appreciate the good suggestions you offer here.
I seem to have a, well, complicated relationship with money. We had enough growing up, though that didn’t stop my dad from worrying, and it kept him on a corporate treadmill he might have preferred to leave.
When I decided to leave my liberal arts college to attend art school, there was an accompanying rejection of “the establishment” as we liked to call it in the 70s, and with that the pursuit of money.
After years working in small unprofitable arts-oriented businesses, I chose to work in marketing (another story) because it was both creative and analytical, and because I needed more income after a divorce. Ironic, perhaps?
I am still sorting out this topic. I grapple with my constant inner dialogue about money (not very positive or productive), AND my own concepts of what I am worth.
I would love to hear more about how you would address the day-to-day, moment-to-moment practice of remaking these attitudes and beliefs.
Thank you!
Merry,
You certainly cover a lot of ground in this short post about Money! I think this could have easily been at least 3 different posts
What stood out for me at the start was your wonderful personal story of our subconscious running the show, even when we think (consciously) we want something else! It’s only when we become aware of our actual FEELINGS in the moment that we can discover what we really believe at a core level. Then, we can get the support we need to change the belief.
Sometimes knowledge alone is curative. If not, at least we know the root of the problem and can seek appropriate healing from a qualified practitioner.
Of course, you give some great examples of high-profile wealthy individuals who are exceedingly generous with their wealth. We can find much evidence to debunk the silly belief that equates Money and Evil.
Another point that you weren’t able to spend much time on, but that stood out for me as SO powerful in really getting us to answer for ourselves “Where does the rubber meet the road?” is this:
“Let me ask you, would you donate money if you were wealthy? Do you now?”
The truth is that money doesn’t corrupt anyone, but instead, it makes us more of who we already are.
Are we stingy with our money now? Do we have a scarcity mindset now? Do we believe if we give more there is less for us?
Then, when and if we come into more money, we cannot help back act in accord with our already-established habitual patterns and beliefs.
Thank you for asking such a powerful question. Prosperity consciousness is something we can and must cultivate no matter the size of our bank account so that when that bank account grows, we are already emotional, mentally, and spiritually aligned with that abundance.
You are the best find I have found in awhile. I am so excited to happen onto your blog. Your thoughts about money but really abundance in all things is so inspiring.
Thanks for being you. Your energy, kindness and sincerity just jumps off the pages your write.
With gratitude,
Ginny thepennyfriends.com
Thank you, Ginny. It’s so wonderful to have feedback to know my words help others see the abundance all around.
I was just speaking with a group last night and we talked about “enough” being a relationship, not a goal. In other words, no amount of money or weight loss or house size, or number of degrees will ‘make you know you have enough.’ Instead of deciding that whatever you have, or whomever you have become is a measurement of your enough, decide within what enough is, and often times you will discover ‘enough’ is already here.
I appreciate what I already have and in this game of evolution and growth, I am always eager for more of that which brings me joy (love, health, adventures, financial well-being, adventures, etc.).