Can Everyone Be Wealthy?

Once again I see a promotion that is talking about money and how everyone can have it all!  The way the promo goes, everyone can be wealthy.  Everyone can have all the money they need, want or desire.  Okay, basically that's what they are saying, but maybe not in their own words.

Yet, can everyone be wealthy?

In a perfect world, everyone can be wealthy I suppose, but we don't live in a perfect world.  We are not only facing serious situations across this planet, but greed often reigns or compassion and being human.  In fact, most people are so blinded by who they are and what lies inside of them, that they would have to travel light years to discover wealth or anything good in their life.  I'm not saying it is impossible, but I am saying that we don't live in a perfect world.

Take for example that 1 million dollars is a lot of money to 90% of the population.  Maybe my percentage of the population is off a little, but to the vast majority it is a boat load of cash.  I'm sure that if you asked yourself or someone close to you if they had a million dollars, would that make them feel wealthy, the answer most likely would be yes in some form or another.

Abundance By Letting Go

There are so many preaching abundance every day and they hook you into believing that what they have to offer is the way to getting everything you want.  Of course, they feel that by charging you $99 or $999 is the way to make their "system" valuable.

Others like to come up with all kinds of rules that fit into a nicely packaged belief system where you have to tithe a set amount to begin the flow of "things (i.e. money) back into your life (see the book by Catherine Ponder - Open Your Mind To Prosperity).  Of course, that means you have to follow their set of beliefs and too many of them are rooted in religious views.  The book does have some great information in it as well as examples of life changing moments for people.  However, I feel there is more to it than just a belief system.

Some people feel that you have to wear certain colors or energetically connect with the universe to make abundance happen.  There are those that think you have to visualize abundance and that when you do, the "boat" will appear in the front yard.

Illusions Of Abundance, Part 2

This is part 2.  Please read part 1 from yesterday before reading this section.

Part 2

If you ask the person who has lost everything in life what truly matters, I doubt money will be on the top of the list.  Ask the person who lives in the forest and does not know modern conveniences exist, what truly matters, and I bet you will get a much different answer than someone living in mainstream society.  You see, we have truly lost sight of what matters in life and our warped view has muddied the waters of abundance and wealth.

While I know that we require money to function in society, it is my opinion that this is wealth, not abundance.  Abundance has more to do with the essentials of life that truly matter.  Of course, when you are truly abundant and in line with your role in the universe, then I believe wealth follows. 

I laugh when I hear people thinking that if they picture a boat in the front yard because they feel that is what they “NEED”, that it is going to show up.  Why on earth, would that happen?  What purpose would it serve?  I think to view the universe or the spiritual concepts of abundance as a catalog you can order from, is foolish and not very enlightened.

What matters in life is how we align our life with our purpose of being here and how we grow in our own awareness and evolve as humans.  It isn’t about how much money we can gain or how many followers we can obtain; it is about aligning and surrendering to our purpose in this world. 

Illusions Of Abundance, Part 1

Part 1

Seek and ye shall find!  I remember hearing that repeated so many times growing up.  Often though, we fail to seek out that which we need for ourselves and we become attracted to the illusions of our day.

There are many out there pointing the way towards abundance and wealth while confusing these different concepts as the illusion of answers for our life.  We act as if these people have all the answers to our life.  We seek the answers, but we fail to find them because we are blinded by the illusion.

When life is tough and we are down and out on our luck like many people in our day, it is easy to see the pretty neon flashing lights of the wealth and abundance preachers, as the answers to our problems!  They give us pretty words to listen to or read on the internet and they make claims that sound almost believable, but in reality they are too good to be true!  We all know that there is no such thing as a free lunch, yet we park ourselves at the table waiting for the food!

Abundance Or Wealth

Too often, we equate "abundance" with "wealth", and that to be abundant means you have wealth or money. However, abundance implies a spiritual concept of being fulfilled in life, versus wealth that is having great sums of financial resources. Abundance does not necessarily imply that you are wealthy, but all too often these days, it is twisted into that definition.

One of the things that I loved from the movie, "I Am", is their explanation of money, and if you apply this to abundance, wealth or happiness, it really speaks volumes. To have twice as much money as you do at this moment, would you be twice as happy? That is essentially the question they were asking in one part of the movie. After all, if money is happiness, abundance or peacefulness as many suggest, then to have twice as much money would mean you have twice as much happiness, abundance, or peacefulness.

I'm sure that most would probably roll their eyes at this and say, "well if I had $20 in my pocket before and now I have $40, I would not necessarily feel twice as happy." You might feel a little more bounce in your step but not twice as much. If you had not worked in a year and $40 meant a great deal to you, then you might be extremely happy.

Consider this example to illustrate my point. What if some person was living out in the woods and had built a home from the trees, fished in the nearby lake for their dinner, and lived off the land? To this person, they had everything that they needed. Now, someone comes along to explain spiritual concepts of abundance to them and says that they need to do these things to feel abundant and to expect "money" or "wealth" to come their way if they do.

Do you think that person would say, why of course I do? After all, they live off the land which gives them everything they need, and they feel fully fulfilled. They have no desire for anything because everything is already provided by the land.

Yet, to many in the abundance movement, this person would be lacking "money" and they most likely would say, "well with money you could do more in life." Again, the person living off the land feels fulfilled.

You see, I think we mix up the terms abundance and wealth. They are two different concepts. We have people come along that offer courses for $999 or $97 or other amounts and we jump at it because they are an expert, and so they have to have the answers. Yet, we fail to see that we are after "wealth" and not necessarily abundance. We feel that if we have more "money" that we'll be much more happy.

There are many people that have much wealth and many of them will say that they don't feel wealthy. There are many people who have won the lottery and thought it would solve their problems, only to find themselves penniless and near homeless a few years later, with no friends.

Money does not buy happiness. It, however, can bring us things to enjoy, but if all those things were gone tomorrow, what would life be to you? If you have not lost everything in life, that is a question which is hard to answer.

If you want happiness, go within yourself and work on healing the parts of your body and mind that are disconnected and unaware. Look within to find happiness and if you do not like what you see, then work to change it.

If you keep looking externally for wealth and abundance, you will never find it! It will always elude you and escape from your grasp. Happiness is what you glean from your experiences in life as you fulfill your life's purpose on this planet. Abundance is a result of that, and wealth is something you pick up along the way!


Further Reading:
1) Movie Review: I AM Documentary (Blog Post 6/28/11)
2) Unlimited Abundance (Blog Post 5/13/11)
3) Happiness And Abundance (Blog Post 6/22/11)



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Happiness And Abundance

So many times, I see people trying to play the field of one side or the other in life. Many feel that you have to be happy, abundant and worry free to really have life under control. In many circles, there is an expectation that if you are spiritual, than you really need to be worry free and wealthy.

If everyone tomorrow had a million dollars, it could be easy to assume we are all wealthy. After all, a million dollars is a lot of money to most people. However, if everyone had a million dollars, no one would feel wealthy because it would change the economic structure of our world in a drastic way.

In the case of happiness, if everyone had absolutely no worries and were completely happy, how would we know it? If we did not know what it was to be "sad" , how would we see the difference and know that we were happy?

Much goes for grief and death versus birth and life. It is hard to have one without the other. There is a time of creation and a time of destruction. There is a time of busyness and a time of rest. However, if you have one without the other, we would not be able to tell the difference.

I hate the thought that anyone should have to suffer, be poor or go through the heartaches and horrible moments that we do. I've been through plenty in my life and at one time, I lost everything that was anything in my life. However, without going through those times, I would not be where I am today or experiencing the things that I am.

In many ways, abundance and happiness are about embracing poverty and sadness. It is about acceptance in that to have one, there must be some experience of the other side. While we want to think happy thoughts and proclaim that abundance is what you should seek, I think we are missing out on some of the greatest moments of life.

The greatest moments do not come in where we are currently at in our life. Our greatest moments come from how we have endured and what we have learned on our journey. What we have gleaned from life is our abundance and the moments of enjoyment in life, is our happiness.



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Blog Post & Images (c) 6/13/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

If any part of this post is used or shared, a link back to this site is required.
http://mindbodythoughts.blogspot.com/
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Abundance Beliefs

Abundance is more than telling someone that they should be increasing their yearly income by 10% or leading people on that abundance is all about money.

I’m sure if you told that to the person living in the cabin in the woods, that they would stare at you in disbelief, knowing that everything they needed was within an arm’s reach.

What about convincing the person that won the lottery, and bought everything their hearts desired, only to question if the “wealth they received” was truly abundance when their heart desired more in life?

It is so easy to prey upon people who have very little and we are living in times where there are many of them around but please, let’s keep abundance as a pure concept and not adulterate it for our own good. Let’s not sell out something that is a spiritual concept just so we can become wealthy ourselves.

Of course, I do know that the ego is strong and it desires, money, control, power and it manipulates others. However, that is not abundance.

Abundance is much more than money or getting the things your mind desires. It is about a way of living where you feel complete and fully satisfied no matter how many dollars you have in your pocket.

It is a moment of true connection to your path in this life in how you impact the world on a daily basis. Abundance is much more than any of us can describe, especially those that are holding the measuring stick of achievement.


Further Reading:
1) Unlimited Abundance With Christie Marie Sheldon
2) Joy, Gratitude, Abundance
3) Abundance: My Fear Of Money

Click Here For Details

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Blog Post & Images (c) 5/31/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

If any part of this post is used or shared, a link back to this site is required.
http://mindbodythoughts.blogspot.com/
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