Money Where My Heart Is

Last week I had the good fortune to host a friend as she traveled from New Mexico to Massachusetts. Sarah sat at my kitchen table sharing the details of her drive along the southern United States. She was intent on staying off the interstates and was successful in finding adequate roads through Texas and the Deep South. At the end of each day she sought out inexpensive and primitive camping areas to pull over and slept in the back of her pickup truck. She ate sparingly and took a shower once during the seven day drive. As a fellow lover of the road I was impressed by her adventurous spirit, but as a woman who is finished with poverty thinking, I was struck by her numerous declarations of “I have no money”. The affirmation is familiar, as I spent most of my life believing the same.

As a child I don’t remember ever going to bed hungry, but I do have a sorrowful memory of watching my father agonizing over the bills. I can only imagine how he must have felt with the basic life expenses, but as we grew up, the idea of sending seven children to college was probably crushing him. The message was, there is only enough to just get by. That lesson served me well, until I become frustrated with ‘just getting by’. So I started paying attention to my physical reactions and deep-rooted messages around money and prosperity.

We are often handed down beliefs, behaviors and body parts from our parents. You may have inherited your mothers’ devotion to well-crafted shoes, your fathers’ keen sense of sarcasm and your grandmothers’ eyes, but you may also have acquired their fears and anxieties. With absolutely no awareness of it, these fears may be guiding you through life in a way that is not allowing you to feel safe, confident or even loved.

I suggested to Sarah that she changes what she believes and see if that changes what happens. The next morning as she was gathering her things, preparing for the last leg of the journey, I handed her a cup of coffee and we discusses the options for heading up the Northeast Corridor. Without thinking she muttered something about not having any money, but then caught herself, smiled and said, “Actually, money comes to me all the time.” With that I slid one hundred dollars across the table and said, “See, it’s true.”

By simply paying attention to the messages running in the background of our day to day daydreaming, and the physical reactions to particular situations, we can not only become aware of these beliefs, but we can change them.

The messages I have decided to have running in the background now say, “I am a money magnet.” “I pay my bills with ease.” “I have so much money I can be generous with my family and friends”.  And Sarah gave me the opportunity to put my money where my heart is.

Love,
Amy

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