Take a ride on the abundance superhighway

I recently had a conversation with a very dear friend about what could possibly be one of humanity’s most perplexing and misunderstood relationships:  our relationship with money.  This particular friend of mine was noticing how every time she dreamt up new and exciting ways to draw more money into her life, she found herself experiencing abrupt roadblocks being constructed in the pathway to that effortless flow of financial abundance that she continues to witness others experiencing with seemingly much more ease.

Confused by more questions in her life than answers, she asked God:  “What the heck is going on here?”

She is doing what she loves.  She is being who she knows herself to be.  She is creative and passionate and has a heart called to serve and help others.  She gives of herself openly and lovingly and asks for very little, if anything, in return from anyone.

So why does the experience of financial prosperity continue to mock someone who is doing all the “right” things in their world?

Then the answer revealed itself in the very next question from my sweet, wonderful friend:  “Is it bad or “wrong” for me to want to make money?”

Ah, the sponsoring thought.  The underlying trap.

Somewhere along the line, money has gotten a really bad rap.  We have been taught to desire it and despise it in almost equal measure.  Intimate relationships, friendships, and families have been torn apart over money, both in situations of lack and in situations of plenty.  Basketball players and movie stars make copious amounts of money.  Teachers and social workers barely make enough to pay their basic household bills.  And then there are those who have a deep desire to “make a living” in the spiritual community, those who consider themselves to be key players in the New Spirituality movement, who abruptly discover that they fall into a category for which many believe they simply should not get paid at all.

If we want to take a ride on the “abundance superhighway,” we must change our views about money and refuel ourselves with the energy that flows and radiates deep beneath the obvious paper and coins we hold in our hands or deposit in our bank accounts.  One of the quickest and surest ways to experience the magnificence of our own abundance is to give to another that which we believe ourselves to be lacking; and in doing so, what we are then allowed to discover about ourselves is that we are already plentiful in what we imagined ourselves to not have.  And not only are we given an opportunity to experience already having it, but we are given the opportunity to experience it to the degree that we actually have enough to give away.  This is just one of the many extraordinary concepts offered to us from the Conversations with God material.

If we change our belief about money, how might that change our experience of money?

If our experience of money is changed, might we be given the opportunity to experience our abundance in a new way, in a way that has nothing to do with money at all?

And if our natural state of abundance has nothing to do with money at all, what does it have to do with?

I love money.

I love receiving it.  I love giving it away.  And it has been my personal experience at numerous points in time in my life that I can live quite contently without having much of it at all. I have never been someone who has had what one would call a “lot” of money.  And I solemnly recognize the disproportionate number of people in the world who are barely getting by in their day-to-day lives with the amount of financial resources they have available to them compared to the tightly guarded segment of our population who holds and controls the vast percentage of our world’s wealth and resources.  It is my hope and my vision that one day that model of our world will change.  But in order to reach that stage in our evolution, we must reflect upon and restructure some of our most basic and fundamental underlying beliefs not only about money, but about who we are and about why we are even here in the first place.

Where do we begin?  What can one person do?

Perhaps we all can throw an extra dollar or two onto the tip for our next waitress.  Maybe we actually do have enough time and money to pull into that youth group’s car wash on the corner.  Might we allow ourselves to share 3 or 4 or 5 dollars with the homeless man or woman on the corner without worrying about how they spend it or why they are there to begin with?  What would happen if we bought our groceries from the local Mom-and-Pop store in our community, where the prices might be slightly higher, but the service is extraordinary?  Would we really miss the extra few dollars and cents in the long run?

I’m just wondering…

(Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)