The Energy of Money
Money. When you read that word, what do you think about? What do you feel? What images race through your mind? Fun, excitement, investments and vacation? Tension, anxiety, debt and work? Money holds a different meaning for everyone. What meaning does money have for you, or what meaning do you give to money?
Imagine you’re at your bank to make a withdrawal. You’re standing at the bank teller’s window when she informs you that your account is completely zeroed out. She proceeds to tell you that there is no more money…anywhere, in fact the whole world has run out of money. She seems shocked you didn’t know because they’ve been talking about it all morning on the news and radio. The big splash of terror hit the streets as the world came to a screeching financial halt. Not a dollar to be found anywhere. Apparently the world is tapped out. You and the teller nod in agreement and say, “I knew the money would run out someday”.
Ok, you’re probably smirking because that sounds ridiculous, but there is no denying we often put that kind of pressure on ourselves when it comes to money in our life. We live in a society mindset of striving and thinking ahead about money we don’t have yet, with feelings of anxiety, worrying that it might not be enough in the end anyway or that we will “run out”.
When you head to the faucet to get a glass of water do you have feelings of anxiety or panic that nothing will come out? Or that there will not be enough and you’ll go thirsty? Do you lose sleep at night thinking you might run out of water? No, of course not, in fact you probably don’t give it a thought you just expect water to flow from the faucet as it should be. It’s a Universal law that you get what you expect. Expect to get water from the faucet and you will and realize that if you expect to run short on money you will.
Do you ever feel concerned about money? Is your mind full of heavy thoughts of never having enough, or worse, that you’ll “run out” of money? Better questions are whether the stress you feel is real or even necessary and what can you do to turn it around.
Money is a leading cause of health and relationship problems. This is the most important reason to create a healthy outlook on money. It’s the number one thing that couples fight about and the leading reason for divorce. It drives people to high levels of internal stress causing real, physical symptoms. Remember it’s not money itself it’s the concepts and feelings we give to money that come into play.
For example a couple with a husband that grew up in a family that felt spending money on vacations was frivolous and it was better to save, and a wife that grew up in a family that treasured their vacations no matter the expense it was worth every penny. When it comes time for this couple to make plans with their money can you see where disagreements might come into play? This decision now becomes emotional because their personal values do not match. The wife suggests a vacation to Italy and the husband wants to put the money in an IRA for retirement. After some time, every purchase decision becomes a debate, resentment builds and stress takes over the relationship.
If you find yourself in that situation, sit down and ask yourself what your concepts about money are and where they came from. Are they positive or negative? Do they make you feel empowered or deflated? For example, perhaps the husband always wanted to go to Italy but he feels guilty because he’s been given a concept that money for travel is a waste. If he really wants to experience and enjoy a trip to Italy with his wife, it’s far from a waste if they are happier for the experience. It also shows his old concept does not support what truly brings him bliss.
Do your concepts still support who you are and the direction you want your life to flow? What are your current values about money that do or do not support and assist you with your financial choices?
Financial pressure can cause havoc on your physical health as well. For instance, you received notice you have to pay an unexpected $2000.00 dollars in taxes this year. It causes you to respond with anger and frustration and you feel stressed. The first stage of stress is the alarm reaction. Messages flow from your brain to your endocrine system better known as the “fight or flight” response. Once the stress stops, or you come to terms with the information, you return to normal. Note that it takes approximately 27 minutes for your body to return to it’s normal chemical state after experiencing your reaction.
The longer you fume or complain about having to pay the money, the longer you remain in this state. If you continue your stress, your body tries to adapt to the stress by resisting. Your muscles tense up, your body temperature rises, you may even have irregular heart rhythms as you struggle with this information that you feel so upset about. Again, if the stress stops you revert to normal levels after a period of cooling down time. However, if you continue to stress out, you enter a state of exhaustion and you become susceptible to poor health.
Our bodies’ stress response worked beautifully in our cave days when we encountered bears and big animals that we needed to run from to survive. Our fight or flight system poured chemicals into our bodies so we could react and outrun the big bear or fight and kill it for dinner. After that your stress would disappear. It played a key role in our survival.
In today’s society we have a new kind of stress: psychological stress. Our lives are not in danger most of the time, but our minds still act as if they are. It does nothing to help us. As a society we stress over everything, and stress no longer arrives in short bursts, it is constant. When we live in a world of not quite fight and not quite flight it causes us to carry around chronic, unresolved stress.
This chronic stress means you never quite relax which causes an energy drain and your mind and body become fatigued. Your immune system is weakened and you are a walking target for dis-ease. You are more susceptible to colds, flu, high blood pressure, heart attacks, cancer, headaches and pre-mature aging.
This physical chemistry disaster is also poison to our brain’s memory cells. Are you having trouble remembering facts? Age may not be related. Stress is more likely the cause. Stress releases chemicals that are bad for our brains. Scientists have shown people with post-traumatic stress disorder and people who have had major depression - develop a smaller hippocampus, by as much as 26 percent compared to most people. (The hippocampus is the part of their brain that forms new memories and retrieves old ones.)
When it comes to money we stress and strain dreading the awful thought that we might run dry. The funny thing is we have more control over the flow of money in our life than the flow of water from our faucet, yet we become helpless, feeling empty, weak and stuck in our stuff when it comes to our prosperity.
Understand that being broke or being wealthy is merely a state of mind. I’ve had both myself and can you guess which one feels better and which one creates better results? Your state of mind and subconscious thinking is what drives the choices you make and what you do with your money.
Your confidence and self esteem can be tied into money. Many of us rate our success by the dollars to our name. If we feel short on cash in our life, we tend to feel short on confidence almost as if we’ve done something wrong or that we’re not good enough compared to everyone else.
Get clear that your money does not define you. With or without it, you are wonderful. It’s not money itself, but how you feel about your money that makes the difference in your life. Money has only the meaning you give to it. It is energy plain and simple, but whether it’s positive energy or negative energy is up to you.
There are many ways to improve your feelings about money and the financial standings in your life. The first is to be aware of your current concepts and the emotions that stir when you think about money. Be sure to watch for my upcoming tips on creating a wealthy mindset. Visit www.youcanflycoaching.com/contact to reserve a 15 minute consultation if you would like more information on developing a prosperity mindset!
Nicole is an accomplished Motivational Speaker and Success Coach. She has over 17 years of experience helping people achieve incredible levels of personal and professional success, health and prosperity. Her extensive training in the areas of mind-body synergy and verbal / non-verbal communication coupled with extensive self improvement, sales and time mastery skills have provided many clients with unparalleled success. She focuses her efforts on working with clients and organizations using a synergistic approach to solving complex issues resulting in substantial bottom line improvements. Focusing on up to date methods such as tele-classes, seminars, workshops and web based services, Nicole uses a variety of techniques and tools to deliver and teach necessary life-skills and business-skills to her varied clients. Nicole is a certified professional who has a passion for coaching others to find happiness and achieve a balance in every aspect of their life.
Add comment April 30th, 2008
