How
to Never Worry About Money Again
 by
Kevin B. Burk, author of The Relationship Handbook: How to
Understand and Improve Every Relationship in Your Life.
Last year, I attended a metaphysical study group
on Wednesday nights. One month, the topic was abundance and prosperity.
The main book we were studying was Catherine Ponders, The Dynamic
Laws of Prosperity, but we also addressed several other books,
including Lynne Twist’s, The Soul of Money.
In The Soul of Money, Lynne Twist introduces
the concept of living in sufficiency. Through her work helping to
alleviate world hunger, she became acutely aware of one of the common
beliefs of Western culture, and American culture in particular:
more is better. Like so many of our deeply-held and cherished
beliefs, it is utterly and completely wrong, and holding onto this
belief simply creates more of the pain that we expect the belief
to alleviate. Twist introduces the concept of enough, of
living in sufficiency, and also reveals that when we do live in
sufficiency, and are truly grateful for it, that our sufficiency
increases. This is true abundance consciousness.
When I first explored this concept, my ego immediately
objected. “I can’t get by with just enough! Enough isn’t
enough for me! I need more than enough just to survive!”
This, of course, simply made me aware
of one of my unconscious beliefs about money. Now that I was aware
of this belief, I could own it, and choose whether
it still served me. The first thing that struck me was how silly
this belief was. “Enough” is, by definition, enough. Enough is all
that we need, and all that we can use. All we ever need is enough,
because more than enough is simply too much, and would go to waste
or become a burden.
So, I started to explore the concept of living
in sufficiency. Then Guy Williams, the facilitator of the study
group made one of his off-hand comments that once again completely
rearranged all of the furniture in my head. He said that often,
when we affirm abundance, what we are really affirming is lack.
When we affirm abundance, we want more than enough; we want enough
for our current needs, and enough left over as a hedge against the
point in the future where we know we will not have enough.
I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, but it
definitely applied to me! (I often sit back and marvel at how subtle
and insidious the ego can be, finding ways to cling to old beliefs
and patterns.) I looked back at all of my affirmations for abundance,
every one of which affirmed “more than enough” in one way or another,
and rewrote them to simply affirm the truth that I always have enough.
One of the exercises we did in the study group
was to set our intentions for abundance. What condition or experience
did we want to create in our lives? For me, my intention was never
again to worry about money. To me, not worrying about money represented
absolute financial freedom. So, I began to explore what would have
to happen in order for me to no longer worry about money. Naturally,
I started by considering exactly how much money it would take for
me to no longer worry about money. I imagined how I would feel with
$50,000 in the bank…with $500,000 in the bank….with $50 million
in the bank.
As I played with this exercise, I realized something
startling. No matter how much money I had in the bank, I still found
that I could worry about money. Somehow, even the idea of having
$50 million in my personal checking account didn’t eliminate my
financial anxiety. What’s more, even imagining that I had $50 million
in the bank didn’t feel like it was enough.
And then, it hit me. All at once, I discovered
the secret of never again worrying about money! It was so simple,
yet so powerful!
The secret of not worrying about money is this:
Don’t worry about money.
Now, before you get too upset, let me share
my realization, and how I know that all anyone needs to do to stop
worrying about money is to stop worrying about money.
No matter how much money I imagined in my checking
account, I could still worry about money. Therefore, whether or
not I worry about money has nothing at all to do with the balance
in my checking account or my savings account. It does, however,
have everything to do with the balance in my safety account.
Money is the single most common and most powerful
attachment most of us will ever experience. When we create an attachment
to something, it immediately becomes a safety need for us. Now,
money can certainly help us to feel safe. Having an ample flow of
money allows us to meet so many of our most pressing survival needs—food,
shelter, and clothing—as well as many of our higher needs, including
validation and self-actualization. Money is a powerful energy that
allows us to create, to express ourselves, to experience love and
relationship, and to feel free.
What we so often lose sight of is that money
is not the only way that we can meet these needs; it’s simply one
option. Often, money appears to be the easiest option, which
is why our egos are so attracted to it. Unfortunately, it’s a very
short step from loving and appreciating money to believing that
we need money in order to survive. As soon as we create an attachment
to money, it becomes a safety need. We link up our bank accounts
with our Safety Accounts, and the lower the balance is in our bank
account, the less safe we feel.
On the surface, this doesn’t seem too catastrophic.
As long as we have enough money, we’ll feel safe, right? Wrong.
We receive deposits in our safety accounts in many different ways,
through many different conduits. When we create an attachment, we
begin to shut down these other avenues for receiving deposits in
our safety account, and only notice or accept deposits that come
through the conduit of our attachment. As a result, the balance
of our safety account is always dropping, which inevitably causes
us to become more attached to our attachment, which, in turn, makes
us feel even less safe. This is why it’s not possible to have enough
money in our bank accounts to make us feel safe for very long. The
balance of our Safety Account is always dropping, which means we
always need more money than we have in order to compensate.
When we release our attachment to money, when
we break the link between our bank accounts and our Safety Accounts,
we no longer worry about money. It’s that simple.
Of course, simple is so rarely the same thing
as easy.
Before we can release our attachments (to money
or anything else, for that matter), we first have to bring the balance
in our Safety Account to its minimum required level. As long as
we feel even a little unsafe, we will cling to our attachments and
be unable to release them.
So, here is a very simple exercise you can do
to help restore the balance in your Safety Account so you can release
your attachments to money. (You can also listen to this exercise
online at http://www.EveryRelationship.com/PMA/).
PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS EXERCISE ABOUT MONEY
First, create a space where you will not be disturbed
for at least five minutes. Turn off the phone, close the door
to your office or bedroom, and do whatever you need to do in order
to create five minutes of quiet around you.
Settle into your chair and gently inhale deeply,
hold your breath for a count of 10, and then release.
Close your eyes if that feels comfortable to
you.
Let yourself be aware of your breath. Let yourself
experience being supported by the chair. Gently notice any part
of your body where you are holding, and simply let go, allowing
the chair to do all of the work for you.
Let yourself become aware of your thoughts,
simply observing them. Observe the sounds you hear, any sensations
you experience. Simply observe, simply notice, and allow your thoughts
to quiet on their own. Allow your awareness to settle on the present
moment. Allow yourself to experience yourself as you are in this
moment, as you are now.
Breathe into this experience, and allow yourself
to relax.
Now, consider the truth that right here, right
now, in this very moment, you are completely safe.
Right here, right now, in this very moment,
you are whole, complete and perfect. You are exactly where you need
to be; you are exactly who you need to be.
Right here, right now, in this moment, all of
your needs are met. You are completely safe. You are completely
validated. (Just sit with this truth and observe whatever thoughts
bubble up to the surface, and let your awareness come gently, easily,
effortlessly back to the present moment.)
Right here, right now, in this moment, all of
your bills are paid. Right here, right now, in this moment, you
have enough money. Right here, right now, in this moment, you live
in complete sufficiency.
Your rent or mortgage is paid for the rest of
the month. Your bills are all paid, right here, right now, in this
moment. The future does not exist yet, because you have not yet
created it. Bills that are due tomorrow, or next week, or next month
do not exist yet. All that matters is the truth that in this moment,
you are free. In this moment, you are safe. In this moment, you
have enough. In this moment, you are enough.
In this moment, every single one of your needs
is met, easily, effortlessly, automatically, by a loving and supportive
Universe.
Allow yourself to take a few breaths and experience
how it feels to be enough; to be supported; to be whole.
Finally, consider the truth that just as your
needs are completely, easily, effortlessly and automatically met
in this moment, that they are always met, because there is
only now.
I invite you to explore this exercise anytime
you feel worried about money, or unsafe in any way. Whatever your
experience, whatever your reaction, it is absolutely perfect. You
do not have to believe any of these truths; simply consider them,
experience them, observe your reactions and responses, and allow
your mind to return to the present moment.
If you practice this exercise three times a day
for three minutes each time, for thirty days, you will experience
truly amazing changes in your life. One change you will certainly
experience is that you no longer have to worry about money.
Kevin B. Burk is the author of
The
Relationship Handbook: How to Understand and Improve Every
Relationship in Your Life.
Visit http://www.EveryRelationship.com
for a FREE Report on creating Amazing Relationships.
©2006 Kevin
B. Burk, all rights reserved. If you would like to reprint
this article in your publication, web page, or eZine (which
you may do for free!), click here for details.
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