This post is a response to a discussion I had recently with a friend about “money”.

I grew up in a lower socio-economic state housing area and many of my beliefs about money reflect that environment and the beliefs that my parents passed on to me about that subject. Some of these beliefs to name only a few were that “having too much money was not spiritual, that money did not grow on trees, that if you had too much money you must have acquired it dishonestly and that it was more respectable and humble to work hard and just make do.” All in all it is not surprising that I was left with the idea that “money” was somehow bad and tainted by the hands of the Devil!

Given this background it is little wonder that for most of my life any money I earned or received slipped through my hands fairly quickly. This I know is due to a lack of respect not for money in and of itself but for what money can do.

Money of itself has no instrinsic value.Yet we can do things with it that we would not be able to do without it. So what we can do with money is valueable to us and for that reason the energy that money represents is deserving of respect. At the level above mere survival money offers us the opportunity of the freedom of choice. The freedom to choose how we will live our lives. The freedom to choose where we will work if at all. The freedom to spend our lives devoted to causes and activities that nourish our souls. The freedom to contribute and make a difference to our local communities and the world. A lack of money on the other hand will keep us tethered to and reliant upon the generosity of others and our time will be occupied by satisfying our basic survival needs.

Money is a form of energy that we receive generally in exchange for another form of valuable energy usually some physical or mental exertion at a place of work. We then exchange the money earned for other things that we need to survive such as accommodation, food and clothes. If we are  particularly fortunate we end up with a surplus of money after all our living expenses have been paid for and it is this surplus that allows us to save and accumulate money to either spend or give away at a later date or just to give us a sense of financial security.

In short there is nothing bad about money itself. It’s what we do with it that matters. In particular if we use it for the benefit of more than just ourselves there is every likelihood that it will return to us multiplied.

It is our programmed money beliefs and habits that will determine for us how we respond to having money or not having any as the case may be. If we hold negative attitudes about money then we can expect to produce negative results. As mentioned above it has been my negative beliefs and associated feelings about money that have resulted in my often acting impulsively and spending money selfishly on consumer items which soon lose their appeal after aquisition and which result in a lack of savings and the continued belief in a state of  impoverishment.

On the other hand there are others I know who hang on to their money like “Scrooge McDuck” of Disney fame. They have developed beliefs and habits which ensure that any money they receive is squirrelled away for a rainy day. At first glance this could be considered a positive result as we have all been taught that “if we save the pennies the pounds will look after themselves!” Yet if money is not in circulation it can stagnate and eventually lose value. The loss of value I refer to here althought this could equally refer to a loss of capital due to poor returns and inflation more relevantly in my view refers to not receiving a greater benefit from its use.

So there is clearly a balance to be found between these two extremes. One which recognises the value of what money can do and the difference that it can make if used wisely for the benefit of ourselves and others. There is a natural state of abundance to be found in the universe and I don’t believe that it serves any purpose for us not to embrace that abundance. Money is a human invention that is simply used to reflect that natural abundance and is the fuel for our world economies.

The key is to understand and learn how to attract and keep hold of money. If you have ever wondered why some people who win the lottery eventually end up in exactly the same financial position that they were in before the lottery win then wonder no longer. People who have become rich through their own efforts and entrepreneurship tend to hang on to their wealth and those who have just had a lucky break tend to dispose of their wealth. The former have learned through experience what is required to make money and to retain it. They have developed beliefs and habits that are congruent with this end result. Even if they experience failure they are able to bounce back and recover their losses fairly quickly. Those in the latter category do not have the experiences and beliefs and habits built on those to ensure that their capital is preserved and when the inevitable happens they are generally ill prepared and unable to rebuild their wealth.

Some have said that money is power. Power is inherently neither good nor bad. It is how you choose to use it that can make the difference based upon whether such use either enhances life or whether it takes away from it. Money is no different.