Do you believe you don’t lack money at all? In this episode of Wisdom Dialogues, Hope Johnson with panelists, Laurie Thibuotot and Bob Shine, share with us insights on why there is no such thing as a lack of money. They enlighten us where the feelings of scarcity come from and how we can face it.
This episode particularly blesses us wisdom on:
- Is lack of money real?
- How does scarcity consciousness relate to children?
- How can we keep children from eating the food?
- Will saying, “Yes,” all the time spoil children?
- If family members behave in an aggressive or cruel way, are they innocent? When I react to their energy, am I still innocent?
Is there really a lack of money?
Believing that we lack money is a projected feeling. We use money to project guilt onto ourselves and other people. We perceive it as if we don’t have enough. Money, just like other concepts, doesn’t mean anything. It gets its value because we are trying to uphold the projected feeling as a defense of love. We are afraid to surrender or submit. Wanting money comes from built-up fear that makes us stay in the world.
When we continue to identify with the thought of money or any idea, the intensity gets stronger. However, when we don’t identify, the intensity lessens until the thought is nothing. What it will leave behind is a sense of calmly joy.
We can say that having intense feelings means believing something is true. It is also intense because we keep following the pattern and the fear factor ramps up. However, it is up to us to go through it without identifying with the ego play which is telling us that fear or lack is real so we need to save ourselves. The moment we validate the thoughts the ego convinces us, it distracts the underlying cause which is a belief about ourselves.
We can see money in a different way by recognizing what energy is being offered or exchanged. We can think about it as a gift for love. So, Hope encourages us to watch the feeling that arises when we think about money. We just need to stop and watch where our energy is going with it. It is an inner knowing or realization. Our responsibility is to ask ourselves, “What is the energy exchange? How am I using this? How am I using it to attack myself?”
Once we know it and we are in it, then we can laugh and see how silly our thoughts or perceptions are. Hope reminds us that everything is a teaching-learning experience including the rush or intense feelings we get from something. When we keep believing a guilty thought, it becomes serious. When we don’t believe it, we will realize it is just joke, a laughing matter.
How does scarcity-consciousness relate to children?
Hope answers that it is a common misperception that kids can steal. ‘Stealing’ happens when a person, whether kid or adult, feels an extreme sense of lack. However, she reminds us that no one can steal anything. All of us are like children, always innocent.
However, we can look at lack or scarcity as a gift and we will start to see how we are making all of it up. It is projected so we can feel guilt. It leads us to uphold the world, hold on to it and be defensive about it.
What we can do to stop the perception of stealing is to undo this guilty self-concept. In our heart is a recognition where the perception is coming from. If we don’t know, we can ask within.
How can we keep kids from eating the food?
Hope suggests that instead of telling children, “There is no food,” or “This food is only mine”, we can ask them how they feel about it instead. We can say, “This food is mine. Would you please not eat it?”, “Would you be willing for it to be mine tonight?” or “Would you please eat something else instead of this?” This way there is no sense of scarcity. However children react to our asking is a teaching-learning experience for everyone.
Will saying, “Yes,” all the time spoil children?
Hope tells us that we spoil kids thru our energy. Saying “Yes,” doesn’t come from love and compassion when our intention is for them to leave us alone. Spoiling is never an extension of love. It comes from wanting the kids to find gratification through objects rather than getting it directly from us. Hope explains that this can happen because in parents’ minds, they feel fearful of punishment and they are concerned because there is not enough. Parents don’t know how abundant they are.
Hope reminds us to always see it is a dance. The parent and the child are equally in the dance. Whoever has the capacity for more wisdom or for extending love, has more responsibility in that. When there is ignorance, some don’t know they can make a choice. It is a matter of understanding one’s feeling given a situation.
If family members behave in an aggressive or cruel way, are they innocent? When I react to their energy am I still innocent?
Hope answers that if we are the ones who know there is a choice, yes, we have dominion and responsibility. No one is going to help us in our responsibility because it is only for us. It is up to us to choose between love or fear, heaven or hell, comfort or guilt. It is our responsibility alone to make a choice because we have our own creative power. However, in this environment, there seems for us to have a choice because we have constantly chosen guilt.
When we realize that we are believing a guilty self-concept, we go back to the reality which is to choose truth or innocence. All of us are innocent. What’s important is recognizing what perceptions we believe are reality and changing how we see things.