When you make a positive choice by making room for others as well as yourself, you are casting yourself in a role that can lead you to wealth, inner and outer. Will things always be clear or logical? Rarely. As long as there are human beings around, we can usually expect diverse behavior in human beings.
For example, you can tell a man that there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and it's likely that he'll believe you. But if you tell him a bench has just been painted, he usually has to touch it to be sure. Human beings are funny, strange, weird, wonderful, supportive, competitive, ridiculous and loving. When you make room for other people's success as well as your own, you'll discover the loving more often. In the loving is the key to your wealth.
-- John-Roger
(From: Wealth & Higher Consciousness, p. 130-131)
This quote caught my attention as I was about to conduct a "Renewal of Vows" ceremony. The husband and wife have been married for 30 years and no doubt in that time, have learned much about sharing.
I notice how WEalth and WEddings have a WE-ness about them. None of us are islands. We are connected. We share the same sea. The flow between us makes us richer.
How about when someone is not feeling successful because they are meeting some, for them, large challenges in their life? They can too easily lose sight of their achievements -- at work, in their community or with their family members -- or more importantly, they lose sense of their innate qualities, gifts and talents that never leave them.
"Making room for their success" is training your eyes to recognize the success in others, even and especially when it may seem hidden to them. Take a co-worker, for example, who has failed to bring a project in on time. At that moment, they may benefit from being reminded of what they have achieved, that which they have accomplished and the qualities that make them nevertheless a valued member of your team.
Your spouse, child or siblings can be encouraged and reassured by your love and appreciation for who they are as valuable people in your life. We are vulnerable. We love being reminded that those we love do care for us.
In response to my article: Wealth School: Lessons in Creative Frugality tapeatsbill commented:
My wife and I were both making good money. We lived in an old craftman style bungalow with our 7 yr old daughter. Two paid off cars and a low mortgage payment and yes a dog. We had several thousand in savings and retirement accounts we're building. Crosby Stills and Nash were on the stereo and all was good.
Them my employer started getting hinckey (as in unethical) and I went into big stress mode. We were talking about what to do and then, she blew me away. She turned to me and said, "why don't you quit and take the summer off with Emily? You can go back to work in the fall."
And so by living below our means, a 40-year-old man had the best summer vacation ever with his 7-year-old daughter. You don't even have to live that frugally, just live below your means.
In a dispute, would you be willing to let go of the conflict and expand into a larger point of view, which includes all the parties concerned? A win grows as more are made a part of it. In opening to more of your love, compassion and kindness, you are the first to reap the reward of it.
The wealth of who you are is not limited in its reach. It expands as you touch to others. How does this have any impact, monetarily? Money circulates. It exchanges hands. It is given and received.
In our sharing with others, in our giving and receiving, we may also buy and sell, trade, share information, contacts, ideas, or form teams to create new enterprises. When we stagnate, our flow of money may also stagnate and stop. When we express our gifts and talents, we expand. Our value grows.
Nick Segal in his recent article How to Seize Your Critical Mass Moment for Exponential Success describes how he gives back to employees as a step towards growing his business.
When my energy feels low, I only have to read one of the wedding ceremonies I have written to be touched by the loving that represents the couple concerned. This loving lifts me and gives me courage to take a step when I might otherwise have held back. I am so grateful for the gifts that couples give to me to witness their loving and commitment to each other.
This short film in the Soul Biographies series by Nic Askew illustrates very beautifully the generosity of spirit and sharing.
RECOVERING THE DIAMONDS from Nic Askew on Vimeo.
The diamonds we are we wear within us.
How have you found sharing to be a key to your greater wealth? I would love to know. Please leave a comment below or drop me a line at wealthminister@mac.com
Wishing you health, wealth and happiness -- in all of the many ways it can come to you!
For tips and hints on creating a wealthy life, go to "The Wealth Book: Winning with Spirit."
Follow Anne Naylor on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Anne4Joy
Blessings,
Annie
Thank you very much for your observation. It is wonderful to have the understanding, not that we gt to make permanent changes overnight but that we get lots of opportunity to put into practice the things we discover about doing better.
The beautiful thing about being able not to judge is that we stay open to enjoy more of the goodness in and around us.
Great to hear from you!
Peace and joy to you,
Anne
Thank you for your rich contribution! I love this:
"Sharing does not involve judging another, because when we try to reveal their truth as we see it, through judgment, we instead reveal our truth for all to see."
The wealth potential in sharing the essence of who we all are is immense. The essence trnascends our judgments. However, little by little we can take steps in that direction. We do not have to wait for a mass event to take place - which is where you and I count, and make the difference. Little by little, loving expressed and shared can help to dissolve the bubbles of fear and isolation.
"Freely given and gratefully received" says a lot to me!
Thank you again for your voice and conviction.
Blessings to you,
Anne
“Might the diamonds be hidden just an inch beyond your judgment?†Prejudging isolates one from the opportunity to look inside the skin of another and visit that place where we all become who we can be?
Sharing does not involve judging another, because when we try to reveal their truth as we see it, through judgment, we instead reveal our truth for all to see.
The mutuality of sharing and the potential confluence of common understanding and benefit are all part of purposeful living. Humanity can reach its potential only when "we" the members, join hands and heads and hearts to form a community of purpose and intent. As we become aware of the value so often hidden in others, until we face the mistrust born from generational cycles of fear, and until we turn our focus inward to find our light shining out rather than seeking an external source to light our way, we will be separate and often desperately alone in our journey.
It just seems too often along the path chosen, we see more the differences and less the similarities, so we isolate and relegate ourselves to settling for self-defined cubby holes of contentment and familiarity, and their imposed limitations of ignorance; we are left to imagine all sorts of threats and dangers beyond our cube. No sharing or wealth there!
The wealth of sharing begins not in anticipation of reciprocity, but in that which is both freely given and gratefully received!
Lawson