Are Our Beliefs About Money Preventing Us from Earning It?

Most of us spend a great deal of time dwelling on thoughts of money, whether or not we'd like to admit it. Sometimes this is unconscious; other times, the concern is right at the forefront of our minds. Maybe no amount of effort on our parts seems sufficient for us to make ends meet. Or perhaps we experience an unexpected windfall here or there, but just as quickly it slips through our fingers and we wonder where it's gone. Wars and outbreaks of disease and natural disasters rock our world from time to time, but money worries can make life feel like a battle day in and day out.

It's perplexing when all our efforts seem barely sufficient to keep us afloat, but "getting ahead" lies forever on the horizon. Is there a reason for this? It's not a matter of there being only so much to go around, because there's a certain segment of the population that have more than they'll ever need. What are they doing differently - or, better yet, how are they thinking differently?

We can keep ourselves in a stalemate if we continue to strive for money while all the while believing that we don't really deserve it. The universe rewards our conviction by reflecting it back to us. There's countless reasons why any one of us may be convinced that we're not worthy of abundance in our lives. It's been remarked before that men in particular equate their worth with their earning capacity. What if that formula actually works the reverse way? What if we're equating what we'll allow ourselves to make with what we believe we're worth?

It may seem more spiritual, or at least more compassionate, to shun abundance because we see that other people are lacking. It seems that any good that comes into our lives must necessarily deprive someone else. This is poverty mentality in a cunning guise. In reality, there's plenty for all - it's just very poorly distributed. And the reason for that may be that a lot of people think there's something wrong with money, or their own desire for it.

Money is not "dirty" nor "corrupt" nor "unspiritual". It's just a means of exchange - and a symbol of so many other things. If our coin of trade was chicken eggs then those of us who feel undeserving of money would then feel undeserving of chicken eggs in that scenario. The end result would be the same: our inner resistance keeping our own good from flowing to us.

The solution to our lack is the true conviction that we deserve more. If we could hold that belief in our hearts and minds and not let fear get in the way then everything we needed in life would come to us when we made the effort. Lack can be a form of punishment, for any number of imagined wrongs.

One thing you may notice about many wealthy people is that they don't doubt or question their right to what they have. If they ever began to, they'd probably mismanage, gamble away, or otherwise lose that wealth. Maybe we can learn some valuable lessons from watching such people, seeing the beliefs that they operate on as opposed to our own. Then, perhaps, we could start bringing our own thoughts in line and discover that the pursuit of our livelihood is no longer such a struggle.