Trusting the flow of money
Money comes and goes. There may be a season of life where you are thriving in your job, receiving promotions or expanding your business. And there may be long, prolonged periods where you aren’t making much money compared to your peers. Perhaps it’s because you are just starting a business. Or maybe it’s because what used to make you lots of money, no longer does. Maybe you’ve been forced to stop working because of illness, injury or needing to support your family.
It’s easy to be content and fulfilled in seasons where money is prolific. It can feel validating and reassuring to have the real time support of money to pay for nice clothing, expensive travel, or self-improvement courses. However, there is never a guarantee that you will always be making the same or more money in the future.
How do you feel when the flow of money has seemingly stopped working for you?
It can feel scary to find yourself in a position where you have to use credit cards or personal loans to pay for expenses that you used to earn enough to afford. It can feel like you are doing the wrong thing when you deplete your savings accounts to cover expenses during periods where you aren’t earning money. It can seem as though money has betrayed you when it stops showing up in your life.
You can choose to think of money like a fairy godmother, a protective parent, a menacing abusive partner, or any archetype in between. You can choose to trust the support of money in proportion to the amount you are currently making or receiving. However you choose to portray money is how it will end up relating to you.
The more I have engaged in an intentional relationship with money, the more I’ve come to understand that money wants to support our dreams. And not in the ways that we would expect.
It’s not necessarily that money will always be prolifically available to you, rather you will always have enough no matter your financial circumstances. Even in periods where money is tight, I’ve seen how money itself is teaching me the exact lesson I need to learn.
That’s because money doesn't buy happiness. We all know this old adage, but in our fast paced world where everything seems to cost more and more, it can be difficult to believe it's true. I choose to trust that I will always be provided for. Whether that be through money or gifts from others, I know I will always have enough.
That subtle shift, the one where I released my grip on earning more money, and instead loosened into receiving exactly what I need; has been nothing short of magical.
It required me to question how much money is truly necessary in this current season of life. It required me to specifically ask for my needs to be met, then trust that they would be provided for in the most perfect way. I had to step out of my comfort zone and expand my perception of what was possible. Ultimately I realized that I had so many needs that no amount of money could fix. And the best way for money to teach me that lesson was for it to go away for a season.
When I work with my clients, we do an exercise called the Wheel of Life. In this experience, we review which facets of life feel full and which feel empty, coloring in various pie slices like family, mental health, and career. It’s natural for money, and your satisfaction in various facets of life, to fluctuate over time. However, measuring your self-worth or personal satisfaction based solely on the money you are earning is a slippery slope towards overall life dissatisfaction.
By reviewing your life holistically, measuring your satisfaction based on how fulfilled you are in various facets of life, you can better understand the ways that money is supporting you regardless of how much you are earning. From there, you can make more appropriate financial goals and feel emboldened to take better informed financial risks.
If you want to explore your relationship with money and make more rewarding life decisions, schedule an introductory meeting with me here.
