Friday, June 29, 2012

Money is a Form of Qi!


Money is A Form of Qi!!
by Honora Wolfe

Family Money Traditions
Every person receives a whole variety of messages about money as children. This “information” can cloud our vision where our finances are concerned and keep us from having a healthy relationship with the green stuff that we need to be successful business people.

Here are a few of the most common messages about money:
“money doesn’t grow on trees”
“money is the root of all evil”
“money makes the world go around”
“do you think I am made of money?”
“you have to work hard to have money”
“you need to marry a rich spouse to survive”
Sound familiar?

Because money is such a survival issue, these messages get imprinted deeply within us and can control us unconsciously all our lives, often to our detriment.

Each of your parents probably had a different money “style.” Each of these has good and bad points in how they handle money…and what you internalized as a child. How has this affected your professional life and relationship with $$?

Were your parents:
Worriers (always obsessed with all the bad things that could happen)           
Monks (money is bad, embarrassing, causes anxiety, and to be avoided)
Gamblers (always risking the family assets one way or another)
Amassers (love to have more…but not for any particular reason)
Overspenders (shopaholics)
Avoiders (“I won’t think about this now, I’ll think about it tomorrow.                                                                     
This person never balances their checkbook!)
Hoarders (Like to count their money, but don’t like to spend it.)

My Relationship to Money

Take some time to think about the questions listed below. Write down your answers. Written messages to yourself have great power.

1. What messages about $$ did you receive as a child?
2. Did your family have traditions about $$, work, spending, saving, and/or investing that you are adhering to or departing from in your life and how well is that working for you?
3. How have those messages affected your relationship with $$ as a professional for better or worse?
4. What one thing would you like to change about your relationship with $$?
5. How would that one thing improve your professional life?

What is Money?
Basically, money is a form of energy exchange. We have decided what is of value in our culture and we exchange our time and our energy in lesser or higher amounts to get what we want.

If we think about money as a form of qi, this may help us to revise our thinking and our relationship to this vital part of our life.

What do we know about diseases of the qi?  There are two basic things that can go wrong in the body (or in the universe) with qi.
            1. Not enough
            2. Not flowing freely

So it is with money, too. If we remove all our value judgments about it, we need it in adequate amounts and we need to keep it flowing freely, as long as it is the basic form of human energy exchange that is currently in use.

However, if you have unnecessary internal “judgments” about money in your bodymind, it may be difficult to maintain #1 and 2 above. For example, if your money style is hoarding, it will be difficult to maintain the free flow of it in your life.  If your money style is an avoider or a monk, it may be difficult to ever have enough money because the money makes the avoider nervous and it makes the monk feel guilty.

Assignments:
1. Worriers: Give yourself the assignment that for one day per week you will not think about money and not worry about it. Then do your best to follow through.
2. Monks: One day per week buy a small thing that you don’t need and see what comes up.
Examine feelings that arise and see if they have any reality or not. Where do they come from?
3. Gamblers: Take a look at all the ways that you gamble in your life. Are there ways you can get
the same thrill that don’t involve the use of money? (People with serious gambling problems
need to join Gamblers Anonymous!)
4. Amassers/hoarders: Consider your reasons for enjoying the collection of money for its sake
alone. Could you replace that satisfaction by collecting friends, good works, or climbing ‘14ers?
5. Overspenders: Create a budget (or should we call it a spending plan?) for one month. Put in a
line item for clothing or other discretionary spending and stick to it.
6. Avoiders: Spend one afternoon each week or every other week balancing your checkbook,
creating a budget, or organizing your finances in some way and see how that feels.

These are just suggestions. You might think of other personal “assignments” that feel more to the
point. For me, even the acknowledgement of my money “style” helps me keep it from hurting me
(and those who work with me!) as a business-person because it no longer resides only in my
unconscious. I highly recommend this exploration.

For more help getting to the bottom of your own money issues, there are many books on this
subject. One good one is The Money Mirror by Annette Leiberman.