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Prosperity and Abundance
by Dr. Richard
Bellamy |
Abundance and prosperity, what is it?
Many people have different definitions for abundance and
prosperity. For one person it might be feeling the
freedom to do what they love. For someone else it might
mean having material possessions such as a car, or a
house in a certain area of town. For another it might
mean having the realization that once food, water and
air requirements are met they have all their needs met,
so anything else is a bonus. Our abundance and
prosperity are largely a result of the thoughts and
feelings we direct toward life. I invite you to
understand that our thoughts are like currency we spend
or save towards our destiny in life.
Consider for a minute,
the word "thought." Being a noun, you can have
thought. Now imagine your thought as currency. How do
you "spend" your thoughts? Do you
purchase with your thought presence that which you love,
or do you squander the currency of your thought on what
you don’t want?
In our bodies we have a
neuro-sensory system (input or attention), and a neuro-motor
(expression) system. Within the muscles of the motor
system exist what are called "motor units" or
"units of bodily expression." I invite you to
understand that just as the neuro-motor system has
"motor units", the neuro-sensory system has
"attention units".
Ultimately, at some
level, consciously or other-than-consciously, your
"motor units" express or output the quality of
your "attention units" in much the same way a
binary computer expresses the quality of what is input.
You have probably heard the saying, "Garbage in
equals garbage out."
We have all heard the law
of physics quoted "Nature abhors a vacuum"
have we not? Nature fills vacuums if we fail to fill
them. We either fill our "vacuum" of life by
spending our currency on what we most value or we soon
find that nature, AKA universal law, AKA universe has
filled in the blanks in the absence of our attention.
You may already be having
the thought, "How do I think about not thinking
about something without finding myself thinking about
it?" For example, if you were already trying not to
think about a juicy, yellow and sour lemon in your
mouth, right now you might already be experiencing your
mouth watering from the imagined juicy yellow lemon.
Realize that you cannot not think about
something, at least at some other- than-conscious level,
by trying to avoid it, but you can spend your thought on
something of a higher order. The more you invest your
currency of thought toward what you love, the less
currency you have left to spill over into that which you
do not want.
How can you more wisely
spend your currency of thought? One way is by changing
your questions. Here’s an example: I consulted with
someone in New York . Ann was an owner of a property
management company that managed properties in the area.
She had me fly out to consult with her about her
business and to lead a workshop with her employees.
During her initial consultation, I asked Ann what was
her most dominant thought? She answered, "I keep
asking what I did wrong to make my husband leave. I
think about getting even with my ex-husband." I
asked her if she felt that having, "What did I
do wrong?" and "Getting even with my
ex-husband" as her dominant questions was
serving her well? Was it costing her business to be
ruminating on what she might or might not have done, and
continue to have resentment for her former husband? She
agreed that it would be wise to change her questions.
We spent some time doing
the Quantum Collapse Process that helped her to find the
balance in both "good" and "bad"
characteristics and to transform her resentments about
her former husband. A detailed description of the
Collapse Process and forms are in my book "12
Secrets for Manifesting Your Vision, Inspiration and
Purpose."
After some time Ann broke
through her frustrations and resentments. She said she
felt free for the first time in months, and her dominant
question had changed. Her dominant question became, "How
can I get my business back on track?" Ann was
now able to ask higher quality questions. We then went
to work on her business. She went on to have her
business double in six months.
Einstein once stated, and I paraphrase, "If
I had a problem to solve, and only had an hour to solve
the problem and my life depended on solving the problem,
I would spend the first fifty-five minutes determining
the proper question to ask, because once I had the
proper question I could solve the problem in less than
five minutes."
Many people are looking
for answers to problems they have not asked the proper
questions about. Genius appears to be, at least in part,
a result of the questions we ask ourselves. If you ask
yourself and others trivial questions you will likely
find yourself feeling that your life is a tragedy, much
like a soap opera. If you ask yourself great questions,
then your life will most likely begin to become very
fulfilling and inspiring, with less reaction to the ups
and downs, in other words a great life, a classic. In
case you were already wondering what the other important
characteristic of genius is, it is the ability to
discover a hidden order within apparent disorder, and
the ability to have a perception of balance within
apparent unbalance, symmetry within apparent asymmetry,
a revealed beauty behind the apparent ugliness of life.
One way we waste our
mental resources is through what have been called "awfulizing,"
or exaggerating out of proportion away from the truth
about an event, person, place or thing. In awfulizing we
tend to make more of a bad thing of something, and less
of a good thing of something than it is. Conversely,
"wonderfulizing," or making more of a good
thing of something, and less of a bad thing of something
than it is, is another way we overspend our attention
units.
Another way we squander
our attention units is by not directing attention toward
what is true and significant in our lives. We squander
our attention units by directing them at tangents or
trivia. This way we focus the majority our thought
currency toward minor considerations instead of major
considerations in life.
Why do we squander our
units of thought? I believe that at least in part, it is
because we fear our own magnificence. More specifically,
I believe we fear our ability-to-respond, we fear our
responsibility to our unique magnificence, perhaps
because we know that to surrender to it means letting go
of some parts of ourselves that can no longer run the
show. Fear is usually accompanied by guilt. We sometimes
fear the future and regret the past. Having a feeling of
guilt about our past makes us feel unworthy of our
hidden desires. As a result we are fearful of
discovering them, or fearful of making them a reality,
or both.
"Nelson Mandela said
in his inaugural speech, "Our deepest fear is
not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we
are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our
darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who
am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
You playing small does not serve the world. There’s
nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other
people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to
make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s
not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we
let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same. And as we are liberated from
our fear, our presence automatically liberates
others." He was paraphrasing the Course
in Miracles. Some say he was also paraphrasing
Marianne Williamson.
Another reason we
sometimes unwisely invest our attention units is because
we believe that life should be all pleasure and very
little or no pain. We believe that in order to be
"happy," life must be mostly supportive and
pleasurable with little or no challenging and painful
events. As a result of this unbalanced expectation we
find ourselves "happy" only about half of the
time. Even during the time we are "happy," we
often find ourselves not present with the feeling
because we are already in the back of our mind trying to
strategize a way to make ourselves "happy" all
the time which de-focuses our attention from our major
considerations in life. I define true happiness as the
ability to appreciate both the ups and downs, the pains
and the pleasures, the support and challenges of life as
we move toward something greater than ourselves, a great
purpose that gives us significance and meaning.
One more reason we
sometimes squander our attention units is because we
simply are not aware of our awareness. When you stop and
think about it, we probably have not had much help from
schooling and society in learning how to be aware of
ourselves spending and saving our units of thought.
Usually we have not had anyone to help us to spend and
save wisely financially either.
One way we wisely invest
our thought is by periodically investing our thought in
a purely pleasurable and care free way. This helps us to
re-create our creativity and spontaneity of thought,
feelings and actions. "Goofing off" or
"daydreaming" can be a valuable resource.
Einstein would sometimes get some of his greatest
insights while shaving. How many of us have had a sudden
discovery or thought while in the shower? This seems to
come about best after we have been involved in
concentrated and purposeful thought for sometime before
our "down time". Once we take the pressure off
ourselves, new insights and ideas come bubbling up.
I invite you to realize
that by changing the quality of your questions you can
change your abundance and prosperity for the better as
well. Begin to explore the questions that you can ask
yourself and others as you discover the ones that will
improve your quality of life. Some examples of questions
that you can begin to ask yourself are:
1. What lights me up and
inspires me? What am I good at?
2. What gives me and my
life the most significance and meaning?
3. What cause that is
greater than myself can I devote my life toward?
4. What are the wisest
actions I can take toward fulfilling my purpose today?
5. How can I major in
what I love, minor in what I need to, let others worry
about what I should do, delegate what I have to, and
dump what is not necessary?
6. How can I do what I
love and love what I do and get paid well doing it?
7. How can I do it by the
inch in an cinch, until the yard is not hard, and the
mile is not a pile?
8. How can I direct my
service more and more, to touch more people’s lives in
less time each day?
9. How can I save wisely
for my purposeful future today?
10. What is the greatest
prayer I can offer my Creator today?
11. What is the greatest
meditation I can receive from my Creator today?
Now, as you take a closer
look at these questions and ponder them, and really
begin to ask yourself them, you can find yourself
beginning to experience new thoughts, and new feelings.
New thoughts and feelings that lead to new actions
leading to new directions, and to more and more
fulfillment deep within you, deep down inside your heart
of hearts, at the very essence of your true being.
People, who are
"following their bliss" as the great scholar
Joseph Campbell called it, are living a life of
significance and meaning and are devoted to a cause
greater than themselves. Joseph Campbell followed his
bliss as he chronicled the mythologies of the world,
leaving a great body of work that lives on. Mahatma
Gandhi certainly had a great purpose that changed the
course of nations. Mother Teresa certainly lived for a
cause greater than herself. The Dahli Lama certainly has
a purpose greater than himself. A mother sacrificing
herself so that her children can have the hope of a
better life is living for a cause greater than herself.
People who are devoting
themselves to a purpose beyond themselves are blessed
with an abundant heart that attracts resources to
fulfill their mission. People who know from whence they
have come and to whither they will go, and know that
they know that they know what they are here to do,
increase their probability curve of finding themselves
prosperous.
I had the good fortune to
have been invited to a dinner for six where I was
introduced to an astronaut by the name of Franklin Chang-Diaz. He has been on many space shuttle missions and
spent a lot of time in the space station. In talking
with him over dinner, it was readily apparent that he
knew that his purpose was devoted to space exploration.
He is one of the most brilliant minds, working toward
the day when we will visit Mars.
During the dinner, one of
the guests began to inquire about what he did and wanted
to know about how he was compensated as an astronaut
working for the government. He readily admitted without
reservation that he could be making much more money in
the private sector, but what I noticed was something
else. He had his own laboratory at NASA and could work
until his hearts content on his pet projects to do with
space exploration. In many ways he was wealthier than
the wealthiest billionaire, for he had unfathomable
resources at his command. As this became evident the
questions ceased.
As an aside, I began to
mention to Dr. Chang-Diaz that I had read an article
about plasma propulsion for space travel in Scientific
American a few months before. With a very unassuming
manner he let me know that he had been the author of the
article.
I could clearly see that
he was certainly taking the wisest actions he could take
toward fulfilling his purpose in life. He was obviously
majoring in what he loved to do.
Many years ago, when I
was a student, I used be a personal trainer. I would
start people with exercise "by the inch in a cinch
until the yard was not hard" on a frequent basis.
After a while, I increased the intensity to where they
found themselves doing it "by the yard until it
wasn’t so hard" and still enjoying it. In some
time they progressed in their workouts to where they
were doing it "by the mile with a smile." Then
I began to train them to do more in less time as they
became more efficient in their abilities.
When a patient comes to
me to restore their health and rejuvenate their life, I
begin to ask questions to help me understand all that
has occurred in their lives in the past. Then I begin to
examine them, looking for clues as to what has caused
their problem. I begin to ask them questions to help
them begin to think about the difference between what
they had thought of as health and what truly is health
and then tell me what they would love in the way of
vitality and rejuvenation. I then begin them with
bodywork, then nutrition, then the mind and heart. We do
it together "by the inch in a cinch until the yard
is not too hard and the mile is not a pile." Just
one step at a time gets us to where we want to go.
When I consult with an
entrepreneur or athlete, we begin by discovering where
we want to improve, then we begin with baby steps at
first, leading to giant steps over time.
You can readily realize
that when you were a baby you started out on your back.
Then you started to flagellate your legs from side to
side… then you were on your side… then your
stomach...then your back…within a few weeks you
started to lift your head "above water" so to
speak. Before long you were on your hands and knees
pulling yourself…then you were cross crawling…then
you were climbing on things…and finally you were
walking. And it is the same way in anything we desire to
do. People who attract abundance and prosperity keep
moving forward touching people’s lives.
People who are prosperous
and experience abundance manage to save some of the
energy they have in the way of money. Saving plans begin
by "the inch in cinch" as well. It is like
building muscle. First you begin to exert yourself a
little, then it becomes second nature. Over time with
consistent savings compound interest makes your
financial well being grow. "To
those who have, more is given. To those who have not
more is taken away."
Gratitude is the greatest
prayer we can ever offer our Creator. Inspiration is the
greatest meditation we can ever receive from our
Creator. Prosperous people who experience abundance know
the importance of unconditional love and gratitude.
Learn to look for gratitude in every crack, crevice and
cranny in life.
Explore...Discover…Experience…Express…Transform…Now
Focus on your purpose
like a laser point of light as you birth your vision and
get your calling. Affirm it as you feel the power of
love for what you are to Be…Do…and Have.
Write what you love. Take action with energy on the
matter made available to you. Express your gratitude for
what is, as it is in the matter available and be
inspired as you find yourself persevering toward your
purpose.
© Phi Publishing. All Rights
Reserved
Dr. Richard Bellamy
is a chiropractic neurologist, author, speaker,
consultant and life coach.
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