Abundance and Prosperity
Many spiritually oriented people think of money as "bad." You've heard the cliche, I'm sure, that "money corrupts. 
But is money itself "bad"? Money is actually a value-added symbol of wealth. Unless you are dealing in gold or silver, where the material itself has value, you're bartering in something (the form of money) that stand for something else (a value). Money isn't "bad" or "good" -- it's what you do with the money, your actions, which gives it positive or negative value. For instance, two people can each win $1,000,000 in the lottery. The first person buys drugs to distribute to children in schoolyards. The second person builds and opens a homeless shelter for abused runaways. The amount of money that each person won coud be the same but the actions of the people determined the positive or negative value of the money. Financial IssuesThe most important requirements for financial stability are awareness and responsibility, attributes that you're familiar with in a spiritual lifestyle. Wherever you are when you start facing your financial issues, you can work through problems or get help in doing so. Always remember, however, that everything in your life -- including financial issues -- has a connection to your spiritual well-being. 
For more information about financial health and how to reach it without compromising your spiritual growth, click here to visit Matthew de Silva's helpful site about abundance and spirituality. I've read through many of his pages and gained new insights into abundance and prosperity in my own life. If you're a member of a military family, the very best information I've found is on Janet's remarkably thorough site about
military money matters.
Career ChangesAfter re-experiencing many of your past lives, you might find a need to change your career. This desire can arise from reclaiming latent talents or interests, or from guidance from your lives between lives. You may notice new opportunities, or realize that how you've been earning your income no longer feels comfortable to you as a spiritually growing individual. In addition, your understanding of abundance may have changed. 
Make changes slowly and carefully. Even if you need to take a pay cut to follow your bliss, as Joseph Campbell advised, as long as you can take care of your responsibilities (roof, food, transportation, family needs), consider doing so. If you have a passion for your career, after a while you'll be making more money than ever -- and feel that your work is an integral part of your spiritual life. ShoppingWhether at the supermarket buying your week's groceries or at adepartment or home goods store, as you grow spiritually you'll findyour choices may change. With a long-term view of life that emerges from past life regression work, and with a deeper awareness of the connectedness of all things that arises from spiritual growth, your purchases will change. 
You may find yourself reaching more often for the locally grown and organic foods that support your community as well as your own health and the well-being of the planet. Buying natural fibers for clothing also helps the environment. Choosing green -- see Green House Cleaning -- promotes your health and that of the Earth, also. Though these products might be pricier at the register, they're much less costly over time and to the well-being of the universe. Making the right choices here can help maintain the natural abundance of the universe so that it continues to provide for all of us for many lifetimes to come. Sharing Riches
Most spiritual practices encourage tithing and similar ways of "giving back" from your abundance -- just because it is a natural desire as your soul grows and learns. But don't feel that you have to donate large amounts of money, or make grand gestures to save the world by yourself. (For further discussion about this, please read the Improve Your World page in www.pastlivescoaching.com.) A few years ago I worked as a freelance editor and fact-checker. My income came in drips and drabs (with some larger drabs, thank goodness). I decided to tithe to Greenpeace because I thought they were accomplishing good work for the planet. I'd send a check for as little as $3 at times; never much more than $50-$60 at once. Those amounts weren't missed, and it became an easy habit, though I thought I wasn't making much difference. After about a year of this I received a fund-raising call from a Greenpeace volunteer. "We'd like you to donate $5,000 to our effort to save the manatees." I gulped, almost dropped the phone. "I'm sorry," I said, "but you've got me on the wrong list! I'll be happy to send $25, but that's about it right now." She responded, "I'm checking the records here and it seems you donated well over that amount during the past year." "I have? Wow." Those little bits of tithing sure did add up to an amount I would consider an abundance. I was able to make a small difference to the good work done by Greenpeace -- one small amount at a time. Monetary WealthThe Secret and the Law of Attraction that's so popular lately tends to simplify the topic of abundance and prosperity. You'd think that all you have to do is "think rich" and wealth will drop from the fabled money tree in great piles at your feet. 
Unfortunately for all of us, it's a bit more complicated than that. It's true that abundance and prosperity are a state of mind first, a reality second. And that to reach that state of mind, you must be able to see the unlimited supply, creative energy, and infinite love that fill the universe. You must, in addition, realize your "right" to a part of that abundance. This, I believe, is where positive affirmations and an appropriate mindset empower you and contribute to your prosperity. Because with that positive predisposition in your mind, you'll be more open to recognize and act on opportunities, be more willing to take "reasonable" risks, and to maintain your self-confidence in pursuing abundance with your actions. Emblazoned on a T-shirt I once saw in a catalog was the saying:
It isn't the money, after all, that's good or bad -- it's what the person with the money does with it. The more wealth you have, the more your potential for doing "good" in the world. The more you prosper, the more the world prospers, as well.
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