Sometimes, the idea of taking on large investments or achieving greater fortune is daunting, and seems impossible. But I am reminded of the leaf that rides on the currents of a raging river. It floats on the top of the water, weathering storms, spinning gracefully and traveling far, eventually washing up on a new shore.
The challenge in riding waves, large or small, is simply in learning to maintain your balance. As one spiritual teacher said, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to ride them.” And, I would add, you can have fun doing it. Why not? You only have this one life.
The kind of balanced relationship we must have with money – taking in and letting go -that allows us to ride out the storms, is like breathing. You can’t take in too much air, or hold on to it too long; nor can you keep it out altogether. Not if you want to keep living!
In the same way that we can relax and take in deep, full breaths, and let them out again, we can also relax, and allow the energy of money, creativity, health, and vitality come and go more freely. It is a practice that is worth mastering, regardless of your spiritual beliefs or your economic circumstances.
My Story
At the age of thirty-five, I retired to live on my investments. No one was more surprised than me. In earlier years, I would not have dreamed this would even be possible. But what made it possible was not so much a change in y financial fortunes, but a change in my view of how the world operates.
I gradually became aware of the idea that the person who is really wealthy is one who knows when they have enough, and stops accumulating more. This was quite contrary to what my mind was used to believing. Often, wealthy people don’t know when or how to stop striving. They keep hoarding and scrambling for more because of a deep belief that if they create an overabundance of money, somehow they are going to be safe from change or impermanence. Others operate on the theory that they will never be able to have enough—poverty consciousness—and so live from paycheck to paycheck, eternally grasping for the next penny. What a sad story they both have bought in to!
Begin by looking at your finances. Just open your checkbook and see where your money is going. Look at your savings, your retirement account, your most recent paycheck. Take a few deep breaths, relax, and drop into your financial life in a deeper way. Check in with your body.
- Where do you feel the money energy flowing?
- Where do you feel constriction?
- Stagnation?
- Where do you feel most generous, open, and spacious?
Pause, and breathe in and out, and let go of what you have just learned. Be in this place of nonattachment to your money. Enjoy the inflow and the outflow. How does it feel in your heart and body? Try showing up and having fun riding the waves as they move in and out of your life; the economy, the various emotions, feelings, money etc.