Do you believe that we have relationships with money, just like we do with people? I personally believe that everything has a soul: each person, every animal, all plants and even inanimate objects like your computer, your car and yes, Money.
I believe that every interaction with other souls, whether through thoughts, physical contact, conversations, memories, movies, etc. is an energy exchange which forms the basis of our relationship with that soul. And while it’s common to reflect on relationships with people: our parents, siblings, friends, neighbours and loved ones, when we can witness moments of things not flowing in our lives, we can also examine relationships with other “things” too, like money. Which leads me to the question- do you have a Love-Hate relationship with money?
A few weeks ago, I attended the Giving Back Conference and there were several conversations about Money. Gail Haynes, Author of the Lemonade Stand Millionaire provided some amazing tips to get started with managing our money and inspiring our kids with an entrepreneurial spirit and good money management skills.
The session that really intrigued me was the conversation around the energy of money and our beliefs around money led by Certified Financial Planner, Maria Hinton.
Maria candidly shared her humble beginnings and her money role models- her parents. She invited us to reflect on how money was perceived, handled and treated in our childhood. She then led us through some questions to discover what our current perception is about money and then we began to piece it all together.
Although I’ve been through bits and pieces of this conversation before, the way Maria led us through our journey with money was absolutely incredible. For me, I discovered I still have some more layers to peel back and work through around my relationship with money.
I’m the baby of seven and although while I know that when I was a kid I didn’t really think of us as poor, as I reflect back I can see that things were very tight. Of all of my siblings I know that I was blessed with the “best” experience as my parents were in a better financial position as I grew up.
However, I still remember overhearing conversations emotionally loaded with hate, anger and jealously for others who had more money than we did. I heard their tone of voice as they talked about other businesses, complaining “ they are able to do so well because they get handouts from the Government receiving grants to do more things.”
I remember how I felt hearing those words, being “trained” by those perceptions- people that have money think they are better than others. People who are rich are scamming the system. People who are rich can’t be trusted. And I still hear some of these conversations (more or less) within my family today.
And it wasn’t until Maria’s workshop that I realized how much of that Hate around money still was within me. Although I’ve done lots of work to release it, I got present to the fact that there are still a few layers to work through to transform my Love-Hate relationship with money, to being just LOVE.
For those who are interested in exploring this conversation further with Maria Hinton, you can visit her website.
Soul Joy:
Take some time today to reflect on what your relationship is with money.