Chapter 12

Gathering Resources for the Journey

In order truly to be generous with one another, we require whatever level of prosperity allows us such generosity.
Rosalyn Bruyere, Healer

Abundance and Prosperity

Because we live in a physical world, sometimes we need money, help or opportunities in order to manifest the positive changes we want so that we can live our best lives. In learning how to love ourselves, the process of mindfulness helps us realize that we are not disconnected from others. It also helps us to realize we are connected to the Source, however we may perceive that to be. Once we understand that the true nature of life is to have what we need, our job is to then offload the beliefs and conditioning that shaped us to expect scarcity.

In her book “Dying to be Me,” Anita Moorjani provides a fascinating insight into abundance consciousness that arose during her near death experience. She writes:

“Since the tapestry of all time has already been woven, everything I could ever want to happen in my life already exists in that infinite, non-physical plane. My only task is to expand my earthly self enough to let it into this realm. So if there’s something I desire, the idea isn’t to go out and get it, but to expand my own consciousness to allow universal energy to bring it into my reality here.”

It has taken me years to really, really understand how manifesting abundance works. In the hope of speeding things up for you so that you can manifest whatever you need when you need it (such as money, time, helpful people, or opportunities,) here is a distilled version of what I have learned.

  1. Money is just a form of energy that needs to be used and exchanged. It is not intended to be hoarded, any more than you would attempt to hoard life energy from one day to the next.
  2. Whatever we choose to focus on increases. The universe responds in kind, either way, by reflecting back to us our precise belief through the experience we are offered.
  3. We are constantly attracting something into our lives; we can choose to do it more consciously and get what we want, or just take pot luck and often receive what we do not want.
  4. What we attract depends on our beliefs. Our beliefs act like magnets, for good or bad.
  5. How we choose to think about money upholds our beliefs about it. If our thoughts are productive, it flows easily in and out of our life.
  6. If our thoughts are on the lack or scarcity of money, it dries up. If we focus on being broke, it brings us more experience of being broke.

Letting Go of Scarcity

Thoughts such as “money doesn’t grow on trees” reflect the scarcity mentality which may have arisen from the way we were brought up. For instance, my parents grew up during WW2. My mother often spoke of what was not available – items such as tea, flour, or tyres for bicycles (few people had cars at the time). She sometimes mentioned playing cards or tennis because there was no television. My father occasionally mentioned the scarce things, but also talked about cycling twenty five miles each way to the races in Punchestown with his mother and brother, and the fun they had, even though they had little money. It was the same country, but they each had different perceptions of the situation. Overall, it sounds like there was much less comfort than today but more opportunities for fun, more physical fitness, and more community spirit.

The energy of scarcity is contraction. It is low vibration energy. By contrast, the energy of abundance is high vibration. Scarcity says “No” to so many things, while abundance says “Yes, bring it on NOW!!!” Scarcity implies that not only is there not enough for us, but certainly there is not enough to share with anyone else. In this sense, holding on to a scarcity mentality really limits our lives and our spiritual growth. Source/God/The Creator Spirit is abundant, exuberant, ever expanding. When Jesus was faced with five thousand mouths to feed, he didn’t just feed the few people near him and say to everyone else, “That’s it folks, tough luck.” The message was that there is more than enough for everyone. Also note that an elite few did not take the breadbasket and hold on to the contents, keeping more for themselves and their cronies and depriving the masses of basic food! Instead, everyone got fed. Everyone went home with a full belly. Jesus then directed the apostles to gather up the leftovers which filled twelve baskets. To me, implicit in the gathering up of leftovers is respect for resources. Nothing goes to waste. I like that. Additionally, Jesus did not try preaching to people who had hungry bellies. We have to nurture the body before we can nurture the spirit, because at this time we live in a physical universe.

Think of expanding into abundance as a boat journey. A clear intention with strong desire is like deciding to visit a destination and believing it is possible. That is like setting the dial on the GPS of the boat. Preparation for the journey includes clearing out the boat and making sure that only essentials are taken on the voyage. In this case the preparation is the clearing out of old conditioning and beliefs that limit prosperity. Provisioning the boat for the journey involves making sure that only useful beliefs are going with us. There is no room for mental drivel or negativity. Then, in order to create positive change, we need to untie the mooring rope, switch on the engine and leave the safe harbour for the open sea of possibilities. We need to allow the journey to happen. Keeping a gentle hand on the tiller to make sure we stay on course and then - let it be.

The Sequence of Manifestation

  1. Desire: Desire is a powerful motivating force. You have to be very clear on what you want, and that you really want whatever it is. Write down the answers to these two questions: What will having this do for me? How will I feel when I have it? Being clear on your intention is essential. A useful tool to focus your desire is to create a vision board. Use colourful images that represent your goal AS IF IT HAD ALREADY MANIFESTED. The language of the subconscious mind, the powerhouse of all change, involves colour, shapes, imagery and symbolism. Place your vision board in a prominent place and frequently focus your attention on it.
  2. Belief: W. Clement Stone said: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Do you believe it is possible to manifest what you desire? If you do not, create the intention to release any such doubt. It is vital that you have a strong belief that it is possible. When you believe that something is possible, it exists as a probability in the ether. Every thought you think or action you take adds to the weight of that probability until one day, a tipping point is reached. It is like icicles banding together to become a snowflake that falls to earth. It becomes so heavy that it drops down out of the ether into being and voilà! You have manifested your desires. It takes patience, faith, inspiration and action – but it is worth it.
  3. Expectancy: Start expecting that the goal will manifest and acting as if it will. This primes the subconscious mind to take appropriate action to ensure that it does. It also magnetises opportunities towards you to help you get what you want.
  4. Visualisation: Visualisation stimulates the subconscious mind which is where all change begins. Creatively imagining the goal AS IF IT HAD ALREADY MANIFESTED is the key. It is also vital to tap into the feeling of how it is to have already received what you want. A powerful guided visualisation is included at the end of this chapter.
  5. Action: Because we live in a physical world, you need to take appropriate action to help the goal come into being. So without action, we can “intend” until the cows come home and nothing will change. Whether we want to sell goods or services or change our job, no one else is going to do it for us. No one else CAN do it for us. We may need to advertise or send out a CV or find a business partner. If we want to get published, we need to write to the best of our ability and then find a way to bring our work to the wider world. As Maeve Binchy once said in a writing course, if you have written a book, a publisher is not going to come down the chimney and take it out of the drawer and say how wonderful, allow me to publish that! Yes, we are infinite beings – but we live in a physical world. That is why we need to take action – to move our intentions from the mental level to the physical manifestation using the energy of movement to bring our goals out of the ether into the physical world. Some say it needs to be massive action; that sounds scary and overwhelming to me. I don’t believe it needs to be massive – it just needs to be appropriate and effective as well as ongoing and consistent. I know from being self-employed that it can be hard to sustain the energy and enthusiasm to constantly offer my work to the public. But what I have found over the years is that when (not if) I get stuck and work dries up, I just need to take action. Any action designed to move things on, to get the energy flowing again will do. And then I’m off again, until the energy slows again. It goes in a cycle.
  6. Surrender: Surrender is not about giving up. It is all about letting go of resistance and worry. Resistance comes from the ego. The voice of the ego is always negative and discouraging. A better phrase for ‘surrender’ would be ‘delegate.’ Once you have done all you can to create your goal, let go and delegate the rest to whatever you conceive of as your Higher Power. Just “do your best and let go of the rest.”
  7. Manifestation: Once we have taken the rest of the steps we need to let go of harassing the Divine to deliver on our schedule. You can’t make a healthy plant grow faster than its nature dictates. The things that take time are worth waiting for. Releasing attachment to the when and the how of the outcome shows trust in the Creator. It is a sign of our growth and an implicit acknowledgement that there is something more powerful than us. That there is an invisible presence that is wiser than us, that has our best interests at heart, which can see the big picture. It is useful to assume that the Universe is conspiring to help you. Remember to celebrate your victory which primes the subconscious mind for future success.

In summary, we need to imagine it, give thanks for that which we have already received, have faith, take appropriate action, let go, and then it will manifest.

Gratitude

If we spend what we have on what we need to serve others and serve God, it is replaced instantly.

Rosalyn Bruyere, Healer

Gratitude keeps the heart soft and open, which opens us to allow and receive. Gratitude is high vibration energy and is allied to allowing and attracting. In offering thanks, we redirect our energy from the low vibration of scarcity and raise our ability to attract what we want.

In Conversations with God Book 1, Neale Donald Walsch says (or rather, God says, through him!):

“You will not have that for which you ask, nor can you have anything you want. This is because your very request is a statement of lack, and your saying you want a thing only works to produce that precise experience – wanting – in your reality. The correct prayer is therefore never a prayer of supplication but a prayer of gratitude.” 11

The reason gratitude is a tool of enlightened self-interest is that it is the vibration of ENOUGH. The Universe reflects back to us the exact vibration that we emit. So if we keep asking or wanting, that is what comes back to us, more wanting. We need to let go of imploring God or anyone else for money, because asking implies Not Having.

Instead, if we ask the Universe a simple question each day: “What can I do for you today?” then that vibration of generous service comes back to us, with the Universe asking “And how may I serve YOU?” The Universe responds favourably to an exchange of energy because the Principle of Conservation of Energy states, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it just changes form.”

So when we ask how we can help, and then take action to help, we are offering our energy to the world. It doesn’t matter if that is by painting or gardening or working with computers. It’s not all about attracting money; no-one ever lay on their death bed and said, “Now that I’m dying, I wish I had more money.” What matters is how well we live our lives, and especially, how kind we are to ourselves and all sentient beings, including animals and indeed the earth itself.

The Shape of Help

There is a story of a man stranded on his roof by flood waters. A rescue boat arrives and offers him a lift. “No thanks,” he says, “God will rescue me.” The waters rise and he gets up on the chimney. A helicopter arrives and offers him a lift. “No thanks,” he says, “God will rescue me.” He drowns, and meets God in heaven. “Why did you not rescue me, God?” he asks. God answers him, exasperated: “What do you think I was trying to do with the boat and the helicopter? Give me a break!”

So something to note is that our help usually comes through other people. Yes, we need to have positive beliefs and intentions to create what we want – but we also need to act on the opportunities that arise for us as a result of those intentions and beliefs. So when the boatman arrives offering help or rescue - say “Yes” and jump in!

Once we get into the flow of giving thanks for what has already arrived, we open ourselves up to synchronicity – the Universe giving us what we seek through apparent coincidence. One time I was getting the kitchen revamped. I got a new radiator put in and because its shape was different from the old one, a section of wallpaper was missing. The wallpaper was nice, but had been on the wall for years. I thought, “Where in the world am I going to find a piece to fill that in?” Then I promptly forgot about it and went off for a walk with a dog. In the local park, I brought the dog through a little used area to give her the chance to get lots of new smells. On the ground, wrapped in its original cellophane, was a brand new roll of wallpaper that was identical to what I was looking for. Now that’s synchronicity!

Controlling Your Dominant Thought

A mantra or affirmation is a good ally to have when working on creating greater abundance. An affirmation is a positive statement of intent to the self, which needs to be truthful to have power. It is a ready-made positive phrase that reflects what we are working on manifesting. It serves another useful purpose: the mind can only hold one dominant thought at a time. If that dominant thought is positive, there is no room for negative thoughts that can and will attract what we do not want. A useful mantra for manifesting wealth can be:

I give thanks that my needs and highest desires are already met with plenty to spare and share.

What will you allow?

We can only have as much of anything as we will allow, including healing, abundance and love. We don’t have to be fearless to live a full life – but we do have to be brave.

I knew a good man who had two young children and was living in a rough housing estate where there were lots of drugs. He was a widower, trying to do his best for his children. He had done a lot of spiritual work on himself, and constantly envisioned living in a better house in a better area. He was on the council rehousing list but didn’t hold out much hope that he would be rehoused by them, such were the waiting lists. He got a letter one morning, offering him a council house in a much better location. He couldn’t believe it and he thought it was a mistake – so he refused it because he didn’t want to get into trouble. This is a true story. The only thing scarier than our dreams not coming true is our dreams coming true. We may have subconscious abundance blocks or beliefs that sabotage our desire for positive changes.

Visualisation: Attracting and Allowing Abundance

Switch off the phone and make yourself comfortable. Take a deep breath in and as you breathe out, allow your eyes to close. Focus your attention on your breathing. As you breathe in, imagine you are breathing in deep relaxation. As you breathe out, you are beginning to let go. Allow yourself to become quiet inside. Focus your attention behind your eyes and let it rest there......then move your attention up and back and let it rest there....notice how your body relaxes now as your mind slows down.....As you continue to relax, it is easy for you to become aware of the power of your thoughts to create what you want. In this relaxed state of mind, it is easy to let go of old scarcity programming now and make space for new programming of abundance and prosperity. Imagine you are looking up at a large white cinema screen. On that screen, place a video of you already having become abundant and prosperous. How will you know that you are prosperous? What will you have? What will you be able to do? What positive changes will you make? Make sure the video is in colour, with sound and movement and allow yourself to get excited about the manifestation of your desires. Notice how wonderful it feels! Now from that time in the future where you have already created, allowed and attracted abundance and prosperity, turn and come back to your present moment self, bringing with you a golden piece of advice to help you achieve your heart’s desires. That golden piece of advice is now stored in the part of your mind responsible for new learning and new behaviour and it starts affecting your daily life in a positive way from this moment onwards....when you choose to return to the here and now, there is an awareness in your heart that says: I am abundant and prosperous now, with plenty to spare and share.