Prosperity Consciousness

My husband bought a set of cassette tapes at a garage sale or thrift store, and has been listening to them. They are about prosperity consciousness. The tips the author gives are actually very good, and he has some interesting theories. I have to admit that I'm kind of ADD and it's difficult for me to listen to them, but I did find a few things interesting that he said.

One of the exercises he asks you to do is to first write down an amount of money that, if you got today, would make you feel rich. Surprisingly, my amount wasn't really that much in comparison with the fact that I could have written any amount imaginable.

Next, imagine that today you receive $1,000 and your task is to spend it all on yourself. Could you spend that much? I knew immediately what I would buy, no problem. lol Then he asked us to imagine that tomorrow we get another $1,000 and are supposed to spend it on ourselves. Would you have any problem spending that much? Would you have any hang ups about it? Does your view of money inhibit you, or do you have other feelings that would make it difficult to spend it? Once again, I had no problem coming up with something to buy. I actually was torn between the two things on the first day. lol

Now imagine that you do this for a week. Would you have trouble spending $1,000 a day? Would you have trouble spending that much for the entire month? Really think about how you would spend it. What would you do if you had to do that for 6 months? Or how about a year? What if you had to spend $1,000 a day for 2 years and 9 months? Because that is how long it would take you, spending $1,000 a day, to spend one million dollars. (I hope I remembered that figure right, I'm too lazy to do the math.) :D

I have to admit that during this exercise, there came a point where I felt stress at the thought of having to spend that much money. I think for me, that point would be after a few months. But then as I thought about it, I realized that if I could spend the money for other things than myself, I wouldn't have any problem spending the money. If I could give to charity, or buy things for those in need, I could spend it all. I was reminded of this Book of Mormon scripture:

"Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.

But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.

And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted." (Jacob 2:17-19)

Another thing he teaches is that many of us have grown up with certain views of money that affect our ability to have it. He said many of us don't feel entitled to money, or to spend money. I can really see how I grew up in an environment where there was a lot of judgment about the spending of money. I really do have some hangups about what I'm entitled to. But these exercises have opened my mind to the power of riches to do good, and have given me new insight in to how to look at money. But I can really see how in order for a person to be able to be wealthy, they must first have the mindset to be able to handle the stress of it!