One of the most joy-destroying mindsets we can have is to believe ourselves poor. And, yet, the idea of poverty is always founded on comparison between our current state and
either another state we have created in imagination or, more often, someone else’s state. Comparison is definitely the fastest way out of Heaven or any hope of grounded self-appreciation.
It is never the differing conditions that are a problem – for the world is obviously big enough to encompass all possible states and activities and conditions and people, simply because it does. The problem arises when the mind gets caught in comparison and the person feels compelled to assign relative value to things and people.
Yet, for the most part, we and things just are. No need to say what is better what is worse, what is good what is bad, what has intrinsic value and what doesn’t. For, in the end, no matter how strident our arguments and how convinced we become, the truth is, we are
all different, with different desires and on different paths and comparing does nothing to change this. It only casts the comparison-troubled mind out of the Heaven possible for those who simply go about their own happy, productive and prosperous lives.
The good news is, since this is essentially a state of mind, it is in mind where we can find resolution and return, again, to our natural relationship with who we are and what we have, which is in balance, acceptance and eagerness to enjoy what is in us and for us, here and now.
And, it is always from this point that your finest new ideas for growth and expansion come – never from the grasping, drowning terror of believing you have too little.
Breathe in…… Breathe out……
To begin this mind-liberating game, which in turn will open your awareness to the absolute abundance that surrounds and fills you now, simply relax and
Breathe in…… Breathe out……
Now, in your imagination, line up all your family and friends and everyone you are currently involved with. This involvement can be coworkers, people you see every day at the bus stop in the dry cleaners or the hardware store.
Place these people in a line, shoulder to shoulder and facing you. In the hands of each person put a check. Each check is for one million dollars and, in the lower left corner of each check, the words, “Free and Clear” are written. Each check is drawn from the account of the person holding it, and each one is made out to you.
Breathe in…… Breathe out……
Now, walk from one end of this lineup of people to the other. Look into the eyes of the giver and say “Thank you,” as you accept each check.
Notice what your thoughts are about the giver and how you feel as you accept each check. Notice if you decline or refuse to accept the check.
If you refuse the check, stay standing in front of that person until the check transforms into something you are willing to accept from that person. Notice if you refuse to accept anything from that person. Then, notice what thoughts you have that incite that refusal. Is the thought about how you don’t think he/she can afford to give something/anything
to you? Or is the thought about how you will not accept anything from that person because you prefer to sustain an opinion/judgment about that person being an awful person who cannot be good enough to give anything? Will you have to redefine your own story about that person and accepting a gift will force you to do that?
Continue on down the line of people accepting these checks being offered to you while you consider how much, right now, is being held out to you for the taking, “free and clear.”
TWO BONUS BENEFITS –
BONUS BENEFIT #1
In your imagination, line up all the people you can imagine who have contributed to all the things in your current life. Here’s a partial list: The growers, pickers, packers, shippers,
truck drivers, and grocery clerks who grew, packed, transported, and sold you the food in your cupboard. (And, if you grew some of that food, then you can add to this line of people in your imagination, all of the agronomists, farmers, and gardening store owners who supplied you with the seeds, the plant soil and various nutrients, and the gardening tools. Now, add to this line of people the assembly plant workers, the designers, the salesmen, the machinists and everyone else who made your car, your bicycle, and the bus you ride in. Add now the programmers, who created every piece of software necessary for every electronic device you use, add the skilled assemblers of these devices and the legions of unskilled laborers who work in mines, excavating and carrying the basic elements necessary to produce each of these items (which for most of them will be forever beyond their reach luxuries). And, for good measure, at the end of the line, add all the professionals whose work results in countless features of ease for you – pharmacists who mix the pills you take to stay well; engineers who design and build the roads you travel on; architects who design the safe structures you live and work in; and every person who gets up and goes to work to contribute his and her share to the Gross National Product.
Now, begin at one end of this line and walk from person to person. Stop in front of each
one, look into his or her eyes and see vividly what this person has done or is doing right now to make your life better, extend your right hand and say, “Thank you, you are doing a fine job.”
Just like the primary Million — Free and Clear game, notice where you stop yourself from eagerly thanking this person. And, again, notice that this stopping is happening in your head, and so this is where the magic of healing can happen. Just notice and know that in the noticing is born the resolution, without effort on your part.
BONUS BENEFIT #2
If you would like to enter even further the state of unity and delight in being one of the many on the planet, then play the following game.
This time you are going to imagine a line of people whose lives have benefitted from your being on the planet. Often, in the deathly unkind mindset of comparison, we can see others as valuable, but ourselves as not. So, in this game, begin imagining now the
people whose day today was added to because you were in it. You might begin with the last person you cooked for, stepped aside on the sidewalk for, held a door for. Add the last person you bought something from – someone who had a product to sell. From there, let the line grow. Add the last person you smiled at, the last person you said thank you to, your landlord who depends on you to pay the rent. Add the person whose business runs better because you work there; add the recipient of the product or service who receives the results of your talents and knowhow. Add the journalist of the last news article you read, the TV producer whose show you watched, the movie-maker whose picture you paid to see. Notice how the line keeps growing as you recognize your place among the family of
man. Unless you live all by yourself in the forest, you are always weaving your life with others into the tapestry of Life.
Now, go from person to person along this line up and say, “You are welcome.” Whether these people have ever said “Thank you,” to you, their lives are still better because you are here on the planet with them.
And, if you are still drawn into the experience of comparing yourself to others, remember the words of world famous Hypnotist and Showman Ormond McGill, “Celebrate the successful for they show us what is possible.”
