Imagine having someone describe you based on the material things you have, like the car you drive, or the house you live in. How would that feel?
Would it suck? Or would that be totally amazing?
Please understand, I’m not judging. There’s nothing wrong with having or wanting a healthy bank account, nice cars, and a nice house. There isn’t.
But here’s what I’m wondering, is that how you want to be described by someone? More importantly are the monetary things making you feel relaxed, happy, loved, and crazy fulfilled?
I used to think that if I had all the nice things that money could buy I’d be as happy as a pig in shit. No more worries. Just an easy breezy life.
I also used to think that in order for others to see me as a person of worth I had to have the big account, the nice cars, big house, expensive clothes, and extravagant trips.
Actually I grew up with that story. My parents, bless them, were always trying to “prove” their worth by keeping up with the Joneses, the Smiths, and anyone else that had financial means.
And you know what? They were miserable. We were all miserable.
I remember my nana once saying that we lived in a beautiful home but the walls were crying. There was a great deal of pain, emptiness, and loneliness in my childhood house. To add to that pain and loneliness was the pressure to keep up appearances.
I’m not going to lie…what I saw in my parents and the emptiness I experienced didn’t stop me from chasing the all mighty dollar like a dog in heat.
And guess what all that chasing got me?
It got me more emptiness, coupled with stress, and lots of debt… mountains of debt, and not just the monetary kind. I became energetically bankrupt because I was living from a place of lack and struggle. I was living from something outside myself, something that was surface level and I was allowing that surface level to define my worth.
‘LACK’ IS THE REAL NASTY FOUR LETTER WORD
When we come from a place of lack we leave the door wide open for desperation to set in. The energy we emit is desperate and that desperate energy serves as a HUGE repellant. HUGE.
Think about it. When was the last time you were attracted to someone who was desperate?
LACK + DESPERATION = MORE LACK
So we keep chasing. Trying to gain that one thing that will make us feel better, less desperate, more worthy, that one thing that will ease the stress.
The more I lacked, the more desperate I became. The more desperate I became the more I lacked and the harder I chased.
In the end, I became disconnected to the things that held true value. Most importantly, I moved farther away from being able to recognize and define my true worth.
I’m not going to lie and tell you that I don’t want nice things. I do. I’m also not going to lie and tell you that I don’t ever have feelings of lack. I do. But here’s something I’ve learned…
Our worth is not in the things that we own. If we are placing a price tag on our own value, we will never feel worthy and we will always be chasing.
So now when I feel that lack creep in…when I feel my own worth start to diminish, I focus on the blessings I have. And every single time I do that my energy shifts from lack to something better. Sometimes it’s the energy of gratitude, sometimes it’s joy, and sometimes it’s just a nice warm fuzzy in the feelers.
Regardless, my energy shifts and as a result positive things start to happen… I become more grounded and sure of my own worth, I gain an influx of creative ideas, my confidence increases, more cool opportunities appear on the scene, a new client engages, or extra income comes in.
As a result I’ve come to understand the importance of taking a holistic approach to recognizing own wealth factor or what I call my holistic wealth. It’s that holistic wealth that helps us to avoid debt of any kind and to increase our own worth.
WHAT EXACTLY IS HOLISTIC WEALTH?
Holistic wealth is the sum of all the things that make up our personal worlds. It encompasses who we are and what we do. It’s when we are living from a place of meaning and not surface level means (i.e. the material things). BUT it’s also that holistic wealth that helps us to create the financial wealth, and being able to do so NOT from a place of lack or chasing.
For example, what makes me holistically wealthy are some of the following:
The love I share with my amazing partner.
Knowing and sharing my WHY every day.
A deep connection to my spiritual team.
My faith and trust in something much bigger than me.
These are things that I want to be remembered for as contributing to my worth. And you’ll notice none of them are things I can buy at my local Whole Foods or Neiman Marcus.
YOUR HOLISTIC WEALTH
I know I started out this post by having you imagine how it would feel to be remembered for your monetary means. Now I’m going to ask you take stock. What makes you holistically wealthy?
Take a moment right now to take a little inventory, listing at least 3 things that you’re proud of or grateful for (beyond the physical things that surround you)…the things that you’d be happy to be remembered for.
Those are the things that add to your worth!
Now check in. How does it feel to think about all the things that make you holistically wealthy?
And the next time you find yourself worrying about how you’re going to pay a bill, feeling crappy about yourself, or in any place of lack, think about your holistic wealth.
Because here’s the deal, when we focus on being holistically wealthy, that’s when we are truly living a life of meaning and worth… not just means.
As always, please know that I’m here and I’m listening. Until next time I’m sending you so much love and light from my open heart to yours…
Originally published at www.whatswithinu.com