Wealth is a natural part of human life. As an adult, the more you live, the more connections you make, the more you hone in your skills, and the more you accumulate material property. These factors would naturally make you increase your wealth every single year. If your wealth is not naturally growing with every year, then something is up, and you need to find out what it is, so you can heal it.
Feng Shui defines wealth as the accumulation of contacts, skills and material possessions (excluding money, because money is only a representation of value and has no value on its own).
However, if you grew up in circumstances where the growth of wealth was stunted or bent, you may not have a good model of wealth consciousness to live by, and you may be self sabotaging your own efforts, because the idea that wealth grows feel or seems unreal to you. You may be attached to habits of struggle that you picked up from your family of origin or your culture.
Stunted or Bent
Wealth operates with the Wood (or Tree) Element, which represents living plants. It is the nature of living plants to grow. They grow straight or crooked, but they always grow. Even when plants have reached a final height, they continue to grow in girth and in density. If your wealth is not becoming larger every year, there is something stunting its growth. You need to address this.
Most trees grow upward and mostly straight; creeping plants grow mostly crooked and they do not lift up unless they can lean against another plant or structure.
Where you raised to believe that you could only rise if you leaned on another person, a boss, or government assistance? Have you been living and expressing your wealth as if you were a creeping plant instead of a tree? You can change this.
My Own Story
The wealth consciousness in my family of origin was quite strange. I grew up thinking and feeling that there was never enough money to care for our basic needs, except for shelter and food.
Looking back at our life, as an adult, I realize I experienced fabricated poverty, and the lack in our lives came from mismanagement of resources, rather than from scarcity.
I grew up in Ecuador, in South America, in a city that you will probably be surprised to learn, was almost always cold. Yes, Ecuador is right on the equator and Quito, the city where I was born, is less than half an hour away from the equatorial line, but it is also 9800 ft above sea level, and nestled in a valley in the middle of the Andes, a chain of mountains second in height only to the Himalayas. On a good day in Quito, you can see seven snowy mountains in the horizon.
Because of the altitude, we had fall-like weather year round, sometimes rainy and sometimes dry, but usually cold, and when the wind blew, it was always icy cold.
We always lived in posh, expensive neighborhoods. My father drove sports cars. We always bought the best food available. Yet, except for one time when I received a coat as a gift from a relative, I never had proper clothing to deal with the cold. Imagine living all your life in fall-like weather, dressed in spring clothes, and only a few outfits to choose from, at that.
The school I attended was the most prestigious school in town – in the whole country. There was a long waiting list to get in, and my classmates came from upper middle class and upper class families. I often felt I was inferior to them, because my family didn’t have as much money – I thought we were poor.
There were probably only two years, when I was growing up, that money was truly tight, and that was right after my parents finished building their house. However, my perception that we were poor extended throughout all my formative years.
It wasn’t until I left home and started supporting myself, that I noticed that my father had spent every weekend an amount of money equal to three times the rent one of my friends paid for her one bedroom apartment.
All the lack that I experienced in my life before the age of 18 could have been solved by my father simply abstaining from partying one weekend every month.
When my classmates went on field trips, I stayed home because my parents wanted to save the ticket fees. I did not get to go to the graduation trips because my parents said they could not afford the cost. I could not attend birthday parties, except those of my closest friends because “there was no money for gifts.” Yet my father went out on partying rampages where he would treat everyone at the bar to drinks.
In my family of origin, children experienced poverty, and grew up with lack consciousness, even though there was an income that was more than enough to cover everyone’s needs and many of their desires.
Because I heard so many times statements like:
- We don’t have money for that.
- We cannot afford that.
- It cannot be done (because of lack of money)
I truly believed “there was not enough” wealth to go around. My family’s dynamics combined with the Catholic teachings at school, created an additional belief that in order for me to have more, somebody else would have to go without, and therefore the Christian thing to do was to deprive myself of the good things in life, so that others could have their share.
Thus, as a young adult, when I went to purchase clothes, shoes or furniture (non-essentials in my mind) I always budget-shopped, having a low price be the determining factor in my choices. Because I bought cheap stuff, it usually didn’t last long, so I would have to purchase the items again, and at the end of the year probably ended spending more money than I would have if I had based my choices on my needs and preferences.
Changing My Ways
Except for the oak bedroom set that my friend virtually forced me to buy from her when she remarried and had an extra set, none of the furniture I bought during our first six years of marriage has made it to our now third home. They did not last, so we had to purchase new items. What a waste of money!
Today, before I purchase any furniture, I ask myself, if we moved, would this be worth carrying with us, and would I pack it very carefully before loading on the truck? I only buy it if the answer to both questions is yes.
I also only buy excellent quality shoes and great quality clothes, after seeing the clothes I had bought at cheap marts turn into rags after a year of washing. This does not mean I spend more in clothes, I actually spend less, it means I have become a more savvy shopper and know where and when to get good deals.
Right before the financial crisis of late 2008 hit the United States, where I live now, my husband and I took a course on financial health, to make sure we could better manage our resources, while still having a life and enjoying it. Because we took that course, we were able to navigate the crisis with very little change to our life style.
I have shared with you my issues with wealth consciousness. Will you share yours at the bottom of this post? Share your decluttering and raising-your-wealth-consciousness adventures so others can also learn from your experience.
Let’s Play a Decluttering Game to Adjust Wealth Consciousness
Wealth consciousness in the home is expressed in the kitchen, the left back corner, and in clothes closets.
This week, to assist you to release your wealth consciousness issues, try this decluttering game.
Take out four garments out of the closet:
- An item that is too old, discolored or torn.
- An item that does not fit you right, right now.
- An item in a color that does not really favor you.
- An item that makes you feel embarrassed or uncomfortable when you wear it.
BEFORE you do the task, set an intent to clear the erroneous beliefs about wealth that came to you from your family of origin, religion, or culture, as you let go of these four items of clothing. Encourage your family members to do the same. Share your results!
