Now,
Because money is,
I might say,
The darkest corner of our lives,
The last taboo,
The most challenging topic for many of us to talk about,
We assume that what happens to us in the arena of finances is happening just to us.
That nobody else experiences what we're experiencing around money.
That it's only us that stresses around the mortgage or work or getting feeling ripped off at the store or whatever it is that we tend to isolate and close ourself off as if it's only happening to us.
And one of the cures for money,
For our darkness around money,
For our stress around money,
Is to acknowledge that everything we're experiencing around money is universal.
And when we do that,
It takes away a lot of the extra sting around our money experiences.
That everyone has experienced money stress,
And many,
Many people are experiencing the same exact kinds of stress that you're experiencing today around money.
So I offer this meditation to tap into this universal nature of money experience.
So sitting,
You can have your eyes closed,
Or you can have a soft gaze looking downward,
To acknowledge that everyone has experienced scarcity,
And everyone has experienced abundance at times in their lives.
Everyone has experienced scarcity as well as abundance,
Just like me.
So really feeling into that,
That you're not alone.
Many,
Many others are experiencing scarcity and abundance,
Whatever you're experiencing.
Everyone has had financial setbacks or disappointments,
Just like me.
Everyone has had moments of success with their finances,
Just like me.
Everyone has struggled with their spending,
Just like me.
Everyone has struggled at some point with debt,
Just like me.
Everyone has struggled with giving to others,
Giving to charities,
Just like me.
Everyone has struggled at times or felt stress at times with earning money,
Just like me.
Everyone has experienced stress around talking about money,
Talking about money to their aging parents or to their children,
Just like me.
Everyone has experienced stress around credit cards and student loan debt,
Just like me.
Everyone has experienced the stress of buying and selling real estate,
Just like me.
Everyone has experienced the stress of renting real estate,
Just like me.
Everyone has experienced the stress of receiving gifts from others,
Maybe that sense of obligation back to another,
Just like me.
So we forget that we are not alone.
And there is a liberation of freedom in recognizing our shared experiences.
And in recognizing our shared experience,
We might ask ourselves,
Well,
How would another person handle this situation?
If they were advising me,
How would they advise me around the situation?
Or you might ask yourself,
How might I advise somebody else who is in my exact financial situation?
And often,
You'll receive answers that are much wiser from those questions than the question of,
What should I do right now?
So recognizing the shared experience can be very liberating.
And bring us great freedom with our finances to understand that all of us have experienced money stress.
All of us have had challenges around money.
And in that moment,
We have the ability to see things much differently,
To not isolate,
To maybe seek out the assistance of another,
Or to pose that question that I just offered.
What would I recommend to someone else who is experiencing this very same money challenge that I'm facing?
Just like me,
Others experience stress and challenge around money,
Just like me.
