Financial Plumbing

Financial Plumbing 101

or, How Finding and Fixing a "Money Leak" Immediately Saved Me $2,142 and How YOU Can Do It, Too!
By Rebecca Fine
Not long ago I had the opportunity to meet and learn (a LOT!) from Dr. Maria Nemeth, the author of the terrific book, The Energy of Money. And what a gift that was!
Now, Maria has a list of credentials as long as your arm that make it abundantly clear that she knows what she's talking and writing about. But when she stands up to speak, the REAL proof shines through. You cannot be long in her presence without recognizing that here is one smart, funny, articulate, and wonderfully caring person who has "been there, done that," and knows how to get right to the heart of our confusion and denial about the place and power of money in our lives.
Better yet, she knows how to help us see for ourselves what needs doing and shows — not just tells — us how to go about it.
So today I'm pleased to get to share with you (in a longer than usual edition) just a tiny bit of Maria's practical wisdom.
And then I'll tell you about that $2,142 and point you toward more great stuff from Maria!
Now, you may be wondering about that title, The Energy of Money. But if you'll stop to think about it, you'll see that it fits right in with our understanding of what Mr. Wattles writes -- that everything is created from the one "formless substance."
There are other kinds of energy, of course — like creativity, spiritual power, physical vitality, enjoyment, relationship, and others. And, as Maria puts it, in each of these areas we can either be frustrated or fulfilled.
So the question becomes:
How can we be "conscious conduits of energy" in order to bring our dreams out of the formless realm of ideas and into physical reality?
See if Maria's illustration helps you as much as it does me. First, what do we mean by "conduit?" Well, a conduit is something that allows energy to move in an orderly way from one place to another. For example, a water pipe moves water from the well or reservoir to your faucets.
So, in your mind's eye, picture a body of water on the left side, and the water tap in, say, your kitchen on the right. Now connect the two with a pipeline. Now the pipe can move the energy of water in an orderly way from the source to the outlet.
And that's what WE want to do with the energy of money: Move it in an orderly way from the Source, which we know is unlimited, to the place where it can "water the garden of our goals and dreams."
But in the normal life of a conduit, what happens? Sludge accumulates and leaks spring up. When we're not aware that’s happening, of course, our usual response is simply to turn the tap further — to call for more. But when more energy tries to come through, the leaks just get bigger and the sludge builds up more and increases the pressure until ... the pipe may burst.
And now we've got a real mess on our hands.
See, the SOURCE is unlimited, but the physical CONDUIT is another story!
Many of us are in just this state of disrepair as money conduits. We’ve got loads of SLUDGE built up that's keeping the energy from getting through. And that sludge shows up in the form of UNFINISHED MONEY BUSINESS.Ugh. Most of us have a little or a lot of sludge like this:
Do you have a will and other necessary legal documents to protect the financial interests of your loved ones? Yes? Great! No? SLUDGE.
Are you free of debt (or on a plan to pay it down)?
Are all your financial records neat and up to date?
Is your checkbook balanced to the penny?
How about your taxes?
Do you owe any $$ to friends or family that you've just sort of "forgotten" about (but that is hanging over you like a black cloud?)
Is your home office neat and tidy? (How about your garage? Yes, it's related!)
Any other questions you can think of? ;-)
OK, take a deep breath and relax. We'll get to solutions in a minute, but first let's look at the LEAKS. Now, I know YOU probably never do any of this, but I've known some of these quite intimately:
Spend money on stuff we don't need or even really want (for a whole truckload of "reasons" that would take several editions of this newsletter to cover!)
Spend money without even being aware of it, perhaps just out of unconscious habit.
Give money we don't really want to give — just because we think we should, or to "look good," or for other not truly generous reasons.
Lend money, often for the same reasons as just above and often to people who we know in advance won't pay it back.
Pick up the check so everyone will think we're cool (for about five seconds) or do similar things to "buy" affection, etc.
And I'm sure you can add to this list!
So here we are — leaky, sludgy pipes all. And meanwhile we’re busily creating our mental images of what we WANT our lives to look and be like, expressing gratitude for what we have already, learning to be creative rather than competitive, and affirming and/or praying for MORE.
But remember the image of the WATER pipe? "When more energy tries to come through, the leaks just get bigger and the sludge builds up more and increases the pressure until ... the pipe may burst. And now we've got a real mess on our hands."
Yikes! What's wrong with this picture?
Could it be that "thinking and acting in the certain way" also means that we must be responsible for learning the skills necessary to make best use of the money and other resources we are given?
Could it be that if we TRULY understand the power of gratitude and want to express it authentically, we must also be careful not to WASTE what is already coming to us?
Join me in Part 2 and we'll see how we can take simple and authentic action RIGHT NOW to clean up the conduit and get the energy of money flowing free!

Part 2:
"Miracles Will Happen"
OK, grab your wrench and let's get to work plugging up some leaks and clearing out some!
Of course, before we can fix our money leaks we have to find the little devils. So here's a great suggestion from Maria on ...
Plugging the leaks
Get yourself a small notebook or notepad that will fit in your pocket or purse and keep it with you constantly for the next 30days.
Keep track of EVERY SINGLE PENNY — or whatever the smallest unit of currency is where you live — that you spend at the moment you spend it. (No, don't tell yourself you'll write it down later. You won't; you're human and you'll forget.) ;-)
Buy a cup of coffee? Write it down. Pay your mortgage or other bills? Write 'em down. Everything.
And each time, IN THE MOMENT, ask yourself this question:
Am I consciously spending this money right now or am I LEAKING it?
You are likely in for a most surprising 30 days! (Actually, Day 1 alone may knock you for a loop.)
OK, now let's deal with ...
Clearing away sludge
Take a look at that list of sludge questions back up in the main article. Now choose ONE item that needs doing. See if there's one that particularly appeals to you because you need and want to get it done. Don't start with the biggest and most difficult. Start small, and choose one that you know you CAN do and that will feel WONDERFUL to have done.
Next, figure out the steps to get it done, and ...
Take the first step!
And then the next, and so on, and then you'll be done. (Ah, it feels great to have lowered your "financial cholesterol," doesn’t it?);-D
Here's something else Maria taught us about the plugging and the clearing: The very minute you START to take action, energy is released. And you may ultimately find that it's "enough to do what you are here to do and to have the fun you are here to have."
Maria notes that you may even find out that you have all the money you actually need and want. (Many have!) Or, you may find that you truly do want more and you can now "go after it with alight heart."
She adds that when you do this, "Miracles will happen." And, my friend, just being able to think about your finances "with alight heart" is a miracle in itself, isn't it?
All this is just the tiniest hint of the powerful insights and effective actions you will gain from this wonderful woman. (I also especially loved learning the hugely important distinction between truth and honesty. Wow!)
If Dr. Maria Nemeth's "Energy of Money" workshop is being offered anywhere near you, I strongly encourage you to attend. My partner and I drove three hours on each of two days through unbelievable rush hour traffic to get there and we'd both do it again in a heartbeat.
Because from what we learned the very first evening of the workshop, we realized that a plan we were about to embark on for our business was unnecessary — and that we didn't even WANT to do it.
We cancelled it, and before the two-evening workshop was even over had saved the (more than) $2,142 the planned action was going to cost us AND a lot of headaches and not-so-good feelings, too!
Without what we'd learned there — without Maria — we'd never even have known that was a leak. Bingo! It was high time for us become more "conscious" conduits of the energy of money.
Time for you, too, perhaps?
Maria says:
"The easy life is the life we lead when we are willing to see our lessons sooner rather than later. Would it be all right with you if life got easier?"
'Til next time, my friend, many, many blessings — and, of course ...
EXPECT Success!Rebecca
P.S. You can get Dr. Maria Nemeth's book, The Energy of Money, in most bookstores and many libraries or through the Science of Getting Rich web site:
http://www.scienceofgettingrich.net/reading.html
And you can visit Maria's site and learn more about her workshops and seminars, recommended by Carolyn Myss, Dr. Christiane Northrup, and many others. (I'm going to the four-day "You and Money” one. Maybe we'll get to meet there!)
http://www.youandmoney.com
(Be sure to click on "Special Quote" to read "Symptoms of Inner Peace." You'll enjoy it!)
http://www.energyofmoney.com
Rebecca Fine is the founder of The Science of Getting Rich Network where you can download your free copy of the amazing 1910 forgotten classic, The Science of Getting Rich. http://www.scienceofgettingrich.net ©2000 Certain Way Productions.
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Infinite Underpants

Infinite Underpants!

By Rebecca Fine
Quick! What's the very first thing that springs into your mind when you read or hear the M-word? (M-o-n-e-y.)
For many people that first thing isn't necessarily pleasant. And for others there's a fleeting flicker of delight as they imagine having plenty of it, winning the lottery or the like, which just as quickly fades into a more familiar "not enough" feeling instead.
It's not surprising. After all, most of us have been carefully trained, taught, even indoctrinated our whole lives to believe that money is scarce, that it's hard to come by, that only people who have any ever get more, that it's the cause of all the world's troubles ... and on and on and on.
Loads of heavy baggage packed with negativity on the simple subject of something we really cannot do without.
And it's all just so SERIOUS and HEAVY and ... ugh.
So since we already KNOW that we attract/create our own experience through our thinking, how about we just UNpack some of that mental baggage and ditch some of the seriousness so we can stop creating and attracting more stuff like THAT?
How about we just lighten up and have some FUN with all of this? When you're having fun your thoughts aren't focused on lack of anything, right? ;-)
(And believe me, when you get the hang of The Science of Getting Rich and start to see your life transforming in amazing ways, it's FUN!)
For myself, I have decided that whenever the M-word comes up in conversation or my own thinking in any way that doesn't thoroughly delight me, I am going to quietly, secretly substitute another word — a silly word that has NONE of those negative connotations.
I've been doing this for a while now with family and friends, too (not just quietly and secretly), and it's not only fun, it highlights immediately just how silly all the negativity is.
I highly recommend the practice!
You can choose any word that strikes you as ridiculous. For me, the funniest word in the English language (and I don't know why) is this:
Underpants.
(I know, I know. Totally juvenile. Pretty much the humor of a seven-year-old. And that's probably why it works so well!)
Try it for yourself:
"I'd like to have a new car, but I don't have enough underpants."
"Invest in THAT? No way! It's too risky. I could lose all my underpants."
"Do you think underpants grow on trees?"
"I like the job but the underpants are awful."
"Underpants can't buy happiness."
"He's got more underpants than he knows what to do with."
"Never throw good underpants after bad."
"Underpants aren't everything, you know."
"I wouldn't do that for love nor underpants."
"Always be sure to save some underpants for a rainy day."
"No matter how hard I try or what I do, I just NEVER have enough underpants."
Oh, I could go on and on! In fact, a couple of days ago I introduced this scathingly brilliant concept to my mom and brother, and we sat out on Mom's patio playing with it until we had tears streaming down our faces from laughing at ourselves so hard.
(I suppose goofiness runs in the family. Later that day when Mom said she was getting ready to throw a load of "delicates" in the washer we accused her of money laundering.)
And my friend Alexandra (Dr. Gayek, founder of The Science of Being Well Network) and I have giggled ourselves silly on the subject of abundance of all kinds by substituting my nutty word for almost ANY word having to do with wealth or health.
Ah, yes: We live in a world of infinite underpants!
But when I told her I was going to share this craziness with you she hesitated a moment and then asked, "Really?"
"Sure," I said. "We just get so SERIOUS about all this stuff. But you and I both know it's so much better to let it be FUN."
"Well, you're right," she conceded. "But Rebecca, just try to be ... brief."
Ack.
Yes, she really said that — and cracked herself up laughing. Took me a moment to get it. You know, a pun truly IS the lowest form of humor ... ;-D
Rebecca Fine is the founder of The Science of Getting Rich Network where you can download your free copy of the amazing 1910 forgotten classic, The Science of Getting Rich. http://www.scienceofgettingrich.net ©2006 Certain Way Productions Inc.