Money is an expression of energy and we use it to support our life. Consciousness is the awareness and internal knowing of thoughts, feelings and experiences. When money is earned, spent, saved and given consciously, it reflects what we value most. It becomes an intuitive gauge for who we are, what we stand for and where we are headed. By interacting with money consciously, we feel good about ourselves and our world.
However, when we are not conscious in our experiences with money, the opposite effect takes place and we end up doing things, often repeatedly, that do not make much logical sense.
Cellular biologist, Bruce Lipton explains in his book, Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness:
"The function of the mind is to create coherence between our beliefs and the reality that we experience." Lipton continues, "We generally perceive that we are running our lives with our wishes and our desires. But neuroscience reveals a startling fact. We only run our lives with our creative, conscious mind about 5 percent of the time. Ninety-five percent of the time, our life is controlled by the beliefs and habits that are programmed in the subconscious mind."
If we are only using our conscious mind about 5 percent of the time, that could explain why we often do things with money that do not make sense, like buying things we do not need, cannot afford or don't actually want. And if the subconscious mind is in control 95 percent of the time, then that means we are highly susceptible to whatever messages we come in contact with. Marketers, of course, know this very well and have built their entire system on taking advantage of how the subconscious mind works. We see how this works in the daily onslaught of sales-oriented information received and also by looking at all of our stuff.
This same unconsciousness about money can also explain why we find ourselves working in jobs that we do not like.
As consciousness increases around money, we inevitably begin to question our moral and psychological perceptions and expectations. It is at this time when we may ask ourselves questions like:
1. Do I do things with money that, in retrospect, do not seem to make much sense? If so, why does this happen?
2. Are my core values in alignment with my work and how I earn money?
3. Do I have my priorities straight and if so, and does the way I spend money support those priorities?
4. Do I know the difference between my wants and needs and if so, do I take care of my needs first and wants second or the other way around?
5. Do I know how my money is invested and do those investments support my core values?
6. Am I giving enough of my time and money to the causes I care to support?
To understand how we've gotten to where we are, it helps to understand we have built up a complex system of money beliefs in our subconscious. We use these beliefs as a glass pane through which we see everything. Sometimes our beliefs are helpful but other times they keep us from seeing the harsh realities of our money interactions and therefore we never end up making helpful and healthful changes.
The cost of ignoring money consciousness is steep. It takes a toll on our well-being by causing problems in our relationships and in our work, causing illness and poor health and from ultimately getting to know our true selves. This same unconsciousness has led to societal goals that are unsustainable. We see its effects in the degradation of our environment, in our local, state and national government, in cultural activities like sports and religion, in social areas such as education and the serving of those in need, and we see it in business, where the end is often seen as justifying the means.
It is hard to admit but we value our unconsciousness more than we value the potential of a better life.
Thankfully, we do not have to remain in this unconscious state of mind forever. There are ways to change and it starts with each of us, on our own path to self-understanding and self-discovery. We cannot expect the world to change if we ourselves have not. We are them, they are us. It begins by taking a stand to become more money conscious. Looking at our own lives, where we've come from, what we stand for and where we want to go, consciously. Only then can we create the harmonious and sustainable world in which we wish to live.
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