Next in our series of “Prosperity Now!” articles is a topic that is of huge importance: financial forgiveness. Clearing up this one area in your consciousness can open floodgates of abundance for you.
What is financial forgiveness? Basically it involves going over your mental “files” and pulling out anything related to being hurt, disappointed or cheated in the financial realm. These memories, if not released, can act like hidden landmines on your road to prosperity.
Why should you forgive? The short answer: for your own sake!
- For your health! There is a high correlation between carrying unresolved grievances and developing serious illness.
- For your peace of mind. Carrying grudges and grievances takes up mental RAM and definitely impairs your effectiveness.
- For your financial well-being. You will tend to attract and reproduce new experiences similar to the ones you hold in mind, especially if there is strong emotion attached. Do you really want more hardship and grief in this area?
And, as one wise person said, “He who refuses to forgive burns the bridge over which he himself must pass. ”
So get out a pen and paper (or open a word processing file if you are most comfortable working on the computer) and — without stopping or censoring — make a quick list of everyone who you believe has hurt, shortchanged or offended you financially. Starting with your earliest memories and continuing up to the present, list the people and the incidents, and how you believe they affected you.
For starters, just make a list, as quickly as you can, and get them all written down. Here are some suggestions to help you get started:
- The bully who stole your lunch money when you were 8 years old.
- The caregiver who denied you your allowance for an unfair reason.
- The person who said they would help you, then didn’t.
- The boss who underpaid you.
- The co-worker who stole your sale and your commission.
- The friend who borrowed money and never paid it back.
- The ex who cost you a bundle on the divorce settlement.
- The vendor or service provider who unfairly (in your opinion) raised their rates.
- The credit card company who changed their terms in a way that cost you more money.
- The supervisor who gave you an unfairly negative review and cost you your promotion and/or your raise.
- The politicians and/or corporations who you believe have damaged the economy.
- The wealthy relative who listened patiently to your tales of financial distress, then graciously parted with several thousand dollars — to buy himself a new toy.
Once you’ve listed all the overt offenses against you, it’s time to look at other lingering financial resentments. These may be large or small, recent or from your childhood. Again, list them quickly and get them all written down. Here are some examples:
- That snobbish, not-too-bright kid who always had the newest toys and clothes.
- The next door neighbor who regularly hauled home hundreds of dollars’ worth of booze and cigarettes every week, while you struggled just to buy food for your family.
- That celebrity on television who casually purchased a gigantic yet functionless piece of art for a few million dollars.
- The indolent cousin who lives on an inheritance and will never need to work a day in his life, yet squanders all of his time.
And now it’s time for the big one: YOURSELF. You probably have a number of grievances against yourself in this area, and it’s time to drag them out into the light so you can do something about them. Make a list, quickly, of every area where you believe you have messed up and cost yourself financially. These can be “sins” of omission or commission. The important thing is to list all the things you’ve been holding against yourself.
How did you fail to take action, and thus miss out on greater financial well-being? What poor decisions did you make that cost you money? Did you make unnecessary purchases? Were you a compulsive spender? Have you been slow or even negligent in repaying your debts? How have you let yourself — and/or others — down in the financial area?
Now it’s time to ask yourself: “Which would I rather have — these grievances, or prosperity?” Get very clear that this is the choice you are making. Once you truly choose happiness and well-being over past wounds or mistakes, you are ready to move on to the next step:
Release all the wrongs — your wrongs, their wrongs, even the wrongs you have been blaming on “life” or “the system” or “how things are.”
It may help you to write out (for your eyes only) strong statements of release for each item on the list. You may also wish to follow up with some affirmations such as the following: “I release this and move on to meet my highest good. I let go of all past negativity and step into my true place of prosperity, well-being and peace.”
Let’s be clear that releasing is not the same as excusing what was done. You are choosing to stop suffering over the perceived wrongs in your financial history, not saying it was “okay” that they happened. As you cut the emotional ties that have bound you to past negative events, you set yourself free to move on to far better conditions.
The most important element in releasing is decision — your conscious decision that your present and future peace of mind and well-being are more important than being “right” about anyone (including you) being “wrong.” Decide to release, decide to move on, decide to grow financially and personally to a point where any and all past grievances shrink into insignificance.
After all, if you were a multi-millionaire would you really be upset about the loss of $20, $200 or even $2,000?
Visualize yourself well, strong, wealthy and well off in every way. Feel the feelings of power and freedom that would be yours if you were completely financially independent, completely clear of all debt and obligation, completely free and empowered to be, do and have anything that money and consciousness can provide.
From this higher perspective, do any of those old grievances matter? Of course not.
Next, anchor that state and then act from it. Persist until you have released those old hurts and resentments, and open your eyes to the new opportunities around you.
Now take some positive action to express this fresh start. From here on it gets better!
