DAY 27
MONEY WILL NOT MAKE YOU HAPPY,BUT HAPPINESS WILL MAKE YOU MONEY
If you expect to be happy with your money, you must realize that it is not money that will make you happy. It is only your enthusiasm, your energy, your hope, and your love that will truly satisfy you. You want to live your life with a certain level of power and control, with true passion, and from this energy money will flow to you. It is vital not to view money as the key to your happiness, but as a side-effect of your happiness. If you are truly enjoying life, and doing what you wish, money will effortlessly flow to you. Most of the exercises in this book have been leading you in this direction.
Today, as we near the end of this program, I would like to reiterate those emotions which can help you feel joy in your life regardless of financial conditions.
Once again, the most important emotion you can develop is that of gratitude. The key to prosperity consciousness is to feel grateful for all that you already have, and all that you have to look forward to. By properly putting things in perspective, it is easy to realize that we have much more to be grateful for than to be bitter about.
The most obvious way to gain perspective is to appreciate any moment in your life that is not filled with tragedy. Obviously, tragic circumstances enter each of our lives at some point, but these are usually few and far between, and we can usually grieve healthfully and move on. Most days, however, are remarkably lacking in surprises. Life is usually so predictable that we fall into the trap of complacency. The trick of perspective allows us to be thrilled with the monotony of life. Any day that none of your friends or relatives die is a great day. Any day that you are not paralyzed in a freak accident is a phenomenal day. Any day that you are not rushed to the hospital with a mysterious disease is a wonderful day. This may sound simplistic, or stupid, but with an attitude that realizes that misfortune can fall upon you, 99 percent of your days will be filled with thanks that nothing extraordinary has happened. Perspective is the easiest short cut to gratitude, and gratitude is the easiest shortcut to wealth.
Take five minutes right now and feel the truth of these words:
I NOW REALIZE THAT MONEY IS NOT THE REASON FOR MY HAPPINESS. MONEY IS A SIDE-EFFECT OF MY GRATITUDE FOR LIVING A JOYFUL, CREATIVE LIFE.
TAKE ACTION: Reread your list of things for which you can give thanks that you developed on Day 16. Today, add to this list all the things that you do not yet have, but will soon have due to your new mental attitude. Give thanks now for all the future happiness that you will experience. Feel the emotions of hope and optimism.
“There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.”
Logan Pearsall Smith