Money is both a blessing and a curse. It gives us a comfortable life and at the same time causes an incredible amount of stress. I've experienced both extremes in my life, from having absolutely nothing to having far too much money in my bank account. It made me realise that I was much happier when I was living on the street than when I had a full bank account. There are two reasons for this. On one side, human relationships are more genuine and honest in times when we have nothing. People who live at or below subsistence level are much more helpful and friendly than people who are swimming in money. People recognize each other's situation and help each other. If you have a lot of money, at some point you realize that you have practically no real friends. You get surrounded by vultures who try to profit from the wealth of others. It doesn't even have to go as far as them trying to take money directly from you. It starts with the fact that they attend all the parties, never bring or contribute anything and expect themselves to be invited everywhere they go with you. If you point out to them that the relationship is somewhat one-sided, they get angry and try to make you feel guilty for being so incredibly stingy. As soon as you run out of money or simply refuse to keep paying for these "friends", they're gone very quickly. If you have a lot of money, there is always an underlying fear that you could lose something. You are constantly trying to increase your wealth in one way or another. You invest, buy assets, watch the stock markets, hire an asset manager, etc. Money becomes a constant topic. You never really get to rest. You try to cover it up with luxury, which attracts more of these vultures. Conversely, if you don't have any money, you fight for survival every day, which is of course no less stressful. I don't think I need to say much about that. Both situations are draining in the long run.
What works best for me is to make sure that I always have enough for a comfortable life, no more and no less. If some money accumulates over time, I treat myself to a longer trip and spend it. This keeps me on the middle ground and saves me money worries and the unnecessary stress that inevitably arises in these two extremes. For this to work, one has to adopt the right mindset. This will probably trigger some readers. If this is the case for you, please take a deep breath and read on. It's worth internalizing what I'm about to tell you. What I'm describing here could be described as passive manifesting and doesn't just apply to our relationship with money. The moment I decided to stop worrying about money and trust that the universe will make sure I always have enough to live, all my money problems disappeared. I have indeed always had enough since then. Money sometimes comes to me in crazy, unexpected ways. And always when I need it the most and before the situation becomes critical. I'll give you a few examples. A former friend and flatmate, who I had been looking after for a while and with whom I hadn't had any contact for years, suddenly transferred a large sum of money to me out of nowhere while I was travelling, at the exact moment when I had run out of money and was wondering how I was going to get back home. It was even enough to keep going another two months. When I got back to Switzerland, I had neither a job nor money for an apartment. It wasn't long before I met a young lady who gave me her apartment for a few weeks while she went on vacation. After that, someone else gave me their apartment to look after the cats. I didn't know either of them before. The amazing thing is that this went on for months until I found a job and was able to support myself again. When I wanted to do the Reiki level 2 training not so long ago, I couldn't afford it. I had long considered whether I should sign up anyway and simply fast for two weeks to finance the course. When I finally decided not to do it, I was suddenly approached again by an acquaintance I hadn't heard from in eleven years. He asked me if I could do a job for him and offered me the exactly amount I needed for the course. He knew nothing about Reiki. Of course I accepted the offer and booked the course. The sign was unmistakable.
There are more examples, but I think this is enough to illustrate how the universe ensures that we always have enough if we trust it to do so. The help doesn't always come in the form of real money. Sometimes it's just opportunities that present themselves and meet the exact needs of the moment. It's also important to know that it doesn't come for free. You could say that karma plays a decisive role here. In the first two examples, there is a clear connection with things that I did for others without expecting anything in return. I had also repeatedly taken people in and provided for them. The help came back to me exactly when I needed it. In the last example, it was linked to something I had to do in return and again met exactly the need I had at the time. No more and no less. It's really amazing how well the whole thing works when you have faith. As soon as you doubt it, however, it no longer works. I'm not immune to doubt either. Every time I lose trust, I'm punished for it and everything goes to hell. It doesn't even necessarily have to be in connection with money. It happens in general. As soon as I let go and start to trust again, everything settles down very quickly. Letting go is the key. Don't try to control everything. Let go and let yourself be guided. Keep your eyes open and grab opportunities when they come. You'll get what you need when you need it. Worrying about money is totally pointless once you understand that. Worries are fears and they create resistance. Resistance to money is exactly what we don't want.
Try to resist the greed for more money. The point here is to have enough. The desire for more generates a state of scarcity, because there is not enough, and that attracts more scarcity. It may well be that a lot of money comes in temporarily, but is then lost again, sometimes in a spectacular fashion. I have also had this experience several times. Greed is always punished sooner or later. When you lose the money, it hurts, but I see the event more as a liberating blow to the soul that brings you back down to earth and leads to modesty. A lot of money acts like a prison. When the soul wants to break out of it, it makes sure that the prison cell is torn down. The ego then goes completely crazy and sinks into self-pity. This is the best opportunity to realize that you have caused the situation yourself through greed. At best, this leads to being humble, at worst to anger. Unfortunately, many people opt for anger. They apparently don't realize that being humble brings calmness and serenity. If we are humble, we are content with what we have and are happy if it is more than we need to live.
A few years ago, Simon Sinek mentioned in a presentation that studies on motivation point to a similar issue. It was found that workers are most productive when they are paid just enough to take the issue of money off the table at home. If they are paid less, they worry and may even work a second job. If they receive too much, they are constantly busy managing their money and also have worries. When the issue is out of their mind, people are much more motivated and have their head in the game. This benefits employers and employees alike. The common practice of pushing wages down as far as possible, as we are increasingly seeing these days, does more harm to companies than good. The loss of productivity exceeds the personnel costs saved. The masters of the economy should give this some thought. I know of a case in my area where an entrepreneur reduced the number of orders accepted by 20% in order to relieve the overworked workforce. Surprisingly, this had no impact on his profits. The quality of production increased significantly as a result of this step, so that the rate of warranty claims fell sharply. He then reduced the number of accepted orders by a further 10% the following year with the same result. He lost nothing financially, but he now has satisfied employees and satisfied customers. As I said, greed always gets punished. Humbleness is the antidote, satisfaction the reward.