Spring has finally arrived in my neck of the woods. Birds are singing, peepers are peeping, and it's warm enough to work outside. Life sounds perfect, right? Well, I have to admit, it's been a rough winter financially. Money isn't rolling in as fast as expenses are. I'm not really complaining because despite worrying about the bills, I know my husband and I are very fortunate. We both have jobs, we bought a bigger home during the recession and although we struggle to foot the bill, we are able to send our children to a private school.
I know as well as anyone who believes in THE SECRET - that in order to attract money - you have to believe you already HAVE money. Hard to do when you're behind on the mortgage, tuition and truck payments! And how many times have we heard you need to 'GIVE' in order to 'RECEIVE'? I am ashamed to admit on my taxes this year - I only had proof of giving FIFTY DOLLARS away as donations to charity! I probably donated more than that - but truthfully, probably not much more than that. Is it coincidental that last year was a rough year financially for us? I'm guessing not.
With this in mind - I had been researching Tithing - the practice of giving 10 percent of all your income to a religious or government organization. Over the past few weeks, (since doing my taxes) I have realized that perhaps the reason I am struggling financially is because I am not giving and setting 10% aside for charities or those in need was being tossed around in my head. 10% is a practice that goes way back in time and perhaps there is a reason why this tradition has been around so long! I'm not a member of any church or group I would want to give 10% of my income to every week - but my research leads me to believe that anyone in need would be OK for me to give money to - whether it is the local food pantry, animal shelter, recently injured local community member or even leaving random amounts of money for someone to find - say in the diaper aisle of a local store.
I wanted to 'give' but was feeling very poor. On top of the 10% I told my husband I wanted to give away, he reminded me that we are also suppose to be saving at least 10% of our money. So it was, Tuesday evening, I was feeling rather down regarding the lack of money my husband and I have. My husband has a sales business that is customer needs based. Based on prior sales, he was well stocked for sales but the customers weren't calling - and those that were calling - were not placing the large orders that we hoped to get. So, Tuesday evening I curled up on the couch with my laptop and decided to go thru some Betterment Network emails for a pick me up - because I knew that my negative financial mood was not going to help me attract money!
I was reading some Ezines I get from Wendy Betterini at Open to Prosperity and Abundance and was feeling much better. I also viewed her youtube Affirmations to Attract Money and was feeling very positive about our financial picture. That night, I decided to just start giving away 10% no matter what. It was a catch-22 - I wasn't giving money away because I felt poor, but according to Universal Law - I was poor because I wasn't giving money away. I decided the only thing I could change was to start giving money away - it was the only thing I hadn't truly done to change my financial situation. The worst that could happen is I would still be financially strapped but at least I would feel good about helping someone else out.
Thanks to my decision and the inspirational reading I was doing, I was able to work myself into a feeling of wealth and belief money was coming my way. The financial worst was behind me! I crawled into bed KNOWING that Wednesday would be a great day and that one of our clients would contact us for a purchase. I lay in bed all excited about my financial outlook. It sounds crazy - but I was 'high' with excitement about how positive our financial outlook was!
At 10pm that night- as my hubby and I lay in bed, my husbands cell phone rang. It was a client who had placed a small order with us for delivery the next day - calling to increase his purchase! At 10 PM!!!! I was beyond excited! I couldn't believe how quickly that transformation happened - all day I had been down about finances but after some positive reading, reciting some affirmations, and deciding to commit to tithing - the outlook changed dramatically fast! But that's not the end. The next morning I poured my coffee and logged on to the computer - pulled up our business email account and sure enough - an order from a long heard from customer!! I just couldn't believe it!!!!!!!!!
Those orders amounted to over one thousand dollars. I began thinking of how I would spend the 10% from those sales. That evening I read some old newspapers and learned of my old churches food pantry in need of donations. I read a story about a local girl who suffered a major trauma due to a freak accident. Other ideas for donations just popped out at me. I found it very interesting that when I was thinking about tithing - I didn't have a clue how I would spend 10%. A few local non-profits came to mind but when I made the actual decision to do it - lots of opportunities presented themselves.
Anyhow - the following day (being school vacation) my husband and I had planned to take the kids on a trip out of town to see a historical site. Before leaving town, we dropped my car off at a collision center to have a tail light repaired. A couple weeks earlier an elderly couple backed out of a parking space and hit my car. The estimate for repair was over $500 to fix the light and touch up the paint on my bumper. I informed the center I didn't want the paint job- my car is old and thought it would be silly to paint the fender when so much else is wrong with my car. All I wanted replaced was the light. The elderly couples insurance company had already submitted the check for work on my car. All I had to do was drop my car off.
We enjoyed the historical facility and on the way out - they had a collection basket for donations. The old me would have dug out a dollar because that is usually what I feel I can afford - but starting my new 'giving' philosophy - I dug out a twenty and dropped it in the bucket. I felt good. My family and I enjoyed a nice lunch and some more sight seeing - indulged in the first ice cream cones of spring and then hurried back to the collision center to pick up my car before they closed. Imagine my surprise when the office person told me I would be getting a check for almost $400!! Seems because I had opted not to have the paint job done - the extra money was mine. The total damage to my car was just over $500 which is what their insurance paid the collision center for the repair work to my car. Since the light was only $109 to replace- the extra money is mine. I had no idea!! But I was so excited! In just a couple days - things were really turning around!!!
But I'm not done. Really feeling fortunate now- the next morning I headed off to the grocery store to do my weekly shopping. I took some cash in my pocket for 'giving' to others. As I walked the aisles - I tucked some money in between some cereal boxes, amongst some diapers and in the dog food section. I asked of the powers that be - that whomever finds those 5s and 10s would be someone who needed them. I walked out of the store feeling pretty good about what I had done. As I was loading groceries into my car - I hoped I had done a good thing. I felt I got my answer as I was getting into my car and spotted a shiny dime, heads up, next to the door of my car.
I have always wanted to be a philanthropist - but never had the money to give away. Having made the actual decision to give - no matter what - I feel like I am on the cusp of living my dream. I am probably about to become poorer - since 10% will now be given to others and not towards my own bills - but there is a certain feeling of wealth that I can't explain - other than I feel different.
Will this continue? The giving definitely will! The receiving - only time will tell - but I do know that today my husband picked up rent from the tenant staying in my old house- and they overpaid us by $5. It has been less than a week since I committed to Tithing - so I will keep you posted!!
No comments:
Post a Comment