Abundance Mentality #12 :: Give it Away

We have some odd thoughts about giving stuff away and that’s what i want to talk about today. My spiritual practice, A Course in Miracles, has a lesson that says, “Giving and receiving are one in truth.” Does that resonate with you?

Or maybe you’re saying, “How can giving and receiving be the same? They’re opposites!” True, on a physical level, yet, even when you give a ‘thing’ away, there is still emotional capital exchanged, right? You feel good when you make someone else happy.

Giving away an idea is even more powerful!  When you give an idea away, it grows as a natural occurrence. That person will come back to you with an ancillary idea and, before you know it, you have this fantastic thing that you’ve created together!

So, let’s expand our ideas about giving and receiving today.

I used to think that it was smart to have at least two or three of everything, just in case one got lost or broken. For example, I have scissors in practically every room: in my office, in the kitchen drawer, in the basement, in the bathroom (you never know when you’ll have to cut a tag off a new towel!), you name it, scissors everywhere, which is very convenient. And yet if somebody asked me for a pair of scissors in the past, my little packrat ego would have thought twice about it. I would not have wanted to give up any one of those scissors, all 10 of them, for fear that then something would happen and I’d be without.

Now that’s a scarcity mentality! And it took me many, many years to recognize that I was holding myself back because of it. I was creating a mentality that I could never have enough; and if I didn’t hang on to things, if I let them get away from me, I would be destitute.

The ego mind is crazy. We think crazy things and don’t even realize it. So today I want to test your scarcity mentality. If you can’t imagine yourself giving away a few of the ‘treasures’ you’ve accumulated over the years, some of your time because “Oh, I’m just too busy,” or if you can’t give money away because you can’t even afford the stuff you already have to pay for– listen up!

Please pay attention because this is going to be life changing should you invest in a new way of thinking. And that’s really what it takes. It takes investing in a new way, a new perception of yourself in relationship to the world. So how can you do that? You can test your scarcity mentality to see how bad it is by doing some very simple, easy things.

Let me tell a true story:
Many years ago, a girlfriend of mine, an artist who was into Native American practices, decided to have what she called a ‘giveaway.’ What’s a giveaway? Well, she went through her house, and picked out a bunch of stuff saying to herself, “I don’t really use this anymore. It’s just sitting around taking up space, collecting dust, and maybe somebody else can get more benefit out of it than I am.” Then she put all this stuff on a long table, and invited her friends to come over. “We’re having a Giveaway. Please come.”

When we got there she said, “Help yourself, whatever you want here is yours. Just please take it away!” She served refreshments, put on some music and we partied as we selected our ‘gifts’. We had the best time! We talked about possessions and how they possess us. It made us start to look at how we perceive our possessions, and, and how we clutch on to things that have no meaning for us anymore.

Could you volunteer at a local charity for 2 hours a week? (Even though you say you have no time you’re too busy, blah blah blah.) See if you can squeeze in an hour or two at your local food pantry, soup kitchen, or pet rescue, etc. Find something that would be meaningful for you, and you will be amazed at how suddenly you have just as much if not more time to get done what you need to do, even though you’ve given up time to do that volunteer work. It will happen. Time expands with our mindset! I promise you.

Here’s another test, if the above idea doesn’t work for you. You could mentor someone who’s just starting out in business and teach them what you know for free because they need help to survive on their own and you can help them. Give them some of your precious time and expertise. That person is going to be so grateful to you. It’ll shift your whole perception of time. You will feel like Superwoman!

Why am I suggesting you do these things? You know I’m all about releasing stress. When you have a scarcity mentality, that causes stress. It’s a stressful way to live your life when you’re always clutching on to stuff, when you’re afraid to let go, when you’re afraid you’ll never have enough.

So you want to release your stress, right? Then, by doing these things, by stretching yourself a little bit, by pushing yourself to do something that goes against the grain (all the while, your ego is saying, “I don’t have the time, or I don’t have the extra money to write a check to my favorite charity, or I don’t want to give up my stuff,” you will confront the blocks to your success. And that will most certainly remove some stress from your mind!

You probably know if you listen to me long enough that I support Heifer International. I love this organization because they teach women in countries all over the world how to be independent businesswomen. it’s just an amazing thing to see. So I support them and I write that check, even though I might say, “Oh, maybe I could use this money to buy a new whatever.” And yet, to me it’s important to support a cause that means something to me. I feel good about that because I know on the other side of the world, somebody is benefiting from my check. And that’s a great feeling.

So, we do this to change our relationship to our time, to our money and to our possessions, from one of grasping, and being afraid of losing, to one of abundance and sharing.

Abundance comes when you know you have everything you need. You have it, or will have it if you need it. Giving stuff away is a very practical way of retraining your mind to an abundant mentality, and that will change everything for you. You will see your business flourish. You will see your relationships improve.

Here’s another personal story:
A while back, I gave a neighbor a can of spray paint I had sitting in the basement so she could paint her mailbox. We were talking and she mentioned it needed a fresh coat. She thanked me and said, “Great! I’ll do it over the weekend.” So we laughed about it and then a few weeks later, she introduced me to another neighbor, who ended up giving me three hens! I was longing to have hens again, those fresh eggs are just fantastic. And, voila, free! He said, “Would you like 3 of them?” and I practically fell over myself saying, “Yes!” And he brought them home for me.

That’s how it works. One hand washes the other, and not necessarily in the same way. In fact, not usually in the same way, but in some other way that’s a benefit to you personally.

One more story:
Another neighbor (I’ve got lots of great neighbors) needed a shovel because her shovel handle broke, so I said “Oh, here! I have six shovels in my garage. Take it. It’s yours.” A while later, (now I have my chickens enjoying my back yard and supplying delicious eggs!) we were chatting again and she told where I could get almost free veggies and greens for my chickens. Wow, that was just fantastic! This is exactly how it works.

You do something for someone else totally from your heart, because they’re standing there in front of you saying something, and you can supply the answer. You can give whatever it is, and make them happy. And when you make someone else happy, you’re happy. That’s how it works. Zig Ziglar said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just give other people what they want.” So, I think I’ve given you enough food for thought about how you might begin to strengthen your abundance mentality by giving stuff away– even stuff that you don’t think you have enough of.

As I’ve said before, abundance is about living life from the inside out. Not from what you seem to see around you or what seems to be lacking, but from your own desire to experience your abundance. You do that by giving ‘stuff’ away.

Take care of your needs first. You get to your abundance by understanding your needs and requesting guidance from your inner wisdom (which is what I teach to busy businesswomen who are stressed and are looking to find a way to build their abundance mentality.)

By giving ‘stuff’ away, you will realize how abundant you are, and stress will become a petty annoyance you will easily handle.  

Peace and Love Always,
MarciaGrace

I always tell you that I’m here for you because I want you to know that you have all the answers that you need within you, even if the answer you get is, “Go get help from so and so.”  That answer will send you in the right direction so you can be the calm, creative, joyful and successful businesswoman you are meant to be!

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