In “Working with the Law” Raymond Holliwell talks about the Law of Receiving. He talks about giving your substance where it can do most good, and about specific behaviors that would indicate you are out of harmony with the law.
One such behavior is delighting in something that is received for free. He asks, “Do you look for a deal or a bargain?” and “Does it make you happy when you get something for nothing?”
These thoughts are out of harmony with the belief in the abundance of the Universe, and that you will receive exactly what you need when you need it. It’s operating based on fear.
I’ve seen this recently. I received a free bonus with a program I purchased. It wasn’t really something I would have bought and paid for on my own and I was a bit uncertain about accepting it because it wasn’t something that was really in alignment with my current set of priorities, even though it was great.
But it was FREE.
And we are trained to be excited about stuff that is free in our culture.
You SHOULD take something free, right? It’s like a lucky opportunity, right? When will you ever have the chance again, right?
Or, perhaps it’s out of alignment. In my case I attempted to talk myself into believing that it was right, and I resisted outright saying, “I don’t want this free thing.” Energetically that behavior was coming from fear… “maybe I SHOULD take it.”
Rather than just say no, I took it, but without real energetic commitment on my part. It was a bad idea. The whole thing became steeped in fear and scarcity based energy, and didn’t work out very well.
Scarcity Thinking is the Root of Fear
Scarcity thinking is the root of all fear-based decisions. There is not enough to go around, I am not enough if I don’t do this, etc.
I write this article from Juror Lounge 100 at the Denver courthouse. I’ve been traveling pretty extensively recently, and I could definitely be in a scarcity thought-process around my time, and resenting jury duty. I’ve chosen to embrace the opportunity to experience a part of our society that I’ve not experienced before. I’m staying positive and looking for what’s right about the fact I was selected for this part of the process (and powerfully intending on not spending much more time here!)
Many people have offered me ideas for ways to get out of jury duty and talked about how ‘it’s not fair’ and because I’m self-employed I shouldn’t have to go.
Where is that coming from? Is there a belief that self-employed people have a scarcity of time and money and should be pitied over their J-O-B-holding counterparts? Why would I want to buy into that idea?
Taking something free because it’s free is rooted in fear and scarcity as well, and fear begets fear.
Regret is a Form of Scarcity
We could say that I might regret my decision not to say “no” to the free thing. In Truth I took it because I didn’t want to regret not taking the opportunity. The definition of regret is: feeling sorrow or remorse for an act, to think of with a sense of loss.
Why would we worry about the loss of something in the past? Because we don’t believe that there is an abundance of opportunity in the future. The moment we notice ourselves entertaining thoughts of regret, we must catch it and stop it in the act. Instead, ask yourself, “Of what am I now aware that will help me to make a different decision in the future?” Own the new awareness and release the regret, it never serves you.
Make a Decision and Make it Right
Early on in my business I invested $15,000 in a coaching program. The program was a group program that did not include individual attention. I felt crazy for making the investment. I’d never done anything like that in the past, and I wasn’t making anywhere near that in my business, so I was somewhat terrified.
But my gut told me it was the thing I needed to do (I couldn’t sleep the night before making the decision). And I went for it. And I never for an instant looked back.
OK, maybe for an instant or two I would think, “Shit, can I really make this money back?” Then I would let it go. Immediately.
Any time I was with others in the program who began talking about how they weren’t getting what they needed, I either declared that I was or I walked away. I refused to buy into any conversations about regret about the decision, or not honoring my commitment to be all-in.
The people who talked about the problems with the program, who focused on regret… many of them didn’t complete the program because they didn’t make the money, and some are not in business today.
I made the decision and made it right – with no doubt that I’d make the money back.
What if You Go Out of Resonance?
What happens if you made a decision to participate in something, and you either evolve and grow and it no longer resonates for you? Or, if you recognize you made a decision out of fear and scarcity, and you can’t align with it?
Pay for it anyway.
If you are in business and you have signed a contract, honor the contract. Period. It is not a sound business practice to not honor your agreements. Just do it.
I have participated in a program in which I paid for the entire program, and only took advantage of part of the program. I could get my undies in a bunch about how I didn’t get the full value from the program, or force myself to do all parts of it even though they aren’t parts that are aligned for me. But the Truth is I got exactly what I needed from the program. I made the decision and made it right, and participated powerfully on my terms, and the terms of the contract I signed, with no regret.
If you are the type of person who views contracts and agreements (or jury duty) as things to get out of, that is the energy you will bring to your business and your clients.
Love making your payments, be empowered by your decisions to make and spend money, and don’t spend time spinning in doubt and regret. All that says is that you don’t think your time is better spent being of service and making more money, and I don’t think you want to believe that! 🙂