Imagine if you won $200 million
If you won $200 million, what would your first thought be?
For many, their first thought would be wow! Yet, what is underneath the wow? I recently asked the question to a class and got responses like “I would have to get a lawyer” and “I would be worried that I would lose it”. People have some fear of having money because most do not believe they know what to do with it if they had it (e.g., invest it). Others believe having so much money is greedy. What do you think about the Exxon CEO that just got a $400 million retirement package? Others may think that so much money will make them less spiritual. In other words, suffering in poverty will make them more spiritual.
Guess what? The thoughts you have about having $200 million can be applied to having $1 million (or even $10,000). If you fear money, believe money will make you greedy (just like those rich people) or believe that you would not know what to do if you had money, you are setting up for a life of poverty because our thoughts about money control what we see in the world. If we have negative thoughts about having so much money, we also have similar thoughts about have any money (it is all relative). Thus, having negative beliefs about having so much money can make saving a little money for an emergency fund will seem like a monumental task. So, the first step to allow money to flow into your life is to bless those who have money.
A similar belief about money revolves around scarcity. For someone to have $200 million will mean that others must have less. This is why it seems like never have enough when we do a budget, because others have more (so we have less). To read more about this, read Beliefs & Budgeting.
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June 22nd, 2006 at 8:29 am
Excellent point - I think that many folks hold some of these beliefs. In my case, you hit the nail right on the head: I do believe that having a lot more money will undermine my spirituality, my character and who I am. There are lots of sources of that belief - both environmental (negative images of wealth in the press, TV, movies, etc. compared wtih positive images of the underdog) as well as personal (various experiences, input from friends & relatives, etc.).
Question for you: how do you reconcile religious teachings about money with the possibility that money does not corrupt character? These biblical passages in particular don’t leave a lot of wiggle room:
Mark 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (wealth).
June 22nd, 2006 at 3:39 pm
[…] « Imagine if you won $200 million […]
June 27th, 2006 at 5:49 am
Gee. I didn’t _think_ I was that unusual. But if $200m dropped into my lap, I know exactly what I’d do with it. After paying off whatever taxes I couldn’t manage to avoid, I’d settle all my outstanding debts, and then put half the remainder into an index fund and half into my business.
As for the spiritual angle…well, frankly I don’t worry about it. The bible’s teachings on money are about the avoidance of greed, not of wealth.
June 28th, 2006 at 7:35 am
All interesting and valid points. I agree about avoiding greed.
But how do you do it?
July 3rd, 2006 at 3:00 pm
[…] Carnival of Debt Reduction with “True Story on Prosperity to Get Out of Debt” […]
July 3rd, 2006 at 3:15 pm
[…] Carnival of Debt Reduction with “Imagine if you won $200 million” […]
July 9th, 2006 at 9:18 am
[…] One question that came up from recent posts ( “Can a Rich Person be Spiritual?” and “Imagine if you won $200 million” ) is “How do you avoid greed?” […]