Balancing abundance and minimalism

[Lucas]

I am having a hard time changing my beliefs about money. I am a light consumer, and I really believe in the idea of reduce, reuse, recycle. I only buy new that which I cannot find used, and I often use Craigslist or Freecycle to find things free or really cheap. At the same time, I believe that abundance should be in my life, and I feel as though it it is, everywhere but in money. I feel as though I would be better with more money as a resource to do better things for other people. Somewhere is an ingrained belief that I should be poor, and I no longer want that.

Any advice?

[WordKeeper]

This is from EFT but I think it might offer some insight even if you are not practising EFT.

SECONDARY BENEFIT SYNDROME REVERSALS

This type of Reversal is what I call SBS or Secondary Benefit Syndrome. This type of reversal occurs when the subconscious mind perceives that it is better or safer to keep an issue like negative emotions, chronic pain, extra weight, or a bad habit, than to eliminate it.

Since this is seldom a conscious choice, most people will initially disagree with you if you tell them that they actually want to keep their problem or issue. Of course they don’t consciously want to stay emotionally or physically in pain. But the subconscious is a powerful entity, usually exhibiting dominance over our conscious desires.

An example that's easy for most people to understand is the Secondary Benefit Syndrome for people with weight issues. Even though consciously someone may desperately want to lose that extra 50 pounds, their subconscious may be thinking otherwise:

“What if I lose the weight and…..”:

* I still don't get that promotion I want

* I still don't have many friends

* I'm still not pretty

* I'll so pretty that I might get raped again

* I'll feel deprived of all the foods I love

* I still don't find the relationship I yearn for

* my clothes won't fit and I can’t afford a new wardrobe

* my skin gets all saggy

* I’ll get too much attention

* my life still sucks

For someone who has carried around extra weight, trauma, chronic pain, or a phobia for years it becomes a part of his or her personality or even his or her identity. To lose the problem could, to their non-rational subconscious mind, be very threatening.

For instance “If I get over this issue…”:

- I won't have an excuse anymore for my life not working

- I may not know who I am anymore

- I won't know how to act as a functional, non-victim person

- I won't get the attention (or sympathy) I get now

WHAT ABOUT MUHAMMAD ALI?

A very public example of this type of SBS, in my opinion, is Muhammad Ali, who has suffered with Parkinson's disease for many years. Several times he has been offered a simple operation known to eliminate the tremors he lives with constantly. Yet he continues to deny the operation: not because he's afraid of it, but perhaps because his Parkinson's serves him at many levels. As a champion boxer Ali was considered one of the greatest boxers of all time. He was idolized by millions of people around the world. However, he was considered by many others, to be a rude, narcissistic, cocky, and arrogant athlete. He was also a divisive figure who was often ridiculed for his flamboyant behavior and controversial personality.

As a sympathized Parkinson's patient, however, Ali is revered as a compassionate, generous humanitarian. He is now a much respected and loved by virtually everyone and is one of most highly sought after speakers of our time. He now is perhaps even more popular, and certainly more appreciated than he was as an able-bodied boxer. To his subconscious, and perhaps even to his conscious mind, he is better off with Parkinson's than without it.

[jtracy]

That Secondary Benefit Syndrome is interesting. It sounds to me like that is your ego talking, not the subconscious mind. I think it is only the ego that worries about whether you will know who you are any more. The subconscious mind already knows who you really are. The ego seems to sabotage us at every turn. I've read it may be better to not know who you are because then you have no ego to get in your own way.

It struck me that you are talking about avoiding using money in a materialistic sense and then saying you want more for the purpose of helping people. To me those are two seperate things and don't need to conflict with each other. I too beleive we all should reduce, reuse, and recycle; and if we can find things cheap or free we might as well take advantage of that. But helping other people is a whole different way to use money, and a noble one too. There is no reason you should be poor. God wants you to be rich; especially if you plan to use your money to help others. Having money will not change who you are, it just allows you to be who you are more effectively. Human beings are designed to be giving, and money is just another tool to do that more effectively.