I have since received many letters from other people who were not able to participate in the Prosperity Project because their resistance was simply too great. There were quite a few people who could not break through their belief that it is somehow wrong to ask God for material things. Here is one of those letters:
The God's will, my will thing has caused me difficulty in the past. At first I was all my will, then after my spiritual awakening, the pendulum swung way too far the other way. I went from wanting everything (materialism) for me, to not wanting anything for me. For several years now, I've known that this was the case, but not the solution.
I think I've found it. Or rather a way of understanding it and it seems simple. I thought you might find it interesting and maybe you could write about it.
In simple terms I went from knowing exactly what I wanted, to knowing mostly what I didn't want. No longer interested in identification with "things" I wanted only to help others, but it has been to the detriment of my own personal care. When I would even begin to think about "what about me?" I would stop cold and let that thought go.
The thought was "yes, but I really don't want anything." Since I've become friends with you I've been reading all your stuff about Intention, but that voice would come back "right, finessing the Universe", like it was simply materialism dressed up as spirituality. Now, I'm seeing that that may be true for some, but you are spiritual and it's working.
So I asked the Universe the question, what about all this? What's the correct understanding? Here's what I got.
God gave us a rainbow of colors, but doesn't tell us what color must be our favorite or that we even have to pick a favorite. It's just part of the "fun" of being human that he created for our enjoyment.
Another example: God invites us to dinner, they bring the menus out, he dinner rolls arrive, there's water, even crackers on the table. He says, "Okay Jeff, what would you like to eat", and I say "Umm, I don't know." God says "well you can have anything you like", but I just sit there while after everybody else orders, their food arrives, God's smiling, I'm still not deciding. I've got water to drink, dinner rolls, and crackers. Meanwhile other people are eating surf and turf.
This hurdle may sound funny, but I've lived this and I need help. I have an old car that was given to me (funny story, tell you later), a career that's stutter-stopped, but hey, I've got the bread and water, basic needs, and I'm stuck deciding, or rather worried about what to order (you know like when someone else is paying and you don't want to break the bank by ordering something big.)
But I think God doesn't care. He just says, whatever it is, whenever you decide, if it's good for you, good for others, good for the world you can have it. If it's not good for you, maybe I'll let you have it if you insist, and have to learn, like ordering dessert, when dinner is better.
What do you think? and... Can you help me with this?
L&S
Jeffrey
Jeffrey makes some excellent points in this letter, and he hits on the most important reason that many of us resist asking God for what we want: it just seems wrong. Many of us still have an irrational belief that wanting to be prosperous is somehow unspiritual. I've had that belief my whole life; it explains why I've always been poor. Then someone pointed out to me -- Echart Tolle, I think -- that it is the nature of nature to be abundantly excessive. Here in Florida, we see evidence of that fact everywhere: Left to their own ways, tropical plants will completely take over. Birds, bugs, critters, plants, all thrive here. There is no lack. All have what they want most, and usually in great abundance. Why, then, should humans feel we need to not partake of all this prosperity? Maybe it really is OK to want our heart's desire. Maybe that doesn't make us a bad person.
We are all manifesting our reality, all the time. Most of us are very successful at manifesting lack and debt. We get out of life exactly what we expect to receive. I expect to have food to eat and a car to drive. I expect to have a house to sleep in and in the summer I definitely expect to have air conditioning. I don't always expect heat in the winter, so I don't always have heat in the winter. In Florida, heat is optional. I expect to have just enough money to pay for all those things, but just barely. I expect that God will give me everything I need, but my vision of what I need is very meager. My expectations are meager, so God provides for me meagerly. The purpose of the Prosperity Project was to raise the bar on what I feel comfortable expecting for myself.
If our resistance to material prosperity is this great, it is difficult to feel comfortable asking for money or other materialistic things. So, here is a suggestion to help us break through that resistance: Rather than asking for stuff, let's ask for the feelings that having all that stuff could bring us. Here is a list of non-materialistic things we could manifest:
Love
Fulfillment
Enjoyment
Satisfying Relationships
Rewarding Work
Self-Expression
Health
Beauty
Prosperity
Inner Peace
Harmony
Our desires can be for physical things, but they could also be emotional, mental, or spiritual. If your life were perfect, how would you feel? What would you be doing? Who would you be doing it with? Imagine those things. See yourself happy, healthy, fulfilled. See yourself doing work that you enjoy and which benefits the world. And yes, see yourself being paid generously for your contributions. If your desire is simply to stay at home with your family and raise a garden while you read and write, or to make music or paint pictures, or to create things out of wood or fabric, just imagine those things. See yourself happy and well cared for. If asking for money is difficult for you, just skip that part. Money is only a tool, anyway. Instead of trying to manifest money, visualize yourself being happy doing the things you want to do with the people you love. The money to support that dream will manifest anyway, as a by-product.
Yes, Jeffrey, I believe that life is like a huge banquet and that we can order anything we like off of God's menu. God will never make us uncomfortable by giving us things we don't feel we deserve. He gave us free will so that we can choose for ourselves what we will receive. So, what will it be?
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