“You say you desire wealth, not for your own sake, but in order to do good with it, and to bless others…for in the majority of instances where money is desired for the admitted object of blessing others, the real underlying motive is a love of popularity, and a desire to pose as a philanthropist or reformer…The heart that truly desires to do good does not wait for money before doing it, but comes to the altar of sacrifice and leaving there the unworthy elements of self, goes out and breathes upon neighbor and stranger, friend and enemy alike, the breath of blessedness.” James Allen, From Poverty To Power, pg. 57-59
I have been struggling with understanding what is an appropriate pursuit to wealth and financial success. How badly a lot of us want to make enough money just to not have to worry about it. But when is it really ever enough?
I love how Allen calls a lot of us out, pursuing money likely for popularity. And if our motives were actually to do good, then why are we waiting for money? I had that epiphany recently. I always had visions to use my wealth for greatness, to give, to serve, to have more time on my hands to give back. But I said no amount of money will ever feel like enough, so why keep chasing it? Why not just start doing what I said I would do if I had more money? Why not just have faith and good intentions?
“...prosperity and power related to the inward good, and poverty and weakness to the inward evil. Money does not constitute true wealth, nor position, nor power, and to rely upon it alone is to stand upon a slippery place. Your true wealth is your stock of virtue, and your true power the uses to which you put it. Rectify your heart, and you will rectify your life.” pg. 59-60
Sometimes I ask myself, why even focus on money? Allen reaffirms that money isn’t true wealth. It isn’t an accurate measure for anything. Prosperity and power in your own life comes from within, from having a virtuous heart and bringing our selfish elements to the altar of sacrifice.
The biggest thing I got from these excerpts from his writing was how to change my circumstances and check my own posture towards blessing others. Money is only a small part of it and our prosperity depends on our own perspective. Internally we have to focus on the present, how much we have, how much we can give and what we can do with it for others.
Final reaffirming thought I’ll leave you with: even if you are really struggling financially, where you might be in a position that you can’t even pay your bills, pay for meals, etc… I’ll paraphrase something I heard from Tony Robbins “If you will out serve everyone, if you will treat your clients, customers, employer, employee, etc… better than anyone else, then you will always end up being one of the most prosperous. You will be taken care of.”
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