I got a note yesterday from someone who was upset that “you always used to be about inspiration, but now you only talk about money and selling yourself.”

Let’s look at that. For me, the worst aspect of being a broke starving artist for so many years was the attitude I had about myself and my life.

Over and over and over I tried to get along in life, sell my work, pay my rent, and do the things I saw other, ‘more successful’ people do. But somewhere along the way I always dropped the ball and the results didn’t come to me.

I felt a full spectrum of emotions all the time: from angry, sad, disillusioned, sick with worry, depressed, desperate, to confused, rebellious and suicidal. There was no end to it, and the older I got and the less success I had in taking care of the simplest necessities drove me–on a daily basis–to dwell upon ending my life.

If you had asked me then what success meant to me, it would have been to feel good about myself and my life, and have enough sales of my work that I could cover the necessities and have a little left over to be able to be generous and have a little fun.

Being famous or making million-dollar sales wasn’t a part of my thinking. Maybe it should have been! All I really wanted was to feel alive. I didn’t believe in myself enough to think I could have any more than that.

What, really, *is* success–to you? And why would you want it? What will you do once you attain success? How will you contribute? With whom will you share your joy, your money, your time, your talents, gifts and skills?

This is what is important, not the just the money. I had a deep breakthrough a few years ago when I read Lynne Twist’s book, The Soul of Money, when I read that she defines money as a vehicle that allows you to fulfill your soul’s deepest desires. My heart flipped into a new position–at last I could contribute and receive money and it was OK!

Wow! That was a far cry from the bland, uninspiring definitions I’d heard before: it’s just ‘an energy exchange,’ ‘a vehicle of commerce,’ ‘neutral energy,’ and so on.

I used to feel ashamed to want money–like it was some spiritually bad thing to have anything to do with. Now I saw that I could acquire it and use it and it was OK–that I could allow it to come and go through my hands so I could contribute *and* feel fulfilled and valuable.

And then someone asked me this: what if you thought of each dollar as a unit of appreciation? Like every time you get paid for something, someone is saying, ‘thank you, I appreciate what you’ve done for me.’ I love that! So now each time I pay my bills, I’m saying thank you to that company or person for the service rendered.

Speaking of services rendered: what is wrong with selling yourself? If we remember that the root of the word ‘to sell’ means to serve, it looks like a different animal, doesn’t it? The manner of selling is what counts. It isn’t serving to push yourself and your goods on anyone. That will end up–especially in this day and age where everyone down to a one-year old is suspicious of salesmen–in your being pushed away.

Rather, what would happen if you simply shared with people what you love about your work? What results you get with your clients? What they get out of your work? Then you are in integrity, staying in your own space and not intruding on theirs, and they get to choose whether or not what you do resonates with them or is anything they’d like to try out.

Because believe me, in this busy world, if people don’t hear about you and your work, two very sad things happen: the people who want and need what you do never hear of you and they miss out receiving the benefits of your gifts, and you miss out on contributing to them and feeling fulfilled because you helped those people. Everyone loses.

We need your services and products.
We need YOU and your gifts and talents.
We need you to prosper so you can continue on your fulfillment journey.
We also need you to prosper as an example for what we can do, too.

My passion is to help you learn how to share yours, so you can feel fulfilled, humble, proud and excited, rather than bashful, afraid and ashamed of selling and of your desire for money.

Money just helps you feel appreciated and supported. What’s wrong with that?

Each dollar is a Unit of Appreciation you give and receive.

Selling is letting people know about your passion and what it does for people in a way they can receive and make an informed choice.

So money and selling seem like different animals now, don’t they?

Is that inspiring? I think so. It sure would have helped me tremendously to be able to think like that way back when I was still starving! I’d have been able to see myself and my role in life in an entirely different light, and thoughts of ending that life would have never occurred to me–they sure don’t anymore!

So maybe now you can see why I was so excited the other day–I had one little insight that allowed me to combine some tools and ideas I’d never thought of before, and did a few minutes of clearing/creating that ended up with all those Units of Appreciation pouring into my paypal account. I felt honored, received, and appreciated. See now why I want to share that with you?

I used to picture millionaires as greedy, hand-wringing money-mongers. For some reason that image–like the skinny, black suited Bad Guys in cartoons–stuck with me for years, although I really did know better.

Don’t let that image wreck your relationship with money.

Instead, allow the thought of money as an instrument of fulfillment inspire you to think of your soul’s Deepest Desire. And then go about fulfilling that Desire as a Sacred Mission, step by step.

aloha -
Angela

I invite you to check out the Wealth Maverick I Audio HERE and the upcoming December 2nd teleclass/webcast, Wealth maverick II HERE.

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© Angela Treat Lyon 2008 • I invite you to feel free to use this article as long as you use it in its entirety, including my © and contact information. Lyon at IDareYouRADIO.com • Thank you!

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