Thinking-Rich.com

The leap goes on …

Is there such a thing as too much freedom? Too many options?

A few months ago, my answer to those questions would have been, “Only if there isn’t enough time.”

Now, I’m asking, “Is there such a thing as too much time?”

Since I began my all-out Living the Law of Attraction (see previous post), I’ve finally reached the point where all the decisions are mine. No more waiting for the carpenters to finish, the satellite installers to install, the plethora of agents and accountants to divvy up what is mine.

I’m no longer deeply in debt. I now know the exact amount of money I have and about how long I can live on it alone, depending on how I choose to live. I’m completely free to decide what options I want to pursue and how much time I have to pick the ones I like best.

It sounds like paradise and in many ways it is. But tell my brain and body that. They’ll tell you it’s more like hell.

It may sound stupid - and that’s OK, really - but I no longer know when to sleep or when to eat. I don’t know when it’s fine to kick back and watch the world go by or when to allow myself to write for 15 hours straight. I’m restless but tired. My moods swing wildly. One minute I’m feeling like a miser and the next I’m generous beyond wisdom.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t know what to expect when I began this new life. I still don’t. And there’s no one out there who can tell me what to expect.

I’ve figured out this much: Looking before you leap is wise, as long as you go ahead and leap. What I personally should have done - your experience will vary - is to have looked well beyond the leap and all its complications and concentrated a little more on the landing.

If I’d been all-knowing, I would have made some very strong but simple goals, some very concrete things to build a foundation to stand on when this tidal wave of freedom hit. I mean simple. 1,2,3 and so on. I’ve always been more free-form than that, but I simply underestimated the wild, frightening, exhilarating feeling of having no one to answer to.

I could call this a lack of self-discipline, but it’s more like pure wide-eyed wonder. This is the “kid in a candy store” we always dream of, only with an adult’s knowledge that you just can’t carry all the things you want and if you don’t pace yourself, you’re gonna get really, really sick.

I’m going to make some 1,2,3 goals right now but not let them set my path in stone. I’m going to pick three things I’ve always wanted to attempt and see if I can do them to my satisfaction. A less concrete goal is to take my focus off money. It needs to flow forward and back at its own pace.

And I need to keep in mind that the Law of Attraction will wait for me to find out what I really want. There’s no expiration date on dreams except for the ones we impose.

1. Leap.
2. Land.
3. Let go of who you were.

I have so much to be grateful for I can’t begin to express it. I need to though … I need to share some of this feeling of abundance and I ask for your indulgence today. I hope you’ll appreciate these so-much-more articulate quotes and I truly hope that your life is filled with abundance and joy.

Just believe that if it’s not true right now, it can be and soon will be.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. - Melody Beattie

Gratitude is one of the least articulate of the emotions, especially when it is deep. - Felix Frankfurter

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. - Karl Barth

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. - Gilbert K. Chesterton

It’s a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation. - Roberto Benigni

Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you. - Eileen Caddy

Happiness is itself a kind of gratitude. - Joseph Wood Krutch

When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. - Gilbert K. Chesterton

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world. - John Milton

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. - Brian Tracy

A single thankful thought towards heaven is the most perfect of all prayers. - Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. - William A. Ward

Whatever we are waiting for - peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance - it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart. - Ellen Vaughn

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. - John Fitzgerald Kennedy

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them. - Gilbert K. Chesterton

The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings. - Henry Ward Beecher

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts. - Alan Cohen

And a special thanks to you for taking your valuable time to read my blog.

~$~

Most Americans define wealth in terms of material possessions, would you agree? We look at people in the nicest clothes, coolest cars and fanciest homes and think they must be rich.

But most of the time what we’re seeing is the visible result of a high-consumption mindset, not a true mindset of wealth. High consumption basically means having more than you need or at least paying more than you have to for the necessities of life.

Owning a car is a necessity for most Americans. We need reliable, comfortable and convenient transportation. When we decide that transportation needs to be a sleek, foreign sports car with heated leather seats, we’ve left the realm of necessity and entered the zone of luxury.

To be clear, I don’t consider luxury to be a bad thing. The desire for luxury is often one of the reasons we work so damn hard. But when luxury begins to threaten your bottom line it is no longer an enjoyable benefit of wealth. It becomes a detriment to maintaining a comfortable lifestyle.

The same concept applies to houses, clothes, the latest electronics and your basic ostentatious spending. None of these - with the possible exception of your home - do anything to increase your net worth. For the most part, they lose value the moment you take them off the showroom floor.

Again, I’m not against luxury. Life is best when you can achieve your desires. It’s simply that a true mindset of wealth is to also desire the things that will add to your bottom line. If your luxuries become actual, valuable investments, you’ve got the mindset down.

Wealthy people always spend with an eye on the return for their investment.

We need to keep in mind that the huge house comes with huge responsibilities and expenses. Having the estate in the swank hood means hiring landscapers instead of the kid down the street to maintain the grounds. Your mortgage goes up, as do your insurance rates, utility bills, property taxes, repair bills and security costs.

The window coverings that seemed plush in your former home will certainly seem ratty compared to the neighbors’ Louis Vuitton-designed draperies. And speaking of keeping up with the neighbors - it’s doubtful they’re living the stress-free, healthy lifestyle we want to include in our definition of true wealth. The pressure to keep up is the thing that keeps most of us down.

So buy with a mind to high return instead of high consumption. Wealth is more of an inward satisfaction and security than an outward appearance of big money.

In fact, most of those who revel in flaunting their “wealth” are deeply in debt or soon to be. And isn’t that what we’re doing our best to avoid now?

~$~