By Anne Hartley
I stumbled across the law of expansion accidentally more than
20 years ago, when I was working with a client to improve her financial
situation.
My client had a problem with debt and never had any money left
over for the things that were important to her. At first I worked
with her on a purely practical level by creating a budget and allocating
money toward debt reduction but this didn’t work. Then, one day
I asked the magical question, What makes you feel prosperous?
She rearranged her budget so that there was some money for things
that made her feel good. Her first choice was to buy flowers on
a regular basis. These flowers became the first thing she saw when
she opened her front door and they made her feel good. Once a month
we added in a new item. This is important because your intention
is to expand what you allow into your life. She started carrying
$50 in her wallet, previously she never had any money. She did up
one piece of furniture at a time, bought curtains for one window
and the changes that occurred in her life as a result of this were
incredible. Within one year her income trebled and she still worked
for the same employer. This happened because she said, she no longer
felt deprived.
The law of contraction gives just the opposite result. If you
are like most people when you feel afraid, you contract. See if
any of these examples apply to you.
Whenever you don’t have enough money you cut back this could
be a personal or business situation
If you have a problem you withdraw into yourself and cut yourself
off from people
When you have been let down by someone you decide not to trust
again
If you have been hurt you decide not to open yourself emotionally
like that again
If you have a debt problem you avoid your creditors
You avoid confrontation
When you have a problem you become paralyzed and do nothing.
You bury your head in the sand
The law of expansion draws what you want to you. The law of contraction
takes you away from what you want. However, it’s easy to misinterpret.
Many years ago, when I experienced constant financial problems
I would go out and spend, thinking I was invoking a universal law,
but when the credit card bill came in I worried about how I would
pay it. On the other hand there are many entrepreneurs who have
found themselves in difficult financial situations and gotten themselves
out of trouble by expanding. Buying a company that has a strong
cash flow is a common business solution. Tony Robbins’ business
was about to go under and he decided to expand instead and completely
turned it around.
You may wonder what the difference is between the two, and it
all comes down to how you feel. If you have financial problems and
you spend responsibly and feel good as a result of this choice,
then you invoke the law of expansion. If you spend and you worry
about how you are going to pay for it, you invoke the law of contraction
and that is because you can only manifest from a place of feeling
good. For many, many years now I have always given more whenever
money has gotten a little tight. It’s my way of invoking the law
of expansion.
If you meditate or go on a retreat in order to connect with your
spirit, this invokes the law of expansion. If you withdraw in order
to avoid conflict, or a problem, you invoke the law of contraction.
To get this law working for you start adding things into your
life that make you feel good, then at least once a month, add in
something else. These items don’t have to cost money. I love books
and I used to spend a lot of money on books, I now buy my personal
development books, because these I like to refer to, and I treasure
them. Most (not all) fiction and biographies I borrow from the library.
If you love beauty you can go for a walk in a beautiful area. If
you love eating out but don’t have enough money to do it as often
as you like go out for coffee and desert. You can find a college
that teaches massage and have a massage from a student, in my area
this costs $35 which is about half the normal fee.
Look for ways to bring more of what makes you happy into your
life on a daily basis and you will find that manifesting the bigger
things in life becomes quite easy.
Source: Anne Hartley is a life coach and
author of several books including Love The Life You Live and
Love Your Money. She offers free book extracts, free ecourse
and a free newsletter. Anne Hartley may be contacted at
hartlifecoaching