Wealth Is In The Details

My husband Theo always takes the change out of his pockets and puts it in a big jug in the corner. It used to be that I'd look at that jug longingly any time I had to do laundry or needed change for some other reason, and I'd get tempted to take some money out. "Just some quarters," I'd tell him. But he always told me not to.

Theo grew up in the country, and we are about as different as night and day. Where I like to chat and analyze, he acts on instinct and doesn't say much. While I grew up minutes from New York City, he grew up on a farm in Cyprus without electricity until he was in his teens. While I can work into the wee hours of the night, he gets up before it's light outside to open up his business. So you see from all these differences, it is sometimes hard to understand each other's habits and it is easy to dismiss them as the ideas of someone very unlike myself. So it was with his habit of stashing his change.

When we had children, he told me we should teach them to bank their pennies the same way he did. I didn't give the idea much thought, but didn't object when he started teaching our toddling daughter to throw the coins in. I even smiled when she started to look forward to him coming home, anxious to be given coins for the big jar in the library.

Now I must add that in all things having to do with money, Theo is extraordinarily wise. He never carries a balance on his credit cards and he has saved much of the money he's earned working hard since his teens. Still, even knowing this, I never paid much attention to his change habit.

When I started coaching, I became exposed to many new ideas. One of the main tenets of coaching is the concept of attracting things to you, instead of struggling and suffering to get them. In many ways it seems almost spiritual, and so a little difficult to grasp for many of us in the West, that there is an energy flow that brings abundance or that blocks it from reaching us.

Still, through implementing the programs and philosophies that I studied to offer my clients, my own life became transformed. I learned that when I cleared space in my office and time on my schedule, new clients came! I learned that when I took clutter out of my office, new opportunities arose! These things can seem somehow magical to our "logical" minds, so many people struggle with these concepts, and I did as well.

Still, little by little I saw their effect on my life, and "logical" or not, wanted to know more about them. I began to read voraciously on the subject (my answer to just about everything!) and found many great books on the subject. The one that most comes to mind is the Instant Millionaire, a gem of a little book, which I've mentioned in my newsletter before and which is listed on my website on the Resources Page.

And all this study led me naturally also to reading about Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese method of looking at spaces to make them harmonious and conducive to the right flow of energy. To this end, I invited a Fend Shui master to take a look at my office and give me some advice.

Well, imagine my surprise when she, among other things, told me to get a metal bowl and for 27 days collect every coin of one type (I chose quarters) and put it in there. Was this the old Theo habit wrapped up in Eastern garb? Just what could be behind this idea?

My Feng Shui Master, Teresa Polanco of http://www.fengshuialliance.com/ explained that placing the money in a special place every day focuses your energy and thoughts on the accumulation of wealth. It brings a mindfulness to your current situation and makes you aware. This was concrete enough for my Western mind to understand, so I decided to give it a try.

I still wanted to know more, so I wrote to Vicky White, Feng Shui coach, publisher of an e-zine on the subject, teleclass leader, whose website http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com lists some other interesting resources, explained the background of the practice. She says, "In Black Hat Feng Shui, one of the enhancements for prosperity is to collect one denomination of coin for 27 days - traditionally, without spending any of that denomination. At the end of 27 days you can either bank the money or spend it. The purpose is to symbolically grow your money, so it's important to do this consciously and with intent. The number 9 is a powerful number in Feng Shui, there being 9 life areas. You will often see cures and enhancements suggested in multiples of 9. The Chinese say "If you want change in your life, move 27 things in your house"."

In short order, the placing of the quarters in the bowl became a sort of daily ritual for me, and I began to look forward to it. I started to find myself at the store, hoping that things would cost just over a "dollar" amount, so that I'd get the maximum number of quarters. And every time I placed the quarters in the bowl, which is right next to my work area, I was inspired to do a little more work than usual, because I'd just focused on my prosperity.

Later, I received an e-mail from a new subscriber, asking just what my newsletter was about. I responded to her that it was tips for making your life extraordinary, a little at a time. She wrote back and in a teasing but humorous way told me her life was already extraordinary! This was my type of subscriber, so I asked her to share some tips so that we could all benefit from her extraordinary life.

Well, imagine my surprise when the subscriber, Sarah Thomas, wrote back,"The only thing I can think of is that my grandfather, Pappy, used to have me save up all my coins in a jar for a rainy day." There it was again, the saving up of the coins! I wrote her that her grandfather sounded very wise. She responded, "Yes, my grandfather was very wise. That wisdom came from the way he had to live through childhood... He had very little as a young child, and had to quit school to make money.. He was always good for a story with morals and values... I guess that angels will always guide our actions in life...."

It was as if "the Universe" (fill in your own larger existence concept here) was clobbering me over the head with this idea. Okay! I get it!

Wealth, and anything else, is built up a little step at a time. Often we wait for that large four figure check which comes along once in a blue moon, but we let slip through our fingers the little tokens of wealth we are given every day. By being mindful of the small treasures, be they coins or the smiles of strangers walking by, or the jelly-stained fingers of children wanting to hold your hand, we become truly rich.

Perhaps collecting coins in a metal container does not resonate with you. But being mindful of the small things should. So find your own way to be present in the moment, create a ritual of appreciation, and you'll find your life enriched because of it.

"God is in the details."
-Mies van der Rohe,
"New York Times", August 19, 1969

P.S. - At the end of the month, I rolled up and deposited into my bank account $50.00 worth of change! Not bad for something I would have otherwise squandered. And did I become more prosperous during the 27 days I did this? Yes, both in new clients and in new opportunities opening up. Was it because of Feng Shui? I like to think so, and just in case, I've started my next batch of 27 days worth of quarters!