The April Bill Paying Challenge

Tightness. Procrastination. Anxiety. Yuck!

Are these the words/feelings that you typically associate with the monthly (or bi-monthly) ritual of paying your bills?

If so, you may want to consider what impact your vibrational statement to the Universe is having on your future financial outlook.

The Law of Attraction - the most powerful law in the Universe - insures that "like attracts like." In other words, your experience around money today sets the stage for your experience of money tomorrow.

As the teacher Abraham reminds us, "You can't get thin from hating being fat. And you cannot attract prosperity from disliking being poor." As we focus on money and experience a sense of lack we become vibrational magnets for future experiences of financial lack.

To propose that how you hold the experience of paying your bills will effect your financial future is a radical shift - and this shift lies at the heart of the "Prosperity from the Inside-Out" system.

So, are you ready to play?

If what you've been doing up to this point has not produced the results that you are seeking, what is the danger of trying something new? You'll either see intriguing new results or you'll return to your habitual way of doing things. There is no possibility of loss from experimenting with an attitude shift.
(And just think how nice it would be if this stuff really worked!)

STEP 1) Shift the Way You Think:

As explained above, the first step in this experiment requires us to shift our perspective from, "As I pay my bills money flows out leaving me with less" to one of gratitude and appreciation for
the circulation of money through your life.

Consider the alternate paradigm reflected in the following two quotes:

"The universe operates through dynamic exchange...giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. And in our willingness to give that which we seek, we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives." -- Deepak Chopra in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

"If you want to experience abundance, be abundant and do as abundance does...[By doing what] a person who is feeling abundant does, you are now creating in your body an experience - at a cellular level - that you know yourself to be abundant. Money really only has a value when you release it - because then it empowers you to be/do and have something that matches who you are. And what goes around comes around because now you've gotten the truth of who you are and the Universe never says "no" to your thought of who you are - it only grows it!!!" --Neale Donald Walsch on Abundance

Both quotes suggest a 180-degree turnaround from the original thought that giving will leave us with less. As we consider bill paying from this perspective we find ourselves feeling freer and more willing to participate in the circulation of money (and money was meant to circulate - that is why coins are round!)

The experiment we are suggesting for this month involves paying your bills while holding the attitude that there is "more than enough." In other words, by acting "as if" you have more money than you need, truly having more money than you need will become your truth.

You know how it feels to pay bills from a place of feeling as if there is not enough (scarcity thinking).

What words/feelings come to mind as you envision sitting down with a large pile of envelopes, a calculator and a pen? Write those words down and know that they represent your current bill-paying "vibration."

Now ask yourself if the experience of paying bills would be different if you had access to unlimited funds?

Imagine for a moment that you had a huge sum of money in your checking account which was always replenished. No matter how much you put out there was always more than enough remaining.

If this were your truth, how would you experience paying your bills?

What words/feelings would you vibrate under these conditions?

Finally, would feeling that way lead you to act differently at bill-paying time?

Please leave your thoughts, questions and comments below.

Comments

[Roseann]

I found my way to the blog to see how it is going for everyone else and I can not fine any entries.

This is a bit of a challenge for me. I pay most of my bills on line, so there is not a lot of non-thinking time to remember to be so very grateful for the ability to pay my bills. I remind myself at other times and I know this will become a habit in time. "They" say 21 days. I am grateful I will acquire this habit in far less that 21 days. I will keep you posted.

[Sister2brother]

I can tell that I vibrate a lot of negative energy when I'm paying my bills. Reading this blog entry has just changed the way that I look at it! It is wonderful! In fact I should copy the entry, print it out and post it somewhere where I will see it on a regular basis.

I, too, pay the majority of my bills online. I love the simplicity of it but there are still a couple that I do the old snail mail way and there is one bill in particular that causes me a lot of stress - that is the one that I have to work on and I already have the picture of me being able to drive to the destination instead of having to walk - that would be oh so pleasant an experience instead of having to walk so much.

Thank you for this blog entry!

[Sandy Marker]

I have gratitude and appreciation for the circulation of money, throughout my life.
I like that it just takes a few dollars, a few times a week, to keep our household needs
taken care of, toiletries, snacks, cosmetics, paper products, snacks lol
I like that I don't have to go to a store to get that, so easy right at work. I can write a
check, gives me a couple of days until money gets into the bank. I like that when I ask
Sue to hold the rent check, she always does. I like how I avoid CE, buying myself some
time to figure out just how little I can get away with paying them, showing them I am trying, but holding onto my precious money a little longer, or using it to pay something else for now. I am good at juggling bills and money. People are always nice and try to be helpful with me, when I am struggling. I never have lost my service, had it just turned off. Well,
one time I did let the cable get shut off, but kept it off for a year, and it was a good experiment for all of us, kids were at dads every other week, so wasn't getting used much anyway. We've lived on less than $20,000 income for 7 years now, and always managed to get everything we need, and most of the things we want. My kids value money pretty well as a result of this. I have been able to work only part time, for the most part, during these
difficult years, and spend much more time with my kids, and even myself and friends.
The trade off has been worth it. We really do live pretty nice on very little. I love Sue and
Bob for never raising my rent in all these years. I love this nice house and the freedom it gives me. I am not tied and bound by homeownership. I like being on the level of the "working people", hourly, not salary and management. (this could change, and it will be better then I will probably say lol) We live really nice for not much income. I know my kids had a healthy value of money and happiness. I would like to teach them now, that you can be happy first, and work not a whole lot, but also get more money and appreciate it for the lifestyle it can give you. I want to learn that myself. I want to appreciate as I pay each check towards my bills, what that service or product was, that I probably already got to enjoy, and now I pay at my convenience. Lucky me.

I will like to create some positive rituals, that make paying bills the most pleasant activity.
Make an appointment with myself. Create a pleasant mood with music, candles, insense, what ever I like. More online banking, easier, no stamps, envelopes required.
Give myself a lovely reward when I am finished. I can do this same ritual when doing
taxes, weekly paperwork, filing, sorting, even cleaning! yay me.
Write post it notes to the receivers of my checks. Fun, playful, or peace, joy, love , gratitude in memo. Business Cards???
With love and joy, Sandy

[Clare O'Reilly]

I enjoy paying bills, because I like to keep up to date and have a sense of control over my ability to pay the bills. So when I am paying bills means I have the money to do so. What stresses me is when my finances are low and the list of unpaid and unsure when they will be paid bills are mounting!

[Janet]

Okay, Elyse, but I am having a little trouble being grateful for the $1200 root canal and the $2200 dental implant. ;-)

Okay, I'm half kidding, but I do have some of the stuff you wrote down okay. Like gratitude for the non-dental stuff (maybe I'll even be grateful for the dental stuff when I understand what would happen to my mouth without it). And I even recently got beautiful Asian style checks with Kanjis on them with nice messages like "Good Fortune" and "Love." It makes me happy to send these along.

I love your ideas and I will work on implementing the ones I haven't tried and getting better at the ones I have tried.

Thank you!!

Janet

[Debra Cortese]

Throughout my life, I have always been able to pay my bills. I have often commented, 'I always land on my feet" with the implication that I was not sure how this has been possible. In the last 10 years I have reflected a lot, and read even more, and realize that it did not just happen. My thoughts were, please, just let me earn enough to pay my bills, fix the car, or get something repaired for the house, and ... that is exactly what I attracted.

Now, in my new state of understanding/re-membering, I hold the thoughts that I already have more than enough, that every day, multiple streams of income are coming right into my bank accounts. I am taking new actions now, doing different things, culling and clearing old things that no longer fit. It is a process and I know it works. I realize the intention and the actions are vital elements, and to truly feel the feeling of what abundance is to me... IS how this flows.

I am especially grateful to have positive reinforcement from people like Elyse, your web presence and many others that I am now associating with. I am choosing to interact more and more with only positive, energetic and kindred people. It is making a tremendous difference in my own energy every day.
I am writing here because I choose to share and participate with the group energy of attracting abundance. My goal is to own my home within the next 3 or 4 years, to travel, to create and share my art and publish children's books, and never again be concerned about 'affording' my choices.
<>
Namasté (everyone, everywhere)
debra@plant-spirits.com
www.plant-spirits.com

[Sheila Boyd]

I am so grateful to be reading all the above comments, and to have such learning material as provided by Elyse, The Secret and all the other wealth conscious teachers we have available.

It has been my experience (20+ years ago) to have so much extra cash at the end of a month that I started giving it away, but for all the wrong reasons. There was guilt (for having it) and self gratification (fulfilled my need to be revered as a savior) and longing to be noticed and accepted. Needless to say I ended up without, got divorced and suffered many years being REALLY poor, being taken advantage of and hating life.

I am a different person today. I still have a generous heart, but this time for all the right reasons. While I was at my lowest, friends, family, and strangers came to my aid. I was humbled! Then, to repay this good energy I changed. I chose to recover, pay back my debts, accept the gifts that came as gifts, harnessed my greatest assets and started believing in my true self.

My journey is not unique, but one of maturity and rich in experience. I have come to perceive obstacles as spirit's way of guiding us on our true path. If something does not feel good, we will gravitate to what does, or put a real check on resistance and dare to ask why. The tools that have been provided by our current teachers work, ask tough questions and allow us to choose to view alternative ways of perceiving.

Today, I am enjoying a much more abundant life. I still have to sit and center myself in gratitude before paying the bigger bills, or embracing a partner I disagree with or handle something unpleasant... but that is just today. Tomorrow I will be grateful that there is NO struggle to pay bills, unconditionally love and listen to my partner, or even budget time for some R&R.

I have new tools. I am grateful I am learning how to use them and feeling the changes in me. Ahhhhh!

Blessings!
Sheila

[maryanne]

I have two beautiful grandchildren and everytime I write out a check I think joyfully how this service allowed me to interact with my grandchildren. "I'mso grateful to the phone company for allowing me to talk with my grandchildren that I'm giving them X$ as a thank you." Makes the process of bill paying into gift giving.

[Rosean]

Today as I sit in front of the computer to pay bills on-line and I visualize knowing the money in my account is far more than I need and will be replenished regularly, I can feel my shoulders relax, my stomach relax, I litterally feel free. The muscles in my face relax. This is the financial freedom I am looking for and I have it just from holding this vision.

This is awesome.

[Lisakay]

Hello,

I had an 'ah ha' doing this work of changing my perspective with paying bills. I dislike paying bills so much that I usually only do it once a month. I wait until I just can't stand not knowing if I will have enough to get through the month. The 'ah ha' came when 'what goes around, comes around' was changed into money that goes out, comes back in. Those that bill me have provided a service to me. They deserved to be paid. If I hold onto their money as long as I can, I am limiting what will come back to me. I also realized that just as those that provide a service to me deserve to be paid, so do I. Here's where the shift comes in. I have limiting beliefs around being compensated for the value I provide. I am a nuturer in my heart and soul. It feels a little bit strange to ask and feel like I deserve to get paid for something that is so natural to me. It feels weird getting paid for caring. I'm working on those beliefs regarding being compensated for a gift that I want to share. One step at a time.

Lisakay

[joe mode]

I truly enjoyed all of the parts of the Bill paying shift. I often forget that I am not the only person in the world conjuring up those emotions when paying bills. But since I read this I have actively sought ways to change my thought process. One really important thing that I did was stop looking at my bank account online everyday. I found that the daily ritual of looking at it was a direct action of my fear of how much was in it. Once I did this it really helped me feel better about my money, now I don't focus in on it all of the time. The other day I was watching the Today Show and they had a story called THINK LIKE A SKINNY person and I guess that now I am actively thinking of changing my money perspective, I thought to myself, THINK LIKE A FINANCIALLY RICH person. And it hit the target, I need to act and think like a financially rich person, ex.- why do we look at the bill when we go out to dinner, our fear of how much we are losing. In actuality, regardless of what the total came out to be, you are going to have to pay the bill. So why do you even need to look at it. These are just some technique I have come up with in the past two weeks. I was recently told by the director of a film I am producing of an observation of me they had. Now mind you this person I have introduced to CHOOSING PROSPERITY. They said that I had a glitch in my system when it came to money because of how I reacted whenever the topic of money or how much was being spent . That this was why I was always drawn to concepts such as those we share here with Elyse. And in my mind, I didn't take offense to this statement because it came from observations that had nothing to do with a glitch, but what I did take from this was that even if I had a glitch,I was proud of the fact that I was recognizing it and that I and am taking active steps to fix it. To be more prosperous and content in my life. I hope that we can all continue to move forward this way in our lives. Much love to you all.

joe

[Belinda]

YOU HAVE TO READ THIS!!!

(I am blocking myself and it is great cause I can notice where I am)

You know, I realized that I was really hating paying my bills and I felt that if the money goes out it doesn't come back it is gone. Well I also realized through reading this months challenge that it feels good to think the oppsite way!!! lol I see that it feels good to think someone will see my business card. And the little note that says you are doing a great job, thank you!

I see that it can be different and then it flows back to me.

Well, what has happened? I don't have any check so I ordered them,a month ago and I found out that the order got stuck and even though I paid for them, they never received my order, but still charged my credit card. HA! So, I have not been able to pay my bills. So, that gave me time to change my thinking ask for an extention on all my bills and still put cards and notes in my envolopes. Then I sent my netflix movie off with my card and it has been 5 days and they haven't recieved it yet and they get my movies in one day two tops. This is the first time it has taken so long.

I am blessed to see where I am and where I am holding myself back and where I can push through and change my belief anyway.

Thank you.

[Ann Marie]

to keep my mind prosperious, I have on my checks.."All the money I give is blessed and returned to me multiplied" It is printed above where I sign my name. I always say thank you to the universe when I write a check because if I am writing a check then I have the money to pay the check.