Saturday, June 4, 2022

Periodic Payments and the Flow of Abundance

As many of you are aware, I just exited a rather busy season in life.  I prepare taxes and have a few other things that tend to present themselves during that portion of the year.  I always make it through that busy time, but as I emerge, it always seems like there are a number of miscellaneous tasks that have piled up on me.  

Honestly, I think this happens to most of us.  We realize that we've neglected a series of one-off tasks, items that only need to be addressed periodically.  There are a couple of one-time items I need to pay, and a passport that needs renewal.  I want to open a Roth IRA at the brokerage firm I am using and move funds from one I have elsewhere.  I need to do a few budget revisions.  Honestly, the list of one-time tasks I'd like to complete can go on a bit further, but you get the picture.  None of the neglected items place me into a category of "irresponsible" by any means, but leaving them scattered about as they are is a serious abundance blocker!  What do I mean by that?

Let's consider the way we teach responsibility to children.  When my niece wanted to get a puppy, her parents were supportive but wanted to take the opportunity to teach her some responsibility first.  They explained to her that sometimes you have to display a certain level of responsibility before you can be entrusted to take on larger (and seemingly more exciting) ones.  She had to start doing small tasks around the house in order to show her parents that she could handle certain responsibilities, and her progress was tracked on her "puppy chart."  Once she had achieved a certain level of responsibility, the puppy was hers.

Abundance very much works the same way.  Just like the puppy was always going to be hers, our abundance is sitting right there in the wings waiting for us.  My niece had to show her parents that she was ready to receive her puppy by showing responsibility.  Similarly, we must show that we are ready for the responsibility of handling more wealth by handling what we have with care.  In doing so, we open ourselves to receiving more abundance into our lives.  

Now, many of us are very systematic in handling the regular financial tasks in our lives such as paying bills and automatically saving, but we struggle with items that only come up periodically.  Some of this is a matter of time and organization; at other times, it's just a matter of good, old-fashioned avoidance.  Some practical suggestions include making a list of all of the miscellaneous, one-time items (or periodic) items you need to accomplish.  If they pertain to a particular month on the calendar, set a reminder for that time frame electronically or in your planner.  Spread the tasks out so that you are in the habit of accomplishing periodic/one-time tasks on a monthly basis despite the fact that it's always a different task.  You will become accustomed to doing irregular things regularly, and things will be less likely to fall through the cracks.  If the item is something that comes up periodically, once you have accomplished it, set a date on your calendar for the next time you need to revisit it.  It's like making that dentist appointment  It's always better to set it before you leave their office!

It's entirely too easy to let periodic or one-time tasks fall through the cracks.  This can be stressful because these to-do items are still taking up valuable space in the back of our minds, and energetically, they are blocking the flow of abundance into our lives.  So, in tidying up these tasks and making a plan going forward we can alleviate ourselves of unnecessary stress and also allow abundance to flow in our favor.