Articles
What Is Your Money Shadow?
Money Shadows
We all possess a shadow side that represents those parts of our self that are hidden, secret, or disowned. These aspects are fragmented parts of the self that remain unclaimed and therefore disconnected from our whole.
We learn at a very early age to put our best face forward to get our needs met or avoid rejection. This is costly to the self because it causes us to feel we are not seen, loved, or appreciated for who we are…
With regards to Money this shadow side contains a great deal of what is real and true for us around money. Those hard wired unconscious patterns, beliefs around money which drives your financial decisions in ways you might not even be aware of.
Money Shadows show up through unconscious patterns and manifest as shadow energy in our present-day lives and relationships:
- Excessive fear and anxiety around spending and expenses
- Extreme aversion to any form of budgeting or mindfulness around spending
- Paralysis in decision making around purchases or investments
- Difficulty in discussing money, even with one’s spouse or children
If we are to heal our relationship with money, we must learn to embrace its shadow as well as its light. For money is like a mirror that reflects the energy of its beholder.
Can you spot your money shadows? Are there certain situations with money that keep showing up in your life but you just don’t seem to know what to do?
Here are a few tips to help you begin to break free of your money shadows:
- 1. Facing your Money Shadow
- 2. Check your established Money operating system
- 3. Your unconscious inheritance
- 4. Fears and Greed cycles
Facing your Money Shadow
Any area of our lives that remains off-limits to talk about openly, honestly, and without fear can become a shadow part of our being.
Shadow aspect represents a part of our unconscious mind that contains repressed aspects of ourselves.
We often resist the things that we don’t want to accept which keeps them stuck in place. What we resist in life, persists!
How can we change this?
Start by getting out of the money closet, which is the first step to breaking free of your money shadow. You have everything to gain by doing this and increasingly more to lose if you continue to keep the deadbolt locked on the door.
Today, with millions of people reaching their financial breaking point, the stakes are getting higher and the consequences are far greater than ever before.
Financial planning will never be an adequate solution for the money issues that cause financial conflict, self-sabotage, and disharmony in relationships.
Whenever the doorway to any subject or issue is closed or off-limits, we remain trapped on the other side, without access to what might be possible, including solutions, understanding, and healing.
Shadows are the breeding ground for fear, limitation, misunderstanding, and pain. Until we pry open the door and begin to explore the shadow subject of money, we remain imprisoned in systems that keep us stuck, fearful, and contracted. Once it’s opened, we can begin to explore and discover new possibilities. We can learn new ways of being that are more expansive and allow us to feel safe enough to reflect and respond in healthier, more life-affirming ways.
The scarcity mindset is a severe problem in our society and most people have it at some level. When you start to acknowledge a problem you begin the healing process naturally and organically.
Check your established Money operating system
In most families, when we are relatively young, money is established as a system of punishment and reward. This is where some of our money patterns and flawed beliefs take root. At the core of this is the gradual forming of an underlying belief that only if and when we are good are we worthy of receiving money. In sharp contrast, when we are not good or perhaps even told that we are bad, we can develop the flawed belief that we must be unworthy of having or receiving money.
This manner of operation can easily leave a flawed belief and feeling of unworthiness. Humans unconsciously keep tabs of things they have done wrong in their life that serve as evidence of why they have not experienced more money, success, or happiness.
If you are here on earth, you were given the gift of life for a reason, and therefore you must be worthy of all life’s possible expressions, including money.
Money should not be a bargaining chip to your self-worth neither to us nor to our children.
Your unconscious inheritance
These are the money patterns of our family of origin, which are often fraught with conflict and contradictory behaviors. It is critical to understand that while most parents don’t intend to harm their children in this manner, unconscious parenting does often produce a harmful result.
Many people grow up in family environments that leave them feeling unworthy of having money or believing they can have only just enough because their self-esteem will not allow them to imagine the possibility of more.
This is the main reason why poverty is so deeply entrenched and difficult to overcome. Many people simply do not possess the container for a greater financial reality. Most people clearly want more money. Unfortunately, many do not possess the belief that they are worthy of it. This may explain why nine out of ten lottery winners spend or lose all their winnings within five years. For people with these unconscious money patterns, acquiring a great deal of money only serves to make matters worse.
The foundations of your patterns were laid long ago. They were silently and opportunistically waiting for a trigger. Fortunately, there is help in Money Coaching. Raise your hand and get help.