(08-09-2012, 01:54 PM)Spaced Wrote: [ -> ]I've had a particularly rough week regarding finances and I feel like it has undone much of progress I'd made over the summer at balancing my inner state. Does anyone have any tips for living harmoniously within the capitalist system?
I may only offer you my own personal experience on this, no more, no less. It is entirely up to you to determine whether any of the following is personally useful to you.
Firstly, I'd like to mention I have been quite immersed in "materialism," as it is called (or more accurately, "superficialism," I'd say) for the sheer purpose of experience the rich pompousness of adorning myself in gold and glitter, so to speak. However, I always used it as a MEANS to an end, not as the end itself. So I have always used "materialism" to my favor.
But I've been through extreme hardships (which is not to be taken lightly), specially whilst I was still walking this world in company of my biological family. I have experienced economical abundance as well as economical decline and total collapse. I kid you not when I say we've been through periods of severe monetary scarcity (in a family of seven children), living day by day on bread, noodles, rice and water for several months (actually years).
I know what it is to lose possessions, cars, and even houses (being literally kicked out of a house by police forces and thrown out in the streets with nowhere to go). The funny thing is that I also know what it is to live in almost luxury, in financial security, with every technological commodity available, and be treated like royalty.
I'm not saying you should become a vagabond or a social hermit, but I learned this (I may have an advantage on this since I am naturally "rigged" this way and I've been changing location of residence practically since I was a child):
1. Accept this principle: change is the only constant.
Adopt formlessness and you will have little to no difficulty adjusting to changing situations/circumstances. The path of least resistance is the path of greatest allowance. Flow with the flow.
2. Learn to detach, learn to let go.
Attachments and entanglements, of any kind whatsoever, will directly or indirectly create a relationship of emotional dependency which will in one way or another affect you adversely (i.e. you will have trouble letting go, resisting change, or "losing" that object or that person, and this will invariably cause you a certain degree of emotional pain). To put it bluntly: learn to be free from everything and everyone; be prepared and willing to abandon everything at any moment and joyfully embark on a new journey. Adopting this "carefree" attitude will serve you well.
This also applies to cleaning up the slates and starting all over again from scratch, so to speak.
Knowing that the phoenix can be reborn from its own ashes, what is there to be lost, really?
3. You choose your own baggage, so don't complain if the trip is heavy.
The least amount of objects, gadgets, artifacts, toys and miscellaneous assorted paraphernalia you possess, the best. From personal experience, most people accumulate hoards of junk that serves no other purpose than to occupy space and collect dust. A touch of decor is just fine. But do not try to "stuff up" the "emptiness" or "clog" the VOID!
In minimalism lies abundance.
I also suggest running a quick scan over all the stuff you posses, and throw away most of it. The ritual of externally "mopping" or "cleaning up," will help you clear up and (re)organize yourself internally into a much more harmonious configuration.
4. Live in the present.
Realize it's always NOW. Love the moment and enjoy it. See the beauty and the love in every moment. It's OK if you wish to have mid- or long-term goals/projects, but act/behave/live as if that "future" is already manifested NOW. Do not overly worry about what is to come. Focus on the HERE & NOW.
Also, free yourself from past memories. If anything is "haunting" you, the key is acceptance and forgiveness. Do not reject whatever was. Embrace it, acknowledge it in full light, accept it, integrate, be healed and move along.
5. Do not survive, THRIVE. Trust the Creator.
It's not a matter of survival, but a matter of abundance, living and enjoying what is. When you truly realize you are the Creator, you have all you need at any given time, and any place can be home. Do not think, "oh, but the Creator shall perhaps give me that which I do not like!" or "the Creator shall forget or take too long or give me less than I desire." Instead, know the Creator shall provide you with exactly what you need for your/Its experience at exactly the right time. The more you align yourself with the Creator, the more your will and Its will become One.
How's your faith these days, brother?
6. All there are are experiences to be experienced, lessons to be learned.
Realize you learn something from every experience you go through. Sometimes an experience will keep repeating itself under various different guises and circumstances until you actually LEARN it. Knowing this is will prove very useful, for when you have an "unsavory" experience, shall we say, you could immediately ask yourself, "what is there to be learned from this?"
If you go through your tests and challenges and tribulations with a merry heart, you shall see an IMMENSE difference on the results.
It's a matter of attitude. How do you CHOOSE to take it? Experiences are not emotionally charged in and of themselves, YOU give them the emotional charge. In other words, how you react to the presented catalyst is entirely of your own choosing.
And lest we forget, I would also suggest being grateful to the Creator for allowing your/Itself to experience this experience.
Every experience is a gift.
7. Most importantly of all, perhaps, is to trust and follow your own INTUITION.
Learn to listen to it and call upon it when needed. Make it your primary source of guidance. Intuition is your best counselor and advisor; not to mention your direct line to your "higher/inner self." If you truly learn to rely upon this inner resource of yours and work in tandem with your "higher/inner self," you really have little to worry.
*******
Hopefully this will serve you in some way. This constitutes, in great part, my life philosophy here in 3rd density. Thus it is that I live in abundance (spiritually-speaking). I currently live in a small, cozy apartment (in the heart of Buenos Aires, Argentina). I live just 1 block away from my job. And my job is more than satisfactory. I don't keep track of time. And I don't even check my bank account. [I literally do NOT know how much money I have in my savings. This is an experiment I begun early this year, and so far, it's been amazing!] I live a minimalistic life. The only technological outlet I have is this laptop (oh, and a sound system). I am grateful. I have no complaints. So you see, everything falls in place accordingly. You create, and hence experience, what you vibrate. My THOUGHTS vibrate in this and that way, and reality around me arranges so and so to accurately reflect my state of being.
It is also true, however, that I barely have any need for (frivolous) socialization in the department of "human relations," and that I am naturally a hermit and enjoy my solitude and silence. I would also mention that I spend at least 90% of the day in a semi-trance/meditative state (including when I'm at work).
And, well, I am just overall wonder-FULL.