One of the more important topics and subjects of study in this country is money. You see articles, books, magazines and entire TV channels devoted to financial wealth. I believe in karma and that we are here to learn lessons for our personal and spiritual growth. It occurs to me that to be born in the West, in the USA, in particular, is to ensure we learn about money and desire and its proper place in our lives, ideally in this lifetime. That is, what is important to our spirit or soul and what is not.

Money pervades everything in our lives. Often we make decisions, important life decisions, with the financial impact as the most important criterion. For example, have you ever considered or actually taken a job based on the salary you'd get? Have you ever considered dating or marrying someone because they had a lot of money? Or considered not dating them because they had no money? When you were younger, did you base dating decisions on which boy had a cool car? Or cool clothes? How about made a snap decision about someone's worth based on the jewelry they wore or the brand of clothing? Even if you personally escaped making major life decisions based on money, it still colors your thoughts, values and beliefs on every level.

Our American culture as represented by the media is focused on wealth and the trappings of wealth. Look at the commercials and programming, and the articles and stories we see and hear every day. Children spend an average of 22 hours per week watching TV. By age 70, they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV according to the Kaiser Foundation. Children now watch 10,000 commercials a year. The number of advertisements teenagers are typically exposed to by the time they graduate from high school is a whopping 360,000!

You cannot be truly free and handle money with ease until you understand what you believe and change it if necessary to better serve your needs. It's not about right and wrong beliefs, it's about what meets your needs and interests. Your beliefs, values, thoughts and emotions around money affect your decisions and actions with money. They will affect how much money you have and how much money you hold onto. Knowing your money truth can set you free.

Money represents energy, life energy. What you earn and what you spend your money on represents your life's energy. Now bringing your money beliefs to light is an ongoing process and awareness is key. To begin this process, complete this exercise.

Take out a sheet of paper and a pen or put this in your personal growth Journal. Answer the following questions with a yes or no. For those that you answered yes to, analyze what your beliefs about money are that led you to make this choice. How did this choice go against your values or beliefs? Write them down.

• Have you ever acted against your values due to money?
• Have you ever chosen a partner (any kind: love, business, sports, friend, etc.) because of their wealth or lack of it?
• Have you ever knowingly taken an incorrect amount of change from a cashier?
• have you ever borrowed money and not repaid it?
• Have you ever cheated, even a little, on your income taxes?
• Have you ever lied about how much money you make or have?
• Have you ever taken office supplies from your Company?
• Have you ever borrowed from your children's piggy bank without permission?
• Have you ever paid the tip for someone else when you thought they undertipped?
• Do you make disparaging comments or have judgemental thoughts about someone who obviously does not have any money (poor, homeless, etc.)? How about those who are incredibly rich?

Remember, these are your values and beliefs. Only you can decide what is right for you. Do your current beliefs support your desires for abundance and ease? Are your values really yours or do they belong to your parents or our culture? The first step to changing these beliefs and thoughts is to bring them out into the light. We each must confront fact and fiction about money to be free.

If you would like to invest some time freeing yourself of unhelpful or distorted money beliefs and values, check out our workshop, "Transforming Your Relationship with Money."

I am trying something new with this newsletter. Each issue (assuming you all enjoy it) will have an exercise or question to inspire your creativity. It's just for fun so be playful with it.

Listed below are five words and one emotion. Write a paragraph, poem or short story using all of them. Remember, no pressure, no judgement. Just have fun.

• Enthusiasm
• Red
• Money
• Paper
• Run
• And the emotion is: Fear

I've created a yahoo group where your stories or responses can be posted. Be brave...step out!

Have we got a wonderful and exciting class for you! You've read the books, heard the gurus, maybe even given it a try or two. I'm talking about the Law of Attraction. If you truly want to consciously create the life, loves and prosperity you desire, join us for a truly amazing class. These laws or principles apply to anything you want to have more of in your life: starting a successful business, attracting great clients, finding the perfect employee, meeting your mate, having a beautiful home, designing your life, being wealthy...well, you get the idea.

THE ATTRACTION CIRCLE: PRACTICING THE LAWS OF ATTRACTION AND LEARNING TO MANIFEST YOUR DESIRES

• Weekly fun-filled experiential exercises designed to uncover your ability to allow and attract desires with ease.
• Learn tangible, pleasurable ways to remain in a state of receptivity and vibrational harmony with your desires.
• The exercises allow your deepest desires to surface.
• Recognize the power and joy in achieving all that you desire in life.
• Yes, you really can!

Embark upon your journey toward conscious co- creation today by joining our Attraction Circle now. We're going to help you amp up your energy around your desires and give you lots of practice.

Classes are forming now for a June start. Fees are $100 per month for four classes of 1.5 hours each. Class size is limited, so sign up now. Class is only available in Houston now, but a teleclass is in the works. Call Mary Anne at (713) 528-5971 or email maf@lifeunfolds.com for more information and to register. Also see http://www.lifeunfolds.com/attraction.htm for more information.

SPECIAL NOTE: If you register with a friend for the Attraction Circle Workshop, you each receive a 10% discount off the tuition. If you register with TWO friends, you each receive 20% off the tuition. So sign up now before I come to my senses!

Related reading:

Ask And It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks

The Power of Intentionby Wayne Dyer

The Attractor Factorby Joe Vitale

Attracting Perfect Customersby Stacey Hall and Jan Brogniez

If you're putting on a major event, conference or have a significant anniversary, contact the City and have a day named after your Business. Submit a press release to all the area papers and radio stations.

To market your services or products, put a business card inside books at the library and/or bookstores that are related to your business or product. For example, if you are selling vitamins, put your business card in health, nutrition, diet and herbal books. If you are a nature guide, put your business card in nature and travel books.

"What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step." -- Antoine De Saint-Exupery

"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our very successful class, Transforming Your Relationship with Money, is back! Classes start June 8th. Read what previous students have to say about the class:

"Enjoyed your energy and all the information. You did an excellent job with lots of enthusiasm and compassion." KK

"The class got me motivated to believe in myself...I became more conscious of saving money." BD

"I realized the (creating) result I really want!" MS