Up until pretty recently, we as a society generally equated being rich with a lack of soulfulness—we saw all people with wealth as being greedy and out of touch with what matters in life.

To most of us, there was something spiritual about living a life that bordered on destitute.

Over the last decade, this thinking has almost entirely reversed. We now see the ability to manifest as a barometer of spirituality. If you’ve mastered the law of attraction and acquired all you could ever dream of, you are spiritual. If you’re still struggling in debt, you are not in tune with your spiritual self. After all, generating millions of dollars is just a matter of interacting with a certain vibration. Meditate. Tune in. Get in touch with your vibration. Then you’ll get the money and everyone will know how spiritual you are.

When I first discovered this concept that merged money and spirituality I was exhilarated. All of these supposed limitations fell away and anything seemed possible. If I did enough inner work, the outer would take care of itself. The idea of limitless possibility surged through me and energized me as I envisioned what I could have in my life.

I did everything I could to make this inner shift happen. I took money manifesting courses, read books, meditated and danced. I gave myself plenty of self-love and self-care, and did anything else I felt would raise my vibration and get me into that sweet spot.

But nothing happened.

At least not on a material level. My finances continued to the stay the same, which is to say, very meager. I didn’t get it. If getting all the money you can dream of is just about getting into the right energy, how was it I kept missing the mark? I mean me, of all people? I teach meditation, I should have this down pat!

I began to wonder: Am I not that in tune with myself? Am I not spiritual?

I seemed continuously blocked from this magical rain of abundance and I had no idea why. I understood the concept. I was taking solid steps. I followed guidelines laid out by those financially more successful than myself.

As financial change continued to elude me, I became angry. Money is just energy and all I had to do was tune in, get clear, and align with the energy. My anger built inside of me, until I decided to stop trying so hard. I stopped reading about manifesting, stopped listening to the podcasts and went back to what feels good. Meditating on my breath. Sipping coffee in the sun. Walking to the park and enjoying the fresh air.

At that point, my mind cleared and I could see what was missing. It wasn’t money. It wasn’t that I couldn’t manifest money. It was that I hadn’t been honoring my own journey.

I could then feel that I am and always have been a spiritual person. The only thing that had me feeling I wasn’t spiritual was getting sucked into the comparison addiction. I was looking at what other people had, listening to their stories and using it to gauge my own journey.

The more my mind cleared, the more I could see that instantly manifesting millions of dollars didn’t play into my overall vision for my life. I am slowly cultivating my skills as a writer and also building an online business. Those are two things that I want to grow and evolve with me over my whole life. Both require a solid foundation in order to be lasting. A solid foundation takes time, patience and fortitude.

I didn’t need to hurry up and achieve what others had. I needed to slow down and enjoy what I was doing. I’m doing this in the exact right way for me and I’m so proud of all I’ve created. If I had a million dollars, I would honestly be doing the exact same things I am now. Writing, creating YouTube videos, and playing around with growing my website audience.

So if I’m taking time to listen to myself, if I’m enjoying the birds sing outside my window and I’m pursuing my passions, then I am doing all the things I would consider make up a spiritual and soulful life. How much money I’m manifesting does not determine the level of that spirituality or soulfulness. The only thing that determines that is how good I feel.

Do I still want a million dollars? Heck yes! I mean, who doesn’t? But I also want is to nurture my gifts, my moments of joy and my overall goals. I want to cultivate what is in my highest interest, and allow life’s blessings to show up for me in the way that is right for me.

I would also like to encourage others not to see money as a gauge of how spiritual, aligned or complete their lives are. Rather, I would encourage you to breathe into your heart and ask yourself: Am I happy? Am I living for me? Am I doing my best to nurture my soul?

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Author: Melissa Field 

Editor: Katarina Tavčar

Photo: Tax Credits/Flickr