Women, Spirit and Money: Reciprocity as Relationship - The Spiritual Economics of Value and Worth

 

By Sherri L. McLendon

 

When we ask, “How may I help or serve?” we honor the principle of relatedness in service through our business. When you offer a solution to another’s problem in the sacred tradition of reciprocity, it initiates a cycle allowing you, too, to open to receive.

 

Of course, the energetic goal in any business is to create a relationship in which you open to create, offer and receive high quality, reciprocal methods of exchange with your ideal clients. These relationships, in turn, are built on a foundation of mutual respect, value and worth. When we’re consciously accessing an internal well of spiritual resources, that internal well is the source of our true abundance and our “value.” Then, those things “out there” such as clients, wages, and money become the manifest byproduct of true abundance and value of what lies within.

 

If what we earn in exchange for our life force energy is out of integrity, if fair exchange is not part of the relationship, then we need to reassess our situations.

 

As spiritually motivated business leaders, we have a responsibility to source financial well-being through fair economic exchange for the sharing of our gifts, experience and expertise.

 

When we bear witness to this type of exchange in our relationships, we’ve seen the “Energetic Principal of Reciprocity” in action. Another way to talk about reciprocity is relatedness. We are all related, all things connect. We know that the web of life connects all beings on Gaia. We know that in business, our desire is to create a network of support for our “hub” of operations. The concept of relatedness is central to our very being, and to the being-ness of our busi-ness.

 

Indigenous Rights activists call one aspect of the principle of relatedness “sharing.” To share an experience has always had a blessed meaning across cultures. What we experience is being caught up in a spirit of belonging, of relatedness, of spaciousness, and empowerment.

 

When we share experiences with our clients in an energetic exchange with conscious intention of reciprocity, the client and the money become a mirror through which we can view our own ideas about value and worth. With that in mind, I invite you to take a moment to quickly mark the following statements as true or false based on your current relationships with clients in your business.

 

_____ I work from a fear of lack.

 

_____ I work from a love of abundant exchange.

 

_____ I feel selling devalues relationships.

 

_____ I feel selling is a type of conscious reciprocity.

 

_____My clients have boundary issues.

 

_____My clients don’t understand what I offer.

 

_____ My clients are stuck & struggling in the old service economy.

 

_____ My clients appreciate my uniqueness.

 

_____ I love my clients, and they love me in return.

 

_____ I leave my uniqueness at home when I’m working.

 

_____I stay in my integrity when I sell.

 

_____ Sometimes, I feel like a servant.

 

Do any of these statements resonate for you? Are there places where you are out of alignment? If so:

 

• Consider journaling into areas of resistance.

 

• Ask Spirit to help you make any shifts you choose to call in.

 

• Make a list of next step actions you need to take.

 

• Set deadlines for completing each action on your list.

 

• Express gratitude for the people and things in your life you value.

 

• Write down the characteristics of the types of clients you want to serve in three to six months, and compare these with your current clients.

 

• Release current clients with whom you are out of integrity in terms of reciprocity.

 

• Collect past due accounts. Be aware of your boundaries in this area.

 

• Clean out your wallet. Consider what the state of your wallet says about your relationship with money.

 

• File your financial documents.

 

• Clean up any stuck or cluttered places creating an impediment to the flow of money as energy in your client relationships.

 

• Make a list of ten people who fit your “ideal client” criteria. Reach out to them by phone for a check in.

 

• Identify the three fastest things you can do to bring new money into your business, and make those a priority.

 

My own experience suggests that when we source our livelihoods from a place of conscious reciprocity, we create the resources we need to change our reality and that of other persons in whatever way we choose. This month, in the spirit of creation, choose any three of the above, and take action on those tasks this month. Please write and share your experiences with me personally or with readers of WNC Woman Magazine. I’d really want to know how it goes.

 

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Sherri McLendon may be reached at www.sherrimclendon.com.