I was introduced to a thought a couple of years ago… from someone I’d call a philosopher, Dr. Wayne Dyer. In one of his books I read about the thought of opening your life to the concept of “abundance.” I don’t have the chapter in front of me, and I’ll try not misquote or mis-apply the thought, but what I understood is the idea of opening your “awareness” to the abundance of the world…
For example: I used to not pick up pennies if they were tails up. “Bad luck!” I’d say and the woman I was dating, (now my wife) asked, “how is gettin’ a penny bad luck?” Well, when someone points out that you’re silly in such a logical way, if you’re smart enough, you change your thinking. And that penny was my first abundance. Since that week, where I read, and I stopped coming up with reasons to not pick up money… I have found over $300 on the ground, on the street, sometimes when passing through a casino, and not just in the USA, but in several foreign countries, too.
One time I was telling my sister about the thought, and we walked out and on the street was a $10 bill, and we laughed and for a minute I think she thought I had actually planted it there during out lunch to make a point. But she knows I’m too cheap to take that kinda chance with $10!!!
Yeah, I’d say I’m lucky but not just for this… Sure I keep my eyes open, I now consciously think that I’m gonna find change and/or money… this is/was just a new way of being aware. A new thought that I practice thinking.
More than just that, I needed something to do with my new found abundance… how can I give back… with this new “luck”??? And I found a way, to share it…
I found this organization call Kiva.org where they allow people who have (or find) a little extra… to give micro-loans to various parts of the world… It’s call a micro-loan, ’cause they can be made in amounts of $25 given individually but pooled with other micro-loans. You don’t get interest on the loan, and I think you can get updates, but I just like giving.
Here’s how it works for me: When I find some money, I put it in a jar and when it gets to about $10+ I count it out, put it in the bank, double it from my own earnings and make a loan. In about a year, you most often get paid back and can take the money out and keep it, or re-loan it—which is what I have done.
My $300+ find, (added to as I have) has made over 200 loans in the past few years, and it’s one of my favorite feelings. I’ve kept it pretty quiet ‘cause I didn’t want the idea of the loan to be anything about me, but I just crossed 25 years in comedy, and it’s not a bad thing to introduce others to new ways they can help people. I’ve introduced friends (Shout out to Katsy Chappell’s first loan) and family to it, have even asked some to give to Kiva instead of a present.
Anyhow, I’m gonna now put it out when I make a loan on Facebook and hopefully if anyone finds abundance in their bank account, or on the street, they too can do something good with it.
Giving, and now sharing the information… maybe that’s the real adundance I’ve been allowed to find.