Money and spirit can be a delicate balancing act. It can be difficult at any time to reoncile the two. And no time have I seen this more than I have in the last few weeks.
I have always heard - and been told emphatically - do what you love, follow your passion. When you do what you are meant to do, the money will follow. etc... A few weeks ago, I was doing my usual marketing thing, looking into presenting, showing at trade shows, etc. - both to promote my business and to reach close encounter experiencers. I do this to get my message out, bringing my healing work to as many people as possible, while also learning as much as possible about the unexplained realms through which my path travels.
Well, I inquired into working at one particular trade show and learned that another hypnotherapist was already booked to work a booth there. The person there is a dear friend of mine, and in my view, he was a perfect fit for the show. So in my view, great. It's his territory, let him have it. Time to move on. No problem, right? wrong....
A few weeks later, as I was tossing back a brew with him, I suddenly found out it actually wasn't 'no problem' - he was really pissed, but had never told me so. That evening, he suddenly looked at me with a sense of betrayal in his eyes. How could I...? I asked him what his issue was, and he told me that he saw an unwritten rule, peoples' geographic territories are sacrosanct. I told him that, now that I knew he felt that way, I would respect his wishes. Once he was mollified, the evening continued with business networking and social chit-chat. But the exchange left a metaphorical bad taste in my mouth. If he's doing what he loves, then why did he view me as competition. He had long ago told me that he felt there was enough business for everyone, and neither of us were hurting for clients from that segment of society, so what was he concerned about? I have seince let the matter pass, yet for me the quetion remains
Time passed. Good fences make good neighbors. We're still good friends. Then, a few months later, another event, with a totally different person, networking group and economic theatre got me to thinking the same questions once more. This time, in a particular networking organization where the rules are that once in, you have that market niche, somebody on the board of the organization decided that one of my self-hypnosis CD offerings stepped on the toes of someone else's business. While that was certainly not my intent, I can understand how one could conclude this. I agreed and again, good fences make good neighbors.
I wish both of the friends well. What they are doing is great and the last thing I want to do is step on their toes. Still, I was struck by the delicate balance between the world of business, money and economic competion, and the world of spirituality, healing and compassion. I try to live in the latter world. Each of us has our strengths, physically, spiritually and economically and I can live with that. Yet it so often brings us to a reality check where we find ourselves bumping into that wall, experiencing those flint-and-steel sparks as two peoples' paths unexpectedly and unintentionally collide..
Probably, the best advice I've heard is simply to proceed with the best of intentions. Try to do the right thing, for the right reasons. Ultimately, we are physical humans - spiritual beings living in a material realm. While we can be like the lillies of the fiels and trust in God, we still have to travel our paths, actively pursue our passions. These won't come to us while we sit on a log and wait. We have to actively pursue them. God helps people who help themselves. We just need to make sure we stay in integrity. If sparks fly for some reason, we just have to deal with whatever issues have come up.
Combining the spiritual and pragmatic sides is never easy. It's a delicate balancing act, this business of healing and spirit.
