Eric Butterworth was a Unity minister in New York City. He wrote a great book called Spiritual Economics that helped me integrate my spiritual and material ambitions. I HIGHLY recommend it.

As we discuss in Abundance 101, the primary theme of his book is the fact that we shouldn’t try to go out and make money per se.

As Butterworth so beautifully says: “The goal should not be to make money or acquire things, but to achieve the consciousness through which the substance will flow forth when and as you need it.”

How do we do that? We invest in You, Inc.

We want to diligently, patiently, persistently and playfully do the work of getting just a little bit better day in and day out, aggregating and compounding those tiny incremental gains as we step into the next-best version of ourselves and then the next and the one after that.

The by-product of that? “The consciousness through which the substance will flow forth when and as you need it.”

Butterworth also helps us redefine a few words in our abundance vocabulary. Let’s take a fresh look at the meaning of prosperity, affluence and security.

Prosperity. Did you know the word “prosperity” literally means “to go forward with hope”?! Yep. Therefore, prosperity “is not so much a condition in life as it is an attitude toward life.”

Of course, the good news is that as we “go forward hopefully” with a “prosperous” attitude in all things, we’ll be rewarded with all the external (and internal!!) fruits of true prosperity. (Want to Optimize your Hope? Check out these couple dozen +1s!)

Affluence. When we think of this word, we tend to think of “cars and houses and baubles of all kinds.” But, “Its literal meaning is ‘an abundant flow,’ and not things at all. When we are consciously centered in the universal flow, we experience inner direction and the unfoldment of creative activity. Things come too, but prosperity is not just having things. It is the consciousness that attracts things.”

Security. Have you ever caught yourself saying that you’ll feel secure when you have $x in the bank or have achieved whatever other milestone such that you can finally relax and feel OK? Well, again, Butterworth encourages us to look at the ancient literal meaning of the word security. He tells us: “The word secure comes from two small Latin words: se meaning ‘without’ and cure meaning ‘care’ — being without care, freedom from anxiety.”

That sounds a lot like true confidence a la Confidence 101, eh? Want to feel secure? Have a deep trust in your ability to handle whatever life throws at you. Boom. No need to wait. You’re now secure.

Prosperity. Affluence. Security.

Today’s +1. If you’re feeling it, let’s add those words and their true meaning to your Optimizing Dictionary.

Spiritual Economics #349

Your New Wealth Vocabulary

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