How To Have A Rich Life (c)2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I'm in Madrid, visiting my son.  Spain is a great place to recover from jet lag. Their sense of time is totally different than the US.  Their workday starts at 9am, their lunch break is from 3-5pm, then everyone goes back to work until 7:30 or 8pm.  Dinner is at 9pm or later. They get 26 days of holiday/vacation per year.

Compare that to the US where the average workday is 8am-5pm, with a 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks. And, if they're lucky, 14 days of holiday/vacation annually.

It is a more relaxed rhythm to the day, and to the flow of life in general.

It feels like the US is driven by consumption and production. What do you do? How much do you make? Where do you live? We are evaluated by these things.  Spain seems to focus more on quality of life, family and friends.

Madrid is a noisy city, which would normally drive me crazy. I'm highly sensitive to sound and empathic vibration.  There is no tension here, no anxiety. There is space to be.

It's fun to see the life my son is creating here.  I recognize my kids as capable beings who came into this life with their own inner wisdom, and life intentions. I manufactured their body, gave them their initial 'driving lessons', but their road trip through life is their own creation as Consciousness.

What do you value in life?  What are your choices?

What we spend our money on, and how we spend our time, reflects our values.

We may love our family, work very hard to support them, but not spend quality time with them.  Unless you count running them to soccer practice and violin lessons quality time.

What we *don't* spend money on, and what we neglect,  also reflects our values.

You can have a low salary and a rich life.  You can have effortless abundance.

If you are feeling dissatisfied or unhappy, perhaps your externals are in conflict with your internals.

You don't have to make sudden changes to get back into alignment with your Essential Self.  Small steps have profound results.

You may need to take some time to even know what you want!

This week, notice how you spend your time (and money).  Are your actions getting you what you really desire?

Our outer life reflects our inner life.  Any external disagreement or power struggle reflects that we are out of alignment - or coming into alignment - with our Inner Being.  Sometimes, as we begin to be more true to our heart, relationships and circumstances that aren't aren't true start to chafe.

Spend more time with your Self and inner communication. That may be journaling for 5 minutes a day, taking a walk without your phone or earbuds, working in your garden or painting.

Take tiny steps this week and see that happens!