Money and Monkeys

I heard a story the other day about a man who stumbled across a region where there were many monkeys. There were so many monkeys that the villagers were quite fed up with them. They would get in the way, cause a nuisance and had an irritating habit of stealing bananas.

The man, being versed in the ways of commerce, saw an opportunity and decided to offer everyone 10 dollars for each monkey. The villagers heard this and scrambled about here and there to find monkeys to sell. Soon the only monkeys were the ones in the hard to reach places or out of sight.

Seeing that the pace of sale had slowed down the man then offered the villagers 20 dollars for each monkey. Hearing this they worked even harder to find any monkey they could. They looked high and low, under and over everything. Before long the man had so many monkeys that he had many cages filled with many monkeys.

The next day the man greeted the villagers once more and seeing that there were no monkeys to be found he offered them 50 dollars for each new monkey they brought to him. But there were no monkeys left! The villagers looked far and wide but they had found all the monkeys already. They returned empty handed, tired from the fruitless day.

The man then had to leave the village. He left his assistant in charge. When the man was gone the assistant looked furtively about and then made an offer to the villagers. “Since the owner is gone I’ve got an idea. I will sell you each monkey for 35 dollars. When the man returns you can sell them back to him for 50 dollars and make a tidy profit. What do you say to that?”

The villagers saw the logic in such numbers and promptly purchased all the monkeys. That night the assistant slipped out of the village and neither he nor the owner was ever seen again.

***

I will leave you to ponder the morals and meanings of such a story. However, what stands out for me is an analogy to the focus currently being placed on the economic climate in the world. I refuse to use the words commonly associated in the media with what is being expressed, as I am well aware of the energy our focus lends to an idea.

Every news release, story and report is an opportunity for mindfulness and prayer. It is a time to be clear in your potential to create. It is an opportunity to know that those involved have what they need. It is the right moment for you to focus on your own financial freedom.

The next time you see, read or hear a story about some effect or condition be mindful. Think about the words you use and hear, the feelings they evoke. The more aware you are of your own limitless potential the less you will buy in to ideas of lack that others may have. There never has been, nor will there ever be, lack - only an idea of lack manifested in the experience of those choosing to think about it.