Recently, we needed to make a cash purchase on short notice for a sum that was higher than the daily maximum able to be withdraw from the ATM.

Since it was too late in the day to go to the bank and withdraw the necessary sum, we scraped together all the cash we had in the house that was set aside for different purposes. I assumed that in the next day or two I would withdraw the sum we ‘borrowed’ from ourselves from the bank and replace it. I delayed doing that, however, since the next day I saw that a large sum owed to us that was supposed to have been deposited wasn’t made. I decided to wait until that was paid before making the withdrawal to replace the cash.

Over the next day I noticed something really interesting.

When I got to an appointment much earlier than I expected, I began considering what to do while I waited for my appointment. “I could stop at the grocery store.” No, you don’t have any cash with you. “Oh, there’s a toy store with costumes; maybe they have the dress-up hat I’m looking for??” No, you don’t have any cash with you.

Then I thought about scheduling a trip I wanted to take the boys on at some time in the future, which reminded me I didn’t have cash for it. As thoughts went through my mind during the morning hours, to all of those that involved money I told myself, “You don’t have money for that.”

Until that morning, I didn’t realize how often thoughts connected to money went through my head. Since I generally keep cash available for my discretionary spending, when a thought about spending goes through my mind, I tell myself, “Sure, I can do that.” Sometimes I make the purchase; more often than not it remains a thought. But I was continually telling myself “Yes, I have the resources and I can do that.”

I could mentally spend the same thousand shekels many times over, and it was still sitting in my wallet after all of it! These thoughts of abundance were creating and reinforcing a sense of prosperity in me.

I didn’t realize how positive all those thoughts were until I experienced the contrast. After just four hours of telling myself, “You don’t have and you can’t,” I felt so deprived. It didn’t matter that I didn’t need any of these things, and it didn’t matter that I have the money to replace the cash sitting in my bank account. What mattered is that I kept telling myself I couldn’t have those items/experiences.

This was a powerful reminder for me of how important it is to pay attention to the thoughts we allow into our heads! I haven’t yet withdrawn the cash, but I’m now more conscious of what I was telling myself and replacing those thoughts with ‘Yes’ thoughts.

I remember years ago hearing someone talk about keeping a hundred dollars in his pocket, because it created a sense of prosperity in him. I now understand exactly what he was talking about!

Avivah

This part is easily and inexpensively available in the US, but here it’s been very, very challenging to find. It’s been hard to even find a mechanic who will deal with the issue.

Fortunately, my husband has been persistent and finally found a mechanic who specializes in these vehicles. This mechanic kept an eye out for the part we needed, and called to tell us he found a compatible vehicle for sale. The vehicle has legal issues that prevent it from being driven, but is in good condition and is for sale for a relatively cheap price. “Great!” I told my husband when he called me.

“The only thing is, we need to buy the vehicle. But the mechanic has other people who want other parts from it so we can get back a good bit of our purchase money.” Oh. That was much more of an investment than I anticipated. And the mechanic needed the money in cash by that night so he could buy the car before someone else did.

Since it was too late in the day to go to the bank and withdraw cash, and the ATM has a daily limit which was inadequate for our needs, we had to scrounge together every bit of cash we could.

Since we had the sum we needed in our bank account, I assumed we’d withdraw cash to replenish the money within a day or so, but the next day learned that a large sum of money due to us wasn’t paid when we expected. Eventually that will be paid but until we get it, I don’t want to take out the replacement cash. This means we’re temporarily out of cash that we would usually keep at hand.

Since our bills are paid, we have food and we can buy more of what we need if we need it, that isn’t a problem. But I noticed something really intriguing.

I usually have discretionary cash available. I don’t use it for many things, but it’s there if I want to use it. I didn’t have it for just two days that I began to realize how much that affected my personal sense of prosperity.

Yesterday I got to an appointment much earlier than I expected. I began considering what to do while I waited for my appointment. “I could stop at the grocery store.” No, you don’t have any cash with you. “Oh, there’s a toy store with costumes; maybe they have the dress-up hat I’m looking for??” No, you don’t have any cash with you.

Then I thought about scheduling a trip I wanted to take the boys on, which reminded me I didn’t have cash for it. I kept thinking of things I wanted to do and most of them required money. As the options went through my mind, I would tell myself, “I don’t have money for that.”

This felt so negative and limiting to me. It didn’t matter that I didn’t need any of these things. What mattered is that I kept telling myself I couldn’t have them.

I paused and thought about how different this felt to what I usually tell myself, “I could buy/get that. I have cash on me.” Even though I don’t usually buy most of those things, I’m usually giving myself constant ‘yes’ messages. ‘Yes, I can,’ ‘Yes, I will’, ‘Yes, I could’. I don’t have to buy any of those things, but every time I said ‘yes’ to myself, I felt expansive and financially blessed.