Money corrupts
(Once again, you’ll find my tapping experience in a comment below last week’s article.)
This one is the logical, ruthless continuation of last week’s belief:
If money is bad, having a lot of money will make me a bad person.
We’ve all heard the phrase “money corrupts”.
And I freely admit it’s a belief I am familiar with. Because it’s so easy to look at the drug tsars and think that yes, they are doing it out of greed and because it’s so easy to make money with drugs.
And it’s highly criminal. All organized crime has to do with power and money. And that combination can be difficult – but is it really “just” the money? Or is it about the personality of people who think nothing of breaking society’s laws and being criminal?
One thing is really clear:
If you believe that money corrupts – you’ll stay away from it.
And somehow – this is just occurring to me as I write this out – it feels as if there’s also a lot of self-doubt and possible blame and excuses hidden in this belief.
If money makes me a bad person… does that mean I’m that easy to corrupt? That my moral compass is so weak that money will overwhelm it? At what point? A million? Or two? And do I get to blame money when I do bad things?
Oh, I couldn’t help it. Money made me do it!
Woah. Big can of worms right there!
I believe that you and me both know what’s right and wrong. And I like to think that we both (and all of my readers!) are on a path of personal growth and integrity.
That’s why this belief is so insidious. It undermines our sense of who we really are.
Let’s tap on that.
Even though it’s so easy to believe that money corrupts, just look at organized crime, and a part of me is afraid that I’ll turn into a bad person if I have lots of money, I’m okay the way I am, and I’m now open to the possibility that this is not an automatic process.
Even though it’s so obvious in our society that money and greed make people do horrible things and break laws, I’m okay the way I am, and I’m now open to the possibility that money doesn’t automatically turn people into criminals and bad persons.
Even though a part of me is afraid that having lots of money might turn me into one of those ugly drug tsars or gang bosses, I’m totally okay the way I am, and I’m now open to the possibility that money is not to blame for that kind of choice.
Your Turn:
Does this belief sound familiar?
How did that make you feel?
What happened while you were tapping?
And finally – what are you writing right now?
Would love to hear from you!
Image Source: F. Moebius
Find the start of The Money Experiment here: The Money Experiment
PS: You’ll find my personal experiences with these beliefs in the comment section. Because I am tapping with these very sentences, I’m inviting you to join me on this journey, and share your experiences.
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This one was funny to tap.
I first focused on the fear that having lots of money could really make me a bad, greedy person, blinded by the need and greed for more.
But the something interesting came up: Does money really have the power to change someone at the core? Really?
I mean, I believe I’m a good person. I like helping others. I like making others smile. Does money really have the power to turn me away from that?
And deep inside me I found that no, it doesn’t. In fact, having lots of money could actually allow me to do more. Help more people. Make even more people smile!
So then I ended up with a new belief: Maybe money – like age – brings out the true character of people. Maybe it’s just a catalyst, speeding up the change or shift.
I came back to the idea that money is a tool. No more, no less. And it’s okay to use it.