Wherever You Go...

A traveler came to the gates of a city and asked the gatekeeper what the people of the city were like.  “What were the people like where came from?” the gatekeeper asked.  “They were rude, selfish, and mean,” replied the traveler.  “You’ll find the people here are much the same,” he answered.  

A while later another traveler happened upon the city and asked the same question.   “What were the people like where came from?” the gatekeeper asked.  “They were kind, generous, and joyful,” replied the traveler.  “You’ll find the people here are much the same,” the gatekeeper answered.  
Wherever you go, there you are.  Your experiences are not based on where you are, but what you believe about where you are, yourself, people, etc.  I’m in the midst of a very powerful example of this right now, which is serving me tremendously!

My wife and I recently relocated from Los Angeles to Kansas City, MO.  One cost of living calculator estimates that we could maintain the same quality of life even if we took at 32.59% pay cut.  My salary went down a bit, hers went up a bit.  In the end, we didn’t take any pay cut.  So, I’m feeling pretty wealthy, right?  Wrong.  I haven’t felt even a little bit of increased ease around finances.  I haven’t felt any bit of increase in my ability to afford things.  On paper, I’m 32.59% better off.  In experience, none at all.  Wherever you go, there you are.

This is an incredibly clear indicator for me of the Truth that my experience of wealth and abundance has absolutely nothing to do with how much money I make.  It is completely an inside job.  And, it doesn’t stop with money.  Happiness?  Inside job.  No amount more or less of anything in the physical world will ever bring lasting happiness.  Peace?  Same thing.  This is great news.  It means that you don’t have to wait for your circumstances to change in order to experience more joy, wealth, happiness, or peace.  You can begin changing your experience right now by changing how you think and speak about yourself and your life.  
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Thinking patterns can be tough to change.  Often, they are such habit patterns that we don’t even realize we can change how we think.  And yet if you look back over the span of many years at one particular area of your life, I’ll bet you will see a lot of change in what and how you thought about that area of life.  It takes attention, intention, and awareness.  It takes commitment to change your life from what it is, to what you want it to be.  I know, for myself, that I’ll be putting a lot of attention on my experience of wealth, so that from here on, “wherever you go, there you are” becomes the blessing it really can be!