A few months ago I posted a video on YouTube to show people how I use dowsing wands. (You can see it here.) I made it for fun and to show people how I test for resonance and the presence of energy. From the comments I received, some people think this is cool, some think I am trying to hoax them, some people think that dowsing is the work of the devil.

Whatever. I’m just sharing, not trying to persuade anyone.

So I was taken aback by a comment that arrived in my inbox the other day:

You and I both know you are a scammer. Nothing will change the fact that you scam people out of money. And I know you don’t sleep well at night. It eats at you. The inner voice… "I’m a crook." "I’m a cheat." Happy nightmares.

Huh? The "happy nightmares" was the topper for me. Best read with coffee to start your day.

Personally, I cannot fathom writing a stranger hate mail, but I think my training in psychology and coaching gives me an understanding of why people sent this stuff (but that’s a different story).

In full disclosure, I do provide an affiliate link if someone wants to purchase these dowsing rods (they are the best I’ve found). I think I make like 3 bucks a sale. And just so you know, whenever I formulate a plan to cheat people, it’s my policy to make sure my end is at least 10 bucks a sale. I mean, I’m not stoopid.

I did my best to dismiss the e-mail and move on with my day. But in the back of my mind, I cannot help but wonder where that came from. What am I putting out there to attract something like that? What is going on between me and money that this divine teacher disguised as a frothing YouTuber is trying to enlighten me on?

<<Fast forward two weeks.>>

Karin and I are in New York City for a wedding. My friend lives in NYC and we decide to meet up at the art gallery where she works. She’s been called in to show a potential buyer a painting right before the ceremony and the gallery is two blocks away. Perfect.

As I enter the gallery and say hello, I notice the paintings on the walls. They are all about 5′ x 5′ or so, to give you some scale. The first one I see is below.

<Image removed by request>

 

My photo makes it look much better than it appeared on the wall in person. Without the flash, it was just a mass of blackish-brown with little definition. Even seen here with the more pronounced colors, I can’t say it moves me in any particular way.

My friend sees me looking at it and informs me that the painting costs well over 30 million dollars (I was asked not to disclose the actual price).

My eyes became as large as glazed doughnuts.

THAT costs 30 mill? You’ve got to be kidding me. I have to take a picture of this. I mean, I think I could paint this, I really do…

My attitude went from amazement to indignation. While I had zero knowledge about the painting, its significance, its history, or its creator, I believed the price was ridiculous and the mocking tone of my voice reflected my belief.

Karin reminded me that I was being a bit of a touchhole in front of my friend and disrespectful of her passion for art, and so I shut my mouth. But I kept taking pictures as my friend described the significance of the piece. I still didn’t get it.

A moment later the gentleman who was interested in buying the painting walked through the door. Who was this guy? What did he do? How’d he get all that scratch? What does he see in this art? Really? He already owns two similar works?

It was time for us to depart for the wedding. In the hours and days that passed, I retold the story of the painting many times. My emphasis in the retelling was always can you believe how much this costs?

I thought back to the prospective buyer in the gallery. I watched him as my friend told him the prices of the various pieces. His demeanor never changed. Why did I care so much?

I had asked my friend what the artist’s cut was going to be on the sale. Yes, he was still alive and he would receive 97% of the sale price. Again, I had never heard of the artist, knew nothing about this cat, and yet a felt a wave of resentment toward him pass through me.

Certainly he didn’t deserve such an enormous sum of money. For one painting? And such an "ugly" one at that? All these people are crazy… wasting money like this…???

Looking back, I suppose I just could not fathom having that kind of money in my life. Do I want that kind of wealth? Sure I do. Do I resonate with allowing that kind of money into my life? Certainly not.

And here’s how we know that (without even having to use the previously mentioned dowsing rods). I REACTED. Your emotions, and yes, your reactions show you where your buttons are — where you’re conditioning lives — and that which keeps you from allowing your truest desires into your life.

The more conscious you are in living your life, the more you will pay attention to your reactions and take full responsibility for them. The less conscious you are, the more you will blame others for your reactions.

It’s much easier for me to judge everyone associated with a piece of art, the art itself, and the value placed on that  art as "insane and obscene" and self-righteously tell people the story to bolster my world view ("yes, don’t you agree with me? Isn’t that crazy?") than it is to see my reaction and judgement as a reflection of my own self imposed limitations.

This was one painting. In one gallery. In one building. On one corner of New York City. Someone determined that it was worth 30 million dollars. Someone seemed happy to pay that. There’s as much money and wealth in the universe as we allow into our experience.

Just to show me I had not adequately addressed my unconscious money belief, the universe provided me with another message to make sure I got it.

I had just sent out an announcement about my new coaching program — The Very Cool Life Network. In many ways, this is the most ambitious project I’ve ever created. I believe it will transform lives — mine and the people who choose to join me on this adventure.

In addition, filling this group will also allow me to change my whole way of doing business and allow me even more freedom in my life. It feels huge to me.

Much like the painting, the value of the program is arbitrary and largely defined by the client. But it’s still up to me to set the price and I set the value of a year of my work and personal attention for this program at $7500. While I could easily rationalize that in my head, my energy around changing that much was not totally clean. This became clear when another angel named John, whom I’ve never met or heard of sent me this message out of nowhere.

Drew — Good luck with your money making scheme and your insane rate.

Though I’d never met John, as soon as I read his e-mail, I wanted to meet him. And punch him. And then punch him again. At the very least I wanted to write him back. I wanted to make him feel like he made me feel. But I’ve been through this before and my higher-self dialed in. I know that nothing good would come from me feeding energy into this.

And most important, I remember that my reaction to this message was telling me something about ME. My buddy John was just an illusion — he was really the part of ME that still believed I didn’t deserve to have a group of like-minded, cool people show up and pay me for sharing myself.

So I practiced what I preach and did the work to remove that conflicting intention about allowing my desire. (By the way, the VCLN is all about mastering how to do this in your own life).

And by the end of the next day I had my first two registrations and three (count ’em, 3) messages from people telling me what a great value my program offers.

Huge change.

And it comes from owing and noticing my reactions. Seeing them as something I need to clean up. And taking the appropriate action.

I hope the artist sells his painting. I hope the buyer loves buying it and seeing it on his wall. I am grateful to the people who sent me e-mails to show me where I was not allowing my intentions. I am conscious that every time I complain about money in any way, I am refusing to allow it in my own life.

And I move further into the space where my desires come to me. Just because I want them.