The Great Back-Door Secret to Wealth

I received a check in the mail today from a long-lost friend.

The check is for only a portion of the money he owes me. But since he took almost ten years to send this amount, I am glad to see it.

Ten years ago he hired me to write a detailed marketing strategy for him. At that time, I charged a few thousand dollars for such a service. He agreed to it and said he would pay. I did the work and he didn't pay.

Because he was my friend, I let the invoice slide. Months went by. Then years. Then he moved to another state. And I moved to another city. He went on his way in life and basically dropped out of my awareness. I went on my own way and fairly quickly became somewhat famous on the Internet for my books and tapes.

One day a few months ago I received an email from someone who wanted to co-author a book with me. He said he knew some of my friends, and mentioned the one who owed me money.

As soon as I saw my old friend's name, my blood pressure rose.

I felt myself get angry. I felt ripped off. Betrayed. Hurt.

I took some deep breaths and calmed myself down. I talked to myself. I reminded myself that the universe is a big place (some understatement) and that wealth can come from many avenues, not just from past invoices. I decided to forgive my friend. And I did, mentally. I sincerely let him and his debt go. I didn't need the money. And I didn't need to be right.

After maybe nine years, my friend sent me an email. He said he knew he owed me money. He explained that he had tough times, that he had moved, that he was trying to make it as a professional speaker. He added that he wanted to bring peace to our oldfriendship.

I wrote him a brief note saying we already had peace. I also invited him to pay off his invoice by sending me a check for a tiny percentage of what he owed me (about twenty percent, as I recall).

He agreed.

Well, he didn't send me a check. Not right away, anyway.

Several more months passed before I heard from him again. This time it was another email, and this time he was again explaining his situation to me.

I remained at peace. I knew I would have money. It didn't have to come from him. The universe---whatever you want to call that power bigger than you or I---would see that money came to me as long as I stayed in the flow. And being at peace is a good way to stay in the flow.

And, as I explained in the beginning of this chapter, the check arrived today.

I have no idea how my old friend felt as he wrote that check. I hope he did it with a heart full of joy. If so, he activated the moneyattracting principle.

I know when I wrote a check for $500 to my brother, who had helped me out of a bind twenty years before and I finally paid him off, I felt exhilarated. Writing that check to Ted made me feel like a king. And it gave me such an inner sense of peace that that alone was worth a million dollars.

I'm calling this sense of peace---or forgiveness, if you will---a back-door secret to wealth.

Where in your life are you holding grudges because someone owes you money? Or maybe because you owe someone money?

Let it go. Talk to yourself. Allow yourself the heavenlyawareness that the universe provides, not your friends. Money doesn.t come to you from them, it comes to you through them.

Once you can let the grudges go, you free yourself to receive.