My wealth is rotting away in my Favor Bank.

 I left huge wealth rotting away in my favor bank and I didn’t even know it. No wonder I experience lack.

What am I talking about you may well ask?

I am talking about Rita Goldman and how she uses favors to trade with.

And who is Rita Goldman?

Rita Goldman is an American writer who at some point in her life leaves a comfortable life to go traveling.
She does that with little money and a determination to go off the beaten track and to live in isolated communities in foreign countries.
This means she needs to find creative ways to trade as money alone could not get her all she needs and wants and in the process she learns about the enormous value of the currency of favors.
Her book ‘Tales of a Female Nomad’ is a fascinating read and in this book she describes her trade in favors, the only currency that gets her what she wants in the fascinating foreign communities she is visiting.
She writes; “…the whole world is one giant ‘Favor bank’. We go through life making deposits whenever we do favors for people and that means that whenever we need a favor, we’re entitled to a withdrawal. It’s just as important to take out as it is to put in, because each time we accept a favor, we are allowing someone to make a deposit. I like introducing this idea to people who have trouble “taking .”
This makes huge sense to me and it puts all my ‘helping’ and ‘asking’ issues in a new perspective.

What got me was the importance of giving AND asking favors and the idea that it is a currency in itself.

What I have been doing so far has been equivalent to giving the bank my money and then feeling lack because I don’t access the money when I want or need it.
How weird is that, giving the bank my money and leaving it there?
Well, I am doing the same weird behavior around contributing and asking.
But Rita Goldman regularly deposits favors into the favor bank and regularly makes withdrawals. Rita gives AND takes, freely and regularly. Rita flows favors back and forth.

It is funny how John talked about having credit with the universe a long time ago. And I see that he contributes AND asks for withdrawals.
As a result Rita as well as John contribute freely and never feel used or resentful.
They are clear how to respond to requests and they have no problems with withdrawals.

I also see that they understand the concept of working together for a win/win result in a non-competitive and abundant environment.
They don’t tally tit for tat. They live easily depositing and withdrawing, without keeping score, knowing that all is one.
They give WHEN THEY CAN and don’t when they can’t and ask when they need to.
When they need something they don’t hesitate to look for and ask the right person; even if the right person is a person they might never have helped in the past or never help in the future.
The difference with my asking is that I cannot do that freely. I even hesitate to go back to the people that I have helped in the past and I often miss out getting what I need or want.

So I am obviously not that clever yet with the whole favor bank thing.
I contribute, keep depositing into the favor bank but I never withdraw.
I hoard, sit on my assets and hardly ever dare to ask for favors and in the worst scenario get resentful and feel depleted.

And as a result my wealth is rotting away in my favor bank…… How tragic and don’t tell me you squander wealth like that too.