When Opportunity Knocks, Know Where the Door is

Today is going to be a fun experience. I think every day has been fun, but this one, you get to play a game. 

I want to preface this by telling you about two very different experiences I had recently. I've attended two game nights this week. The first one, there was a guy who I knew pretty well. Three other people were playing the game with us. Every time we would go around the table, this guy would lean over to his neighbor, look at their cards and say, “You should do this…you want to keep that…you should get rid of that,” etc., telling them how to play their hands. He didn't even give the person a chance to make their own decisions. He took it upon himself to look over and tell them what they should do. I ‘jokingly’ said, “We could all leave the table  and you could walk around and play everybody's hand.” I know this guy to be a little bit controlling, a know-it-all. Those character traits really came out during this game night. 

I had another experience with a different group of people this week. We were playing a game where you use play money. I had some real-life money blind spots revealed about myself during the game. There was one situation where I started out doing good, then slowly; I started not doing as well. One of the cards I picked was this opportunity to make a good investment. But I didn't have the right stuff to take advantage of the opportunity. I noticed that it was frustrating to me #1 because I couldn't take advantage of the opportunity and #2. After all, I didn't have the right stuff. So I was going to toss the card and stick it back under the pile.

One of the other players reminded me that the rules allow any other player to invest if the person who pulls the card can’t or doesn’t want to. Side note: This game has an undercurrent of giving and philanthropy.  It’s higher level thinking on the spiritual level of money. Anyway, another player did offer to buy the opportunity from me. They wanted to buy it for 20 bucks. This opportunity was perfect. In fact, in the first month, they would make an extra $1,500. I was offended by his offer, “Are you kidding? I'm not taking it for 20 bucks; $ 1500 is the minimum I will take. I mean, you'll make it back in your first month!” But he accepted the terms, paid me $1,500, and continued playing. 

That interaction bothered me the rest of the game, even after our friends left our home. It uncovered some things about me that happened when there was a turning point in my financial situation. As long as I'm doing well, it's all happy. Then if I start seeing myself as unable to take opportunities in real life, I start looking around to grab money wherever I can. I do not care about the other person as much as myself and what I can get. Seeing myself from another person's point of view, it’s hard to admit, but these are some blind spots that I uncovered about myself. It wasn’t until everybody had left that these things started revealing themselves to me. It allowed me to interrupt some patterns I have n the past, hopefully. 

One change I hope to make is that if I find myself in that real-life situation of not being able to take advantage of an opportunity, I'm going to look around to see if anybody else can use it. If I can't or don't want to, and if it's an excellent opportunity, I should offer it to someone else.  I was not going to do it; I was going to toss it so I could show it to someone else. The other thing is, since I wasn’t going to make anything on that opportunity, I will consider a small or even zero offer from someone else. I feel that making a shrewd business negotiation is better if possible, but not because I am grabby…just because it’s smart! There is nothing wrong with making a good opportunity out of one I couldn’t work within the original form. The whole purpose of the exercise…the game we’re about to play is to reveal blind spots within you, not to give at all costs. Remember, I noticed that I was almost offended by his $20 offer. But I couldn't take advantage of the opportunity when I thought about it. It was zero for me at that point. $20 would've been an increase.

I know that as you go through the holidays, you will have opportunities for game nights. Of course, have fun. And also, be aware that there might be some blind spots that you can uncover within yourself. Maybe you don't have a game that would help find money issues. We do life the same everywhere we are.  The guy who likes to live everyone else’s life for them does it in every game.  So whatever game you are playing, you can learn life lessons and gain feedback on where you can make some changes.

I have a mini-course called Abundance Now! 5-day Challenge. It is excellent at uncovering blind spots or misinterpreted understanding that we have about God’s abundant world and His desires for our wealth. https://mentoring.wylenebenson.com/abundance-now-challenge-sp 

All right, we are going to do a little exercise today. We're going to play a game! I encourage you to get a buddy and do this as a team. One person is the timekeeper.  The other person is doing the exercise.  Right now, set a timer for 5 seconds.  The timer says “GO,” and the person doing the exercise must change something about themselves.  As soon as the timer goes off, the timekeeper restarts and says “GO” again.  Now do the same thing…change something else about yourself. Now do it again…And again…And again.  Do this ten times a row, and don’t give yourself time to rest.

Now grab some paper and write down what you learned about yourself. I'm sure this has uncovered some blind spots about yourself, something you weren't even aware of. Usually, it comes in the form of some limiting beliefs. Maybe you thought negatively about me asking you to do this exercise. Or that 5 seconds was not long enough. Or about you not knowing what to do to change yourself beyond 5-6 things. Whatever those thoughts were, write those down. Those limiting beliefs have been keeping you in patterns of being unable to change, not being able to adjust quickly enough, or not being able to switch to get out of your comfort zone. These are blind spots that are keeping you in the pattern of staying the same and not improving. Write those limiting beliefs down; then we're going to go through a quick Permission Process, so if you choose to, you can let go of those limiting beliefs and choose some new ideas that will help you be more open to change…more open to progress. 

Here we go with the Permission Process. Focus on just one limiting belief that was a blind spot for you in the past. Close your eyes and take a deep breath.  The first question I have for you about that limiting belief that you wrote down…Is it true? Is it 100% true? Is it proper for every person on the planet? Is it true all the time? If it's not 100% true all the time for every person on the earth, then it's not a truth; it is a belief. If it is a belief, we can change it since it's not 100% absolute truth. 

The next question I have for you…Is that belief serving you? Is it helping you? It might be helping you feel safe, but is it serving you? Is it helping you to improve? Is it helping you to grow?  

If the answer is no, it's not serving you, then here is the next question…Are you willing to change it? Do you want to choose something else…if you are eager to change it, proclaim your decision to permit yourself to select something new by saying a strong audible “YES!” If you speak it, your voice gives your decision power. It communicates to the universe that you're changing this.

Then the next step is to choose new beliefs…some new truths. Let's call these truths. The old ones were beliefs; they weren't 100% true to everyone all the time. So let’s create new ideas closer to reality…that feels very close to absolute truth for everyone.

For example, if one of your limiting beliefs uncovered as your blind spot was “Wylene isn't giving me enough time.” (Therefore, you believe there's not enough time in life.) That’s the old belief:  There is not enough time. Is that 100% true for everybody all the time? No. Sometimes there is enough time. Some people always seem to have enough time.  So then, since it’s a belief, not a truth, we can change it.  Let's change that limiting view into a new idea more aligned with absolute truth.  Here are some suggestions:  

• Sometimes there is enough time. 
• There is an infinite amount of time.
• You cannot count on time, so it's not a limited commodity.
• There's always time to do the things I commit my time to.
• There's always time to do what God wants me to do. 

One to three new beliefs/truths best replace each old false impression.

Let’s continue with our game.  We will repeat the same timed exercise and see how you do this time.  First, read through those new beliefs, and internalize them. See the truth of them and the falseness of the old ideas. You've changed your mind about it and see things differently now. Alright, get your timekeeper partner, and go through the exercise again. Same as before.

I hope you learned at least one thing from this exercise, that there are things we can do to change ourselves in the blink of an eye.  One thing that changes everything is simply to put a smile on your face.  And that doesn't take any time at all.  When we change one thing, it changes the energy that we put out. And by changing our energy, we change the world.  There are simple things that I can do to improve, to create positive change. As you go through this holiday season, you will participate in game nights or host game nights. Remember to allow yourself to see any blind spots that might be showing up for you while putting yourself into a safe stressful situation. Games are a safe, stressful situation. It's an opportunity for us to be pushed  to our limits to see how we react, so we can learn and grow.