I recently saw a post on social media for what sounded like an amazing free event about having a different relationship with money, which was run by the charitable institution College of Universal Medicine. I would have loved to go to this event, though that wasn’t possible as it was in Australia, but I did manage to speak to a friend who went. Now I can’t tell you what the course was about as I wasn’t there, but one thing my friend shared that she took away from it, was appreciating paying her bills. What???? I nearly fell off my seat with that. Appreciating paying my bills! I had never ever considered this in my life.
I have been someone who is like, “Oh no, here’s another bill come in.” Someone who dreads paying bills. Never ever have I once considered appreciating what paying a bill offers me.
So this was a whole new and huge revelation to me. It left me pondering on and thinking about things such as what do I get to appreciate from paying my phone and internet bill? Well for starters, I wouldn’t be able to read these blogs, share lesson ideas and plans, talk to my partner who works overseas, FaceTime people, talk to and connect with people all over the world, pay bills, share photos, talk to my parents, be able to look up information at the drop of a hat, use Google maps, answer emails, watch webcasts of workshops, book holidays, hotels, message my brother on the other side of the world, work with groups, study courses, volunteer on projects, buy clothes and other items… and so much more.
When I thought about this I started to think about more bills, for example the car repair bills and petrol. I got to feel, realise and appreciate what paying this bill offers me: the ability to travel to see my family, to go to the shops, to not wait for a bus on a freezing cold day in the pouring rain, to travel to my partner’s; it allows me to work, to go to schools, to see people, to teach, to buy presents for Christmas, to make dinner for my folks, to spend time with my niece, to drive across beautiful Scotland and see amazing places; it allows me travel to courses, workshops, meetings, go to the doctor, the dentist, to hospital, plus so much more.
The list is end-less. I looked at food bills, rent, electricity and gas, plus lots more. What I am learning is this is a totally different relationship to have with money, one that is full of appreciation, and is deeply self-caring as I come to realise what I spend money on may or may not support me, and all the things I can appreciate, which paying every single bills allows me.
By Gyl Rae, Teacher, 40, Scotland
Related Reading:
Appreciation, Appreciation, Appreciation…..
Investments – Where are you Investing?
Peeling Back the Layers of Appreciation
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Appreciation, of everything we touch is such an empowering tool when used to truly initiate or / which evolves us into deeper levels of love.
It was great to read this blog, and appreciating paying bills. I get it. If everything was free for instance, I could feel the disadvantage in this, as people wouldn’t take responsibility. And in this, things would be taken for granted. It’s like that child who has everything and does not know how to put value to what has been offered.
Another example, seeing a practitioner for instance. I would rather pay and have that service and undivided attention, than a free service where I could/would take everything loosely and not be responsible for my own healing. I have no problem paying for a healing session, as that payment goes way longer than the session itself… worth appreciating.
What a great way to bring fun into our lives Shirley-Ann.
Understanding that appreciation and what it brings to us is a simple part of our lived ways, with Joy being the precursor that is openly available to all, as we set the foundation for True-appreciative-ness, as a forever deepening part of our live wisdom as you have shared Gyl!
Appreciation brings and provides us with more opportunities. In that appreciation more is offered, and that’s when we see appreciation even in a bill, because we see its reach than seeing it for something insular.
We can either fill life with moans and whinges or fill it with appreciation. I know which I’d prefer to have more of.
There is so much joy in this blog.
when we can appreciate a service (without making it all about the cost) we can not only begin to feel how abundant our lives are, but we can also begin to see the money we pay as an investment in ourselves.
We can appreciate paying taxes as keeping the wheels of society turning so that health care, emergency services, refuse collection etc etc are there for all of us.
Awesome blog and sharing … and realisation ✨ It is very awesome that The College of Universal Medicine have online courses that are available to do ❤️ https://www.coum.org/all-courses definitely worth checking out.
Gyl this is a brilliant blog as I was reading it I could feel my lack of appreciation of the fact that by paying the bill of the central heating oil that keeps my house warm and toasty. I have just come back from spending 3 days in 3 different hotels that did not have adequate heating in the rooms, especially the bathrooms, which were very cold. I came home and walked through the door my body relaxed as I appreciated the warm welcome of my house. Yes it costs a lot to keep the house warm but oh Boy!, it is so worth it.
Appreciating the heating in our houses as it gets colder in the UK is a great place to start with appreciating what we pay for.
There is so much to appreciate in life – from the small to the bigger things, Yet we tend to focus on the more negative aspects, the things that went wrong or didn’t work out. Especially in the UK we like an underdog so may support them, rather than appreciate and accept those who do well – after maybe allowing them a small period of grace. The tables soon get turned – no wonder the tall poppy syndrome came into being. Paying our bills is just one area where we can bring appreciation into our lives.
Paying bills, and appreciating what we receive by paying for this service, is a great way to expand our appreciation.
I am starting to do this more and more and it does feel good to pay the bills. Sometimes when an unexpected bill comes in I am a little hesitant but ultimately what I come back to is my livingness because I know it is how I am in every moment that affects my kidney energy which affects how money flows both in and out of my life.
Thanks Gyl, it’s really inspired me to spend some time with each bill appreciating what the services I pay for provide for me. It’s fairly stock standard to resent bills, so it’s a good opportunity to examine this and change our relationship to money.
I have just had a service on my car, now I can appreciate what that supports in my life. Definitely a different way at looking at bills.
mmmm how often do we truly appreciate the bills we pay and think of the benefits we have received from that service? Great question and also awesome to flip it on its head like this and look at it with instead of a feeling of dread a moment of appreciation.
Paying bills is an excellent opportunity to discern if it is something that supports us. Is it something we want or need?
Always important to check if a purchase is supporting us, what is the impulse for buying the item.
The energy in which we buy and sell things remains and those items can either make us feel less or more connected to ourselves as we relate with them.
This reminds me of a bill I received that often felt heavy and comes with dread when it arrives. Someone suggested that I should put money aside for it and I did, it made a huge difference. I find it takes the stress out of paying bills and I am able to appreciate paying it on time and with a lightness and ease.
A reminder that the power is within our hands in how we feel just by changing the simplest things such as planning can make a huge difference.
Watching your salary deplete over the course of the month can be a sobering feeling, even if you stay in the black. However, appreciating those bill payments and other payments as a support in life is a great way to counter this feeling.
It never occurred to me to appreciate actually paying my bills. However I do appreciate the fact that I have sufficient funds to be able to do so, “….. what I spend money on may or may not support me, and all the things I can appreciate, which paying every single bills allows me.” And what I / we pay to utility companies, and in tax etc allows those companies to provide for everyone.
When we spend money we are expressing ourselves – whether that is out clothes shopping, or in paying the rent / mortgage on where we live. Money is a constant stream of making choices, and its great when we are reminded of that (or rather we remind ourselves)… it changes things to us being on the front foot, appreciating the choices we are making, rather than life happening to us and the sigh when the bills come in.
“How important it is to spend (wisely) so that the energy flows and others too may benefit.” So true Shirley-Ann. If one has an excess and does not use it then it is like having a blocked pipe while when we overspend it is having a leak.
Having lived many years not sure where the money will come from to pay the next bill, it is a huge confirmation and feeling of achievement when one can pay one’s bills without stress.
When we pay bills with stress, what energy do we feed back to the company, to the people and to ourselves? Stress. But if we pay them with ease and appreciation this is the energy everyone linked to our bills receives, appreciation.
What is lovely that you express here Chanly is that appreciation fuels appreciation, so consequently it just keeps expanding.
I really appreciate what you have shared here … and you didn’t even go to the event!!!! I never appreciate the bills I receive or reflect on what I have received the bill for has allowed me to do and definitely feel this is something worth giving time to.
I love coming back to this post and appreciating all the things I pay for that are my foundation. It really does change my relationship with money and the purpose of it.
I agree HM The expansion of the appreciation that Gyl shares with her example of paying the car repairs and petrol not only deepens my appreciation of paying my bills but how appreciation ripples out to so much more – how everything is inter-connected and everything matters.
Appreciate paying a bill, yes, but check if the service or product supported you.
I’m going to be looking at my car payments in a new light from now on. After all, my car does give me the freedom to get about without having to wait at a cold bus stop in all weathers – now that’s to be appreciated.
For many years my income was such that I was exempt from paying tax. When that changed there was a huge sense of achievement.
And some people create a life out of reducing their income as much as much possible. That is not smart that is living a contracted life.
Though it can create a life of comfort in which one hide from responsibility.
It is so true, how we attend to all the details in life including paying our bills can reflect our levels of commitment, engagement in life and self care.
Sounds like an amazing event if it invites us to appreciate responsibility in our lives.
Always love an invitation to go deeper.
I recently got a traffic fine and I was not impressed about paying it (but couldn’t refute the fact that yes I was at fault because I was). However it has asked me to look at how I am with my spending as I am now seeing it is a direct relationship with how I care for myself. Did I have the extra £65 to pay this? no. Having an understanding of my finances is something I am exploring at the moment in how it can best support me.
That’s something I have never liked, owing people money. It lingers at the back of my mind for as long as it’s not settled. When it is settled that is one less stress I am creating for myself.
I love paying a lot of tax. Lots!
What a playful and yet serious commitment to life William.
Thanks to Serge Benhayon’s example of how he lives life, I too have started to notice that no aspect of life is insignificant. If there is an area that I consistently drag my heals on or have some other form of disharmony going on, it is well worth unpicking and working through the deeper issue, it will always be there to expose my relationship with life, as well as the level of awareness and responsibility I am willing to embrace
So true, every area of our life can teach us something. I was aware I wasn’t great at completion, shown to me in the swimming pool when I stopped moving my legs just as I came up to the wall. Clocking that and making changes to finish at the end has had a knock-on effect in my life too. I am getting better at completing everyday tasks now too.
Appreciating anything about ourselves in our lives is worthwhile for the healing focus it draws within and to oneself as opposed to the insular focus of someone else we may be in comparison with.
I have never minded paying bills I have nearly always paid them on time or early, I know people receiving the money appreciate bills being paid promptly and for me it shows appreciation of the work done.
Yes, I prefer to pay bills when I receive them, it feels far more settling to me.
Almost on everything in life we put a negativity especially when it comes to deliver, to serve, to give, but with this we deny ourselves a true rhythm that lets us unfold and blossom.
The reality is we need money to live, but the way you are approaching the appreciation of what the money is supporting you with is not how most people look at paying the bills. Many, including myself for a very long time until recently, and still have to watch the conditioning of pictures to trying to take over in letting go of survival mode and really see everything that is on offer. This different perspective is truly life changing.
It’s great to come back across this blog because I have some major bills coming up; one being a huge tax bill which I wouldn’t mind paying if I knew the money wasn’t being totally wasted on building weapons or this Brexit fiasco.
I love the idea of looking at our bills as first and foremost appreciating the service we are paying for and what opportunities that opens up for us. A much less physically and energetically draining way to spend money.
Paying our bills is an exchange for services received – this is worth appreciating.
I love this blog Gyl, it simply encapsulates the opportunity we have when presented a bill of any kind – nothing is more enriching then evolution.
Money is a currency. What we spend our money on, we invest in. Paying bills is about bringing a conclusion to a transaction, giving us an opportunity to evaluate our investment. Sometimes I feel as though I am shortchanged and ripped off, but your sharing makes me stop and wonder if that was about the quality of goods/service, or if it was me holding back from appreciating and receiving the potential that was actually on offer.
This blog gives you a real check in moment, because I too always dread the bills coming in always fearing I will not have enough left after paying the bills. To appreciate paying all our bills is a very different approach and makes a lot of sense, because with appreciating there is never truly a shortage of anything .
Like with everything as soon as we choose reaction, nothing of any true good is achieved. No one benefits from reaction and we are blind to the entire truth of the situation because no understanding can ever be had with reaction.
Our attitude towards bills is our attitude towards life, and so ourselves too.
Delaying paying is hugely disrespectful and draining to everyone concerned including ourselves. It is the same with holding onto love, the more you flow with it the more it grows!
Great call Gyl. So I payed with delight the bill of the tickets to our holiday yesterday. Yes, it was high but what a pleasure that I can afford such a loving trip.
I love how in appreciating paying the bills, a concept you had not considered before, brought you heaps more appreciation of all that you are able to do because of the services and products available. But then isn’t that how appreciation works, it just grows and grows as there is always something to appreciate.
I love how you’ve brought a whole new dimension to something so practical as paying a bill. Most of us approach bills as an uncomfortable fact of life, without seeing that paying for our electricity enables us to have a beautifully warm house, or our car tax allows us to travel from a to b promptly or enables us to be able to work. A great lesson in appreciation – thank you.
Bills are no different to what sunlight is to a plant or oxygen is to a fish; all are crucial to the survival of not only the organism but the entire ecosystem as a whole. We live in a gigantic system of human life and like any system, harmony and balance is essential for the good of all. And there cannot be balance if there is an ounce of selfish greed or gain at the expense of another.
I have at times experienced great joy when making my online payments to different people and companies as the quality of their service was still resonating in me. I don’t want people to pay me reluctantly or with a grudge, so why do it to others?
And for this reason I am much more likely to speak up when I don’t find the service as good as promised. When we do this lovingly and truthfully we are generally heard.
How powerful a change of perspective is… It is as if another world is there to be seen… As indeed it is.
It is actually a big responsibility for us to pay bills and have this as part of our rhythm. My approach to bills and money has changed hugely over the years as I appreciate that money has an energetic quality and relationship with our bodies – so the more I am aware of money and what I’m spending – I know it has a direct effect on my body.
I can feel the difference in my body when I am on the front foot with my bills but it is also extraordinary to see how much I can resist this blessing in my life and then life gets complicated!
Appreciating paying your bills has a ripple effect into a lot of other areas of your life that need to be appreciated. I actually found that I appreciated this the most when I had very limited income and it really built my self-worth and allowed me to prioritise what was important to me.
Yes, there is a movement of appreciation into other areas of your life after becoming aware of the fact that there is more to functionally just paying a bill… appreciating what you have purchased for yourself feeds back in to your self-worth.
It’s feels important to not contract when we have a period with less money than usual but to keep expanding and appreciating the services we get for our money and how they all contribute to the richness of our life.
Also it is to appreciate to pay the bills for speeding with the car. When looking into the reflection we can see something to learn and from there pay the bill with that honor.
Its interesting to notice how money – seeing the bank balance rise or fall – has an effect on how you may feel about yourself, and your vitality, confirming how everything is energy and inter-related.
When we understand that everything occurs in our life – is because of our choices, we can see that the bills we receive of hurts vented or responsibility shirked – are huge and have been piling up in our mailbox, unattended for years. More and more though we are seeing for so many of us ~ it’s payback time.
Just had my accounts finalised for the year and I appreciate the fact I had quite a good year the last financial year but I have to admit I am seriously struggling to appreciate the tax bill I have to pay.
Gyl I love this and how you so simply yet so wisely offer us the opportunity to reflect on how much there is to appreciate in paying our bills and how powerful it is to discern what we are paying for and if it truly supports us to maximise our Livingness.
Resisting and/or feeling resentful about paying bills is a brilliant expose of us not taking responsibility for our choices… we do something and then get cross about the consequences… hmmm, not so intelligent, maybe?
It is worth looking at our whole relationship with money, both what is coming and what is going out. If we consider that it is more than just the physical relationship we have with it and that it is energetic as well, this brings a whole other level of understanding to our personal finances.
The beauty of appreciation offered here on paying bills and what they really offer us makes so much difference to making life about energy first and the reality and honesty this brings.
Yes well said Tricia – when we observe and appreciate what is actually is energetically behind our movements we are able to then appreciate the great impact our loving imprints have.
Sometimes we spend our money on things we do not need, emotional buying when we buy certain items as fillers, when this becomes a pattern, we can end up with too much stuff and too much clutter which is a drain on our energy resources. Far better to spend wisely, purchasing those things that truly support us.
There is so much to appreciate in life and appreciation brings so much joy into the equation. How is it possible to live in a world that is lacking appreciation when it is the one of the most amazing and easy tools to apply? It supports us to connect to ourselves, to people, to the quality of joy and confirms how amazing we all are. Appreciation is one of the main ingredients that holds us all together, unites us and dissolves our difference and brings joy and harmony to life.
Agreed it makes us see first that life is about energy well before it is about the item, action or thing.
Paying of a bill can give me the opportunity to bring all of me to a transaction and consider what truly supports me at that time.
We have many bills to pay on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis and in a way that gives us the pulse of life that is energetically but now materialized in the bills that drop in this pulse or rhythm on our doormat.
It is the cycle of cause and effect yes? And our bills are a great and very practical place to learn this.
You can say it is our interaction or communication with the world, with other people. And you then can say that the way your money flows is an indication of your engagement. In other words do you consider there are other people in your lives to take care for or do you mainly spend the money only for yourself.
When we are open to seeing how we with our money participate in our society, we would appreciate more or even come to the point that we love to pay the bills which are the physical manifestation of our commitment to life that actively living in societies is.
Interesting that you mention, commitment to life, of course part of that is working and paying our bills, and its great to pay the bills on time appreciating the service that was provided, rather than avoiding paying the bill so that we go into arrears, which normally means interested is added and we end up having to pay more.
Yes Jacqueline, I come to the understanding that it is not wise to not pay your bills, but on the other hand I do understand as well the movement of not wanting to pay these. For instance when you feel injustice or corruption in the system you are taking services from there can be a pull towards not wanting to pay these bills as you do not want to be part of it. But then we have to become honest with ourselves and pay these bills to finish the cycle as we have been willingly part of this system. We can only stop this by standing up and to not take these services any more or to address that injustice or corruption as a client that insists human decency and respect in the services that are delivered.
A new concept here for me to appreciate paying the bills, but I can totally relate especially when we sit down and list all the benefits. I would be lost without my car, as I work in many different areas that would be a nightmare to get to with public transport. That said, knowing how much my car provides for me, I just got it serviced and was more than happy to pay for this.
“Someone who dreads paying bills” – i find in myself that when we are committed to life, to working, there is no feeling of urgent dread but of completion in paying bills.
Yes Zofia, and in paying these bills we actively participate in so much more than only living our life and doing our work. It is indeed that commitment to life but then too in all its nitty gritty ways like paying for a public toilet visit. By paying all the bills we confirm how much we are involved in the societies we live in.
It seems like in general the world gets happy only when we earn money but with a deeper understanding I am feeling a deeper appreciation in seeing the moments when I manage money, which may be a gain or a loss, but in terms of learning and awareness, it is always a gain.
Earning money and paying bills is always an exchange in energy. So on both sides there is lots to appreciate in this natural movement.
There is a learning in every situation, a blessing if you like, and paying our bills is no exception. The energy in which we pay a bill comes back to us after it has resounded everywhere so why not make that a joyfull occasion?
True, there is always so much to learn in life, like now starting to appreciate paying the bills and what they have brought to us along the way.
It’s far healthier to pay our bills with appreciation than it is to begrudgingly give the money over – what does this say about how we feel about ourselves if we do not value the support these things bring.
I like that you use the word support here. For money is an exchange of energy after all and if we can exchange so that we feel support in that and appreciate the support there is – which is often greater than we might at first think – then we are free of the constraints we can so easily associate with that money.
There are so many things to appreciate in life – including ourselves. It feels so much healthier to appreciate what is going well in our lives rather than bemoan one’s fate when things don’t go according to plan. I’m learning that then there is an opportunity to learn and grow from so-called mistakes….. .
I agree that we can choose to focus only on the negative things or faults in our life rather than all the aspects that are going well, and moan and complain about them, but this achieves nothing except making us miserable. So why not stop to appreciate all the little things that are there worth appreciating?
Absolutely, it does feel far more joyful to put our energy towards appreciating our life, rather than moaning about things we felt dissatisfied with.
Appreciating life, washing up, hoovering, putting the rubbish out, going to work, etc and absolutely paying the bills along with other jobs it is important to understand how we feel about these chores says a lot about how we we feel about life. Joy or grind? And so if there is grind….why is there not joy there….and is there something to look at – no perfection required.
A great point Samantha – its not what we do – but the way that we do them, our attitude.
We have to do the everyday ordinary things like the hoovering and washing up, taking the rubbish out, washing the car, DIY, food shopping etc, much easier to enjoy all these things and add our sparkle as we go, because it costs more energy to do them with resistance, or in grind mode. And whatever energy we do them in, this is the energy that meets us when we do them again!
Wise, it is exhausting to do something without commitment and reluctantly.
When the bills are settled there can be settlement from commitment to oneself and to being in this world.
Our relationship with money is quite reflective and symbolic about the relationship we have with ourselves.
When we like one part of life but not another it’s a signal that we’re in illusion and being deceived in some way – because life is one at the end of the day. So beauty is not actually reserved for one bit and not another. It’s just we believe that it is. But continuing on in this way comes at a significant cost.
Yes, that stress can be a great distraction and even a welcome distraction.