Despite the worldwide financial crisis, you still can thrive if you transform your consciousness.  Why?  Because consciousness is causal and creates what you experience in life, according to new research by quantum physicists such as Dr. Amit Goswami. 

We live in a participative universe, where everything is interconnected, and everything is affecting everything else.  The upside of today’s crisis is that it’s revealing to everyone the interconnected effect of mass consciousness minute by minute—reflecting alternating fear and confidence (or greed) with each dramatic rise and fall of stock markets, currencies, precious metals, real estate, etc.  And most important, the crisis is uncovering  the previously hidden global market casino and financial shell game.  

Greater light is pouring into the planet today and revealing what’s been disguised for years—excessive exposure to bad loans, unregulated financial predators, trillions of dollars in worthless, unsecured derivatives, hidden credit/default swaps, fraudulent Ponzi schemes, etc.  

Now people everywhere are demanding that financial systems be carefully reregulated and restructured and that corruption be removed in financial regulation agencies.  Financial risk must become more transparent in order to rebuild trust between citizens and their institutions, as well as between institutions. All this will ultimately clear the way for a more enlightened, ethical and environmentally sustainable economy as money passes out of the hands of the greedy and dishonest into more worthy and productive hands.  

In the midst of the current crisis, how can you change your consciousness and weather the storm?  Here’s how to attract (or protect) financial resources and be prepared for future upheavals:

Deepen your trust in a Higher Power and in your own higher purpose.  Putting God or Spirit first is the best insurance policy—the ultimate safety net.  Prioritize what’s essential in your life, rather than trivial externalities. You’ll attract the resources you need to fulfill your soul’s purpose and make your contribution to a better world.

Meditate and invoke spiritual guidance.  This will help calm your subconscious fears, invoke creative solutions, and help you make wiser financial decisions.

Create community and networks of mutual support.  Good relationships help you get through all kinds of problems and bring you new, creative solutions.  Overcome isolation through connection with others, which will attract what you need. 

Welcome change and embrace it.  Explore where you may be stuck in old habit patterns—physically, emotionally, mentally—especially in relation to money, and release old patterns through conscious awareness and choice.  Invoke your spiritual will to help release the old and strengthen more positive patterns.

Practice detachment from personal comfort and release the need to be in control at all times.  Be flexible and flowing so you can adapt to any personal or collective upheavals that might emerge. Let go of needing particular outcomes.

Focus on emerging opportunities.  Be alert to new doors opening as old ones close.  Crisis can sometimes bring wonderful surprises, and some much needed changes—blessings in disguise.

Invest some of your resources in the new world.  Find quality companies that are ahead of the curve in honoring the “triple bottom line”—people and planet, as well as profit—and keep a very diversified portfolio, so all your eggs aren’t in one basket.

Transform anger into forgiveness.  Address strong feelings catalyzed by the crisis—for example, anger towards those who caused the current financial crisis—greedy or dishonest bankers, neglectful government regulators, etc.—and especially anyone who contributed to your personal financial problems. Then work on releasing your anger at the mistakes of others--as well as your own—and embrace forgiveness.

Uncover and explore the deeper fears behind your worries.  Honestly face what you most fear—poverty, bankruptcy, etc.—and learn what fear can teach you. Is there any rational basis to your fears that you need to face squarely?  Keep a larger perspective so fear doesn’t overwhelm you. 

Appreciate the many wonderful things you already have.  Stop focusing on impoverishment and what you think you lack, and instead give thanks for what you have—especially the many blessings in your life—family, friends, good health, etc.

Simplify your lifestyle to reduce your spending.  Do you really need all that consumer stuff?  The planet could certainly use some lightening up and reduction of energy use. Go deeper and explore what quality or experience you are trying to satisfy with a material product, and discover a new way to draw this into your life.

Do your financial homework before investing or buying anything of significant value. Don’t believe everything you see or hear.  If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  There’s still much hidden corruption in the system that’s not been exposed, so it’s important to research everything thoroughly.

Develop more practical self-sufficiency.  It’s very empowering to know how to grow food in your garden, to create independent sources of heat, etc., so you know you can survive any problems with the systems you usually depend on.

Be a producer, rather than a consumer, of energy.  Like the sun, your soul is a creative generator of energy, unlike your ego which often seems like an endless, hungry, black hole needing to be filled.  Invoke your soul and get juiced up so you can give out energy to others.

Challenge yourself to develop more personal courage and leadership around economic issues of concern to your community, such as care of the hungry and homeless.

Be generous to others as an act of confidence in an abundant universe.  There are always others in greater need than you, and what you give from your heart will return to you a hundred fold—it’s true!  Scientific research has shown that when you help others, you experience a “helper’s high” that is spiritually more satisfying than any material reward. 

Corinne McLaughlin is co-author of Spiritual Politics: Changing the World from the Inside Out (Forward by the Dalai Lama) and Builders of the Dawn, Executive Director of The Center for Visionary Leadership, and coordinated a national task force for President Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development.  corinnemc@visionarylead.org; www.visionarylead.org