The Power of Purging

January 24, 2008 by Stephen Palmer

The formula for creating wealth is simple: Inventory all of your resources and, if you’re not utilizing them, then begin to use them to productively, or give them to someone who will use them. I define the productive use of resources as using them to fill human needs and desires. In other words, figure out what people want and give it to them.

The Universe does not give us what we think we want; it gives us what we are. We are living magnets that attract in our physical world what we are mentally and spiritually. A person who hoards and accumulates resources will not be given more, for that person shows the Universe that their capacity for utilizing resources has been maximized. On the other hand, a person who gives freely will receive freely. Accumulators are stagnant ponds with no outlet; utilizers are vibrant, fertile, and free- flowing rivers. Resources flow to the one, while flowing through the other.

We as Americans have been so abundantly blessed from our birth that we almost don’t even need to try to accumulate resources. The poorest among us are still much more wealthy than most of the world. Think about it for a minute: We have nicer homes for our cars than most people have for their families. We arrive at a state where many of us who are not living according to an abundant paradigm are still enjoying the fruits of abundance.

Let me get more specific. I’m speaking here of the millions of Americans who have houses and garages full of unused resources, and I’m just as guilty as anyone else. I invite you to do an exercise that I guarantee will open your eyes and help you change your thinking. Go out to your garage and find all of the stuff that has not been used for 6 months or more. My wife and I, who consider ourselves to be minimalists, do this twice a year, and we are consistently amazed at how much stuff we really have. There truly is enough and to spare in this abundant world, and most of it sits uselessly in our garages and storage units.

If we wish to live truly abundant lives, then we must learn to let resources pass through us. Resources that come to us and then sit idle do nothing but rust and decay. Idle resources corrupt our hearts because keeping them is an indication that our hearts are set on them. The Universe doesn’t want us to have resources; it wants us to use resources. And it will lend us as many resources as we prove we can handle. The best way that I know to prove to the Universe that we are thinking abundantly is to give away the resources that we are not putting to productive use.

Now that you’ve taken a look in your garage and seen how much stuff that you have sitting idle, I invite you to take the next step, and that is to give it away. This is a process called purging that was taught to my wife and I by one of our mentors. It is most effective if it occurs every 6 months on a regular schedule. It’s simple, it’s powerful, and I think you’ll find it to be actually fun after you get the hang of it. It’s the perfect way to show the Universe that you are a productive and wise steward, and not a selfish owner.

In her book Hidden Treasures, Leslie Householder explains the power of purging by labeling it the “Vacuum Law of Prosperity.” The vacuum law simply states that nature abhors a vacuum.

Leslie tells a story of a man named Bob who went to visit his aunt, who “emphatically apologized for her hideous curtains.” She expressed how much she hated those old curtains, but said she unfortunately couldn’t afford to replace them. Bob said, “You love those curtains.” “No, I hate them!” came the reply. “I just can’t afford to replace them.” “No,” said Bob, “you love them. Subconsciously you are in complete harmony with them, or they’d already be gone.” She continued to insist that she couldn’t afford new ones. Bob persisted, “Dear Aunt, don’t you see? You don’t need new curtains; you have no place to hang any! If you want new curtains, take these down, clean them up, and give them away.”

After some time Bob’s aunt was convinced that since nature abhors a vacuum, it would not allow her to go long without the curtains she needed. But she would never get them so long as there were others already in their place.

Hesitantly, Bob’s aunt did as he said. The next time he came to visit, there hung the new curtains. Somehow, a way had presented itself, and she was so amazed and inspired by the principle that now her living room was void of furniture.

Nature will give us exactly what we ask for, but we must make room for it first. We can’t accumulate “stuff” and expect our lives to be abundant. Christ also explains the difference between accumulation and utilization. In Luke chapter 12, verses 15-21 we read, “And [Christ] said unto [the disciples], Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him. Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Abundance isn’t having things; it’s a state of mind. In fact, if we truly understand the abundance paradigm we will know that the only true reality is in the mind; our physical world is nothing but a symbol of our mental reality. And to get into the abundance paradigm we must align our thoughts with universal principles of prosperity. One of the best ways to enable this mental alignment is to give away our idle resources. Show the Universe today that you are a wise steward of abundance.

Make an inventory of all of the resources you control and immediately purge your life of the idle ones that are corrupting your mind and heart. Commit today to follow the principle of the six-month purge, and you will soon find that you will not have room enough to receive all of the blessings that the Universe will shower on you.