The Psychology of Poverty

"The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream."

- Harry Kemp

Imagine two boxes sitting in front of you.

One contains the riches you could enjoy in your life.

The other contains a terrible price you could pay in your life.

The first box is a treasure chest.

It contains peace of mind, sound health, labors of love of your own choice, freedom from fear and worry, a positive mental attitude, material riches of your own choice and quantity, and love.

The second chest is a cursed Pandora's box.

It contains hatred, envy, jealousy, greed, fear, worry, indecision, doubt, ill health, frustration, discouragement, poverty and want. Once opened, it will infect others, spreading a wave of misery throughout the world.

Every person has a free choice of which box they will open.

It would seem that no one would ever want to open the second chest, but most people invariably do so. It is a rare thing, truly, for a person to choose the treasure chest.

These two boxes represent the powers of your own mind.

Learning to control your mind - which guides your thoughts, actions, words, deeds and inevitably, your destiny - or not doing so, is the choice represented by these two boxes. When you choose to control your mind, you are choosing the treasure chest. When you fail to control your mind, you are choosing the cursed Pandora's box of misery and suffering.

Everyone comes to the earth with the ability to control their own mind at birth.

The vast majority of humanity fails to learn how to control their minds, and they end up living lives of misery, poverty, hatred, envy and great suffering. To escape this fate, you must learn to control your mind. When you do this, you will be one of the tiny minority in the world that will find themselves opening the treasure chest.

The Psychology of Poverty

The reason most people make the wrong choice in which box to open is because they suffer from the psychology of poverty. There are two ways of thinking: The way of the rich man and the way of the poor man. Successful, wealthy, happy people all think the same way. Miserable, poor, unhappy people also think the same way. Everyone in prison thinks the same. Everyone that lives a life of luxury and happiness also think in the same way.

It's not my fault! - Lies and Excuses

You may be thinking, "It's not my fault! Others have taken advantage of me. They have hurt me, they have held me back, my parents were cruel to me, I was born in poverty and cannot get out of it, I am too sick, I am too old, I am too young, I do not have the education, I do not have the ability, people do not like me, people hate my skin color, my divorce has ruined my life, etc."

These are lies that weak, hateful, envious, poor people tell themselves.

Your life is the direct result of how you use your mind. If you think like a poor person, you will forever remain a poor person.

Avoid Bad Company

"Do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals."

- 1 Corinthians 15:33

People tend to think like those around them. Guard yourself so that you are not affected by the poverty mindsets of others. Those you choose to associate with will determine your fate. You are what is around you.

It is no accident that the first instructions contained in the book of proverbs tell about the enticements of sinners. Do you have friends or do you have fiends? Who do you choose to associate with? Where do you shop? The places you spend time in, the people you call friends, and the kind of life you surround yourself with will reinforce the attitude you will have in your life. Be careful not to feed the psychology of poverty.

Hate & Envy

The poor are so caught up in their present problems that they do not plan ahead or think ahead. The poor have great hostility and envy towards people that prosper and succeed. The poor are suspicious and resentful towards people that succeed in life. This attitude, which is shared by the majority of people on the earth, will poison your destiny.

Are you so wrapped up in the problems of the present day that you don't take time to plan ahead? Do you have great hostility and envy towards those that prosper and succeed? Do you criticize them? How do you react towards successful people?

There is mass hostility and mass envy towards wealth.

When you begin to prosper and succeed in life, you will be surprised by the hostility you will encounter, especially from the people that you thought would have cheered you on.

If you are not careful, they will destroy you. They will drag you down back to their level. Beware of your friends. Beware of your family. Beware of the public. Those that seem to love you may harbor secret hatreds towards you and your success. Do not let them poison your mind with their miseries and hatreds. Do not return hate with more hate.

How do you react?

It is not what happens to you in life, but it is how you react to what happens to you that will determine your fate. Everyone has bad things that happen to them. If you want to overcome these things, you need to change the way you react to them.

One aspect of love is that you must endure the hate and envy of others, without returning their poison in kind. If others harm you, you must resist the urge to harm them back. This is the mark of a leader. This is the mark of a successful person. This is the mark of those that open the treasure chest, which will sustain their happiness. If you give in to the temptation to return hatred, you will shut the lid of the treasure chest, and you may never be able to open it again.

Were you put on this earth to spread misery and suffering?

Do not add to the evil you encounter in life. Instead, spread goodness through patience, forgiveness, kindness and gratitude. Resistance is created by fighting. If you harm others after they harm you, you will feed the fires of conflict. If you react with patience and forgiveness, you will put out the fires that spread misery. Whatever you project will come back to you, multiplied.

Do not succumb to envy.

Sometimes we are tested. Sometimes the good that we desire will come to others around us first. Do not make negative comments against them. If you do so, your good will not come to you.

You must guard your thoughts, words and deeds.

Are you envious of successful people?

Do you speak nasty comments about others?

How do you treat others?

If you hate wealthy people you will never become one.

Remember, those that succumb to the temptations of hatred and envy are creating their own doom. They suffer from the psychology of poverty.

The Law of Increasing Returns

Your attitude towards everything and everyone will affect what happens to you. This is because your mind will produce what you put into it. If you deposit negative thoughts of decrease, you will suffer the same fate. If you deposit riches into your mind, your mind will produce riches. Maintain an attitude of increase towards others, always seeing them prosperous, healthy, and happy.

Avoid "Hard times" Talk

Those that dwell on negative things will find themselves experiencing more of the same. Truly, we live in a vast world where there are endless possibilities for each of us. During the Great Depression, there were many successful people.

Success is not dependant on what is going around you. The majority is often wrong. When you talk about how bad things seem to be, it will come true. If you avoid doing this, and change your attitude towards thoughts of increase, you will experience success.

Gossiping about negative things will bring these things into your life too.

Never Hurry, Never Worry

Have you ever experienced the strange thing when you "have too much to do" you never get anything done? This is because hurry comes from worry, which comes from fear. Fear invokes the law of decrease, and your mind will produce whatever you put into it. If you find yourself rushing to get things done, or if you find yourself trying to force a result, you are only creating more fear and negativity. This will sabotage your good.

Train your mind to never be disappointed. Instead of dwelling on the illusion of failure, you should increase your expectations. Often, failure is nothing but success trying to be born in a bigger way.

Avoid Petty Thinking

Do not waste time holding grudges. Is it really that important? Getting involved in hostilities, resentments and grudges will only sabotage your good. Instead, project forgiveness, kindness and love towards your enemies.

The Golden Rule of Prosperity

You should not think or speak anything about the affairs of others that you do not want to experience yourself. Give yourself and others thoughts of increase always.

Open Your Mind to Prosperity

Most people close their minds to prosperity through negative thinking, which is caused by the psychology of poverty. Many people feel guilty about wanting to become prosperous. Truly, you need to change your attitudes about prosperity and success. It is not impossible. It is available to everyone. Many people think it is sinful to prosper, feeling that poverty is a virtue. This is nonsense. Many of the most famous people in the bible were millionaires. It has been estimated that poverty causes most of the problems in the world. War, crime, disease, violence and suffering are caused by poverty.

You have no right to be poor.

To live and not be prosperous is a misfortune. Anyone can become rich if they change the way they think. Your mind will manufacture whatever you place inside it, multiplying it in your world. Do not feel guilty about wanting to be prosperous. Thoughts of success and prosperity were given to you by God, who wants everyone to be successful and happy. Do not deny the good that the universe is trying to create for you.

The Soul of a Free Man vs. The Soul of a Slave

Just as water will always seek its level, the soul of a free man will always rise above others. The soul of a slave will always remain in the dirt.

Do you have the soul of a free man or the soul of a slave?

The choice is yours.

These two boxes stand before you.

Will you choose a treasure chest of success or the Pandora's box of failure?

Hope you liked it!

By Mark O'Bannon