This hardly takes a thought to picture this event in your mind. It might be daring but you can be 
sure it would be foolhardy. If a storm is coming and we live near a bayou, we might want to get a large delivery of sandbags versus a smaller delivery. If you have a chronic illness that requires routine medical attention, you might not want to locate yourself too far out in the country where only visiting nurses can assist you. Life does give us opportunities and it is up to us to reasonably assess them and see if they are wise or foolish.
This is particular true of those in the New Thought Movement (originally called New Age). One of the characteristics of the New Thought Movement is the grand “prosperity” movement. This is also particularly true of the televangelist movement. God wants you to prosper and give more to the “pastor-preneurs”. Self-help groups, affirmations, burning bowls for your written obstacles that stand in the way of your good and other exercises are all tools used to assist you in gaining prosperity. It makes you feel good to think that you are doing something positive to assist you in becoming prosperous. There is nothing wrong in being prosperous and abundant. I have always agreed with Brian Tracy who says that money may not be that important but is considered to be “right up there with oxygen”.
God, of course, is not a person or thing that sits in the sky and hands out money or prosperity based on your behavior. You can be the best and nicest person in the world and still not have a pot to piss in or as Brian says, “a window to throw it out of.” So what is the secret here of God is good but never dance in a small boat? (I think the saying is an old Irish one so that could be a hint as to its deeper meaning. It was the famous Irish playwright Oscar Wilde who said that “the Irish have an abiding sense of tragedy which sustains them through temporary periods of joy.”) It does mean you can trust God but you have to have some common sense about your situation. If you are without funds, praying can help but it can’t substitute for cash in hand. Landlords and bankers don’t care if you pray a lot. Children are not fed by just your prayers.
If you need room to dance, meaning to put your affairs in order, you do not take risks that you cannot afford to lose. If you have lost money in the markets, you do not double down with what you have left to try and get it back. You do not use good money or future money to pay for what is gone. What is gone is gone. If you need a cushion to protect yourself from future rains, then you plan on how to put that together. You learn to budget, sacrifice and yet increase your income while you learn to operate in a larger boat.
I have had several clients, usually older single women, who have inherited monies from their parents or a spouse and haven’t a clue as to how to invest it, protect it and use it. They can be at the mercy of ambitious brokers, get-rich advertisements or well-meaning friends. Since their boat of knowledge is so small, it can be wise to wait and learn more about investing before they try to even consider doing the dance. God is protective but this same force also gives you free will to squander it away or have it grow into wealth. Remember that the same rain falls on the sinner and the saint. It is up to you to be wise and intelligent about how you use your assets. People say to me that God is love. I would agree with that but God is also intelligent. If we are “trying to be more in God’s image”, wouldn’t it behoove us to act more intelligently?
I cannot tell you how many times people come to me about this or that financial guru’s advice asking me what I think about it. Almost all general “free” investment newsletters are filled with fear. The markets will do this or that and you, therefore, should do this or that to protect yourself. I have come to the conclusion that people do not play the long game, that they do not want to do the true work in finding out the information and source behind the rumor and that they would rather put it all on red or black and hope for the best. Remember that “hope” was also in Pandora’s Box with all the other nasty items. Learning about how to use money takes time and vigilance. It can be tedious and confusing but it is your money, your energy and your time.
By dancing in a larger boat, you can create options and choices for yourself. Besides being dangerous to dance in a small boat due to falling in the water, you limit yourself with tiny boundaries that inhibit movement and opportunities and better results.
What are some of the ways that people dance in a small boat? One way of dancing in a small boat is using questionable methods of staying healthy. Many people turn to some particular food fad to be healthy. Perhaps they only eat raw foods. Not all bodies can handle raw foods well. Perhaps their digestive system cannot process and absorb the nutrients of raw foods. Some raw foods need to be cooked in order to best gain the food’s nutrients. In Chinese medicine, raw food has found to be more work for the body. First it has to internally heat up the foods to the temperature of the body before it can even begin to process it. It, therefore, uses more physical energy just to eat.
Another small boat to good health is the self-deception of making up for lost food values through lots of supplements. This is big in America. We take copious amounts of vitamins and minerals thinking we can make up the difference caused by our poor eating habits. Never mind that we may not need the supplements. Never mind that we could be overloading our liver and weakening our own immune systems. We just swallow away depending on the latest article touting the latest finding.
There are just such a myriad of small boat dancing habits. We do it especially with relationships. We try to accommodate our partner’s comfort zone by limiting our own potential or stifling our own creativity. I see this over and over again in relationships, especially in older couples, where only one person has really actualized their potential. Today the marriage age is later and I think that is a very good thing. People can have time to develop themselves and know more about how to manage themselves before they try to live inside a relationship.
We do it especially in job situations. We stay in safe, stifling jobs that literally don’t “rock the boat.” It provides some type of security even though we know we have wishes and dreams that will never come to pass until we get out of the small boat. Let’s put it another way, if you want to sail in the larger waters of opportunities, you will have to get out of your small boat.
Remember, God is good but never dance in a small boat!
Excerpt from Gail’s upcoming book “The Windshield Wiper or the Bug”
Dear Gail:
I am starting my divorce proceedings tomorrow. I am nervous however God is and I am
meaning HE is mighty and in charge
Thy Will Be Done.
I have been returning to myself and finding out more about “Maura” and who she is in
the World. That is refreshing and different! Taking Action in other areas of my life that were very restricted.
Looking at things that I am passionate about…health and well-being is at the TOP of my list. Balance and Connecting to my Divine
on a daily basis through prayer and meditation.
Thank you for your love guidance and support during this transition.
Love you
Maura
a fabulous “aura”
Thanks Gail.
You always make such good sense!
Dear Gail, I think that tis post is perhaps the most meaningful, at least to me, and profound of your postings that I have read since I happily started following you several years ago.
I have noticed that you have posted less because I look forward to your insightful words of wisdom because they help me to remain hopeful and philosophical during these very unsettling and worrisome times. I appreciate being reminded that there is always a deeper meaning and a worthwhile purpose to what is going on even if it seems like all hell is breaking loose in real time. I have a great deal of respect for your perspective and wish you well. You truly are a beacon of light in today’s world.
Always enjoy your articles. It’s interesting what you said about fad diets, and it seems it’s sometimes due to changing views and the interference of who’s producing the food that fight the FDA that tends to lead people’s choices because they’re looking for answers. If they had the answers they would’ve stopped looking a long time ago, there would be no fad diets.
There was an interesting study done in the movie “Fasting” (on Amazon – free for Prime members) where they found if people didn’t change what they ate (didn’t matter if they ate cake) but changed when they ate (from 10am – 7pm) they began to cure diseases. Even the Cancer Research people must know how fasting alone can cure illness because they invested money in research to create a fasting mimicking diet to use along with chemotherapy. (It’s called Prolon and you can get it online: https://prolonfast.com/pages/pricing) One person said the Cancer Research person, Dr. Longo, found that fasting stopped her cancer cells… and she had a 4 Lb brain tumor! (But they had her do chemo too.) A person in the film said, eating healthy and fasting can cure disease and although that’s a good health model, it is not a good business model. Who wants to invest in that? What is the motivation? Where is the money? (Hint, hint: Prolon $249/box but $225/box for 3 boxes= 15 days of fasting will cost you $675 and you could do this with just fruit and vegetables for far less – I spend about $50-60/week when I juice fast, (all organic) and that’s all my food for the week.)
I believe fasting works because as Dr. Alejandro Junger states in another movie that the body takes 8 hours to digest food, and another 4 hours to turn on our detoxification systems to full capacity. Humans started out as Hunter-Gatherers and had imposed fasting when food wasn’t available, but the detoxification system didn’t adapt to the current eating model. When the digestive system is turned off, the stomach, the second brain in our body, releases serotonin and other healing chemicals. In the movie “Fasting” they believe it takes 4 days of fasting (there are different forms of fasting) to turn on our stem cells that eliminate damaged cells and replace them with healthy new cells. People have healed so many things, including cancer, brain and spine issues. Even timed fasting, 10am-7pm, and not changing a thing in their diet (one guy said he even ate worse than before – lol) helped people to lose weight, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure and get off of their medications. Inspiring. What if it’s this simple? Letting our detoxification system kick in, and giving our stem cells a chance to work. I wonder if they will eventually find that the stem cells turn on with the detoxification system. I think they might.
You make me laugh.
Enjoy your perspective on all things human.
When are you coming to Boston to visit and take a ride on the Swanboat on the Commons?