I used to date a girl.
Really nice girl. Gorgeous. Witty. Fit. Super smart.
We met on Match and had our first date over spicy margaritas at a local pizza joint. At first, she seemed a little tense. But once she loosened up we had a blast.
We talked. We laughed. We ordered another round. Things were looking good.
When it was time to part ways, she went back to being tense. She insisted she pay for her drinks. I mean, really insisted!
Being the chivalrous man my Mom raised me to be, I told her I appreciated her offer but would take care of it. Thanks.
Still, no luck.
Fortunately, our bartender was holding onto my card and had already charged me for both of our drinks. Dodged that bullet. Phew!
Over the next few weeks, we met up again and again. Drinks. Dinner. Arcade games.
But this same issue kept coming up.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind being on the receiving end of a paid-for dinner here and there. She even picked up the tab for our second date. Very nice of her.
It just seemed like every time a bill landed on our table, she would launch into combat mode.
Her: You don’t have to pay for me.
Me: I know I don’t have to. But I want to.
Her: Nooooooooooooooooo!!!
Me: ((sigh))
Not only did she not want me to pay for anything she ate or drank, but she also “hated it” when I opened her door, pulled out her chair, or did anything a gentleman would do.
It threw me for a loop, to say the least. I mean, I’ve been on my fair share of dates and had never encountered anything like this before.
So at some point I had to look her square in the eye, bill in hand, and tell her how I felt about this…
I told her that when I paid the bill (or pulled out her chair) I was honoring her and offering her a gift with no expectation of anything in return. It’s just who I am. And when she continually declined my gift, it kinda bummed me out and felt like a rejection.
She acknowledged that she understood what I was saying and how I was feeling, but nothing ever changed.
Like I said, I used to date a girl.
I think we’ve all done this before. We’re out to lunch with a friend or colleague, the bill comes, and we fight over who pays it.
“I got it.”
“No, I got it.”
“No really, I got it. I insist.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll get the next one.”
Sound familiar? Typically, the only way we relent to accepting the gift is by acknowledging how we feel indebted. We promise to “get the next one.”
Maybe it’s a habit. Or just a polite out-to-eat tradition we learned somewhere.
Yet seldom do we ever consider how it makes the giver feel when we’re so resistant to receiving. Instead of simply being open to accepting the gift and giving thanks, we turn it into an IOU. We receive, but with stipulations.
Today’s podcast guest, Emmanuel Dagher, author of Easy Breezy Prosperity, reminds us that receiving is just as important as giving. That in order to be prosperous in all aspects of our lives, we must focus on strengthening our receiving muscles. To honor the giver and embrace this golden opportunity to express our gratitude. With no strings attached.
Emmanuel shares the incredible, inspiring story that set him on his path of bringing more prosperity, confidence, and abundance into the lives of others.
If you enjoyed last week’s session with Bob Proctor, I know you’re gonna love this one!
Pick the PLAY button above to listen to Session #002 with Emmanuel Dagher.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
By the way, I have a dozen copies of Easy Breezy Prosperity to give away. Head on over to the Facebook page to find out how to enter to win a copy. It’s as easy as leaving a quick review on iTunes!
Just fantastic, as always! I love your interviews. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you SO much for what you both do and for sharing! You are both some of my favorite people to hear from! Already reading Easy Breezy Prosperity and loving it. It’s always encouraging to see how many ways I’ve already been implementing these skills and mind sets in my life. Keep up the good work. Look forward to following you both as you share your beautiful messages!
Love, love, loved the show, thank-you!
Love, love, loved it Sean, great interview & great speaker, such a genuine, caring guy, I’m buying the book today!!! So awesome to have you back on deck, & I cant wait to see what you have in store for us. 🙂
I am already a subscriber. I really enjoyed your show today and the wisdom of your young guest. It is good to have you back sharing your interviewing skills, your guests, their wisdom, and your wisdom, Thank you.
Great speaker and interview! I appreciate what you do for others! Thank you so much!
Looks like I’ll be the lone dissenter, but talk about prosperity, positivism and manifesting grates on me. I’ve tried them all, and they don’t work,. I think there is so much more to creating the life we want to live. Most of these discussions leave out very real life problems and obstacles, that, for me, it’s too Pollyanna to say its all in your thinking, or take that fearful step and you’ll be rewarded.
That said, a podcast that speaks to changing entrenched bad habits and thinking would hit home for me. Or a discussion on what we can realistically affect, and how to be at peace with what we can’t change. I have financial and health challenges that probably could change for the better if I could afford the help, and 90% of what I’ve earned has gone only into my healing. I’ve been at this for decades, but little has improved. I’m at a crossroads…do I succumb to being ill and deeply unhappy, or do I find a way to be at peace with the way things are? Not seeking happiness or relief from constant pain that makes me want to end it all, but practice allowing what my life is, to be as it is, peacefully. It’s a tall order, and most of the time I fail at it. But it’s the only thing I can see to deal with a situation that isn’t changing.
@Asia: You are not the only dissenter. “Ditto” and “Amen” to every word in your comment! Thank you.
I think a lot of the success people talk about having is because they are so blessed to begin with: good health, good connections, good support, 1st-world country filled with endless abundance and opportunities, things like that. Let’s see how great they do if they have CONSTANT debilitating health problems; need to put nearly ALL extra resources into things like health care, someone else with demanding special needs, etc; have no support; live in an area with no opportunities; etc. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but sometimes it’s impossible! That starving refugee in some African country isn’t going to make a million dollars by using “The Secret” or other such techniques only possible within an environment ALREADY with opportunities.
Moreover, I don’t know anything about having Karma and multiple-lives and such…but if it is true, and if there really is some predetermined “script” for our life…maybe some of us HAVE to fail in order to “learn some lesson” in this life. We do everything “right” and anyone else would hit a homerun for sure, but we “lose” it all, in order to learn the lesson that helps us later “win” in this life or another life or something else. Who knows.
Just tired of “The Secret” or “mind over matter” and similar. It doesn’t work (at least not so far), just like the “Golden Rule” doesn’t work!
Furthermore, notice that Emmanuel had his success NOT in Lebanon, NOT hiding (from the tanks and outside war), NOT all handicapped (physically & verbally), and NOT limited in opportunities.
He had success AFTER he came to the US, AFTER he had open freedoms, AFTER he healed more in multiple ways, and AFTER he took advantage of a country overflowing with opportunities.
Is that “Law” (Theory) of Attraction?…or more about having a good environment, good nutrients (like Vit D, as Sean correctly identified in the interview as well), good freedoms, good support, and working hard (including having the ABILITY & STAMINA to work hard, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc) at taking advantage of existing opportunities, and making even more.
It should be called the “Theory of HAVEaction.” Those that already HAVE something to work with, and take ACTION with it, then MIGHT get success (after a bunch of failures too probably.)
This was a wonderful interview and I plan to post this to my own blog for my readers. Thank you for this Sean!
Hiya Sean, This was terrific! You truly nailed it, my friend… I couldn’t take notes fast enough there were so many golden nuggets in here. Your interviewing skills are tremendous; your questions truly drill down into what I want to know. There is absolute truth in what you said about intuition;it completely resonated for me when you said ‘I don’t do anything that doesn’t feel right.’ I have begun to do that lately for big and small things in my life and it’s HUGE… It saved my life and will be part of my answers to not just my upcoming wellness but to my ‘thrive-al’! God bless you; I’m headed to listen to #001 because I’m hooked now! With gratitude galore, Judy
I knew a lot about the subject matter but was wonderfully surprised at the light bulb moments I had today while listening to you both. Thank you so much!
Loved this episode! All the tools provided really resonated with me and I want to put them in action.
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