Ha, ha, ha. Got you.

No, seriously. I had a major brain-burst this morning. I realized that negotiations are a self-defeating proposition.

Take a lawnmower for an example. To produce that lawnmower, you must first have someone dig metals out of the ground. In a factory somewhere, someone is mixing chemicals for the rubber gaskets and tires. The metal goes to a smelter, and from a smelter to a factory where it’s shaped and assembled. The gaskets are made, the tires formed and checked. The whole thing is put together, packed, and shipped to a retailer who then sells it to you.

Before you ever see it, several dozen people have worked on it. Each and every one of them should be compensated for their labor, and you and I are not qualified to say what another person’s labor is worth. They charged their employers whatever they were paid, and if you try to negotiate a lower price than what is listed on the sticker, you’re telling ALL of them that their labor wasn’t worth what they were paid. If you’re willing to negotiate for what you’re paid for your services, you’re accepting that you might not be worth what you think you are.

There is more. This is where THE SECRET kicks in. When you try to negotiate a lower price than what is listed on the sticker, you’re telling the UNIVERSAL ALL THAT IS that you don’t believe you have enough to pay what something is worth. Or that you don’t appreciate the item, and the people who made it, enough to value it correctly. And the UNIVERSAL ALL THAT IS will answer you with, “AS YOU WISH” – and boom, you don’t have enough. You struggle to pay bills. Your vehicles break down. You’re stressed, unhappy, and sick. Because the UNIVERSAL ALL THAT IS has accepted your decision to not have enough, to not express appreciation fully, to not enjoy what you have.

I know – we’re taught practically from the cradle that the secret to being a good shopper is getting the best deals, the lowest prices. The most for the least, that is the AMERICAN WAY. What we’re never taught is the truth about money. It’s an illusion. It’s an idea. The paper that a $50 bill is printed on has no additional intrinsic value above that of a $1 bill. They both cost the same to design and print. The only difference is that our society has accepted the idea of one being more valuable than the other.

So money is really nothing more than a tool. A means of expressing appreciation for the labor, skill, service, production of others. The more you express appreciation, the more you will appreciate the world around you. And as you increase your appreciation of the world around you, the less stress you’ll have, the better your health will be, and the more happiness you will have.

Oh, and you’ll find that you’ll also worry less about money, too.