Dear Agnes,
I work mid-level in financial services, and while I’m used to pressure, this year feels heavier. Between market swings and economic stress, it feels to me like most of us are just trying to hang on. And yet, I’ve been dreaming of more: more purpose, more creativity, more freedom.
I’m eyeing a promotion, building a financial wellness workshop for women, and researching investment properties. These goals excite me, but also bring guilt. I wonder if it’s selfish to want expansion when so many are struggling. How can I move toward abundance in a way that uplifts others instead of pulling me away?
Gratefully,
Hopeful but Hesitant
Dear Hopeful,
The human mind often swings like a pendulum between desire and guilt, one moment reaching for expansion, the next shrinking back in shame. If you stay caught in that swing, you will always feel torn.
It is natural to want more, especially when “more” means bringing your gifts to life. The heaviness of the world can trick you into believing that the best you can do is play small, when in fact the opposite is true. Healing and growth come when you drop beneath the pendulum swing and allow the transformation to unfold.
One of the most generous ways to offer help to others is by allowing yourself to expand. Your dream of teaching financial wellness is already a clue. Notice how your personal ambition and generosity are not separate: they are braided. By building a workshop for women, you are already transforming your knowledge into a gift that can multiply.
Ask yourself: How can my next step also serve another? When you pursue the promotion, open doors for others and bring them with you. When you learn about investing, share the insights with a friend who previously never felt invited into the conversation. Abundance grows best when it is allowed to circulate.
You are not selfish for wanting more. You are wise for asking how Your more can become Our more. Walk toward your goals with that intention, and your expansion will not feel like leaving others behind. It will feel like walking and widening a path so that others can more easily join you.
In loving support,
Agnes