Render unto Caesar...

Jesus once said "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."

Paying taxes is obviously a hot issue with a lot of people. It shows up in a lot of different ways in my client's behavior. I wish to point out one common way I have observed. It happened to me and it seems to happen to most of us on our evolutionary path. At some point we become really pissed off at our government and wish to refrain from giving them a penny of our money. The government gives us plenty of reasons to justify our attitude, but this attitude can lead to people taking risky measures, not filing or fraudulent filing of returns. I know the US tax system is likely not even legal, but but from my experience not playing along can create problems, ergo render unto Caesar. I wish to address how to come to grips with the energy of paying taxes when and if you choose to pay. I am not judging those who do not pay, I totally understand. What I do and have advised others to do is to find some area of our government that you can perceive as doing some good. Protecting species, education, roads (you do use the roads, right?), parks, forests, social programs, space exploration and the like. Now imagine the taxes you pay going into that area of government. What you have done is gone from one extreme to another. As Cougina once pointed out to me, “The best way to find center is go to the two extremes”. After awhile you can imagine nothing and have a neutral energy about your money and taxes.

A lot of what I post will be obvious statements that you are already aware of, but what I learned from years of playing basketball was the importance of 'the basics'. Returning to the basics of anything can only help.