Wealth Without a Job: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Freedom and Security Beyond the 9 to 5 Lifestyle

single-celled organism. Childhood sexual abuse is a violation of

this social contract. To my knowledge, there is no society in which

sexual activity with children is acceptable.

One of my clients, Angela, suffered extreme childhood sexual

abuse involving her father and other male family members. This

unresolved experience caused her a wide variety of personal prob-

lems, but here I will discuss only their financial implications. Angela

had an extraordinary talent for seeing color and detail. But she

worked in a low-paying job for a printing company, doing color sep-

arations. People doing similar work in the film industry typically

earned three to five times as much.

This woman exhibited characteristics that are common to sex-

ual abuse victims. All the sexual abuse victims I have met have ab-

sorbed the “Don’t tell” message. Additionally, Angela carried

residual shame about what happened and about the fact she en-

joyed some of it. Shame is highly toxic to wealth. Shame carries the

erroneous idea there is something irreparably wrong with you. This

notion leads to the belief you don’t deserve the good things in life,

such as acceptance, affection, and money. The recovery of sexual

abuse victims begins when they realize that the shame is an erro-

neous and unwarranted reaction to an experience they could not

control and did not choose. This realization provides them with

previously unknown freedom to receive the good things in life the

shame had kept away.

When Angela realized she was not to blame for the abuse and

with the ensuing resolution of her shame, she was able to increase

her income significantly by working freelance in the film industry.

In addition, her personal life improved greatly.

Rules

Every family has rules. Some, such as “Look both ways before cross-

ing the street,” are of obvious lifelong benefit to everyone. Others

are childhood rules, which are actually counterproductive after you

are grown up. Here are 10 examples:

1. Sit down and be quiet.


2. Children should be seen and not heard.


3. Don’t brag or say good things about yourself.


4. Do as you are told.


5. Don’t do anything without permission.

82 Your Recovery from a Good Upbringing