This is the 3rd in a series of articles on changing our relationship with money.

Once we begin to understand and resolve our inner conflicts, that still doesn't mean that money will magically begin to flow in the amounts and timing we desire. It only means we've removed some of the obstructions that could get in its way.

Think back a couple thousand years to the days of the Roman Empire. Not their warlike ways and barbaric treatment of conquered foes, but rather to the great works of construction they have been remembered for -- namely roads and aqueducts.

Roads are built to carry people from where they are to where they want to go. Similarly, aqueducts carry water from where it is to where it is needed. And the Romans did a wonderful job on both, particularly considering the engineering knowledge and technology of the day.

Activity Leads to Money
For most of us money doesn't just fall into our laps. We have to do something to get it. Or using the Roman model, we have to engage in activity that will allow money to flow from wherever it is to where it is needed -- in our pockets so we can pay our bills and live the lives we want.

This activity is the aqueduct, or channel, that we must create through which money can flow. Maybe it's as simple as buying a lottery ticket or as complex as building a business. Either way, our job is to do something that will allow money to flow back to us.

This world is a wonderful incubator of creation. It offers us many great choices of what we can do in life. If we want to dig ditches as a way it can flow, that's great. But if we think we're above digging ditches, that it demeans us or makes us feel bad if others look down on us for doing so, then digging ditches may not be an appropriate choice of activity.

Setting aside for a moment the beliefs and judgments we might have about digging ditches, most of us soon learn that money alone is not enough of a reason to do something that we dislike or makes us feel bad.

Finding the Right Channel
It sure would help if the structure we build by which money can flow is something that fits who we are and what we're all about.

That takes a certain amount of self-knowing. But even without it we can feel when an activity is right for us, and when it is not. So perhaps we would be suited to look for those that feel good.

Of course, life is replete with examples of people doing things that make them feel good that don't bring them a dime of income. Working in the garden is one. Playing golf is another, which actually is more of an income drain than income builder for most of us.

So the activity we choose needs to be one through which money can flow easily, rather than requiring us to jump through all sorts of hoops to make it (like the golfer who practices for years to join the tour).

Again, this is a matter of feel, because areas that look financially unproductive can prove quite lucrative when approached the right way. So it takes a certain flexibility of perspective to examine the possibilities in each of the areas we want to consider investing our efforts, searching out those that not only feel good but show us a reasonable possibility to be financially productive as well.

Then, once the possibilities begin to appear and sort themselves out, the next step at hand is for us to choose. How we go about it is perhaps even more important than which way we go.

How Do You Choose?
Me, I choose by listening to my inner voice. Sometimes it's silent, but most of the time it will help me narrow down to the ones needed for the experiences I've contracted to get in my life plan.

It's sort of like feeling my way along. Not by physical touch, but by integrating intuition and inner "knowing" with mental and emotional feedback.

Even then, they don't tell me which way to go. They only give me a sense of how I'm responding to the possibility. For the choice is up to me. As it is up to you as well.

This is the hard part. Choosing. Making a choice, any choice. It doesn't really matter which you choose, because it's the experiences that choice brings that are most important to you, not necessarily the financial rewards it allows you to reap.

If this is true, then why do we even bother building our channels into which to pour our activity so that money can in exchange flow back to us?

Because it is this effort that allows us to create our reality, to integrate our inner aspects with our outer efforts to create a series of experiences by which to expand our souls.

If we didn't choose, then we'd be telling life it doesn't matter to us, and that we are willing to let it do what it wants with us and take potluck in return.

While making a choice seems like we're exerting control, control is the last thing choice will bring. What we find along the way is not up to us, and any efforts to micromanage the journey will only make our travel more difficult.

Rather, our job is simply to set our compass heading to travel a path that we will find more enjoyable or to a destination more of our liking.

Of course, if you are anything like me in the law, you might find it less of a joy than you thought. But guaranteed, it will bring you what you need -- even if that isn't money to survive and prosper.

Nevertheless, this is all part of the art of going your way, learning to draw on your inner compass to set your outer course and reap all it brings in return, for better or worse.

The activity you choose is therefore important. It can sustain you like the water did the Romans, nourishing your body, mind and spirit. Or it can leave you wanting, ready to break and run at the first opportunity to find whatever it is that you crave.

Choose your money-generating activities wisely. They will say a lot about what you consider important to you and this life that you are living.

Enjoy the Whole Series
Read #1. Transforming the Nature of Money
Read #2. Making Money -- A Tale of Many Conflicts
Read #3. What Activity Do You Do to Get Money?
Read #4. What to Do When Activity Doesn't Bring the Money You Need
Read #5. Separating Money from Conflict
Read #6. Taking the Struggle Out of Money