I bargained with Life for a penny and Life would pay no more.
However I begged at evening when I counted my scanty store.

 For Life is a just employer, she gives you what you ask.

 I worked for a menial's hire, only to learn, dismayed,

A lot of things happen to us that can convince us to bargain or compromise our way through life-and we dare not ask for or expect more. After a few false starts and a few more crash and burns, we just begin to expect a scantier share of life's treasure.

I bring this up in response to a recent conference I attended where the topic of job satisfaction was discussed. One issue that resonated (sometimes passionately) in the room was the fact that many felt they were not being paid what they were worth. As I listened, this poem came to mind and I thought, it's easy to point a finger to a perceived external power and become angry or depressed about what we think we have been denied.

But the truth of the matter is; we're setting the wage that life pays us by what we ask for; and more importantly what we expect to receive. To truly own up to the fact that "we have not because we ask not" is difficult for many to accept. So here's a question for you; when are you going to live in your power and start asking for more, and expecting greater?

Pennie Murray is the author of Asking for Richer Ground: Your Verbal Magnet to Abundance www.penniemurray.com