When you first meet Todd Silva, you’ll be greeted by his warm smile, and short of
me telling you otherwise, you might regard him as a very normal, even typical husband,
father and businessman.
But Todd has an alter ego, a hidden identity, so to speak! He is known to a select few as “The Secret Dollar Man!”
That’s because everyday he gives away a dollar. And I do mean every day!!
Todd started doing this about two years ago after experiencing a couple of setbacks
in his life, mostly in the area of finances. An inspirational moment guided him to begin to give away a dollar, once a day, as a way to get back on track, and to get back in balance with his life.
Todd began to share his incredible story of growth and miracles with friends, and eventually Give Away A Dollar A Day grew into what it is today: A worldwide generosity movement where folks are giving away, every day, in many countries and in a variety of currencies–One Dollar wherever they can slip it, unnoticed by anyone!!
In our interview this evening, Todd told me more about what he felt called to do with this Dollar A Day Give Away. He said that he was tired of experiencing and re-experiencing the same patterns of failure regarding his financial situation. He attributed these failings to the false beliefs he seemed to have about money: False beliefs that we learn from infancy and which haunt us throughout life.
So he prayed and meditated for an answer to this dilemma.
And it came with a voice urging him to do the dollar give away program. The voice told him he had focused entirely on himself and wasn’t thinking of anyone else. Instead of thinking about what he could get, the voice urged him to turn this around.
What can I give?
Todd said that at the time of our interview, he had given away 6-700 hundred dollars over 6-700 days. He said that he has made the commitment to do this practice for the rest of his life.
It took him awhile to tell anyone about this practice, because he had the idea that he was supposed to be a serious business man. But the friend he told was enthusiastic and wanted to hear the whole story!
After a time, the idea caught on, and Todd built a website surrounding the concept. He began to get letters from the people who were doing it, describing the miracles that evolved from this simple practice.
I asked Todd if he thought the act of giving away money was an act of expanding one’s consciousness to embrace a more generous way of living?
Todd said that especially in today’s world with all the bad news about the economy, that the act of giving money away creates a belief that the Universe is a friendly place!
The subconscious mind receives the message that there is more than enough to go around.
I asked Todd how big IS this movement? He said about 1000 strong, at this time!
I asked him about tithing. I’ve read many times in books written by “Spiritualists” that tithing 10% of your income brings back 100 fold great wealth and riches.
The trouble with this theory, said Todd, is that if you are tithing to get rather than to give, that the free flow energy wave is corrupted. Tithing is also more often than not, seen as an obligation, which also stymies energy flow.
The dollar a day give away is unplanned and spontaneous. You get an extra charge as you prepare to Do The Act!!
You suddenly feel like a child who is about to go out and play with her friends in the neighborhoods of old.
When an unsuspecting person finds the money, she gets a real charge, too!!
When you drop the dollar, you are letting it go, a practice of surrender.
As time went on with Todd’s practice, he felt a shift in the relationships he had with his family and with the people in the world. He said his life began to work, began to operate from a flow rather than a block.
He said the inspiration from the practice of Unconditional Giving grows and expands every day.
He described what it was like to do it for the first time!
Today, I did it for the first time, and it was a hoot!! I went to the Vets to make a yearly exam appointment for shots for Ulysses and Mukunda, my beloved dogs. The woman who waited on me kept sighing heavily. She was either in pain, acutely depressed, or both.
A Kleenex box sat in front of her assigned place. When she wasn’t looking, I slipped it under the box. I noticed that an end of the dollar stuck out so I moved a stuffed animal that was sitting there closer to cover the dollar bill.
I have no idea who will find this money, but it just gave me an extra bounce to my step!!
I did it again, a little later, in a grocery store.
This is what I noticed. Today is tax day, and the inevitable conversation today was the dread of paying the tax man X amount of money.
An idea came to my mind that ordinarily would not have surfaced if I had not begun this wonderful practice.
I said to a friend, “Think of it as an energy exchange, not an energy drain.”
It was an inspired thought. It was a Divine AHA!!
Todd says there are 4 things to remember when giving away our dollars every day:
1) Do it every day to establish a habit of Unconditional Giving. This will gradually make an internal shift!!
2) Do it anonymously, but balance it out because you may feel like handing the money to someone who really needs it. And you might actually feel led to give more–or less –than one dollar.
3) Do it in public places so people can find it. For instance, if you throw it out the car window, it may never be found.
4) Do the practice with a sense of joy and wonderment! Let Go as you do it. Release it!!
If a state of obligation takes over your consciousness, stop doing it, for a time.
Journal as you do the practice, to make note of the internal shifts. Thinking of paying money to anyone including the Tax Man as an energy exchange rather than an energy drain is a biggy for me.
Todd’s big vision for this project is to gradually see a departure from consumerism and the consciousness of “Never Enough” to living gratefully and with a an attitude of service and compassion for all living things.
He hopes that people will learn to give in a spirit of Love.
This practice opens the way to develop connection with every living creature we meet today and every day!!
http://www.squidoo.com/secretdollarman
See the good in every situation
