Boy oh boy — I walk away from facebook for the afternoon, and all heck breaks loose.

Here is my post:

I am thinking about running another Special, and I am open to suggestions.
I wish I could see every person that writes to me and needs help but cannot afford a session. Several years ago, before I learned to say no, I did over 25 readings in a single week and made a whole $3. The law of exchange in the universe requires that energy be exchanged. And after several years of observation, I can emphatically and decidedly say that clients who invest in their own Soul Work have much better results from the Healing or Coaching or Combination. It’s just a fact.
With that being said, I want everyone who needs help to be able to receive it. I am thinking about doing some type of Email Reading special. I am thinking about One Question for $35 or 2 Questions for $60.
But I’m also open to dedicating another day of 30 minute readings too.
Any suggestions? What type of special do you want?
(And for those of you who do not want to post publicly, just inbox me: Leslie@BibleBeltMystic.com)

And somehow, I became a cold hearted person turning my back on the sick and the poor. I still have no idea how this happened, but one former facebook friend even took it upon herself to go find posts from other intuitives that are offering free readings and post the examples on my page.

And understandably, my friends, family and clients immediately responded that I was not cold or hard hearted, and because I was away from facebook for several hours, I am now only seeing the aftermath of what ended being an ugly exchange.

First and foremost, I want you to know this: I have probably done at least  TEN times as many readings/healing session for FREE than I have ever been paid for.

For the first two years I did readings, I never charged anyone. I offered my services for free as I learned and developed this gift into something of more value. And then, for the next year, I began my healing practice (My Light Worker.com) under the simple practice of not turning away anyone who could not afford to pay. I relied on the honor system. If the person said he could not pay, I believed him. Period. And I did the session for free. The truth is that I didn’t want to turn people away. During my dis-ease filled years, I lived in extreme poverty. I could relate to every hard life story that was sent to me.

And the result of this life was that I was miserably unhappy.

You see, I had this belief that if I merely lived my purpose of “Being of Service” — then the money to support my family would magically appear. I held on to that belief for a few years. In one week, I did more than 25 readings and I received a single donation of $3.  And my clients weren’t healing. They weren’t shifting. They were having readings/healing sessions because well, why not? It’s free! They assigned absolutely no value to my work because it required nothing of them. They did not pay or have to do anything for my services – other than send me a sad story or claim poverty.

One evening, after I had finished yet another free reading, I asked my Angels if this was really “it” – was this really the life of a successful healer and intuitive? I had more than enough clients but I wasn’t even making enough money to keep the electric on. Even in this moment of frustration, I never doubted my channel. My channel has always been crystal clear, and in that moment, I heard Arch Angel Michael’s voice — firm but kind: Leslie, if you cannot value your own work, how can anyone else?  Until you live in alignment with the laws of the universe, you will always have imbalance in your life. Your gift is meant for helping others heal, and yet, you allow it to be treated like a novelty reading just-for-fun.

Upon Arch Angel Michael’s guidance, I began charging $100 a reading and everything changed. I started attracting clients who knew the value of my work, and they were also willing to compensate me for that work. I began seeing miracles! Miracles in not only my clients’ lives but also my own. I have seen cancer spontaneously heal three different times. I’ve witnessed two broken bones simply disappear. The number of people that I’ve witnessed go from sick/broken/disabled to having a life of joy again is more than I can count. Miracles are part of my daily life.

I began to understand what AA Michael was talking about with the Law of Exchange.  In order for the universe to honor a contract or exchange between two parties, there must be an exchange of energy. I know that immediately, some people are going to have a knee jerk reaction to this law, but that doesn’t change its validity. I lived several years of not living in alignment with this law, and I know the consequences. And I also know the miracles that happened once I began to honor this universal law.

So when I was accused of being cold hearted and not “doing what all the other intuitives do by giving away free readings,” I was shocked. I wish I would have seen the posts before she deleted all of them. Because if I had, here is what I would have said:

• I have and will always continue to do some work for free. If the Angels tell me to help someone, I will. Period.
• If one of the medical doctors that I regularly work (and I work with several) with send me one of their patients and that person cannot afford to pay, I will help him. Right now, I see a few of these clients every single week. Some can afford to pay and some cannot. There are about 6 local medical doctors who send me referrals.
• I regularly see end of life transition clients for free.This will require every other day or daily visits for the last few weeks of life.
• I do public appearances, including the radio show I did weekly for more than three years where I gave free readings to anyone who called in and asked for one. I am on internet and local radio shows where listeners can call in and get a free reading.
• Do you remember all these “hospital visits” I’ve been posting about for more than a month now? — every single one of those visits was done for free.

I sometimes get between 10 and 15 email or fb messages that request free help every single day. That’s between 70 and 100 different requests per week and sometimes as many as 500 requests per month.

When was the last time you had 50 people, let alone 500 people, ask for you to give your time, energy, resources and channel away for free? When was the last time you agreed to show up for work, 5 days a week, for months on end — without ever being paid?  Could you support your family if you did not get paid at your job? No? Me neither.

The entire purpose of my fb post this morning was to try to make Intuitive Insight available to those who cannot afford a full session. It still shocks me that my post was made into something where I was determined to be uncaring. I have never been accused of being uncaring before. This is a whole new experience for me. . . I was the one who founded the grassroots group Helping Hands of Oklahoma to help wildfire victims in Oklahoma in 2005-06. I was the one who devoted my professional life to advocating for abused children. I have donated my time and resources to food banks, clothing pantries, and helping disabled people find resources. I am the same person who has done at least ten times more readings for free than I have ever been paid.

And now, I am the same person who KNOWS that unless someone is willing to invest in her own healing, the Law of Exchange will not be satisfied, and that person will never receive full benefit from a reading or healing session. I haven’t just witnessed this once or twice — but countless times. Time and time again, the person who does not invest anything in his own soul’s growth cannot fully benefit from the session.

As for the argument I hear all the time: Jesus didn’t charge. Or even better, you didn’t do anything to get this gift, so where do you get off charging?

First, this is my “job”. I read/do energy work all day, every day. This is not a hobby or something I do just when the mood strikes. I see some clients daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly. I channel spirit messages several times a week (again, something I do out of kindness and not because I’m being paid. I have never once been paid for a channeled spirit message.). I commit at least an hour to two a day to meditation and visualization to keep my channel clear. And there are times when I’ve spent as long as 6 hours with a single client in a single session. And when my “job” doesn’t pay me for the time I spend doing it, I cannot pay my bills.

(And there has been a steep price for me to live and share this gift. For those of you who think it costs me nothing to have this gift, think again! My husband was bullied out of his job in Texas because two of the women at his work said I was a witch.  We were even homeless for a while during this time — and yet, even in these moments of absolute poverty and homelessness, I never doubted my life purpose.)

I work hard to help as many people as I can, and I try to keep my service fees reasonable.

In fact, my rates are actually well below the industry standard.

• I charge $250 for a couples reading and another intuitive charges $1500.
• I charge $150 for an hour, and I know an intuitive who charges $600 an hour.
• I charge $180 for a past life reading or star seed activation, and this averages between $200 and $300 and up elsewhere.

Good Intuitives charge for their services, and many of them charge fees that I consider outrageous. (One of my friends paid a well known medium $5,000 for an hr long reading.)  But my fees are so far below the industry standard, and 90% of my clients are repeat. so clearly, they believe they are getting their money’s worth.

Most of the time, people simply would prefer to get something for free. So if you can talk someone into giving you something for free, then why pay? The time I spend giving away those free readings are taking up time that I could be writing my book or reading for someone who wants to pay. Or  I could be spending those hours with my children or volunteering at their schools. Time is one of the most valuable resources I have.

So I hope this post clears up why Intuitives charge, or more specifically, why I charge for my services.