Abundance

What is Abundance?

People often associate abundance with excessive money and possessions, but it’s not necessarily that. Abundance is all-embracing and all-encompassing. It is a state of being — it is the feeling we have more than enough and obtain what we desire.

Abundance is how we greet each day and the enjoyment we have for the present moment. It is an open heart, knowing that we are always safe and secure, no matter what happens. It is experiencing the cornucopia of plenty. Abundance is about quality and fullness…. it’s holistic; it’s a mindset, it’s teachable, and most importantly of all… it’s learnable.

Some of us look at others and may wish we had what they have. However, life is not about comparison with what others have. This type of competition brings about feelings of lack. Many of us feel we have a lack of resources, money, time, love, emotional fulfilment, or opportunities.

A scarcity mindset is based on fear and leads us to make choices that reflect that fear. This mindset causes us to hoard items like toilet paper. It also drives us to stay in unfulfilling relationships with people with incompatible values or keep jobs that don’t reflect knowledge, capabilities and talents.

Those of us that choose an abundance mindset experience life differently. Bringing abundance into our own life isn’t about a game of chance and luck. We must decide to select it and learn how to nurture and develop it. Since it is a mindset, those with an abundant mentality believe there is plenty of everything in the world from resources, love, friendships, wealth and opportunities. Many of us who believe the world is our oyster have worked to cultivate it, at least initially, only then it becomes a habit.

Different Responses of Abundance and Scarcity

Abundance says: “How can I obtain that?” and start developing excitement and ideas to obtain it, while Scarcity says: “I can’t have that,” and walks away sorrowfully.

Abundance looks at rejection as a path for redirection, or a place to grow and learn from. Scarcity wallows or becomes angered and feels unworthy, dejected or not good enough.

There is inequity within this world; however, Abundance response is: “What are the possibilities here? What can I do?” While Scarcity feels resentful and bitter and says: “This isn’t fair,” and stops there.

Ways we can develop an Abundance Mindset

1. Know that We Are Enough

So many of our feelings of lack stem from childhood trauma, disappointments or being taught limiting beliefs. It’s intrinsic within all of us, and knowing we are enough is our birthright. Along the way, some of us forget this and are taught differently. To know we are enough means that we feel valid, loved, and secure, no matter what happens. It means we love and accept who we are at any given moment — when we make mistakes, or we’ve done a great job, or when someone criticizes us. We all must remember that no matter what, we are enough. Knowing that we are enough brings abundance since our view of the world changes when we naturally look for opportunities.

Activity: We need to make a point to interrupt the negative thoughts, the beliefs we have about ourselves. When we hear that voice saying, “I’m not good enough,” replace it with “I am enough.”

2. Get Clear

When we get clear about what we want, we formulate a path on how, why, when we will get there. So many of us don’t know what we want or why. It’s essential to understand why. We might feel that we want certain things, like that relationship or materialistic possessions, because we think it will make us happy. Wanting something or someone externally from us to make us happy is coming from a place of scarcity. It’s fear-based and comes from a position of lack. When we want something to compliment our lives and are happy with who we are… with or without it, that comes from a place of abundance.

Activity: Let’s ask ourselves, “what do I want, and why?” When we get clear on our intentions and motivations, we can redirect ourselves, if necessary… then focus on our authentic path.

3. Focus on What We Want

When we focus on what we don’t want, our energy and thoughts become concentrated on that. It’s good to get clear on what we don’t want, but the danger is to get stuck in a loop of complaints. We can’t stand still and move forward at the same time. When we focus on what we want, we begin to make goals and a plan, which creates momentum for more ideas to drive us in that direction.

Activity: When we are in conversation with someone, we notice we are saying, “I don’t want,” let’s stop, redirect the conversation towards what we do want.

4. Watch What We Say

Our thoughts determine the language, and the language we use feeds into our thoughts.

If we watch what we say, we can use language that will empower us. When we use language that has negative undertones, we disempower ourselves. If we rearrange our language to focus more on the positive side of the situation, we will find our thoughts will change, and we will feel more abundant.

Activity: We need to diligently pick our words to describe any situation we are in. Instead of saying, “this is devastating,” when a close person to us passes away, we can look at the beautiful moments we shared and appreciate that they were in our life. When we look at the situation from a higher level and give ourselves a chance to discover how we can see things or do things differently, opportunity and abundance arises.

5. Look for the lesson

Great things can’t happen to us all the time. There will be storms, but when we look for the lesson we learned from it, we feel empowered and bring feelings of abundance. Life carries on many lessons if we are willing to learn. If we have been let down or betrayed, we can view that as a lesson to let go of the situation or person with grace and love rather than resentment and hatred.

Activity: Next time, when we feel we are in a storm, look for the lesson, and we can take the opportunity to learn from it. It could be a lesson about perspective, or one about learning what we want or don’t want, or more about ourselves and what we need to feel more balanced.