Welcome to Abundance

Some people seem to wallow in abundance and others just never seem to have enough. Some of the people who seem to have it all live their lives feeling they don't have enough and some people who appear to have nothing live their lives as though they have plenty to share. Welcome to Abundance; day 11 of the April Plan.

When I was only 17 I traveled by plane and train down to San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico, which was a tiny, undeveloped fishing village at the time. I'd just graduated from high school and met up with two girlfriends for a pre-college trip. It was the first time I'd seen people happily living in what I considered abject poverty. Homes built with brick or earth or plaster, solid roofs and indoor plumbing were scarce for most of the population. Many families took up residence in shelters crafted from palm fronds, cardboard, and/or bougainvillea bushes. It could have been dangerous for three young girls traveling alone in a foreign place (and we had our scary moments), but time after time we were invited into the homes of these "poor" people for a dinner of freshly caught fish, tortillas, beans and ripe, juicy mangos. Having made the trip prepared with American cigarettes (not to smoke, but to "pay" for help, etc.) and plenty of American change, we were shocked that they refused payment of any kind. In our youth and ethnocentricity, we thought ourselves the blessed ones. Yet these families, living life without a roof overhead nor running water, were happily sharing whatever they had with us. They were living an abundant lives, not caught up in what they might be lacking, but only celebrating all they had.

Abundance is not determined by how much you have. It comes from how much you appreciate what you have. ~ Fabienne Fredrickson

How can we get to a place of abundance?

Let go of the 'Scarcity' mindset.Living beside a white, sandy beach in a home made from cardboard and bougainvillea with an unlimited access to fresh food might not be your idea of abundance, but the concept of abundance is personal to each of us. What is universally necessary for living in abundance is choosing to focus on what we already have and not what we feel we lack. 

Don’t spend time thinking about all the things you need. When we focus on lack and need, that's all we'll be able to see. Lack and need promotes fear and fear keeps us stuck exactly where we are; scared, bitter, unhappy and blind to anything good. A focus on lack and need brings anger and jealousy over any blessings others may receive. Not wanting others to receive blessings is a symptom of a ‘scarcity’ mindset, a belief that there's not enough good to go around. What we believe becomes our truth. A scarcity mindset leave us unable to see or accept any blessings we already have and any blessings/gifts/opportunities that are waiting to fall into our lives.

When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears. ~ Anthony Robbins

Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance. ~ Eckhart Tolle

Develop an Abundance mindset instead. 
Look around and pay attention to the abundance that already exists without you having to ask for one more thing. Count all the blessings you can think of or see in a single minute: eyesight, hearing, taste, trees, breathing clean air, this computer, my morning coffee, my son, friends, family, my pets, a comfortable bed, good grammar, laughter, smooth-writing pens, love, creativity, music, sharp scissors, a full refrigerator, straight teeth, common sense, nachos… Be grateful for unseen and unexpected miracles and blessings already on their way. Feel the love and excitement of seeing opportunities and happy coincidences pop up in front of you. Never stop acknowledging and appreciating the abundance in your life and the abundance in the world.

When I look back now over my life and call to mind what I might have had simply for taking and did not take, my heart I like to break. ~ William Hale White

If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, you'll never have enough. ~ Oprah Winfrey

Continue to pray - or affirm - your gratefulness and have faith in abundanceWhenever I feel fear over things I’m lacking – whether it’s money or time or knowledge – I have found the best cure is a prayer of thanks for, or even a quick written inventory of, the things that I do have. Amazingly, my “lack of” is replaced with small and large blessings that either give me what I need or put me on the path to find it. If you don't pray, affirm. Affirmations are a form of prayer. After praying or affirming, go forward with gratefulness and faith, seeing everything as an answer to your prayer or request. The secret to living a life of abundance is believing that you already do. Allow yourself to receive what is being given to you, accepting it all with joy and appreciation.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ~ Mark 11:24

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith. ~ Matthew 21:22

Stop putting conditions on your blessings.

One thing I've learned is that, as huge as my imagination is, I wouldn't have thought to ask for some blessings in the way they occurred. In fact, had I been able to special order each of the most treasured gifts in my life, they wouldn't have turned out a portion as wonderful as they did. Let go of conditions, appreciate all that comes, look for the blessings in even the darkest times and you'll find yourself truly swimming in abundance. 

Abundance is a process of letting go; that which is empty can receive. ~ Bryant H. McGill

And the biggest thing of all… share your abundance. 

Be happy and grateful for the abundance of others because it means that such things are possible. If you have faith in the abundance of God (what you may call the Universe), then remember that there is plenty to share. Go out and be a blessing to someone because we are blessed to bless others and blessing others brings more blessings. Be grateful for the abundance of others because it means that such things are possible. Share all the blessings you're given and even more will pop up in their place.

When you focus on being a blessing, God makes sure that you are always blessed in abundance. ~ Joel Osteen