A Life of Abundance

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

I had spent the majority of my life in a belief and state of scarcity. A belief that there would never be enough money…enough food…enough love….enough laughter….enough joy. My life was in a state of constant lacking. I was in a constant state of comparison. My scarcity mindset created so much fear and anxiety. It created arguments in my marriage. I saw myself as a victim to circumstance. I was caught in a cycle of blame. I would blame my husband, my job, my choice in career paths, the way I grew up. I was in my self created prison. And the sadness of it all is that I wasn’t even aware that life could be different.

As I have reflected on this deep rooted belief of scarcity, I have become curious about its origin. I want you to take note that I use the word ‘curious’ very intentionally, as I want to be sure to distinguish the difference between reflection with curiosity vs. reflection with blame. Reflection with curiosity offers an ability to review our thoughts, beliefs, and situations without judgment, which leaves us open to a greater understanding, that leaves us open to change. Reflection with blame is looking for an external source to pin the root of our difficulties, which keeps us in a state of judgement and anger, that keeps us stuck in our unhealthy and unhelpful patterns and inability to move forward with change.

I’m about to take you on a short trip down my memory lane. My mother worked hard-three different jobs to be precise-to make sure us kids wanted for nothing. My grandmother worked long hours and weekends to assure her kids and grandkids wanted for nothing. The women in my family were always the breadwinners. It had been like this for as long as I can remember, which is three generations. Hard work ethic and abundance was what I knew as a child. Despite all of the success and abundance, money was always a point of contention-the source of arguments, blame, and anger, and a fear that there will never be enough.

So, in short, what those experiences engrained in my beliefs goes a little something like this:

money=fighting

money=always lacking

money=working 60+hours per week

living=scarcity

What all of this created was a constant stated of scarcity, suffering, and internal conflict. I know, without a doubt, that is not what the women in my life were hoping to create, nonetheless, it was implanted. Since all of these realizations, I have been hard at work shifting my beliefs, perspectives, and entire mindset. I have shifted from a state of scarcity to a constant state of abundance. I have been able to embrace abundance, and since then, my entire world has opened up to opportunities, love, laughter, and even financial abundance (I know…so taboo to identify that, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it because it is there!). I am so filled with excitement and passion about this new way of living, I just want to scream it from the mountaintops-which is appropriate since I literally live at the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains.

Here are five steps to begin stepping into a life of abundance:

1. Gratitude. Start each day with gratitude. I recommend getting a journal specific to this exercise and actually write…yes, old school write…your gratitudes. Some people say to identify just five every day. Since I am an overachiever and love this exercise, I write ten every morning.
2. Celebrate: Whenever unexpected money comes my way, I acknowledge it, offer gratitude, and celebrate. These are the situations I celebrate: my daughter finding some money in an old purse (last time I used it was September 2019!); receiving a refund from the doctor’s office for overpayment; my tax refund (regardless of how much less than previous years!); a dollar I found in my car. I also celebrate when I am able to give back to the community. This is part of the next point as well. I celebrate and offer gratitude for my ability to order out to support local restaurants, or shop at the local boutique.
3. Acknowledgements: I acknowledge the opportunities I had and created throughout the day. This one also goes in my gratitude journal. I acknowledge any manner I am able to give back to the community through purchasing services or goods. I acknowledge when I am able to offer a kind smile or words to someone. I also acknowledge when someone offers me kindness. I offer gratitude for all of these moments!
4. Decrease judgments: I think it’s important to recognize the types of judgements I am referring to here. I am not talking about the judgements that keep you safe, such as “don’t touch that stove because it is hot”. I am talking about the gossiping. I am talking about putting others down for their own struggles, insecurities, looks, viewpoints, etc. These the the judgments that keep us in misery and suffering. These judgments keep us in a state of scarcity, envy, and comparison. To combat this, you first must first acknowledge them, and then get curious about them. Some questions to ask yourself include: who does this person remind me of? Or simply getting curious about what happened in their day or life to create this hurt, pain, and discomfort in their life (this comes from the belief that hurt people hurt others)- this curiosity also increases empathy and compassion.
5. Positivity: Stop complaining! I challenge you to try it for one full day. That’s it. If you can make it through one day, try for three days, and keep going. Just as with judgements, you need to increase your awareness of complaining thoughts in order to combat them and change this behavior. Meditation and mindfulness are the foundation of increased awareness, amongst many other benefits.

So, I encourage you to start at least one of these steps. Start today. There is no sense in delaying living out your most abundant life!

Much love, LJ