Living in Abundance

Every one of us has the ability to live a life of complete abundance! Imagine feeling satisfied and happy with your life. Imagine surveying all that is before you and being able to sit back and say, “Ah, it is good.”

This experience of abundance is something that is available to everyone, no matter what current circumstances and situations might be. The experience of lack is something that is held primarily within the mind, not in our external experience. When we change how we interpret what we have and what we deserve, the external experiences and circumstances will change to match.

This is how it works:

When we are focused on our lack, that focus is like a magnet to other experiences of lack. It draws more of the same kind of situation to us. It would be as if we kept looking at the color blue when our favorite color was purple. If we start worrying that all we will see is blue, then when we look around, we will tend to automatically notice other patches of blue within our field of vision. By thus sensitizing ourselves to blue, we  start believing the blue is our primary reality, even though we are surrounded by the full spectrum, including our favorite, purple.

So it is with the sense of lack. The more we focus on what we don’t have, the more time we spend in that reality. The more we focus on enjoying what we have, and visualizing what we would like to create in our lives, the more those things exist as our reality.

Thus, to shift into a state of abundance, we must focus on the abundance that already exists in our lives. We must practice SEEING the abundance, and training ourselves not to focus on the lack. Seeing lack instead of abundance is simply a habit. It is a state of mind that can be changed with practice.

I once had a friend who was always worried about not having enough. Her husband was a doctor, and it seemed to me that they should certainly have enough. Yet she was always fussing about “getting by.” Then one day I was over visiting her, and I saw on the table their tax return–a good ten times my salary at the time! I realized it was all in her mind.

Conversely, there was a period of time that I lived in Mexico. I was surrounded by little homes with dirt floors and no running water. But each home DID have an abundance of flower pots filled with all kinds and colors of flowers. Each person I saw around me was always smiling, loving, and obviously genuinely happy. When I wondered at how people could appear to experience such abundance in the midst of what we normally consider poverty, I realized it was all in their minds.

What can we do to have this feeling of satisfaction and wellbeing? How can we have this experience of abundance? What can we do to actually increase it in our lives?

The answer is: 1. See it. 2. Speak it. 3. Act on it. 4. Be grateful for it.

1. See it. This is the most important of the four steps, for it is the magnet to all abundance. All of the other steps are actually only aspects of seeing abundance in our lives. See the abundance in what you have, no matter how small you might think it is. Focus on the areas of your life where you DO have abundance, whether it is finances, relationships, skills, a sense of humor, or whatever. Imagine the abundance you would like to bring into your life. Daydream or visualize yourself in different situations of abundance in which you would like to see an increase. Draw pictures or cut out magazine photos that reflect the images of abundance. Play hypnosis tapes in the background while you sleep that support your new direction.

Avoid any negative input to your mind, such as listening to music where the words are full of things like “I ain’t got” and “You left me” and “Nobody cares.” Stay away from television and movies that show images and portray emotions from which you are intending to move away, such as soap operas and movies that portray life as hopeless. (This is particularly important because impressions in color are so impactful in our minds.) Rather, make sure you only watch things that reinforce the sense of abundance you want to create, whether it is in your money, your self-concept, your relationships, your home, or anything else you would like to increase.

2. Speak your abundance. Whatever you have, speak of it proudly, with acknowledgement, not apologetically and with regret. In your words, and in your thoughts, say to yourself, “Look at all I have; my life is full.” If you find yourself thinking thoughts or saying things that reflect worry or a state of lack, immediately change those thoughts or words into acknowledgments of plenty.
3. Act your abundance. Whatever you would like to create in your life, proceed in that direction. Act as if it is coming to you. I once knew a woman who wanted a husband. So she emptied half of her closets to make room for his clothes. Now she’s happily married. Another person wanted to be a social worker. He didn’t even have a bachelor’s degree yet, but he started to school. Now he is a social worker. Keep acting as if your abundance is about to show up.
4. Be grateful for your abundance–that which you now have. That gratitude acts as a vacuum to pull in more abundance. Once I received a check in the mail for $5.00. It was during a particularly lean time, and my first thought was, “Gee, now I’m down to receiving only $5.00 checks!” As I went on complaining to myself, I kept feeling worse and worse. Then, I looked at the check again, and thought, “Where’s my gratitude? It’s better to have this five dollars than not!” I went on to mentally express my thanks for that five dollars for several minutes, telling myself it was a great beginning in a new direction for my finances. And you know what? It was. That was the day I began to really experience my abundance–and I have ever since.

Training the mind is like training in weights, or in tennis. The more you exercise the skill of seeing abundance, the better you will get at creating it. Look and see; it is everywhere!