Realizing Abundance is something we teach at Sourceful Living. And like love, we cannot have what we do not believe we can have. Abundance, like love, is all around us, we just have to realize it, then allow it in and embrace it with all of our hearts. This awareness leads to gratitude. As we express more gratitude, the more abundance we can create.
To embrace the abundance of life, we allow life in all its expressions to flow around us without resistance or judgment. Part of this allowing is realizing that the abundance around us is more than money. We must address this because often when we speak of abundance, people immediately begin thinking about money usually because they feel they lack it. For most of us, money = abundance, and for a good reason. Our cultures are constantly bombarding us with information on new things to buy, or what we need to do to earn more money. We are told that we need to be competitive to be successful. It is all about convincing us that we need something we do not already have. And even if we end up having it, we often begin fearing that we will lose it, and want more of it. These constant messages of lack often invoke worry and fear in us, just the opposite of what we desire to create in our lives.
Every spiritual being seeks well being and freedom, and that is why money can be a primary focus of life. While financial freedom and security is important, it is only part of physical life. It is helpful to remember that even after attaining a certain level of wealth to achieve physical well-being, security and freedom, people who take the time to step off the work treadmill, start pondering if there is more to life. And many can’t make the time because they just want more and more. As the old saying goes, money cannot buy you happiness, even though it may buy temporary pleasures. It is time to re-calibrate our thinking, upgrading it from our cultural defaults, to embody deep within ourselves the knowing that the purpose of life is not to buy temporary happiness, or is it about earning more money.
The purpose of life is to experience joy.
At Sourceful Living abundance is more than money, and it comes in many forms. Joy is a state of being. Joy comes from the constant feeling of the energy of Love that flows within us as Self-Love. It also flows out of us as Love of others and all of Creation. There is so much to be grateful for that is often right in front of us if we allow ourselves to be aware of it. Experiencing joy has nothing to do with financial wealth. How many of these can we experience with little or no money: good health, nurturing relationships, loving home environments, quality food, fresh water, freedom, nice weather, having choices, fortuitous coincidences, unexpected discounts at the store, reconnection to an old friend, the beauty of a flower, laughter, the smile of a child, inspiring art, a playful pet, the perfect song for the moment, enjoying experiences of all types, a warm shower, relaxing, a good night’s sleep, a random act of kindness, someone offering wanted advice, a hug, the opportunity to serve, having friendly neighbors, receiving a Birthday card, a holiday present, seeing a beautiful sunset, enjoying nature from the grandest view to the tinniest blade of grass, excellent service, a helping hand, assistance from a co-worker, a compliment from a friend, encouragement from your boss, comfortable shoes, a cool refreshing breeze, the opportunity to share, the joy of giving, helping another, the aroma of fresh coffee, the smell of food cooking, the warmth of a fire on a cold day, the taste of the first summer fruits, a new baby holding your finger, a delicious meal, a refreshing dip into a pool on a hot day, and on and on and on. But perhaps the greatest thing to be grateful for is our sovereign power of free will to choose how we experience life. The new measurement for success for living will not be the amount of money your have, or how much you accomplished, or how you changed the world, but rather the amount of joy you were able to create for yourself and others.
What we appreciate, appreciates. Even if we have money problems, or had a “bad day”, suffering great loss or terrible news, there is still abundance all around us. There is so much to be grateful for and none of it happens by accident. There are no coincidences. Our intentions and attention are very powerful tools of creation. We have a choice in what we focus on and in the thoughts we allow to run through our minds to create our experiences. We must try not to fall into the cultural pattern of lack and fear. Thoughts of love and gratitude create a happy, abundant life; and thoughts of lack and resentment create an entirely different life filled with an abundance of distress. It is our choice. We have the power to create either reality. Through the innergy of love initialized through our Love-Of-Self, we can more fully embrace the abundance that always surrounds us…what could be more joyful!
Empowering Life through Love