Despite the fact that there are so many best selling self-help books written on abundance, and a welter of courses available promising riches, success, true love and goodness knows what else, the actual experience of abundance in key areas of our life can remain elusive: something that comes and goes at best, or that seems entirely out of reach at worst.
But are we misunderstanding what Abundance really is and, as a result,
looking in the wrong direction?
Is it closer than we think? Here to harness once we know how to recognise
its lovely presence?
There Is Always An Abundance Of Something ...
I remember discovering the truth of this during a conversation with a friend, over 18 years ago. My busy, successful friend was having a rather long and involved moan about the fact that she didn’t have any time for herself. It felt like a cruel irony to me at that point in my life, because the one thing I had was time - too much of it - but no work or money. However, as the conversation continued, it began to dawn on me that I had what she wanted and she had what I wanted. Suddenly, my whole perspective shifted and I saw the blessing in our conversation: each of us had what the other craved, and neither of us was seeing the value in what we already had! When I fed this back to her, she was as stunned as I was. I recall the moment so clearly: we both sat in silence for some minutes whilst something shifted deep within each of us. I found myself looking back over the previous few years and recognising a pattern: every time I felt I didn’t have enough of something in my life, I was experiencing a superabundance of something else. The most common one for me at the time was to have very little money, but lots of time and creativity. For ages, that time had hung heavy on my hands. The days had seemed to drag by. Now, rather than seeing myself as having ‘too much’ time, I realised that I actually had ample time. This was a resource, and a valuable one at that. Something to cherish not while away. I could find a way to use this. I began to approach my days differently. I used them to volunteer, to study, to develop my creative side, and to be really immersed in the precious moments of my life. I began to cherish time. By understanding that it was fertile ground, I was able to use it to plant seeds that would grow my new life. There is always an abundance of something and when we recognise this and begin to align to it, things change. What we have may not be what we think we are looking for, and yet, when we begin to open to it as gift rather than problem, it mysteriously turns out to be exactly what we need.
Do We Create Abundance?
What if Abundance isn't something we do; what if it is What Is?
And what if, in those moments when we experience lack, it is simply because we have come out of alignment with this deeper reality?
As soon as there is a piece of fallow ground in the natural world, it is filled. As soon as there is a space in our lives, something or someone comes in. We live in a wondrously fertile and dynamic world, and we are as richly dynamic as any part of it, intimately connected to its ever-giving currents and energies, dancing with it and within it. Isn’t abundance then actually the way things are? And if so, don’t we access by how we are being rather than by what we are doing? By how we are interacting with the vibrant and vital threads that make up the weave of our life? It is a state of consciousness, a state of awareness - it is our ability to See the Abundance that Is rather than be blinded by apparent lack.
A State Of Consciousness …
I say 'apparent lack' because if Abundance is the deeper nature of reality, then there is no time and no way in which Abundance is ever absent.
Our experience of it, however, is something mysteriously internal, not external. From a human perspective, we get so tied to material possessions as an indicator of Abundance that we forget to look for it with our spiritual eyes. We forget that it is revealed through emotion and energy . . . that it is a way of experiencing and being in Life itself.
The emotions of Abundance are joy, wonder, deep cherishing and appreciation, profound openness and vulnerable sweet connectedness.
As and when we allow ourselves to rest in these beautiful feelings, we actually find it effortless to attract, experience and enjoy true abundance in wondrous and fruitful ways. It comes to us. It arises through us and permeates the very air . . . It is the feeling of loving what is, loving what you do and doing what you love. It is letting yourself open to the vast fecundity of Life, and daring to stop closing down around it.
All the strands of the universe are coming to you in this eternal moment, and you are at the very centre. This is Abundance.
Next time you find yourself thinking you have to work for more love, more money, more freedom or respect, explore what happens when you let that thought go. Explore what happens when you turn to look in a different direction - at what is naturally arising in your life, at what resonates with you and lights you up, at what feels visionary and permissive and soul-fulfilling - and allow yourself to courageously follow this golden trail . . .
If you have found something useful in this blog post, please feel free to leave me a comment and/or to pass it on to a loved one who might also benefit from it.
Thank you for reading!