Scarcity versus Abundance: It is a Challenge
Your world can be one of two types - a world of scarcity or a world of abundance. The ironic thing is that the type of world that you live in has more to do with you than it has to do with the world around you.
A world of scarcity is an unhappy world. Consider the people you know who trust no one and who hoard as much as possible. Are they not the unhappy ones and generally they lack wealth of any kind - financial, health, contentment or happiness. They have preprogrammed their world to be unhappy.
Now consider those around you who seem to live in a world of abundance. They are happy, content, healthy and live comfortably. Surprisingly they are also the most generous. They give to their church and charities, but most importantly, they give to others even when they may not have much to give. They believe that if you give to the world, it will give back... multifold.
The reality of your world is that you are probably a little bit of both of these types of people. The key is choosing to live in the world of abundance not only more frequently but daily.
So, three more ingredients for a prosperous life are:
- Choose to live in a world of abundance
- Be complete as a person today and everyday
- Don't let others create a world of scarcity around you
Psychologists, including Maslow, have talked about being "deficiency motivated". In a nutshell, this means that you believe that you are lacking something and thus are trying to go out and improve yourself. This may motivate you to change and succeed to some degree but the reality is that it is not a healthy way of living. Instead, start from a point where you believe that you are complete today. You do not have a need for more material things. You do not need to be a better person. You are a complete whole human being right now.
With this point of view, you will still need to grow and enrich your life. But, you won't be constantly reaching for that elusive dream. You will be an evolving human.
If you believe that the world is abundant, then you have succeeded at the first step. The next step is just to practice and practice and practice, choosing your universe and choosing to be complete every day. Take time to reflect on your world and how you have all that you need and how you are all that you need to be.
Every day, be critical in the way that you think. You may believe you are abundant, but you may not be in all cases and it may even be hard to notice when you are choosing a world of scarcity.
One thing to keep in mind is that your outward persona affects your inward disposition. If you are outwardly positive, you will be inwardly more positive. Similarly, if you are outwardly negative, you will also be more negative inside. A third situation that is often forgotten is when you are "neutral". When you do not choose to be positive, you will take on the character of the environment around you and that quite likely could be negative.
Also, it is important to realize how you affect others with your outward character. If you are positive or negative, you will affect those around you in that way. If you are neutral and those around you are negative, you will be allowing them to create a world of scarcity around you. I am sure that you would rather be a positive influence on others.
Let us know your stories and your successes!
