Everything Is Relative
Choice Week
“Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives,
as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which
secret garden we will tend. . . when we choose not to focus
on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the
abundance that's present–love, health, family, friends,
work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring
us pleasure–the wasteland of illusion falls away
and we experience Heaven on earth.”
— Sarah Ban Breathnach
[Classic post from 6-4-11]
One of the other very powerful things that I have learned in just the last few years is gently working toward realizing and being grateful for the abundance that I have.
Everything is relative. If we in America compare ourselves to some of the poorest people in the world, there is no doubt that we have abundance. Yet, that is not what we in America normally do. We normally compare ourselves to those that are rich in comparison to ourselves, then we focus on the lack that exists between those two current realities.
Sometimes that motivates us to get going and get more abundance in our lives, and other times it just bums us out–not in a down-trodden depressed kind of way, but in a resigned sort of way. Not giving up, just not feeling much real hope. We begin seeing this reality–and we notice that we aren't there yet again and again. That's where those phrases come from such as, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and so on.
Yet the thing that I find motivating me is focusing on the abundance I have–whatever it is. I am rich in things, talent, energy, focus, friends, learning, expertise. To use an old phrase as I heard as a child, I am counting my blessings one by one. As a side note, it is also interesting how little “things” mean to me anymore and most of my life I couldn't wait to get more things.
In my observation of people, it is the choice between focusing on their abundance or their lack that I see affecting people's lives. Most that I see are focusing on what they don't have, what they're lacking, who's done what to whom, and so on. I think changing that focus toward abundance would change a great many things in their lives.
We always have the choice of how we want to view a situation; our lives; the world. Abundance and lack are not so much realities as they are attitudes. You don't have to be rich to feel an abundance. In fact, realities don't create attitudes–no, attitudes create reality.
Heck, You Can Just Make It Up In Your Head. Works For Me!
Spread Some Joy Today–See if you can list ten things that you're grateful for. Count those blessings and enjoy your abundance.
