“How are you living?” seems like a strange question, and yet, it’s a question that many people don’t think to ask of themselves. Your immediate answer may have something to do with your physical living arrangements like, in an apartment, or with your children, but I’m talking about something much deeper. I’m really asking you to think about what you tell yourself about how you are living.
Are you living in scarcity or in abundance?
Now that’s a question, isn’t it.
Have you ever thought about how you feel about how you live? Whether you have thought about it or not, the “feeling” about how you live, is so pervasive, it infiltrates every decision and judgement from what to buy at the grocery store to how you feel when you drive your car. AND YET, so few people give themselves the moments it takes to understand how they limit themselves by this particular internal conversation… and how they can overcome it.
The Limiting Factors of Lack
This isn’t about judging. This is about NOT judging. I know we find it easier to understand things when we can measure them… judge them against what we have or what we believe. It’s when we stop judging; stop calculating, stop taking out the yard stick to measure the distance between our lives and those that we admire or loathe, we are able to stop living with lack.
Every time you say, “I WANT” you are telling yourself that you don’t have enough. Every time. You may think that wanting something isn’t a bad thing, and I suggest it’s not a terrible thing… I’m simply telling you that if your days are filled with moments of yearning and wanting and not having… then that is exactly how you will feel… exactly what you will expect and therefore exactly what you will get. AND as a result you may miss what you have… You may even miss realizing when you have something that you spent so much time… wanting.
You are limiting you. Not the economy. Not the opinion of your peers. Not the available of resources. You, my friend, are limiting your possibilities, by what you are telling yourself is possible.
I’m a big advocate of speaking nicely and positively to yourself. The first step is to recognize, when you aren’t… and flip it around. Start by literally changing what you say out loud. I know, I know, I like pithy sarcastic humor just as much as the next person and I believe that we can enjoy our lives and still engage in positive reinforcing self talk.
However, if you are constantly “joking” about your poverty, essentially you are constantly telling yourself that you are poor.
You don’t need to tell anyone that you have decided to change what you talk about, and how you talk about what you talk about, just do. You answer to you and if you recognize that you are about to say something that isn’t nice, or puts yourself down for the sake of humor, or is simply negative, don’t do it. AND if you do say it, don’t worry about it… at least you recognized that you made the decision, and maybe next time you will stop yourself before the words leave your lips… OR better yet, maybe next time you will think of something funny to say that is encouraging and positive.
Limiting yourself with an attitude of scarcity is one of the hardest habits to break, because you say, “But I don’t have the money, how can I act like I have something I don’t have”. First, understand, when you live with the mentality of scarcity, that is what you will experience. I’m not suggesting you take your last $50.00 and go out to Applebee’s and eat like a king only to return home to an empty refrigerator. I’m talking about how you talk to yourself about your last $50.00. Are you worried? Are your stressed? Do you have a goal for more? Do you have a plan? Have you taken any action steps towards that plan?
HEY! Wake up, don’t blame the economy.
I know this is going to be hard to hear for some people, but there are all kinds of jobs available, in fact, with a lawn mower and a little bit of gas, I could definitely make at least $40.00 a week mowing lawns. Is that a permanent solution, no.. here’s what happens when you wake up and take forwards steps forward towards your abundance… you enter into new circumstances and situations.
Perhaps while wheeling your lawnmower down the street you meet a neighbor, You tell them, that you’ve decided to pick up some extra cash by mowing lawns this summer. You get to chatting and find out that your neighborhood needs a “dog walking and waste management” person, while they’re on vacation… Then you learn that they have friends that vacation in November that will hire you.
Suddenly, because you were receptive and willing, because you believed in your abundance and were aware and looking for situations and circumstances to provide a service … a year round business is born. One day you are walking down the road pushing a lawnmower the following year you are driving your “pet poop pickup” van. 
(just sayin… it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it)
“I can’t do that,” you think, “I’m a 40 year old man/woman, I’m not going to go out and mow lawns”.
That my friend is now your reality. You will not do, what you tell yourself you can not do.
There are many limiting factors, either we refuse to do a type of work, or we refuse to take a certain wage, or we refuse to … (fill in the blank) … in all cases, only you can decide to live in with lack.
Little side note: I will tell you a secret, the KEY… the ABSOLUTE secret to success lies in 2 things. #1) The Goal, #2) The Plan. Without these two things you will be like a ship tossed around on the choppy seas… experiencing the highs and lows but keeping afloat. WITH these two things, you will be the astronaut in a rocket heading straight towards your destination.
How to Choose Abundance
LACK: You wake up in the morning and think about all of the reasons the day is going to be terrible.
ABUNDANCE: You wake up in the morning and think about all of the great possibilities.
LACK: You spend your day thinking about things that didn’t go right over the last few weeks and beat yourself up about it.
ABUNDANCE: You think about the things that haven’t gone right so that you can identify ways that you can change something to change the outcome.
Do you see the difference in the two internal conversations?
The fastest easiest way to drop your attitude of lack and embrace an attitude of abundance is to live in gratitude. Literally say thank you for every little thing you have. From the school bus that’s slowed down your commute to work but has probably saved you from a speeding ticket, to the jamming music on the radio, that made waiting behind the bus more bearable. Say “Thank You!”
Pay attention, concentrate and realize when you have successes, understand when you are given opportunities and notice them. Spend a little time day dreaming about your success, really come up with a vision of your life, of you experiencing your life with the success you have decided you will experience. Don’t start the daydream with the “when I make the money” or “when I’m rich” or “When I hit the lottery”, paint the picture of your life now as you experience the abundance now.
You will find that you start to FEEL abundant. You will find that the things that might have “set you off” as short as a week ago, no longer irk you. That you are able to overlook a small perceived slight and more importantly you no longer chatting with that person at work that only wants to talk trash about other people. You are happier. You are grateful, you are experiencing abundance.
I know this sounds a little… silly.
Let me ask you this. Is being miserable working? Is being mad or jealous working? If you want new results, you have to change what you are doing.
One more thing, if you truly want to live a life of abundance… you have to give. Hey! Don’t you roll your eyes at me!
If you truly want abundance and want to experience abundance and live a life of abundance you have to give… something. You have to let go of something and give it away. Whether it is a smile or a $5.00 bill, you have to ask yourself, “How can I make someone else’s life better today?”
You be you, and think about the wonderful things in your life. Concentrate on what you have and what you have to offer, instead of what you don’t have and what you want. Be fully expressed and wonderful and open…. and you’ll see. Once you set out to help, you will receive it. Once you set out with an attitude of abundance, you will have it.
Enjoy your day, and make it amazing!
