The Spirit of Abundance

Would you like MORE abundance in your life? If your answer is Yes, read on. If not, read on anyway, so you can help others have more.

Abundance: more than enough, ample, sufficient, plenty, bountiful, copious.

What images, emotions, or thoughts come to you when you think about abundance? Are they exciting and energizing -- or unachievable and unrealistic?

Some people reject the concept of abundance because many authors have wrongly linked abundance with only wealth and/or money. Abundance really applies to all elements in your life such as health, friends, relationships, achievement, your emotional and spiritual state, and many other facets. Wealth just happens to be one of many possible abundance components in your life.

Abundance is not about your condition or circumstances; it is about your mindset.

Before you can enjoy and embrace an abundant life, you must believe that abundance is real and is possible. Individuals with an "abundance mindset" do not think the following thoughts.

?With my luck, things won't work out.

?I never have enough money.

?I can't find any friends.

?There are no good people I can date.

Of course, we can cite hundreds of other examples where individuals believe that resources and opportunities are limited. Abundance really doesn't care what you think; it will simply work to fulfill your thoughts and objectives -- whether they are positive or limiting!

I have come across individuals (and organizations) who feel it is immoral to embrace abundance. Guilt burdens them; they justify their misery or hardship like a martyr. They make statements such as, "With so many around the globe with nothing, I should not have a happy, fulfilling life with the comforts of a home, car, and financial stability -- that simply is not right."

How does your being a broke, miserable martyr help anyone, especially the less fortunate around the world? It does not.

It is impossible to know the specific reasons that many people reject abundance but in many cases, it is mistaken intentions and beliefs. In some instances, individuals knowingly or unknowingly use their condition to draw attention to themselves as unsung heroes of hardship and adversity. Abundance is even supported from a Biblical perspective "...I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

John 10:10

Did you know that your lack of abundance thinking in one area of your life will spill over into others?

Example: Recently one of our good friends, a very successful businessman, stated on a teleconference that financial independence/success is very difficult to achieve if a person is struggling in his or her personal relationships. With some astonishment, the group asked why he thought that was true. He responded that it is very difficult to focus and pay attention to financial disciplines/strategies when your personal relationship is falling apart. A financial planner for over three decades, he knows the two are connected at the hip -- it is impossible to separate the various parts of our life.

So what is your abundance mindset? Do you believe there are unlimited resources and opportunities for you? To varying degrees, there is abundance for everyone reading this article. My wish is that you embrace or at least consider the fact that only you have restricted your possibilities.

What do you do about that?

Abundance thinking focuses on what can be -- not what has not or cannot be. The opposite of abundance is scarcity. If you are thinking scarcity, don't be surprised when your intentions are fulfilled.

?First, if you have scarcity as a mindset, you must let it go. If you don't like the conditions of your relationships, health, career, etc., stop thinking about them. All the mental energy you spend complaining to anyone who will listen is a magnet for attracting more of it into your life.

?Next, shift over time into an abundance mindset in all areas of your life. Focus on what you would like; acknowledge that your current results and outcomes are the ones you have attracted to yourself. Let's look at a couple of examples where you can reframe your situation.

Go from: I can never find the right partner; they are all losers.

To: Every day I am becoming the individual that will attract the perfect partner to me. My perfect partner is already out there and being attracted to me.

Go from: I never have enough money.

To: There are unlimited resources available to me; I am open to receiving them into my life.

Go from: I dislike my work; there are no good jobs for me out there.

To: I am in the process of discovering the perfect job and career for me.

By the way, abundance thinking and having abundance does not limit others from having abundance, too. By definition, more than enough means more than enough.

My only caveat on the principle of abundance is that it be about attracting what is good and right. Abundance comes from a positive and building energy or focus. Thinking about an abundance of ill will or hardship onto others is not abundance; it is negative and destructive energy.

A Final Thought about Abundance . . .

For those who have two or more children, did you have to cut your love in half when your second child was born? Where did that extra love come from? Did you love your first child less than 100 percent so you could save some of your love for your next offspring? Of course not!

Why? Because out of abundance (unlimited resources), not only did you take abundance (unlimited resources), but you also left abundance (unlimited resources).

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Action Steps

The Spirit of Abundance

1.Are you living an abundant life? If not, why not?

2.Do you realize abundance applies to all areas of your life? List them for yourself now.

3.Abundance is interconnected through all these areas: health, relationships, emotions, spirit, career, etc. Is there one area where you are not claiming abundance? What is that area? What are your limiting thoughts?

4.A way to reduce abundance is having a scarcity mindset. Does scarcity thinking apply in any area of your life? What area? Why is that true for you?

5.To increase your abundance, stop thinking about your current conditions and focus on what you want -- not what you have. Make a list of your reframing statements, as in the article example.

6.Benchmark you current situations. Introducing an assessment process can help you paint the picture of what is and what can be.

7.Help others (who want help) to be abundance-thinkers. That will help you in your abundance state.

8.One of the characteristics of abundance is patience. Even if you are in a hurry to meet the partner of your dreams, that may not happen today. You just have to claim that it will happen.

9.Another characteristic of abundance is being thankful when your requests are honored. Greed and ego do not have a place in the abundance process.

10.Know that you are worthy of abundance and that you can and will make a difference in other people's lives through it.

Until next time, keep Living On Purpose,

Ken Keis