Don’t believe the illusion

It’s natural to feel anxious these days when faced with so many changes as a result of the pandemic.  The everyday uncertainty of what restrictions might come next goes against our primal need for control and our compulsion for accumulation.  But maybe that’s the point. 

Instead of trying to control everything around us and fester in fear about not having enough, how about we loosen our grip for a minute so that we can focus our attention on all that we do have. Because as Wayne Dyer famously said, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

Today’s blog will ask you to reexamine your beliefs about scarcity and abundance. And it will challenge you to stretch your perceptions about accumulation.  Are you up for it?   

The Wayne Dyer quote I referenced is not just some clever poetic word play.  It suggests that our perceptions actually create our reality. So if you believe that there’s not enough money, time, health, love, or happiness for example, then that’s what will show up for you. It’s based on the principle of the Law of Attraction – what you focus on is mirrored back to you in physical form.

But what if you reject the illusion of scarcity and instead see the world in all it’s abundant glory.  For as the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said in our opening quote, your world will open up once you realize there is no such thing as lack.  It’s all about perception.

Probably the best example of reframing how you see things is the story that Viktor Frankl, author of his memoir Man’s Search for Meaning, tells about the fish head he was served in a bowl of dirty water on one of the “good days”.  Frankl said he had to see beauty in that fish head in order to survive.

Reframing how you see things may not be as critical to your physical survival in the same way as it was for Viktor Frankl, but it is likely significant to your mental health.  So why not see the beauty and goodness in everything around you and then let that multiply.

Speaking of multiplying, I want to move onto the second important message in today’s blog.  That of accumulation.

For many years, I was conditioned to believe that striving for more was a measure of success.  More money, more love, more things, more work, etc. That led to some unhealthy spending habits, not just in terms of money, but also in terms of how I spent my time.

You see, I was led to believe that more is better.  In fact, when I decided to label myself as an Abundance Activist, I had adopted that mindset. Then I read Lynn Twist’s book The Soul of Money and that altered the way I look at abundance.

Lynne taught me that there is more than enough to go around, and that abundance is ever expanding.  Therefore, we should be striving for a life of sufficiency instead of accumulation.

Now that doesn’t mean that you should abandon your goals or put away your desires for a better job, or a nicer home, or more time to spend on things you enjoy.  It suggests that you examine your motivation for the “accumulation” of that which you want.   You see, wanting excess is actually fear-based.  It is telling the Universe that you don’t believe there is enough, and you have to have more, just in case.  The seduction of over fulfillment can lead to the “hamster wheel of hoarding” as I call it.  Something that I personally have to remind myself of regularly.

I hope that I’ve given you some food for thought on the subject of abundance.  Remember, we live in an abundant world and there is more than enough for all of us.  We just have to notice it and say thanks.

Until next time, keep your frequency high, your mind open, and your joy ever expanding!

Love from your Joy Mama,

P.S.    If you haven’t already read my book Being Joy™, it’s a simple 40-day practice of replacing old self-defeating beliefs with new empowering joy habits. As your vibrational frequency increases, you’ll not only experience more joy, but you’ll also be a beacon of hope for others who have forgotten their own joy.  Please join me on this important Joy Revolution by ordering your copy today!

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Image courtesy of Pixabay.