Abundance

Rob has been my boyfriend for a little over 3 years. There are some wonderful things he does -- he drives 3 hours one way to see me almost every weekend (and 3 hours to drive back to his house.) He brings me flowers most weekends. This weekend he brought me two bouquets of roses -- one white, one red.  I asked him how come he brought two? He thought they were both so beautiful, he said, "I just got both." 

This got me thinking about abundance. I'm pretty sure the Divine likes abundance, since we have been given so much of so many things -- all those repeating sunrises and sunsets, uncountable stars, animal and plant species that fill our every need, oceans and beautiful smaller bodies of water, mountains, valleys -- I could go on and on, but you get the idea. 

The focus on abundance rekindles my love for the story of Babette's Feast. It is the story of scarcity versus abundance. In a small, poor town, people are distant from one another, sour-tempered, sad, and lonely. A new resident appears with a mission to create one abundant meal for the town to share together. No delicacy is spared--she spends her life savings on the meal, and eventually gets support from even the most ardent nay-sayers. The lavish result is transformative. 

Our lives can transform when we open ourselves to the abundance that is always available. I strive to feel surrounded by the love and blessings that are the very nature of the great Spirit. Knowing that love is overflowing (I love that image), never-ending, plentiful, and ever-present is where I want my spiritual core to be as my starting point for all things. No matter how hard and discouraging times get, I try to go back to abundance to reset my thinking, attitude, and behavior.

When I think of the things in my life that have not gone well, I think they had to do with my coming from a mindset of scarcity rather than abundance. It feels awful to be in a place where I might think Divine presence and care might be lacking, in short supply, or insufficient. 

How can I catch myself the next time I have a challenge? One of my favorite questions is, "What would you do if you know you couldn't fail?" I may shift that up a bit and say "How would you live if you lived in abundance?" I'm going to ask myself that more often.