4 Signs that You Embody Authentic Abundance
In a season where you may end up exhausted, overextended, and spread too thin, let's remember what is possible when we Cultivate Abundance.
Hello beloved you - this is a lovely season to Cultivate Abundance. Take time to focus on practices that will support you in moving through the end of the year in a space of authentic abundance that doesn’t leave you feeling spread thin and depleted.
Current ideas about abundance seem fragile.
I've always struggled with the way that the term abundance is used in personal development and even in spiritual communities. I sense an incredible fragility in the way abundance is discussed in terms of manifesting and this almost superstitious avoidance of negativity or paranoia that if we're thinking about something bad, it will bring more of it to us. Or, if we're having challenging feelings about something in our lives that we are going to draw a lack of abundance towards ourselves.
These are outdated (unhelpful) ideas.
In the face of increasing complexity and challenges in the world, I believe more than ever we need what I refer to as authentic abundance. Cultivating abundance in your life is so important - can you recognize when you are in a state of authentic abundance?
Recognizing authentic abundance.
It isn't about stacks of cash or fancy things (though that's not out of the question). These are the four signs that you can look for to assess whether you are living with an authentic abundance mindset.
You know what abundance means to you. Years ago, when I was teaching one of the first iterations of my course Get Right with Money, one of the women was obsessed with the idea that for her to be successful, she needed to own a home. And she was pouring all kinds of energy into saving money and working in a particular way (hustling hard), so she could purchase a home. As we were exploring what success and abundance meant to her, she realized that she did not want to own a home. This was so freeing for her! She could take the time, energy, and money that she had been spending on this incredible effort to purchase a home, and she put that towards what fostered and cultivated a sense of abundance for her.
So again, knowing what abundance means to you, not necessarily the social norms, not unexamined expectations or ideas about what abundance might be, but knowing what it means to you - this is a sign of an authentic abundance mindset.
You actively receive the goodness of life. One of the hallmarks of being outside of authentic abundance, or being in scarcity, is a lack of ability to receive goodness, to appreciate what's going on, or to celebrate wins and successes. All of this is part of receiving. So, you know that you are cultivating and living in an authentic abundance mindset if you are actively receiving - if you are celebrating the good things, and if you are open to people's compliments and what people say is great about you.
You have practices that bring you back to a sense of the inner and outer abundance that is yours to steward and grow. So what is implied in this particular indicator is that authentic abundance is a process, it's a practice, it's a mindset we are in a living relationship with. If you're in an authentic abundance mindset, you recognize that there are practices that can and will bring you back to a sense of the abundance that is both within you and around you.
You recognize when scarcity wounding has taken hold. Often, in the traditional abundance mindset teachings, there's this underlying assumption that we're never going to feel scarcity again. That is just false. We are humans living in a surprising and ever-changing world. We are going to experience the activation of scarcity wounding - repeatedly. You know you are living an authentic abundance mindset when you recognize the activation of scarcity and then say, yeah, this is normal.
Our brains are wired to look for what's wrong in our environment. This is part of our evolutionary wisdom, and if you are keyed into an authentic abundance mindset, you know that is true. You also know that your work at that moment is to discern whether or not there's something to be concerned about and if not, then you will turn your attention towards those practices of authentic abundance.
"What if I'm not there?"
The good news is we are all a work in progress!
So rooting into practices that cultivate authentic abundance offers you access to your wholeness, clear thinking, and your capacity to choose your actions wisely on behalf of yourself, but also on behalf of others around you or those you serve. You can learn and practice to experience more expansive and powerful states of authentic abundance. Prioritizing authentic abundance is deeply supportive if you wish to be a thoughtful, engaged human doing meaningful work in the world.
If you would like a fresh perspective and practices that can shift your relationship to abundance, I invite you to say yes to Cultivate Abundance.