Are you living in abundance?

Over the last few weeks as I prepared for a new year to begin (for parents September is often our “New Year” as we hustle and prep for a new academic year) I have thought often about abundance and scarcity. Think of those two words. One rich in good feelings, and a sense that there is always enough. Scarcity on the other hands brings up things like fear, longing, never enough to go around. I can tell you where I’d rather land on the side of those two scales.

The issue is that even though most of us reading this live in affluence, there is an inner voice inside our head that says there will not be enough for us all. Not enough friendship. Not enough spots on the soccer team. Not enough slots on the school sign up sheet. And when we believe there won’t be enough to go around, we find ourselves acting defensive, sneaky, and anxious. I speak from a place of knowing here.

A very wise woman told me recently that the way to beat the Scarcity Conundrum is to find some humility and wonder. To rest in the truth that if you are not first, it doesn’t mean you are going to be last. Second isn’t a bad thing. Nor is third or forth. And in all honesty, not any one of us is deserving of being first all the time. Your friends got together and you weren’t included, well maybe next time you will be. Can you see that your time was better spent doing something else instead? Or can you be happy for their connection, and lob up a silent wish that something meaningful and fun happens to you next week? Or maybe, it inspires you to be the one who MAKES the fun plan next time.

The picture above is one that I took while away this summer. I was walking through a quiet forest, and I noticed the ground had broken open and made way for water to run under the forest floor. In that moment I wasn’t worrying about where I wasn’t, or what I hadn’t been invited to, or was my moment more or less special than any other moment other people were experiencing. I was present, full of wonder, humbled by the beauty God had created around me, and confident that there was more to come.

And if you have been following me for some time, you know that I am a human with big doubts and a lot of fear and insecurity inside me. If you saw me walking on the street, I walk with confidence and I am not afraid to let my voice be heard when I have something to say. BUT, when I am alone at night in the darkness of my bedroom I fear there won’t be enough to go around. Not enough love, not enough affirmation, not enough A teams, and play dates. I’m working on quieting that voice and reminding myself that I have been given plenty. And there will always be more that comes my way. Both the voices of abundance, and the voice of scarcity are still there, but here’s to hoping the abundant one wins out in the end. Because a life lived with the confidence that we are living in an abundant world full of infinite possibilities sure does sound like a great place to dwell.