House of Abundance
Until very recently, I was someone who always lived life in survival mode. Growing up in a family of immigrants, my family came to the U.S. and only had each other to rely on. As you can imagine, moving to a new country where you don’t know how anything works, don’t speak the language, and are trying to eat and get bills paid cultivates a high stress environment. Trying to meet basic needs while also navigating legal status AND raising a child doesn’t leave a lot of room for thinking about anything else.
When I moved to San Francisco for college, I worked retail jobs to barely pay my rent and eat. Living literally paycheck to paycheck and seeing other friends have financial cushions and go home for the summer made me jealous of what financial abundance they had. When you’re in that kind of position and living in one of the most expensive cities, it’s the hardest thing to look around and appreciate what little you *do* have. Not having enough to live on was my reality and led to me having a scarcity mindset. I was constantly worried about paying my rent on time, if I would have enough money for food and to live in general. Like many college students, I got into some credit card debt to cover the rest of my bases that took forever to pay off.
Although I was living in financial scarcity, it is not the only kind of scarcity mindset that people can experience. According to an article on choosingtherapy.com, a few causes of a scarcity mindset can be history of poverty, financial trauma, worries about the future, unrealistic views of the world, and societal expectations. Speaking from my own experience, fear of abandonment can also be a cause of scarcity mindset, where you fear that emotional resources such as love, attention, and affection are limited. Some long term effects of scarcity mindset include poor financial decisions, hoarding, maladaptive behavior such as extreme risk-taking or on the other end of the spectrum, being risk averse, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
✨One example of an abundance mindset affirmation ✨
The good news is that there is a way to combat a scarcity mindset, and that’s with having an abundance mindset. An abundance mindset is where you believe that there are enough resources available for everyone, and can help you in many ways such as having more gratitude, solving problems, and making decisions that are beneficial in the long-term. It’s important to note that living in scarcity is a reality for many people, and that simply changing your mindset won’t immediately change the situation, however, it can help you manage day to day life a little easier.
So how do we shift from a scarcity to an abundance mindset? First of all, remember that this is a practice. We don’t need to put pressure on ourselves to always get it right in any mindfulness practice. I’ve read hella articles on how to shift to an abundance mindset, but here are my personal favorites:
1. Define abundance for yourself. I like to think of this in terms of living my dream life. If I could do whatever I wanted all the time, what would that life look like? What are the changes in your life you’re striving towards?
2. Start small. A relatively easy way to start this shift is to think about abundance in terms of time. Instead of stressing how there’s not enough hours in the day to get everything done, reflect on the times during the day that you enjoyed. Maybe you had a really particularly delicious coffee, or got to cuddle your fur baby for a few minutes. “I’m safe and have what I need” has become a regular phrase I tell myself when it’s hard to remember to be in an abundance mindset.
3. Practice gratitude. This one seems the most self-explanatory and yet the most difficult thing to do, especially on the bad days. It’s so easy to throw ourselves pity parties when we’re having a day where nothing seems to be going right. On days like this, think of the good things that you have going in your life. I always tell myself how grateful I am to wake up with my husband and dogs, and for all the experiences that have led me to where I am in my life now. It can be as simple as “I’m grateful to wake up today,” or “I’m grateful I can treat myself to my oat milk matcha latte.”
4. Surround yourself with people who also have an abundance mindset. We all know misery loves company, and when you surround yourself with people who are constantly complaining about how bad things are in their life, it can be exhausting to be around, and can also throw off your vibe. Find people who also live a life rooted in appreciation and always looking to grow themselves. I really believe that you’re a reflection of the people you surround yourself with, and I feel that the quality of my life is better when I surround myself with people who inspire me, who I think are aspirational, or have a growth mindset.
5. Put out what you would like to receive. If you always talk about how broke you are, you will stay broke because you’re putting your energy in what you lack rather than what you have. If you tell yourself you’ll always be alone when you want to find a romantic partner, you might miss a potential great relationship that may be closer than you think. In Buddhism, you often hear about the idea of karma. Karma isn’t something that just happens to you. Karma is the causes we make through our thoughts, words, and actions. The word karma in Sanskrit actually means, “to act,” or “action,” which are all explained in our thoughts, speech, and behavior. If we think and act on bad thoughts, bad things will manifest. If we think and act positively (and realistically) from a place of gratitude, we are putting out more positive causes in the universe and will receive more positive effects.
Once again, having an abundance mindset is a practice. Nobody is perfect at it, and some days will definitely be easier than others. Believing that there are more than enough resources for everyone while focusing on our own growth is key. What’s important is that the effort to have an abundance mindset is made, and then we can be grateful to ourselves for putting in the effort and *boom* abundance mindset right there! Remember to have compassion for yourself, and that you have the ability to create the life you want ❤️
