Change your mental settings from Scarcity to Abundance

We hoard stuff because we are afraid things are going to run out. The fear of not having enough makes us hoard. That behavior comes from what psychologists call the scarcity mindset — the thinking that there won’t be enough to go around.

Scarcity mindset sees life as having only a limited supply of things, like having only a single available pie. And if someone were to get a big piece of that pie, it would mean less for everybody else.

People with a scarcity mindset have a very hard time being genuinely happy for the success of other people.

Jealousy is the biggest sign of scarcity mindset. You are jealous that others have more money than you have, that others drive better cars than you do, that they live in better houses than you live in.

A person with a scarcity mindset would be very stingy with money. They won’t give it away to help others, because they think if they share it, then they won’t have enough.

Those with a scarcity mindset rarely give compliments.

Years ago, I lived with a scarcity mindset. I used to be jealous of friends who lived in bigger houses in gated communities. I used to compare my small house with thin walls, cheaper doors, and one car garage, with their big houses with sturdy walls, French doors, and three car garages. I was jealous that their driveway can accommodate six cars while mine is barely wide enough for two. I was not generous about giving compliments to my friends. At the end of the day, the scarcity mindset only made me depressed and sad.

That is when I began to think about the principle of abundance, a lesson I learned from observing the Earth. I began to look around and realized that planet Earth is filled with abundance.

Earth doesn’t operate from a scarcity mindset. Everything you will ever need the Earth has in abundance.

When you wake up in the morning, have you ever worried about not having enough air to breathe?

Have you ever said to yourself:

There are billions of people on Earth, they are going to use up all the air, and there won’t be any left for me?

No. Wherever you go, there is plenty for you. You don’t have to take it with you, (unless you have COPD and you need an oxygen tank) there is an abundant supply.

Get outside your house and look up. The horizon is vast and abundant. Go to the beach and look at the ocean, the waters are abundant. There are 2 million species of animals on Earth, 99 thousand species of birds and 30 thousand species of fish, 82 thousand species of reptiles and 950 thousand kinds of insects. There are 297 thousand varieties of plants and trees on Earth. So, the Earth is huge and abundant.

Abundance exists beyond your current belief system.

You don’t have to create abundance; but only learn to see, feel, and appreciate it. Abundance is our inheritance. If you don’t see it or feel it, it is because you have a scarcity mindset. You need eyes to see it and faith to claim it.

As Wayne Dyer says, “Abundance is not something we acquire, it is something that we tune into.”

So, the question is: Do you have abundance in your life? Do you feel an abundance of health and wealth?

Do you share abundant love with the people around you?

Do you feel abundant joy and compassion?

It all starts with an abundant mindset.

How come the Earth on which we live has abundance and we earthlings don’t? What is wrong with that picture?

(from Cosmic Kindergarten: Earthly Lessons for a Heavenly Life)