This is part of a Wanderlust series from Wanderlusters in Australia and New Zealand. Check back for more Dispatches From Down Under. Be sure to check out a Wanderlust event Down Under as well!
At the heart of living a content and peaceful life is the art of learning how to live in a state of true abundance. Sadly, many people consider a large bank account or acquiring material possessions to be a measure of abundance, and as a result end up living a life of scarcity focusing more on what is lacking than what is already in possession.
True abundance is about much more than your bank account, house, or the car you drive. Abundance—or the perceived lack of it—is created in your brain. Living a truly abundant life is a state of mind and a perspective that you can embrace in any moment through three simple practices: acceptance, appreciation, and generosity.
Acceptance
Attracting abundance into your life starts by accepting your life as it is—including all the stuff you’d rather change or ignore. The principle of acceptance begins internally through self-acceptance (I am enough, I do enough) and then spreads externally to our possessions, relationships, and all other areas of our life (I have enough).
Acceptance helps to cultivate contentment in the present moment, shifting your perspective from scarcity to abundance. It’s a conscious decision and acknowledgement that your life is full and complete and that things outside of yourself will neither add to or reduce this state of being.
Attracting abundance into your life starts by accepting your life as it is—including all the stuff you’d rather change or ignore.
Appreciation
Gratitude is the recognition of the abundance already present in your life and is also an expression of thanks for the generosity that has been expressed to you. It is a mindset that enables you to always find something to be grateful for. When you are grateful it shows that you do not take things for granted; choosing instead to appreciate rather than to disregard what you have already received.
Generosity
In order for someone to receive, another must give. This is the natural flow of abundance and requires you to shift your focus from someone who always takes to someone who also gives.
Although outwardly you may feel you have little to spare or share, you have much more to give than just money. You can share the love in your heart or the wisdom in your head and the experiences that you’ve gained in life. You may offer your time in service or support to others or you may just choose to listen, offer kindness, and share a smile.
And, as the adage goes, the more you give, the more you’ll receive. If you focus on how to express more love to your partner, you may attract love back from them. If you focus on self-care and taking better care of your health, your body may respond and naturally reward you in greater health.
The beautiful thing about abundance is that once you begin to look for it, it appears everywhere. To live a truly abundant life is not something that you can magically acquire or simply arrive at one day. Instead an abundant life manifests as a constant and personal journey of acceptance, gratitude, generosity, and the natural flow of giving and receiving in life.
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Lea Schodel is a financial planner who is both serious and fun, powerful and vulnerable, inventive and safe, a lover and a fighter, a leader and a follower, a doer and a thinker, a homebody and an explorer, a student and a teacher. Find out more about her here.