Posts Tagged ‘abundance’

Each one of us, at some point in our lives, finds ourselves looking at the world and our lives through the filter of half-empty or half-full consciousness. We all find ourselves making the determination that the glass of our life is half-empty, that there are things missing that we desire and if we had those things our life would be more fulfilling and enjoyable. But we also have times of looking at our lives and thinking that the glass is half-full; we stop and count our blessings and feel moments of contentment and happiness, sometimes feeling like we need nothing more to be at peace. Since nothing is static in our lives and our consciousness changes as our lives change, we find that we go back and forth through these ways of viewing our lives. No one way stays with us forever.

Even though we may shift from half-empty to half-full from time to time, you might be surprised to find how much the connection between these two life perspectives truly impact our ability to draw abundance into our lives.

All our thoughts draw energy and that energy always flows with the path of least resistance. When we are viewing our world through half-empty consciousness we are viewing things from a place of want and desire. While it is fine to want things, we are not coming from a place of gratitude at this time, but rather a place of lack. We might find ourselves saying things like “My job would be so much better if I could get a raise. I can’t stand working my fingers to the bone and not making more money.” The sentiment here falls in line with half-empty thinking because we are seeing that, while we have some money, we don’t have the money we desire and therefore it negatively affects our job and work environment for us because it makes us feel that things aren’t what they could be. This is going to impact how we draw abundance into our work situation because our focus, whether we realize or not, is on more on what we don’t have than on what we do. Instead, if we were to say something along the lines of “My job would be even better if I were to get a raise, but I’m so thankful that in these tough times when so many people can’t get work that I have a job and a paycheck coming in.” Here you’re using half-full conscious to acknowledge your blessings even though there is something that you would desire that would improve your situation.

One of the things that makes the difference in half-empty and half-full consciousness is where our thoughts and intentions are truly coming from. When we come from the point of seeing this half-empty and we are focused on what is lacking in our lives and we often see that we are entitled to those things, that they should often be expected and therefore we have an attitude that lacks gratefulness and is more one of entitlement. However, in half-full consciousness, we stop to take the time to first examine what we have and count our blessings, and then look for the icing on top of the cake. We know that the things we desire may be nice to have, but we know that we are still blessed to have what we do have. It’s through this gratefulness, this gratitude and feeling blessed that we create a positive aura and energy about things, even things that might be lacking in our lives, and through that we are able to create a path for abundance.

With this new awareness, take the time to ask yourself “Am I seeing things half-empty or half-full?” If you’re seeing things as being half-empty take the time to reverse your thinking. It’s as simply as counting your blessings, being consciously grateful for having what you do have, and then asking for the additions that you desire. A simple exercise that makes this easy to do is to evaluate your life if it truly were an empty glass. Imagine that you didn’t have the home you have, that you didn’t have your job or other means of financial care, imagine that your life was without the friends and family you hold dear. Now, add each one of these elements, individually, into your empty glass and begin to fill it. Use a journal or notebook as you do this and with each item you add back into your glass name it on a page and write all the things you are grateful for about that person or thing in your life. Don’t focus on the wants and desires right now but on what you have. When you’re done, really look at what you have been blessed with. What do you truly need, not just desire, but what do you truly need to make your life better? Write those things down, with reasons, on it’s own page and send those desires out into the Universe with gratitude for what you already have.

Everyday, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts toward others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.

- His Holiness The Dalai Lama