“Live a life of abundance, not scarcity.” You know when you hear a saying or quote that you like, but doesn’t quite make sense until it plays out in your everyday life? For me, this saying was one of those sentiments.
Live a life of abundance? What the heck does that mean? If I don’t have anything in abundance, how can I possibly live a life like that? Everyone is talking a lot lately about how mindset is everything, and if you change your mind, you change your life. Ring a bell anyone? I recently finished filming a feature film in Portland, and all of these concepts became so clear to me. Now what I write below, may still seem like complete BS to you, but bear with me, and I hope by the end that you will be one step closer to gaining your own understanding about the abundance mentality.
I am a fairly positive person. Interestingly enough, I probably become more positive the harder the situation becomes. I like being a problem solver and utilizing my positivity to make the best of any situation. This is probably what makes me such a good producer (#humblebrag), but I realized on this last film set how valuable this mindset is. Filmmaking is hard work. I definitely won’t dispute that. But you know what else, it is FUN. SUPER FUN. You are getting to play make believe with a whole bunch of professionals that are also building the same world as you. How cool is that? So, when a difficult situation comes about in filmmaking, you can either come at the problem with a mindset of scarcity, or a mindset of abundance. How does that apply to problem solving? Someone with a scarcity mindset might look at the difficult situation and think that the problem can’t be solved, or it can only be solved with lots of time and money. Instead, if you think about the issue from a place of abundance, you can think about the people and resources you already have at your disposal. Maybe one of your crew or cast members can help you solve the problem? I know this may sound wonky, but if you just think about things from a positive, abundant point of view, it may help you think outside the box about your problem.
The same goes for your everyday life. You’ve heard the phrase “dress for the job you want, not the job you have?” That also promotes living with an abundant mindset. This doesn’t mean that you should go buy super expensive clothes that are going to make you bankrupt, but you also don’t have to wear clothes that don’t make you happy. I recently went through my closet and cleaned out anything that didn’t make me feel like a million bucks. The stuff left in my closet makes me feel confident and happy, even if it came from the clearance rack at Target. Yes, I may have donated a jacket that is still *good enough*, but it didn’t make me feel confident and happy, and from an abundant standpoint, I can always search for another jacket that is similar but makes me smile from ear to ear.
I know that one of my insecurities around living with an abundant mindset, is that I didn’t want people around me to feel insecure about their own abundance or lack thereof. We all have different levels of abundance in our lives, and I was always concerned that if I acted like I had less, it would make others feel better about themselves. But you know what, the only person that hurt was myself. I will leave you with this final quote by Marianne Williamson:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
So, don’t live a life of scarcity, live a life of abundance, because as you let your own light shine you are giving others permission and strength to let their own light out.
Note: The quote above was changed to omit “God” as the source of strength and light. We all have this strength inside ourselves, no matter our beliefs or religious affiliations.