The Law of Attraction, an Abundance Mentality, and How a Stack of Coupons Changed my Life!
- What is keeping unlimited blessings from flowing into your life?
Tonight I had a profound experience…in a grocery store of all places.
I was checking out of the “express” line on my way home from work. I held in my hands a 2 pound salad, custom made by yours truly, and I somehow managed to fit it into a 1 pound container….but that’s just how I roll.
Anyway, it was about 8:00 at night and I was about an hour and a half from home. I realized this around the same time that I noticed that the lady in front of me had slightly exceeded the 15 item limit by roughly a dozen items, plus the line was barely even moving! This is where it gets interesting.
A New and Surprising Reaction
Several weeks ago I would have harbored some negative feelings, grumbled a bit, and probably looked at the clock every 30 seconds trying to expedite the situation through the sheer power of my will…….But not tonight.
Tonight I was overwhelmed by one single feeling; and it’ the same emotion that’s filled my soul over the past week: a feeling of gratitude and deep appreciation.
As I stood there in line I was fully present and conscious; everything seemed to move in slow motion. I felt intense gratitude for all of my surroundings and saw that literally everything was a blessing. I was grateful for all of the people around me. As I watched them, I could see the good in them. I looked around the store. I noticed things I’ve never taken the time to see before: flags hanging from the ceiling, management bustling in the back rooms, the flow of people in and out of the store. I stood there in awe. I was grateful to live in a place where I could walk into a building, fill a basket, and walk out with an abundance of food. A quote from Rumi came to mind, “Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment.” I was indeed bewildered.
As we advanced in line and my mathematically challenged buddy was checking out, she broke out the biggest stack of a stack of coupons I had ever seen. It literally took longer to scan every coupon than it did all of her items. As the cashier scanned each one I smiled. All I could feel was empathy and appreciation for this hard working mom. Just one week ago I would have stood impatiently as more and more frustration mounted with every ‘beep’ of the scanner. Now every beep was a blessing.
As the last coupon was scanned there was a discrepancy requiring the attention of a manager which resulted in another long delay. The lady, who had already been uncomfortable taking so long, looked at me and said “I am so sorry”.
I had hoped for this opportunity and immediately said, “Please don’t apologize. I can tell you put a lot of hard work into this and I am so happy that you are able to save this money.”
I may have said something similar a few weeks ago….who knows? But now I felt it through my entire body. I could see her in my mind, balancing her checkbook and determining that she would do whatever it took to save money and help her family. I could see her sitting at the kitchen table shuffling through newspapers, clipping coupons, and planning this trip to the grocery store. I could see her walking down the aisles, carefully selecting the pre-planned items.
She was not some ‘thing’ standing in front of me in line, some obstacle placed between me and what I wanted. She was a person with real purpose, real intention, and of real value. I could see how this person, myself, and everyone else in the store were somehow connected.
The Epiphany: A True understanding of the Law of Attraction
I have been studying the Law of Attraction for years, but it wasn’t until last week that I finally ‘got it’. The law of attraction basically states that a person will attract the same types of energy that they emit. If you’re kind to people, then people will generally be kind to you in return…and vice versa. It revolves around the notion of karma and I happen to believe it to be a true principle and in complete agreement with Christianity (but that’s another article).
I had always understood the concept of doing good and getting good in return, but the real epiphany came last week as I studied Wayne Dyers book “The Power of Intention”. I discovered that the Law of Attraction applied as much to our focus as our actions. In my case, I had been focusing on some things (all good things) that I wanted in my life but had not yet achieved. This led to weeks of frustration and a general feeling of discontent; to the point that I even wrote about this it in a previous blog post. What I came to understand was that if you attract whatever remains in your focus, and you focus on what you do not have, then what you attract is more of what you do not have. This may sound trivial, but it literally changed my life and led to the experience in the grocery store as well as many others over the past few days. My focus shifted from the things that I wanted to the things that I already have and will have. I basically transitioned from a scarcity mentality to an abundance mentality.
Scarcity Mentality vs. Abundance Mentality
These are essentially the only two ways to see the world.
Seeing the world through the lens of abundance means that there are no limits to life, you see the good in everything, the glass is half full, the pie is huge and constantly growing so you’re happy to share as much of it as you can. It produces gratitude, peace, and yes, even prosperity. It emanates from our true selves and ultimately comes from God. It focuses on what we have and what we will achieve.
The scarcity mentality is the exact opposite. In this perspective there is never enough, things could always be better, the glass is half empty, I won’t share the pie because it’s too dang small and I want mine! It is ego driven and focuses on the things we do not have.
Now, with that said, anyone will tell you that I have always been a very optimistic person; very willing to share the pie and even give you my half full glass of milk! However, I was guilty of having a scarcity mentality with regards to fulfilling my life’s mission. My thoughts revolved around the aspects of it I didn’t have. When the epiphany came, I immediately let it all go. I was just grateful for life. I could breathe, smell, touch, taste, and enjoy my family and friends. My heart was beating and this was enough. I was complete with no strings attached. What immediately happened was amazing. I found that as I focused on what I had, God gave me even more to be grateful for.
I discovered that the only thing between me and my mission was…..me! Ironically, I was the sole architect in fabricating the barriers between what I had and what I wanted. As soon as I embraced an abundance mentality with regards to my life mission the miracle began to happen and the same can happen for you.
Here are 6 Quick Tips for Attracting Abundance into Your Life
The ability to attract success rests in your hands!
1. Be Grateful
Gratitude puts you in a humble state of mind. There is always something to be grateful for. Find the life under your life situation. You are not your circumstances, your body, or even your mind. The essence of who you are is a miraculous. Acknowledge this and thank your Father in Heaven for it. If you think otherwise, then that is exactly what will manifest itself in your life….more to be ungrateful for.
2. Refuse to Focus on the Negative
There is always something to complain about. Imagine you could choose to go anywhere in the world with whoever you like for as long as you wanted. As soon as you were there, your mind would still find something wrong…..the peeled grapes would be soggy….you get the point. Shut this out of your mind because it only brings pain and suffering, which in turn attracts….you, got it, more pain.
3. Deny Your Ego
Your ego is essentially your self identity. It’s the 3 year old kid inside you that screams “MINE!” It tries to convince you that happiness is everywhere except where you are now. It tries to convince you that you are isolated and separate from everyone else. It tries to convince you that it is you. It feeds on pain. Separate yourself from it, observe it, and deny its promptings. It screams “scarcity, scarcity, scarcity!” Laugh at it, put it aside, and choose abundance.
4. Be Present
The key to any spiritual success is quieting the mind. Take notice of your surroundings. Take notice of your breathing, your pulse, nature, background sounds. Don’t judge them, just observe them. This is the beginning of gratitude. Pretend past and future do not exist. All you have is the present moment. God exists outside of time and if you can periodically remove yourself from the burden of time it will only bring you closer to him.
5. Be in a State of Perpetual Prayer
Communication with God is essential. Be open to promptings that He sends you, they happen for a reason. I always think of this when I look at my Blackberry. It has two arrows, one representing when information is being sent ‘up’ and another for when it is sent ‘down’. Let’s be sure to do at least as much downloading as we do uploading to God.
6. Do Good continually and expect nothing in return
Christ taught the golden rule of human relations. He taught not only to love others as ourselves, but that to serve them is to serve God. As we do this expecting nothing in return, we will find an abundance of peace, joy, and many other blessings flow into our lives.
I am grateful for the knowledge that God gives us line upon line and precept upon precept. I have found The Law of Attraction to be a true principle, both for better and for worse. I know that as we focus on the blessings we have, share all that we have, and see ourselves as we ultimately wish ourselves to be, God will bless us beyond measure. I’ll never look at a sheet of coupons the same again!
As always comments are welcome and appreciated.
