Embracing Abundance

*Originally posted on strongandmindful

Embracing abundance with gratitude is our family focus this month. The ‘Gratitude Tree’ is an ongoing yearly tradition. I LOVE the visual simplicity. In years past, we’ve written our thoughts of gratitude at dinner time. This year we’ve shifted to writing them in the morning, and I actually like starting the day with a specific thought of gratitude.

I added ‘Embrace Abundance’ at the top of the tree this year. I feel abundance connects the WHY behind gratitude, and creates the light and joy we feel from being enough.

Funny enough, after I hung the words, my mind jumped to scarcity “I can’t teach this to the kids! I don’t know enough! This is complicated!” Oh, the irony. After choosing to shift my mindset, I gathered together some insights and realized abundance, while complex, is also quite simple. Living in a culture of scarcity, finding examples that relate to both abundance and scarcity are endless. Below are a few excerpts and quotes I’ve been pondering and sharing this month as we chat in the car, at the dinner table or before bedtime:

“If the opposite of scarcity is enough, then practicing gratitude is how we acknowledge that there’s enough and we are enough.”

1. Joy comes to us in moments – ordinary moments. We risk missing out on joy when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.
2. Be grateful for what you have.
3. Don’t squander joy.

-Brené Brown, Daring Greatly

See that connection between gratitude, abundance and joy? One of the many reasons I love Brené and her insights!

Another book I’ve referenced often this month has been The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Habit #4: Think Win:Win simplifies abundance and scarcity. I love how he breaks down a Win:Win, Win:Lose, Lose:Win, and Lose:Lose. When a child comes home from school feeling friendless, or comparing themselves to another classmate, discussing these scenarios and how they fit into their situation has helped them move forward.

“Win/Win is based on the paradigm that there is plenty for everybody, that one person’s success is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others.” -Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Embracing Abundance this month has also triggered conversations that it’s okay to go without and to not have everything figured out. It’s okay to be creative and find new solutions. I love this quote:

“Life becomes far easier once you know that things will still work out even if you are lacking something.” – Marie Kondo, the life-changing magic of tidying up

I believe the small and simple things of life truly can bring the deepest sense of joy. Every time I read this quote, I have chills behind the simplicity of these beautiful, wise words, and I want to embrace them for myself and teach them to our kiddos:

Make the Ordinary Come Alive

Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is a way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make the ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself.

-William Martin, The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents

I feel abundance reading those words.

Embracing abundance with gratitude has given me some direction this month – whether it’s playing ‘I spy’ on morning walks, enjoying family hikes, or looking out the window to appreciate the beauty all around us. And as we are ‘busy’ with life, it’s an opportunity to be a little more mindful, and for that, I’m grateful.