Is Having Less More?
Hey Steemian friends,
Do you feel that you don't have enough of what you want to be happy? Do you have a void in your life and have you developed the scarcity attitude?
A scarcity mindset leads to self-defeating behavior. It sabotages your chances for future financial success. Even when a Depression-type scarcity mentality helps you accumulate piles of cash, you’re unable to enjoy it. You’re afraid to.
How much is enough? How much do you need to live on comfortably? Fear is always at the heart of scarcity: fear of failure, fear of the future, fear of missing out. Those with a scarcity mindset cling to the notion that there’s a limited amount of everything, and they’re afraid they won’t get their share. For now, you should recognize that in order to achieve financial freedom, you must adopt an abundance mentality.
If you’re worried about lack, you aren’t free. It's best to count your blessings, rather than focus on what you're lacking in.
To get what you want, give what you want.
What do I mean?
In an amazing article from the academic journal Psychological Science, researchers suggest that “giving time gives you time”. The authors found that spending time on others (instead of yourself) boosts how much time you think you have — in both the present and the future.
Many of us feel pressured by the modern world. We feel rushed, as if there’s never enough time to do what we want. We feel a lack, a scarcity, of minutes and hours and days. To cope with this, we tend to turn inward. We watch TV. We play videogames. We get a massage. But studies show that “wasting time” like this truly is a waste. When we spend time on ourselves, we feel like the time is lost.
On the other hand, when we give our time to others — helping friends or volunteering in the community, for instance — we experience feelings of “time affluence”. Plus our time seems “fuller”. We feel better about ourselves and what we’ve done. And as a bonus:
“Giving time to others not only increases the giver’s sense of subjective time but can also increase the recipient’s objective amount of time, such that giving time contributes to the well-being of both the self and others.”
That, my friends, is abundance in action.
The bottom line? “When individuals feel time constrained, they should become more generous with their time — despite their inclination to be less so.”
The same idea applies to other areas of your life in which you experience feelings of lack. When I started giving away and selling my Stuff several years ago, for example, I came to realize just how much I had. Before, when I was constantly in acquisition mode, I felt like I had very little. I was wrong. I had mountains of things!
Now I have the daunting task of getting rid of stuff. It's hard to do. I''m not the type to throw good stuff in the garbage, when I know someone could use what I'm trying to get rid of. I love Goodwill! I feel less guilty by donating to them, if I can't find someone personally to give my old stuff to. Of course, if my old things are useless and wore out, I will take them to the trash.
If you feel a lack of respect from others, give respect to others. If you feel a lack of compassion from others, be compassionate to others. If you feel like people don’t love you, love other people. If you feel broke, donate time and money to the poor. If you feel like you’ll never have enough wealth, systematically give away some of what you have.
In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes:
The abundance mentality…is the paradigm that there is plenty out there and enough to spare for everybody. It results in sharing of prestige, of recognition, of profits, of decision making. It opens possibilities, options, alternatives, and creativity.
The abundance mindset comes from understanding there’s plenty in the world: plenty of money, plenty of love, plenty of time. There’s plenty for everyone — both for you and for others. There’s plenty now and there’ll be plenty tomorrow. If you enjoyed my post, I always appreciate your up vote, be sure to follow for more engaging posts and please leave a comment to let me know what you think.
I enjoyed your post. Good things to remember. And very applicable at the moment for me. How did you know? Anyway with this kind of post you'd be very welcome over in the communities I share. Don't know if you are familiar with the Stewards of Tera Mater, or with @wwf, or @davemccoy, or @curie or @quartor and @littlescribe and @maverickinvictus... all good folks. If you're looking or those to connect with you'd be at home with us. Many blessings.
Thank you mistermercury. I'm glad that you could sync with this post. I'll send more similiar to this one. And I hope they will resonate well with you too. I'm only familiar with curie, but I'll check out the rest of the good folks. Please stay in touch.
Yes, there is a growing community of like-minded souls who seek a paradigm shift in consciousness into the abundant heart. Let it be so.
I appreciate the notification on this one as this is the posts that I usually like!
I'll be writing more like this one. Please comment and let's get a dialogue going. Maybe we could help each other in some small way. You know every deed, transaction begins with a single thought. Wouldn't you agree?
I would be more than happy to help and engage in a dialogue with such an interesting topic. I would be more than happy to be tagged :)
My pleasure @maverickinvictus. It's folks like you and @davemccoy and @wwf that have inspired me. Thank you, very much. Peace.
HI Mistermercury...thank your for your heart-felt welcome. I've heard of currie, but not the others that you mentioned. However, I'll take a look. Hopefully, I'll send some more post your way that you can resonate well with. Thanks for taking your time to read my post.
Thanks. come on over. We look forward to more from you. Blesssings.
Vote back my friend
I @syanaa hehehe
You need to comment on my post in order for me to vote back. You can say something interesting or ask a question. Cheers!
Saya suka![IMG_20180404_203917.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZVfzfnPbNTuEZfHUXeuNPMTgSLPjYLUvLXuhLSfoVwDs/IMG_20180404_203917.jpg)
You got a 3.95% upvote from @upmewhale courtesy of @carolynseymour!
Earn 100% earning payout by delegating SP to @upmewhale. Visit http://www.upmewhale.com for details!
Funny thing is that I was just thinking of this.....
this week as I was trying to downsize.
I told myself I have a lot of unneeded stuff. Why not give it away to someone that can use it more. I can always get something when I need it. Being abundant means to think positive....so very TRUE.....
Hi greenbeans...when one collects so much stuff, it actually clutters the mind and prevents us from being free to creativity. It's a wonderful feeling to enjoy beauty but not owning a lot of it. Does that make sense to you? I know sales and advertisement makes us purchase things that we really don't need, just want. But once we pass that "lust" state of mind, then we can begin to see clearly a difference between "wants" and "needs".
Yes, I agree.
You revealed people's insecurity. I believe this is the reason why people hoard.
Yes, I believe that too because I'm guilty of hoarding. I have the mindset to save this or that, because someday I may need it. But usually when that someday comes, I've even forgotten about it or can't find it. My mindset is about to change, greenbeans!
Very nicely put. Keep up the good work.
Thank you louis25. I'm sending another valuable post your way on this beauitful Sunday morning here in Louisiana. Rain-Free!
I have to thank @mistermercury for the tag on this post which is very interesting.
This line is my favorite and was something that I realized when I started looking out for others more than I would selfishly vote for myself then I started getting more votes and comments.
Having a scarcity mindset is usually how most people have when they first enter steemit and often develop an abundance mindset after seeing the good.
You might want to check @taskmaster4450 for his optimistic write ups.
Thank you for this great post.
Thank you maverickinvictus. I will check out @taskmaster4450 for his optimistic view on life. Encouragement helps me hang in on Steemit, while traveling the road to success.