Experiencing abundance and positivity even when poor!
If you have ever struggled to get your basic needs met, you might feel pretty cynical when someone comes up to you and says "Hey just have an abundance mentality!" You are like " Yeah right! LOLZ!" Trust me , I have been there. In this entry for the #popcontest, I will talk about how fear based thinking impacts brain function, how to change that, and why positivity is worth it no matter how many dollars you have in the bank!
A brief overview about trauma and the brain
When something super stressful happens, your brain makes you relive the negative thing that traumatized you, in order to protect you. It keeps you on high alert to danger, which creates a pattern of catastrophic or negative thinking. Negative thinking is just the brain's way of protecting you from that bad thing. Its like looking around every corner and checking behind every door for the bad guy. And thats pretty tiring. You develop a scarcity mentality as kind of a negative motivator to keep struggling on. This becomes a habit sometimes.
This is natural and normal
That trauma response is our brain's natural response to extreme stress and threats to survival. But sometimes it goes a little overboard. Like a little grinch in there. And then it starts to generalize the fear--- meaning the fear seeps into everything. Pretty soon anything that reminds you of that stressor starts to create the same response in your body.
An abundance mentality is healing!
I don't know if thinking positive will literally help attract more money. I certainly hope it does, but I try to make that thought secondary. Because you cant be positive if you are only living for the future.
Positive thinking gives me a better quality of life in the NOW. Every time my brain calms down from worry, I have a chance to be creative about the present moment to improve things. I experience true healing just by reminding myself "are these worried thoughts serving me? If so how? If not, what can I do to change gears right now?" This is when self care is great: play music, go for a walk, talk to a friend, watch a funny movie.. whatever it takes to push that brain into a more positive space. See how that works? I apply positive thinking and the next thing i know I am giggling at the people in MSP Discord chat or something. Positive thinking CREATES the better experience.
If i never make it into true financial abundance, I will at least lived a life with more gratitude and hope.
Positivity isn't just a mood. It is a deliberate practice. Like practicing a musical instrument. And that practice creates your mood. Each day it gets more ingrained. Abundance thinking, trust in the future.. is faith. Faith is where you believe something even if there is no evidence. Fear rises up, and I greet it with trust. I say: the fear is just making me suffer today. How can I find some trust?
So how do you get your brain out of a fear loop?
Freaking out is all about protecting yourself due to a bad experience in the past and trying to prevent the bad thing with worries for the future.
Tell yourself the story of what is happening. Narrate like you are a character in a story. This activates the language center of your brain! Thats why journalling, blogging, making art about a problem is helpful! Or tell a friend!
Get to the "end" of the story. "Something bad happened this morning, but now I am at home resting, and I am safe." In this moment, you are safe. Tell yourself that. That little grinchy thing in your brain doesnt know it. Thats why you are still worrying. Tell the little grinch that you are safe and then think of things you are grateful for. Your soft couch. Your cool hairdo. Whatever.
This is a new moment even if you are still poor! Every moment is new! Give that new moment a little more credit, sheesh! When your brain gets out of that fear based place, it can move into the logical reasoning place, and thats when you are able to come up with solutions to your problems! Positive thinking = Brain change. Brain change = better solutions.
If you want to nerd out about trauma and the brain, read The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. It is the foundational book with lots of studies about trauma. It's kind of long but really helps explain a lot.
I hope this was helpful to some. Please feel free to leave questions or thoughts in the comments. Below is a picture of a me being crazy and happy and dancing around with gratitude simply because i was on a beach. And picture of a pretty sunset. Because those are always nice.
xo
dflo
You are your thoughts
The more I think about that concept the more it trips me out! There are so many ways to see it. We are our thoughts because our thoughts are steering our emotions...and also we are our thoughts because of the present moment. And then it gets meta because if i am thinking about my thoughts what am I oh nooooooooo ;)
Body and brain are amazing instruments of nature !! Good read! Thanks
Its true! if anything we can have gratitude for that!
I struggle like a lot of us , living paycheck to paycheck ! And staying positive can certainly be difficult ! Your so right about being in the NOW , all that worrying is generally doing you no good and to apply positive thinking and change gears works best for me !! And I found your post to be very helpful @dflo ! Thanks for sharing your story with us in the #popcontest ! upped and resteemed , good luck !👍✌💕
Yay!! I am glad you got something out of it! Tnks for upvoting and resteeming. I really like this contest and its one of the things I tell my friends about when I try to get them to join Steemit.
Oh , thats awesome Thank you ! yes the community and the plentiful contests , can be a lot of fun !!💕✌👍😀
Thinking and living in abundance, rather than in lack, has been a big mindset shift for me. It has been a massive exercise of faith as well.
I heard a quote on abundance that has rung very true for me- "Abundance is the ability to do what you need to do when you need to do it." (Let go of thinking it has to be about money.)
I started noticing that provisions always came, and always at the right time. This has been our story last year, especially after my husband couldn't get another contract since Feb 2017, and thus our typical income stream then ceased, those were some stressful times. But we decided to still (try our best to) live from a place of abundance AND gratitude, and somehow a provision would always come.
We now both happily work from home, sustaining ourselves from provisions here and there. Our crypto investments are growing nicely, and slowly but surely, we are getting closer to our dreams of financial freedom. It's been a journey and a half, but I am grateful for the experience and the lessons learnt along the way :)
This sounds amazing, thank you for sharing. Another thing that has been helping me shift into the abundance mindset is to downsize my stuff in a goal to have a more minimalist lifestyle. I want to be less encumbered by the past, and feel more clarity in the moment. That is great news that you have been able to move into the exact type of life I hope to achieve ! I do think its possible. I also think it takes a lot of that "rewriting the script" so to speak. Thanks again for your comment and best wishes!
I totally agree! I am also unlearning the "hoarders mentality" I was brought up with, and hoping to incorporate a more minimalist lifestyle. I also feel that my abundance is more easily achieved, just because my pleasures are simple.
Have you ever checked out the book "You are a badass at making money" by Jen Sincero? I found that it helped me shift my mindset, and helped change my relationship with money as well.
No i havent! Thanks, will check it out. All this Minimalist talk is motivating me to do some purging today , too :)
Hi @dflo what you say is so true. We are the only ones who have the power to change the way we think. love your post.
Yes sometimes it doesnt feel like we can change our thoughts but most of the time we can do things to at least comfort ourselves and get ourselves headed in a better direction. And when we cant do it ourselves (because that happens too) we can always look around for some support or help. Thanks for the comment!
Live in the moment, the right here right now! Great post my friend❤️
Spot on. Upvoted, Resteemed and (don't look now but) I am following you.
Thank you! I am following you as well ! :)
Great explanation of this whole effect. I should have skipped the therapy and just read your post! Thanks for posting.
Aww that means a lot to me that it helped you. You might really get something out of “ the Body Keeps the Score.” It starts out with a lot of relatable stories, but toward the middle it gets a bit dry and academic, and to be honest I never finished reading it ... so get it from the library! Another really practical and medical person is Oliver Sacks, he explores about the brain and mind a lot. If i think of others i will tell you!
I love Oliver Saks. Wish he was still with us. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat is a family favorite. I have kind of a weird family. Best of luck here on Steemit and beyond.
I just loved this post. I read it to my daughter who has chronic anxiety. Thanks again for posting.
Is your daughter a kid or an adult? I ask because I have been working in kids mental health for a couple years and have been thinking about posting some of the ideas i have used at work with kids. I cant treat, diagnose, or advise or anything like that, but just some articles like this with some of the activities I have tried.
Halfway between. She is 18, just finishing her senior year. She goes to a good high school with a great support structure, so she has done well. Looking forward to college next year. I don't think she would have done nearly as well in HS without the support she has received at school. Anything you want to share, I'd be open. Thank you.
My son is 16 in a week.. nice to meet another parent of a teen! I have been working woth elementary aged kids so a lot of my little activities and stuff are for young ages. Thats great she has done well. Anxiety is hard!
don't worry be happy now :-D !
Yesss good one!