One of the great ironies of "abundance" is how frequently we fail to see it right before our eyes. When I left the world of weekly paychecks to create Strengths in Focus, there were times of utter despair, when no money was in sight and the bills were piling up. These were the times when my internal chatter would reach a fever pitch. I was ready to make deals - whatever the Universe wanted in exchange for relief from the my "lack."
When sanity returned, I would take brief little respites from my negative inner chatter to get quiet and ask the Universe for guidance - and a check or two if at all possible, please!). Soon enough, I would again be lost in my work - and the chatter in my head - until the clank of the mailbox would lift me from my chair to see if maybe, just maybe, today the Universe would respond with a big check that would save the day. Instead, I'd find some little (often really little!) part of what I needed to survive that day. I would look at the "insignificant" amount, shake my head at the Universe's cruel sense of humor (never enough), and set it aside so I could get back to work generating "real" money.
Then came the day when I stopped in my tracks and realized what I was doing. "You ungrateful SOB!" I thought. "The Universe is delivering and you can't even say thanks?" (Ah! There's my positive, strengths-focused thinking at work!!) I picked up that check I had just set aside and said aloud, "Thank you." I picked up the second check. "Thank you." The next day I did the same, and the next. Each time, a smile would creep across my face, as if I was privy to a little secret between the Universe and me. I was being taught a lesson I never learned growing up (that little checks add up to bigger numbers). And I was being taught the power of gratitude.
It changed the way I worked, felt and lived the rest of the day. My life was, in fact, abundant. That was the irony. I had to be abundant (in the present) to be abundant.
For that, I am full of gratitude.
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Comments on this entry
I am full of gratitude for your insight and sharing. I have just finished a training for becoming an empowerment life coach. I have been making plans to leave my job and start anew with just dreams and a belief in abundance. However, just a few days ago the Universe dealt me one of those life lessons that stopped me in my tracks. My husband lost his job. The only abundance for the last few days as been the inner negative chatter. Despite this challenge, I had to stop and realize how much I do have and to be grateful for all of the wonderful things in my life. Though I’m not sure what course I’ll take now, I need to be thankful for the abundance I have in my life now. I will keep my focus on my dreams and manifest them. The Universe just had to remind me to reflect on all that I do have and I can create more. As an empowerment life coach, I’m my own first client.