GRATITUDE MONTH: DAY 19: “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” ― Eckhart Tolle
For many folks, abundance means money. I have a differing view of that. I am not abundant in money, nor do I consider it to be the only form of abundance.
I have an amazing amount of energy. As recovery deepens in my life, I have an amazing amount of inspiration and creative energy that flows into and through me. I am SO grateful for that. It is good for doing this writing, for finding creative solutions to things going on in my life, and to live abundantly without money! Yay!
I plant and grow abundant gardens. That is another wonderful fact of my life that I love. I cannot describe the thrill I get when I see something come up and sprout into a plant, then continue to grow and become a bigger plant…and then produce edible fruit or food that allows me to eat well without spending any money at all.
Most of the things growing in my garden are seeds that come from food I already enjoyed eating. I have bowls full of squash seeds from delicious squash I enjoyed over the late summer months. Now there are winter squash plants all over my garden! Hooray…and seeds for more for at least two years…and so it goes. That is amazing abundance.
I live in a place with abundant sunshine. I am a total Cali woman…must have sunshine to flourish and grow. I believe there are about 330-335 sunny days a year where I live. That feels like abundance also. I am grateful for each and every one of them.
I can see the sun come up from my kitchen window (moon rises, too). This morning I was cleaning my kitchen and singing “We’ll sing in the sunshine” …I was about 10 years old when that song was popular. Funny what sticks in my brain.
I have a crazy hobby that began about 8 years ago, of collecting seaglass. It has become quite a popular thing around the world. When I moved here, the beach I most often frequent had an abundance of sea glass on it every day. When I was laid off from employment, I could walk along the beach every day and gather it. Now the beaches here are covered with sand from tidal changes. So, finding seaglass is not possible any longer, at that high volume. I have (literally!) tons of seaglass displayed around my home. I think it is beautiful and I love having it around me.
Again, this is another form of abundance. I have even sold seaglass pieces that were of greater value than others when I needed some money. I am wealthy in seaglass.
People come from all over the place to visit where I get to live. I don’t live very large, but I live in abundant beauty and sunshine. That gives me the sense that I am rich, every day.
The things that I most treasure in this life are not available with money. No matter how much money someone has, they cannot buy the kind of amazing energy and vitality and happiness I get from doing the things we do to recover and doing them consistently and with diligence.
I have an abundance of great health! I maintain it well and love it and increase it all the time to enjoy, more fully this wonderful life I have. I have been sick and injured and all of that, but I never take my health or the functioning of my body for granted. I spend time every day doing my yoga practice, getting lots of sunshine and exercise outside and building strength with machines and weights. I know I will age and die, but I want to live with the utmost in vitality that I can.
So, as Mr. Tolle suggests, these are the payoffs for a life devoted to the expression of gratitude in all of its forms. Great health, lovely recovery, abundance in so many ways. What isn’t there about this to be grateful for?
Dolphin Hug 