More of What, Exactly?
More. More. More. Sometimes that’s how we think about our lives—we need to achieve more, do more, be more, have more. It’s an American ideal. What if the solution to our problem of always wanting more was to realize that we already have everything we need to be happy? The term "wanting" is defined by Oxford Languages as "lacking in a certain required or necessary quality" and "not existing or supplied; absent."
Why do we want money so much if money doesn't buy love, happiness, or peace? Have we been duped by a consumerist society to celebrate and worship money because we think it will buy more love, happiness, peace? The media celebrates billionaires as if having gobs of money makes them great. Shouldn't we celebrate their achievements, their resilience and tenacity instead of their bank accounts? Of course, money is energy flow. Money can be a beautiful vehicle for freedom from a job you don't like or a toxic environment that you want to leave, and it can give you space and freedom to be more creative. Money isn't the problem; it's our mindset.
I realized that seeking more is completely unnecessary, and that realization changed my life instantly. It was literally that easy to sit on my couch, think about what makes me happy, and come to that conclusion that I have so much abundance already. Realization—done. However, the trick to sustain the realization, which means overriding decades of lack programming, is a gratitude practice.
Wanting more can be great when it's rooted in a wish to realize one's full potential or expand one's creativity, but more often than not it's rooted in a lack mentality; our society promotes this sort of thing. What we really desire becomes obscured to ourselves, which is the real danger, as we yearn for what we don't have.
When I dropped the constant thought that I needed to have a better condo, a large home, more money in my bank account, or this feeling that I’m not where I am supposed to be, I finally realized I was exactly where I was supposed to be for my soul’s journey. (If you don’t believe we have souls, that's okay, you can still shift your mindset in a way that liberates you from a lack mentality).
What if we appreciated all of the abundance right here in front of us? It's a radical thought. This same thing goes for the relationships in our lives—what if we started looking at the good in people instead of those annoying things we don’t like, or that one time they wronged us? What if we appreciated them for all the positive that they have brought into our lives (we can still be mindful of the negative, but not too mindful).
What came to mind as I was washing dishes was the Dave Matthews Band song Too Much. The music video was grotesque, overtly so, because the mindset of greed is, well, grotesque. The mindset of abundance, well...it's beautiful. Which do you choose?
Soul-Prompt: Where have our societal values made us to feel always lacking? Can I shift my mindset from wanting more to feeling the true abundance of being alive? What am I grateful for right now?
When we let go of the outside world, we realize our true riches lay in our inside world.