CHAPTER 1

What is Abundance?

"I come so that they may have life,and have it more abundantly"John: 10: 10

Learning to live abundantly enhances the quality of life'sjourney. The art of living a life filled with abundance is justthat—an art. It is the ability to see, feel, believe and expect abundanceand prosperity in all areas of life—financially, physically, mentally,emotionally and spiritually.

Abundance is our birthright as children of God and 'heirs to theKingdom.' Yet most of us give away that birthright; we don't layclaim to what is rightfully ours! It's like having a million dollarsin the bank, throwing away the checkbook and living in abjectpoverty.

What is abundance? Is there a generic definition that applies toeveryone? The dictionary defines it as, Plentiful, fullness, overflowing,ample sufficiency, wealth, affluence, prosperity, comfort, resources,treasure, and so on.

We could add a few more, such as health, peace of mind,happiness, friendships, love, family and spiritual fulfillment.

We are constantly surrounded and immersed in abundance. Itsurrounds us as intimately as the air we breathe. If we experience alack of abundance and prosperity, it is not because there is a lack,but because we believe there is.

What we believe we create.

That reminds me of a little 'fish-story.'

A young salmon was swimming restlessly in the Pacific.

Around and around he swam, searching everywhere upand down in the water intently looking for something.

Finally he noticed a larger fish, a mature salmon. Heapproached it and asked, "Excuse me, sir, could you tellme where I might find the ocean?"

"The ocean?" asked the older fish, "You are lookingfor the ocean? But you are swimming in it now, thisminute—totally submersed and surrounded."

"This!?" cried the young salmon, "This is only water, I'mlooking for the ocean."

He swam away disappointed, restlessly searching,unaware of being already immersed in that for which hewas searching.

The moral of this story is—there is nothing to search for.

All you need do is look.

(Adapted from—"TheSong of the Bird"—Anthony De Mello S.J.)

* * *

The logo for this book is the cornucopia; a basket overflowingwith a rich harvest. This harvest is the direct result of the planting ofseeds, of tending the garden and then reaping the reward.

What kind of seeds do you plant in your garden of life? Doyou plant what you really want to harvest? Do you give it seriousthought? Do you actually plan the garden, what to plant, when andwhere? Or is it just easier to mix everything together, good seeds,bad seeds, weed seeds and then just blindly hope for the best?

The Seeds of Today are the Flowers of Tomorrow

Thoughts are the seeds you plant in your garden of life. Everygreat accomplishment, every wonderful invention is a consequence,a direct result of someone's thought process. The thought is theparent of the act. Are your thoughts positive or negative? Both arepowerful, both are productive and both reproduce after their ownkind. A Jalapeno Pepper seed will always bring you peppers andnever artichokes no matter how much you'd rather have artichokes.

Both positive and negative thoughts are highly magnetic, and asmagnets do, attract more of the same into your life (either positive ornegative)—whether you are consciously aware of it or not.

Take custody of your thoughts and become aware of theirtremendous power of creation for good or ill!

Each of us has our unique concept of abundance, but sometimesit is so vague and hazy we don't have a clear image of it in ourmind's eye. As long as it remains in that state, it will never come tofruition. In order to create a truly prosperous life, you need to haveclear images of what that would be like and what needs to be donein order to bring those desires into reality.

A word of caution. Your desires must never interfere with thelife or desires of another. True abundance cannot really be had at theexpense of someone else. There is never a need to take from another.There is more than enough for everyone. The secret is to learn howto access it.

What are your concepts of abundance? For some it mightbe material wealth and good health; for others, happy, lovingrelationships; for still others an enriching spiritual life or all of theabove and more.

It is time for a little homework. I invite you to get in touch withyour own idea of abundance, and with the difference experiencingabundance would make in your life.

Take your time with the worksheets at the end of each chapter.In order to get the most out of this book, please do not skip any ofthe exercises. Complete them all before going on to the next chapter.They carry over and build on each other.

Allow your imagination and feelings to flow freely and be asspecific as possible. Don't just say something like. "I only want ahappier life." Specifically, what would make you happier? Whatneeds to be different? What do you have to do to create a happierlife for yourself.

And, ask yourself, "Am I willing to do what it takes?"

Visualize what that would be like for you. See it clearly in yourmind's eye, use all of your senses. Feel it, see it, hear it, touch it, andbe with it emotionally.

As you are doing these exercises, you are attracting yourabundance at this moment, right now! Through the use of yourconscious mind you begin the process of your desires movingtoward you.

Be specific and clear.Be cautious and aware.Be sure you really want what you are asking for.It will come to you!

"Ask and it shall be given unto you; search and youwill find; knock and the door will be opened unto you."(Matthew 7:7)

Worksheet #1

In the space below, write your own definition of abundance.

TO ME ABUNDANCE IS ...

Worksheet #2

(Please read the entire sheet before answering)

A) What area of my life would I change first in order to feel that lifeis more abundant?

B) What do I need to do to create this change? (Be specific)

C) What would this abundance look and feel like?

(Get a clear mental picture of it—use all of your senses)

1) If you could see it—what color is it?__________________

2) If you could taste it—what would it taste like?____________

3) If you could hear it—what is its sound? ____________

4) If you could smell it—what is its scent?________________

5) If you could feel it—what is its texture? _________________

Example: If your life of abundance would include a homeby the sea, would the color be blue; the smell—salt air; thesound—seagulls squawking; the feel—sand between your toes,etc?

D) Describe how life would be different. "What would it be likeif ..."

Worksheet #3

In order to clarify your concept of abundance for yourself, drawand/or color a picture, image or symbol, which would clearly expressthis concept for you. Please do not skip this exercise; you will beusing this image again as you work through this book.

For me, a 'Life of Abundance' would look like ...

CHAPTER 2

What We Believe, We Become

Whatever we can conceive and believeWe can achieve

We all hold deeply ingrained beliefs about ourselves, aboutour potentials and about our limitations. We hold them, notbecause they are true per se, but because we believe they are true.

Our belief-systems are based on our own past experiences—onour own personal history. Even though we may have convincedourselves that we are adults now and make our own decisions, whatwe learned at our mother's knee still influences our lives todayespecially about what we believe in the deep recesses of our mindsand hearts.

If, as a child, you were constantly praised and encouraged foryour efforts and told that you were a bright and shining star; 'a smileon your mothers lips and a twinkle in your fathers eye;' someonewho would really amount to something someday—you would growup with a healthy self-esteem. Your belief system would assume thatyou are a valuable, worthwhile person and that the world is a good,safe place where anything is possible. What's more, you'd spendyour life living up to that belief.

What if, on the other hand, you were told repeatedly that youwere a stupid kid who would never amount to anything? That youwere a hopeless case, "just like your father" (or mother)? Your beliefsystem would assume that you really aren't worth very much; thateveryone else is better, smarter than you. The world then becomes ahostile place; a dog-eat-dog kind of world. You will never amount toanything no matter how hard you try, so why bother?

No one ever grows up with all positive or negative messagesabout themselves. We have all had both positive and negativeexperiences in our personal history. But because the negativemessages have such strong emotions attached to them, they oftenleave a much stronger impression. I'd like to share a little piece ofmy own personal history with you to illustrate my point.

My very first memory took place when I was about 20 monthsold. My nickname was "Lieb-kind" which means "beloved child"in German. I was the first-born of my immediate family and one ofthe first grandchildren of a large, extended German family. I wascherished, and fussed over. My many uncles and aunts doted on me.It was a very positive, idyllic life for a child.

Enter a potential negative on the scene. When I was about 18months old, a little brother was born. One day my mother hadpropped the baby's bottle on a pillow on a big double bed. The babywas placed way back against the wall. I struggled and struggled toswing my chubby little legs up on that bed, crawled over to the baby,took his bottle, climbed off the bed, got back under it and drank itdry. Naturally, the baby started to cry, which brought my mother intothe room.

I remember feeling so surprised when she immediately reachedunder the bed and pulled me out by the foot as if she knew I wasthere!

The next thing I remember is being curled up behind a big chairin the fetal position feeling utterly ashamed and miserable. Myparents had ridiculed and shamed me.

"Shame-shame-shame, a big girl like you stealing a bottle froma little baby. Shame-shame."

I felt so humiliated and mortified that, in my mind, I tumbledfrom the throne of "Lieb-kind" and became an inferior, rotten personwho would even steal a bottle from a baby.

Note, that I say—"In my mind I tumbled." On the surface thingsremained the same. Everyone still called me "Lieb-kind," I was stillcherished and fussed over. I remember my grandmother severelychastising my parents saying in German that I wasn't even two yearsold yet and still needed my own bottle. They were the ones whoshould be ashamed!

But the difference was that I no longer believed it! I no longerbelieved that I deserved to be called "Lieb-Kind." The consciousmemory of it faded away (to be recalled forty years later intherapy)

The seed had been planted in my subconscious mind where itgrew and flourished and in my adult life became a large 'weed' infull bloom.

Now I know this is 'small potatoes' in comparison with thehistory of physical abuse and molestation that many have sufferedin childhood. Yet even this had monumental consequences. Itinfluenced my concept of self, and my feelings about myself allthrough my childhood, adolescence and on into adulthood I wasoverweight in my adolescence and developed an inferiority complexwhich plagued me much of my young adult life.

Our lives are much more deeply influenced, positively ornegatively by the beliefs we hold in our subconscious minds thanby any we hold consciously. Yet, all is not lost! We can change and/or reprogram our minds and belief systems in order to create moreabundant lives for ourselves. However, in order to do that, we haveto become aware of the beliefs we harbor about ourselves in thedeep recesses of our minds.

That 'weed' flourished in my subconscious mind for over 40years, hidden away outside of my awareness yet wielding its heavyinfluence on my quality of life. When I went into therapy afterdivorce the conscious memory of it emerged. Slowly I began tounderstand how my concept of self had shaped the quality of mylife. I never believed that I was ever 'good enough.' I rememberedhow my mother reacted when I came home with a report card withall A's. I expected to be praised, but instead she said, "I hope youdidn't show off and brag to the other kids and make them feel bad."The therapist helped me uncover similar experiences and helpedme to see that a kid who could get all A's really wasn't stupid andinferior. He helped me to "accentuate the positive and eliminate thenegative" as the song goes.

With my new awareness, I was able to change my thinking andthus change my life.

The conscious mind is our ordinary thinking, wakingconsciousness. It is with this aspect of mind that we make our plans,carry out our decisions and try to cope with all of life's many andvaried complications. It's the tool with which we carry out theordinary, mundane, daily routine, which make up our lives.

The subconscious mind carries out the necessary functions of thebody involuntarily, without our having to think about them—such asthe beating of the heart, digestion of food and so on. It also monitorsbasic habits such as walking or driving a car. We never have to thinkabout them, we just do it.

However, the subconscious mind has many other importantand vital functions outside of our conscious awareness. It storesall memories, even prenatal impressions. It records all feelings andexperiences—everything that has ever happened to us in our entirelives.

The subconscious mind is also the seat of the Creative Powerof the mind. It is with this great Creative Power that we can createand bring about changes more in keeping with the kind of life we'dlike to live and enjoy. The subconscious mind is like a computer.Whatever you put into it, you can pull up on the monitor's screen.Only this 'screen' is our whole quality of life.

We must carefully choose what we key into this computer. Wemust delete the errors and mistakes we may have entered into itin the past and re-program it for the present and future. The wayto accomplish this task is through the power of thought. Thesubconscious mind can also be compared to a garden. As was statedearlier, thoughts are the seeds we plant in our garden of life. It isthrough the use of conscious, deliberate thought that we can createchange in our lives. Our thoughts create much the same way a seeddoes. The seed contains the exact pattern of what will grow anddevelop from the interaction of the seed and the soil.

It is the same with our thoughts. They contain the exact patternof what will develop through the interaction of our thoughts and ourenvironment. If our thoughts are constantly focused on 'lack'—onwhat's missing in our lives—we will only experience more lack. Ifour thoughts are fear-based, we will have more to fear because fearcreates the thing it fears. The reverse is also true. If our thoughts areof a positive nature and expect only the best, we will get the best.Not because there is some magic involved but because we will actand behave in a manner that is consistent with that belief.

Before we can plant our new garden of life or re-program ourinner computer, we must know specifically what we want, which isoften the most difficult part. We almost always know what we don'twant.

When asked, "What do you want? What would you change?Many just wring their hands and wail, "Oh, I don't know! I just wantthings to be different or better or happier."

Well, that just doesn't cut it! We waste so much valuable timeand energy moaning and groaning about how awful things are andthe terrible treatment life is handing us. We give little time, thought,or energy to what we might do to change things. Attention is powerand whatever has your attention has you!

What are your patterns of thought? Are they positive ornegative? Is the glass half-full or half-empty? We all have hiddenthought patterns lurking in the subconscious just outside ofconscious awareness. These hidden thought patterns surface in whatare apparently meaningless patterns of speech. Yet they are not someaningless or insignificant when we consider their impact. Theyuse up our vitality and help create unwanted situations or conditionsin our lives.

Phrases such as "It makes me tired." "You make me sick," "I can'tstand it," "Nobody gives a damn," "I'll get even," "I can't swallowthat," "I work til I'm blue in the face and nobody even cares!" "Ican't afford it," and so on—can create all kinds of problems andhavoc in our lives.