Scarcity vs Sufficiency

In the words of Lynn Twist, author of The Soul of Money, the condition of scarcity is really a mindset. It is a pair of glasses we wear that we can’t quite see. As a result it fogs our perspective and misleads us to believe the “world out there” is scarce and its resources not enough.

Yet in all honesty it may not always feel like scarcity just a product of our minds. We feel  money-anxiety laden in our bodies. Our shoulders get tense merely holding the weight of our jobs. We long to live free from the feelings the perception of scarcity bring us, but we don’t fully know how.  The condition of scarcity is a hugely powerful, but it can be transformed?

How? Both Lynn and I can offer some points of advice.

On one hand to move from the condition of scarcity to the context of sufficiency Lynn suggests:

1. Realize you are caught in it- catch yourself in the grip of the lie of scarcity. Most often than not it not based on reality. Our mindset has a lot of validity to it, but we amplify it and give it its own power.
2. Look at your life from a lens of its fullness- sufficiency and bounty of our relationships. Pay attention to what you have rather than what you lack.
3. Give your gifts attention and nourishment- when you nourish what you already have it starts to grow. Lynn suggests this is the context of sufficiency.
4. Rest in the experience of ENOUGHNESS- This is the true home for the soul. When you are loving and present with what is, without trying to change it, your soul has room to breathe and can find fresh air.  This is a different route to prosperity than scrambling for more. For example if you appreciate your children for exactly who they are (and letting go of who they’re not) they become fuller and richer in that expression and more loving towards themselves and you.

And how to do this in the context of your body? Connect with the earth, place your feet on the ground, touch, and hold a baby or another human being. When we begin to use all of our sense to embrace life we realize that an embodied reference of sufficiency exists everywhere. Nature provides countless gifts, people nourish the connections we so long for, and our bodies relax under the warmth of the sun. When we pause and house our minds within the greater context of our hearts and bodies sufficiency abounds. The context of it then becomes a tangible, felt experience.

Financial breakdown is a huge purification for a society. It transforms us from a society of consumers (he/she who takes) to one of citizens (responsible for the wellbeing of the community, ourselves and the world). As citizens we find bounty, richness and fullness in all aspects of our lives. Rest and live there. And then money can find its true place of service.