#VonWongDaily

A thought a day keeps my ideas from fading away.

Posts Tagged ‘abundance’

135- Abundance, Excess and Enoughness

When we think about #abundance in nature, we picture an ecosystem in #balance – Thriving wildlife, ocean, and trees made possible by a stable, predictable climate.

But when we picture abundance through the lens of capitalism, we don’t imagine balance – we fantasize about excess. It’s all about the infinite growth of individuals with the ability to acquire whatever their heart desires whenever they want it.

But abundance and #excess are not the same.

An excess of water will drown a plant, while an abundance of water will allow it to #thrive .

To create abundance, we need to look beyond our desires and examine what “enough” actually means. Not just for ourselves but also for our relationships, environment, and communities.

ht: Conversation with Jeff Palmer

133- Avoiding Opportunity

Next to where I’m staying, there is a patch of bare land littered with trash. It’s home to two large dumpsters, a dozen stray cats, and the occasional visiting seagull.

It’s the kind of place we look away from as we walk past, as if averting our gaze might make the ugliness disappear.

One day, I decided to look closer instead and found beauty. Unlike their battle-scarred brethren in the wealthy city center, these strays were fat, healthy, and well-mannered thanks to locals, who would lay out food scraps every day when they took out the trash.

Rather than avert their eyes, the locals took the time to look and act.

With a simple routine change, they transformed an environment from one of scarcity into that of #abundance . What other opportunities might be hiding in the places we avoid looking?

#opportunity

128- Scarcity vs Abundance

A couple of days ago, I lost a small cash envelope with about $50 inside.

I was furious at myself for being so careless with my limited supply of cash in a foreign country during a pandemic. I double-checked my pockets, retraced my steps, and tried desperately to remember what might have happened as the little voice in my head repeated to me that this is the reason I can’t have nice things.

As a result of this initial sense of loss, I found myself trapped in a scarcity mindset loop that took a bad situation and made it worst.

Thankfully, it didn’t take me long to look at the situation from a position of #abundance . Yes, losing cash is not pleasant, but how wonderful was it that I could afford the loss? How beautiful was it that someone found a week’s worth of wages casually lying somewhere?

105- Entertainment and junk food

Entertainment is like junk food.

Fantastic in moderation but dangerous when overabundant.

At its best, it permits us to enjoy the present moment – to lay back, relax, and temporarily travel into another reality. That might be an epic movie, immersive experience, or maybe even someone’s Insta-perfect life.

But as we slip into #excess and escape – entertainment, just like junk food, can become a dangerous addiction.

Unfortunately for us, addiction equals engagement. Every like, comment, and subscribe – an incentive to tweak the algorithm to keep us just a little more dependant on that escape from feeling into the struggles and pain of being ourselves and living into our present reality.

So how much is healthy? Well, that’s for us to decide.

#abundance

104- Integrity and values

To me, values are like a map that others can read to quickly understand who we are, what we stand for, and how we make decisions.

We draw this map with a combination of the words we use and the actions that we take. When we live with integrity, there is no gap between the two. But when we don’t, the lines of that map begin to blur, and that map becomes hard to follow for those around us.

Values are easy to follow when life is abundant in #time , emotional bandwidth, and financial capital. But the actual test happens when resources become scarce.

Do we stand firm in our values when things get complicated, or do we hide behind them when it’s convenient?

If our actions don’t mirror our words consistently, perhaps it’s time to redefine our values to make it easier for both ourselves and the relationships around us.

#abundance