This post took some time to develop into a clear message, but the message that I want to share is so very clear to me now, and I hope each of you who take the time to read it reflect a little about your own feelings.
We as a society operate from a feeling of scarcity, when in reality there is nothing but abundance. We just have to recognize that abundance does not mean hoarding and saving it all.
There are many definitions of the word abundance, but it is more the feeling of abundance I want to describe. The feeling of abundance is to have enough, and that there is enough to go around. But the definition talks about something being plentiful, and if I take the word by that definition, you might argue there isn’t abundance, because you don’t have what someone else has. That’s true because it hasn’t gone around. When I define abundance as having ample quantity, it changes the meaning of what we believe to be abundance.
I have started some new training as a consultant for Arbonne, a Direct Marketing company. I have learned so much, and pushed outside of my comfort zone, but that’s not why I bring up that training. The training I want to focus on is coming from a place of abundance. I believe that there are enough clients out there who have not had the opportunity to learn about Arbonne from me, so when I encounter someone who has spoken to another consultant, I am supposed to send them to speak with that consultant. At first, this was really hard for me to believe. But my goal, my sales, my clients...what is the key word I used? Me and My - what about me? It took me some time, but I am working toward that belief that there are enough people. It is hard to step away from that feeling of scarcity, feeling like if you don’t buy from me, I will suffer - forgetting that if you buy from me, someone else is suffering. That doesn’t matter, right? Well it doesn’t, until you step away from that focus of “me.”
“At the end of the day it is us, it’s us doing bad things.” Kashmir Hill said this on The Daily podcast, which aired on May, 3 2021. As she shared this viewpoint, it resonated with me.
We are the ones to be held accountable and responsible for these behaviors.
Do you remember the McDonalds “hot cup” lawsuit? If you are my age, you might, like me, remember this as the point when humanity started to slide. As I wrote this post I started researching the payout and the actual facts. I was wrong, on all accounts. I believed we became a culture wrapped in “How can I get mine?” “Where can I place blame and get a big payout? I remember that moment in time so vividly.
If you have five minutes, I encourage you to watch this episode of Adam ruins Everything. I couldn’t believe how wrong I was about that lawsuit.
So maybe society isn’t profiting off of frivolous lawsuits, as I was once led to believe. Corporations have driven the mentality of the all mighty dollar in so many ways - I just didn’t know this was yet another way.
We live in a society of scarcity, where the belief is that there is not enough power, not enough leadership, and not enough money to go around.
If I give to you, I see that as my loss.
But isn’t it really an opportunity for you to gain?
This belief is a problem, and it has completely infiltrated our schools.
Administration holds onto their power, for fear there is not enough to share, and we as educators turn around and hold onto our power in our classrooms because we also have been trained to fear scarcity.
We all have the power to change that culture. Learn to live with abundance, because in all honesty there is enough, we just have to practice what we preach - share.