Self-love / Abundance / Gratitude / Spirituality

Gratitude and Abundance Are The Secrets to Living Your Best Life

The attitudes of gratitude and abundance will enrich your life, even if you’re working on material success

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.”

— Wayne Dyer

The secrets to living a happy life are having attitudes of gratitude and abundance

I have noticed there are two types of people I run into.

The one type usually have a negative outlook and dwell on limitations and problems. The second type of person sees opportunities and hope, even when things are bleak.

The first ones, from what I have observed during my half-century on Earth, usually stay where they are and never make a move to improve their conditions.

I am grateful I learned how to deal with a lot of situations. The thing they taught me was that plans would change as soon as they went into effect. The other thing I learned was to be resilient. If you have a great idea, keep chugging away while working to continually improve it.

The second type of person is the one who keeps charging forward, even when it seems like everything isn’t going their way, and ends up making a difference in their world. Sometimes, they make a difference in the wider world through their attitude.

I was anxious when I was younger, but no longer since I’ve tapped into the universe’s river of love

When I was younger, I was more anxious and fearful than I am these days. I remember worrying about what life would bring. Part of it was my upbringing. A lot of people surrounding me didn’t display abundance attitudes. I think part of it was that both sets of my grandparents were of the Great Depression Era and passed along notions of scarcity to my parents. The message I remember hearing was don’t take chances and find a good employer and stick with that employer for life.

There is unlimited abundance in the universe. Love is like that. Learn to love yourself and you will be amazed at how that opens so many doors in life. I find myself happier since learning to love myself by tapping into the love that flows through the universe.

I was lucky in that gratitude was expressed fairly often, so I didn’t have to start from scratch to learn that important attitude.

Part of my anxiety was in mirroring the scarcity attitude that surrounded me. I remember talking about wanting to start my own business when I was a young kid. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew I would enjoy working for myself more than working for others. I have learned my instinct when I was young was correct. The times at work I have enjoyed the most were when I was working for myself — I was in charge of my destiny. The world was wide open. When I was working for employers, I was usually limited to whatever task the boss wanted to be done.

I’m a Gen-Xer, so I’m grateful to being self-sufficient, but still know the value of community and love

I am a Gen-X child, so I never had all of the great things the Post-War II generation had. I remember starting my work life at a union grocery store hearing about people with great contracts that I didn’t have. When I started my professional life, the same thing was in play. The people with more seniority had pensions, while I was left to fend for myself with a 401k. Over time, benefits that were expected by the prior generation disappeared. Pensions ended for everyone, not just the newer folks. Reimbursements for unpaid medical costs ended. Pay didn’t seem to ever be enough to keep up with expenses.

I learned over ten years of being a good employee that the pie was shrinking for those who weren’t owners. We all worked hard, but the money flowed up the pyramid to the leadership.

I jumped off the corporate ship at the right time during the financial crisis of 2009. Those who stayed on where I had worked ended up either being purged during a merger, or ended up being fired when the merged entity subsequently failed. I had the feeling I had gotten out at the right time. It was scary, but it was necessary.

These days have a similar feeling. Many people are laid off. The world is disrupted. The economy is in the news. Houses are on the market in my ex’s neighborhood. I can look down the street and see three or four “for sale” signs at any given time.

So why am I optimistic about the future?

I am grateful.

I remember watching people carrying banker’s boxes after clearing out their desks back in 2008 when the stock market failed

I am grateful I got out of the corporate hamster maze when I did and started working on my own. It was a similar time back in 2008. I remember being at the gym walking on a treadmill watching the news showing people in New York City carrying banker’s boxes out of their offices. That’s when I started planning on going out on my own.

I was grateful that I had the sense that things weren’t going to be going well for the business I was in at time — debt collection. When times are good, collecting debts is relatively easy. You do what you need to do and the money flows in. My numbers always went up quarter after quarter. But, I remember seeing the VIX hit record levels during that time showing that Wall Street was scared. I knew that things were about to get tough.

Everyone I dealt with seemed to earn pretty decent wages. But, they were all maxed out on everything. A huge mortgage, a huge credit card payment, an expensive car, some expensive toys like motorcycles or jet skis. I remember talking to thousands of people and hearing the same stories — too many bills and not enough income to pay for everything.

When the economy failed, I knew it was going to be pretty rough.

Gratitude makes everything better

Here’s where the attitude of gratitude comes into play. I was grateful that I had never really been super materialistic. I enjoy having nice things, but I’ve never needed to have anything super fancy or expensive.

When the economy went bad, I ended up working on my own. Because I wasn’t overloaded with debt, I was able to work on my own. I am also grateful that I had a contract with my employer, so I was paid for some time after I had left as well. Severance pay is definitely something worth negotiating, if you are able to work that into an employment contract.

I try to be grateful for every day. I used to be more anxious when I was younger in school and when I was working for other people. I always felt like I was being judged for my performance. And, I was. I enjoyed school and learning, but it was always stressful being in competition. The work world was the same way.

Even though the places I worked where pretty laid back for the most part, every division or section always thought they were better than other sections and divisions.

When I worked at the grocery store, people thought their particular area was the best. I admit I thought the front end was pretty cool compared to the deli. I am sure the deli people thought they were cooler than the front end because they cooked food and had to have more knowledge.

They also had meat slicers.

The top of the heap were the meat department folks — they had a killer contract back in 1989. I don’t know what life is like for grocery people these days, but I remember some people wanting to work their way into the meat department, if they could.

I am grateful that I had the experiences I had in the workplace. People were great. Even the customers, for the most part. While we didn’t call them Kens and Karens, there were plenty of entitled folks back in the day. I am grateful I could pass them onto the manager so he or she could deal with them.

I am grateful I learned how to deal with a lot of situations. The thing they taught me was that plans would change as soon as they went into effect. The other thing I learned was to be resilient. If you have a great idea, keep chugging away while working to continually improve it.

Abundance

There is unlimited abundance in the universe. Love is like that. Learn to love yourself and you will be amazed at how that opens so many doors in life. I find myself happier since learning to love myself by tapping into the love that flows through the universe.

If you are going to love others, you must first love yourself.

When you love yourself, you are free from self-doubts and insecurities that limit your ability to both love you and others.

When you can truly love yourself, you are free to go out into the world and love other people.

You won’t be worried if love isn’t reciprocated, because you are already feeling love inside.

You know that feeling when you meet someone special who lights all of your fires and make you feel so energetic?

I love that feeling.

One secret is that you produce that feeling. It doesn’t come from the other person.

They may awaken the feeling in you.

— 5 Secrets of Happiness

When you know that there is always more to come, your life becomes better. When I know love will never leave me if I love myself, I don’t fear being unloved. When I do that, I open myself up to love from others. It is attractive without being promotional. I don’t have to chase love because I already have it.

Just repeating “I love you” to yourself daily until you start believing it plugs you into the river of love that is flowing all around us. It is like electricity or radio waves. If we don’t take the action to tap into all the love the surrounds us by loving our selves, we miss out on a treasure that is free. The free treasure is also freeing. When you love yourself, your life instantly become better.

I know I have been less stressed out and more productive as a writer since just allowing the universe’s love into me. Accepting it. Telling myself. Feeling it.

It doesn’t come over night, but with practice, you will start to feel it also. Is is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. It is also the source of all abundance. Love is the most powerful force in the universe. It will give you the power to build up every other area of your life you want to develop.

This is especially important to LGBTQ+ people to remember. But it is important for all people to remember that the can love themselves. Our society doesn’t do a good job because marketing and work is designed to keep you off balance and always striving for more. That way you remain a good worker and a good consumer. If you are in debt because buying things is what you have been taught will bring you happiness, you won’t make waves at work out of fear of losing your job.

The nice thing about an economic disruption like the one we are having now is that we learn that working and buying stuff isn’t as important as feeling love and being connected to others.

That is why loving yourself, then reaching out to love others, is the key to transforming society from one that is fearful and always busy trying to keep up with debt payments and other obligations. If we can get to the point where we work and live from an attitude of abundance, we can transform not only ourselves, but also our society.

Take my hand, love Can you feel the power Flowing between both of us The electric spark The energy from the stars Born during the Big Bang Lasting eternally.

— Love Floats Through All of Us

Love yourself, love others, and remember the universe provides abundance

Always remember the universe is filled with love. Love yourself and tap into it. Once you learn how great it is to love yourself, love others. Send the love back out into the universe like a lighthouse.

Remember the universe provides abundance in all things. Be grateful for today. It is always the chance to feel great love and to do great things. Even if you don’t accomplish your goals today, you have advanced a little on your journey if you have taken some time to love yourself and love others.

Chris Hedges, 🦄 Loves you! 💗💗💗 #heartrevolution