We live in the land of plenty, yet many of you may feel as if your life is more about scarcity. How can this be? Take a look around you at all the material acquisitions you have a closet full of clothing, multiple pairs of shoes, ample food to eat, TVs, cars, a comfortable dwelling, cell phone, VCR, computer, and so on. Perhaps you have a spouse, children, friends, colleagues, co-workers, pets and a job that supports you. Does that sound like scarcity?

It seems that no matter how many things a person has it is never enough. Our society has been imprinted with the desire for more, that were not good enough unless we have certain things. Society seeks approval and acceptance and Im afraid it is looking in the wrong place to find it.

As long as an individual believes they dont have enough they are living from a base of lack. Lack means theres a void, an emptiness, and more is needed to make if full. So the individual strives to obtain more, yet the feeling lingers that more is still needed. Satisfaction has not occurred. Here is why.

1. Focusing on material gain will never fill you up.

Think about your life right now. You dreamed of a new car. You saved for it and one day it became a reality. Or maybe you couldnt wait so you extended yourself with credit so you could have it sooner. Some months went by and you saw an awesome car being driven down the road. It stayed in your mind and you began thinking that you wished you could trade in your present car for one like you saw. Or maybe you saw an outfit to die for. You charged it and brought it home, feeling a little guilty about overspending on your budget. You wore it a few times and it became old; everyone saw it; you now want something new.

Are you in a place of desiring to move forward in your life with a new venture, but you need money to do it? Does it seem that everywhere you turn theres another bill and you just cant seem to get ahead? All you can think about is how hard life is and how seemingly unfair. Youre a good person, hard-working and responsible, but life is all about struggle and full of scarcity.

2. Expecting a person to give you what you need doesnt work either.

You fall in love, or create a friendship, or begin a working relationship and wait for compliments, appreciation, approval, acceptance and love. These relationships are your source of validation and when confrontation, criticism, disagreement, rejection or judgment are directed at you, you take it personally and feel hurt, affecting your self-image.

You had certain expectations and that person didnt live up to them. You feel let down. Or perhaps someone spoke unkindly about you behind your back and you find yourself in a depressed mood as a result.

In all the situations above, you have allowed external circumstances to affect your life, pulling you down on some level so you feel lesser, in a place of scarcity. (lack) Because everything in our universe is energy, you have created a negative vibration that is spiraling out into the universe and picking up more of the same. You see, it is impossible to attract positive vibrations from a negative source; they cannot exist simultaneously. So all youre doing is continually creating and recreating negative vibrations of scarcity so that new scarcity situations keep showing up in order for you to deal with more of the same. Likes attract likes a law of the universe.

Sounds pretty morbid, doesnt it? Well, it doesnt need to be this way and YOU have the power to shift our entire energy vibration to one of abundance. Read on and Ill tell you how to change it.

1. BEGIN WITH AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

Look around you at all that you have. Be thankful for your home, car, furniture, clothes, pets, children, spouse, friends, job, and even the money in your pocket or bank account. Be grateful for every single thing you own as well as your talents, abilities, and qualities. Gratitude comes from love, a powerful positive vibration, so if you begin here you create more of the same. A feeling of plenty begets more plenty. Get it?

You see, whatever you focus on becomes reality. If you continually focus on your problems, your unpaid bills, your rooms without furniture, your old car, you create more of the same. Try this: Be thankful for the old car that gets you where you need to go. Focus on the money you have to pay whatever bills you can, being thankful for that money. Be thankful for your home, with or without the furniture youd like to have. Watch and see what happens when you really become grateful right where you are.

2. REALIZE YOU DONT NEED ALL YOU THINK YOU NEED

Once you realize the feeling of gratitude youll discover you dont need all you thought you needed. The same desire for more slips away and youre satisfied because in reality you already have enough. No, Im not playing with words. What happens is the feeling of lack that was inside of you is replaced with enough. As that shift happens, you automatically dont want as much because your reality tells you that you have plenty.

This happened in my own life. I gave away two-thirds of my clothes when I moved to a smaller house after my divorce. Amazingly, I never missed them. In fact, as I began to desire less I realized how much simpler it was. I felt free without the need to get more because I realized I had more than enough already!

3. KNOW THAT THE UNIVERSE IS RICH

Our universe is so rich, beyond our wildest dreams, and theres more than enough for everyone in it! Thats a strong statement but it really is true. Prosperity, abundance, wealth, riches theyre all there waiting for you to claim them. Theres more than you can see, feel, touch or have. How you ask?

By knowing you deserve them and allowing them to come to you. Sounds easy but it isnt easy. Your conditioning says you cannot have everything you want, that life is about struggle and that you must work hard and save to have anything. It also tells you that on some level you arent worthy, so in essence you are blocking the plenty from reaching you. Soget out of the way!

4. SHIFT TO WHATS REAL

Getting out of the way brings me to the only way you can obtain the plenty you deserve. It only can be yours when you shift to what is real. This means your focus must be on your purpose for being here, the very reason you are living in this life experience. Its not about procuring earthly gain, but allowing your spirit to soar to new levels of awareness. Thats where true abundance is. Dont get me wrong, you deserve all the wonderful things to enjoy in this life, but if thats where your focus is in acquiring them then youre in the space of needing them. That means youre expressing lack, a negative vibration.

This is how it works. You put your energy into your reason for being here, your inner passion. Youre here to share that purpose and give back to the world. When you do this you are automatically aligning with the good that you are striving so hard to obtain. Once you are truly in alignment, the plenty flows to you effortlessly. Yes, you can sometimes force the situation so that you become materially wealthy, but because you are coming from a core that says need, push, drive, obtain, you will never be satisfied or feel theres plenty. ALLOWING THE FLOW OF PLENTY FROM A GRATEFUL HEART, WITH A WILLINGNESS TO SERVE, OPENS YOU TO THE FULLNESS OF LIFE!

So right now, before you do another thing, why not make either a mental or physical list of the plenty for which you are grateful. I believe youll see your reality at this moment is plenty. Shift your mindfulness to gratitude and a bountiful harvest of plenty will be banging on your door!