Wanting from a place of abundance

There is an exercise recommended by Brooke Castillo, who produces the Life Coach School podcast, on “wanting from abundance” that I tried this morning as I was considering a dream I had last night. That one went into my handwritten journal. Not ready to interpret that one for y’all yet.

When most people are asked what they want, they immediately jump to a list of what they lack. They start listing off things like a new car, maybe a different job, perhaps other things that the would put on their Christmas list.

But the exercise she has people do is to list 25 things they want, where more than half of those things are what they already have. I am sharing my list with you as an example:

Time to write in the mornings (check)
A caring and wonderful husband (check)
Two cats (check)
A dog (someday)
Cozy place to live (check)
A home of our own (someday)
Time to camp and be outdoors this summer (check – planning on this)
Personal laptop for writing (check)
Enough money so I don’t worry about day-to-day necessities like food, utilities and clothing. (check)
Health care coverage (check)
Travel to the U.K.; travel to Spain (someday)
Time planned with my hubby to do fun stuff (check – upcoming long weekend trip to Arizona 4 weeks from now)
Work outside a corporate environment (someday)
Opportunities to practice my Spanish (check)
Ability to travel to other countries for work (check)
Ability to express my ideas and connect with similarly-spirited people (check)
Ability to sleep 8 hours every night without struggling with insomnia (work in progress)
Live in a safe neighborhood (check)
Access to good yoga classes (double check!)
Close relationships with friends and family (want to put more time into this)
More time to read (define more…)
Healthy body (check)
Plans for our summer vacation (work in progress)
Clean air to breathe every day and clean water to drink (check)
Ability to work from home on occasion (check)
Enough money to pursue my creative passions instead of working full time at a corporation (work in progress)

Okay, that was more than 25. Once I got going, I started thinking of even more things. 16 out of the 26 are things I already have. Some are things I am working on, and a few I have an actual plan sketched out to get them.

What I really love about this exercise is that we want from ABUNDANCE instead of a scarcity mind-set. We acknowledge that many of the amazing things we already have in our lives are also things we want, things we are grateful for. Imagine if I took some things OFF this list! Goodness, realizing the abundance and privilege that allows me to live this glorious life makes me feel rich, fortunate and happy.

When you think about what you want today, consider the things you already have that make your life splendid. Consider not just on what you want someday, but what you want (and have) today. Your entire energy and vibration will change. And perhaps you will start to attract possibilities, opportunities and ideas to add a few of those items from the list that you do not yet have.

Cheers & happy Friday!