That is a quote from a lecture I listened to by Kate Northrop a few years ago. 'Lack is just a feeling...' Northrop carried on to say 'Abundance is just a feeling.'
Wow. It's not a new teaching. I've come across the idea many times before and since. It's just that today I happened to be reading the notes I took while listening to Kate Northrop speak and those two phrases leapt out at me.
What a challenging concept. How can lack be just a feeling? There are times when I feel like we just do not have 'enough' money. And yet what is "enough money"? I have some Christmas presents for my children - yep more than one present each. I have a roof over my head and I have paid this months rent. I have various food items in my cupboard. I have a bit of money in savings. Interestingly I wanted to go back and change that to 'I have a LITTLE bit of money in savings' because it doesn't feel like much right now in this lack feeling head space I'm in right now.
This week was Thanksgiving in America. I love the ideas behind this festival - family, food and gratitude. I wonder if gratitude is linked to the feeling of abundance. When I am feeling worried and panicked about not having enough I am definitely suffering from a lack mentality.
When I move my thoughts onto all the blessings I have to be grateful for in my life I feel more abundant. It's hard not to feel like I am surrounded by abundance when I remember how thankful I am for my two healthy children, for the new life growing inside me, for my loving husband. I am thankful for our lovely wee house and that we have food in our cupboards and and safe drinking water on tap. We have access to good healthcare at no cost and we live in a peaceful, stable country. I have done a bit of travelling in various parts of the world for which I am truly grateful and I am aware that I am in the minority in the world to have all this. How can I hold onto the feeling of not having enough when I remember all this?
And then when I can see how quickly I can change my mind from lack to abundance just in the process of writing this blog, I get more of a clear picture that Kate Northrup may well be right. If I can go from feeling so stressed and worried and like I don't have enough money, to feeling much calmer and happier and with a realisation that all is well and all is well and all manner of things will be well.