Section II- Belief in Scarcity or "Abundance Blockers"IntroductionSection II gets down and dirty about what keeps us apart from the Abundance that we are. These are, what I call "Abundance Blockers" or what covers up our Abundance. It would be tempting to skip this section, admit to a belief in scarcity, and go right to the next section on how to uncover our Abundance. I advice you to resist. It is important to know where the road blocks are so that you can at least clear them before putting the car in gear and speeding ahead. In other words, slow down and take some time with each sub-section, lesson, and exercise. It is so worth it! Have a great time "peeling the onion" and seeing what is really going on inside you.
Buying Into Cultural BeliefsThis EA workspace lesson is about becoming more aware of how you buy into the pervasive beliefs of our culture. (Hint, hint, belief in scarcity.)Lynn Twist’s book (2003) The Soul of Money introduces the concept of "Scarcity Myths". These myths are believed by the vast majority of the world. She describes them as “there is not enough”, “more is better” and “that’s just the way it is” . Take some time to reflect and journal about these myths. Can you see how these myths are reinforced or denied in how our world works today? In what ways have these myths influenced your life and how you think about abundance? Have you seen evidence of these myths at play in your daily life? Have you seen contrary evidence- how did you explain contrary evidence (ie "there must be abundance in the world", or "it's a fluke")?
Excavating Your Personal BeliefsHow to Uncover Your Beliefs about Abundance and Scarcity?OK. So you know you have beliefs that influence everything, but how do you really know what they are specifically? In other words, you know how you live, but how to extrapolate statements of belief (a belief in scarcity or abundance) from that, is another puzzle. Until now! There are many ways (an abundance of ways!) to "skin this cat". I am giving you some powerful tools and exercises here to uncover these specific beliefs that have been limiting your view of yourself and your world. Have fun and be prepared to be surprised by your discoveries! Exercise 1: If you are visual learner, you may be interested in drawing a family tree of beliefs or genogram. A genogram is simply a diagram using circles, squares, and lines to illustrate your family tree and all that goes with it. In this genogram, draw a circle (female) or square (male) in the center of the paper that represents you. Draw a line across to connect you with your spouse (a squiggle for divorce), and lines down from you to your children. Lines up to your parents and spouses parents, and grandparents. In each square or circle, write family members name, occupation, income level/economic class, businesses- successful or not and so on. Basically anything about money or abundance that you can glean. Do this for yourself, as well. Notice any patterns in your family. Did the women have careers outside of child rearing? Did some family members do well or not so well financially? How did that play out in the family? This exercise of writing out a genogram can reveal a lot about generational patterns of belief about money, abundance, etc. What does yours tell you? Exercise 2: Write out an event around abundance that has challenged you. For instance, perhaps you feel hesitant about investing some money or time into new project that you have been excited about. Start asking yourself what would happen if you moved forward with it, then what would happen, then what would happen, then what would happen, until you get to the end. The end, and along the way will give you lots of information about what you believe in- and what you are afraid of. This will clue you in on what beliefs (aka belief in scarcity) are blocking you from abundance. Exercise 3: Write down all the clichés about abundance (there's a lot about money!) that you know. "Money doesn't grow on trees", "A penny saved is a penny earned", "A fool and his money are soon parted" and so on. Which ones resonate with you? Why? Exercise 4: When you are disappointed about an event, a person, a thing, can you remember what thoughts and feelings went through your mind? Can you remember what it reminded you of or perhaps what lesson you learned from it? Is this a familiar feeling or thought- something that you said "I should have known..." "This always happens to me because..." I hope these exercises about belief of scarcity or abundance have helped shed some light on what you have been holding as true in your life. Continue to read on in Extraordinary Abundance about other "Abundance Blockers" and return to the Welcome Page of the online course so you can continue this journey into Section II.
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