Abundance

I've been rereading Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth. It's the third time. I almost never read books more than once, so that tells you something. I think of it as a how-to manual for staying in the present moment, being kind and generous, and spreading good will. It may well be the best book I've ever read.

In the chapter "Finding Who You Truly Are," Eckhart writes about abundance. I was listening to it in my car, and had an Ah-hah! moment.

"Who you think you are is also intimately connected with how you see yourself treated by others," Eckhart writes. "Many people complain that others do not treat them well enough."

Boy, have I walked a few hundred miles in those shoes! When I got home, I pulled my print copy of the book off the shelf found the section where I had the Ah-hah!

Try this for a couple of weeks and see how it changes your reality: Whatever you think people are withholding from you - praise, appreciation, assistance, loving care, and so on - give it to them. You don't have it? Just act as if you had it, and it will come. ... You cannot receive what you don't give. 

Eckhart goes on a few sentences later to say:

See the fullness of life all around you. The warmth of the sun on your skin, the display of magnificent flowers outside a florist's shop, biting into a succulent fruit, or getting soaked in an abundance of water falling from the sky. The fullness of life is there at every step. The acknowledgment of that abundance that is all around you awakens the dormant abundance within. Then let it flow out. When you smile at a stranger, there is already a minute outflow of energy. You become a giver. 

I want to live my life every day like this.

It's shallow, I know, to think of postcards having anything to do with this spiritual quest. But, for me at least, they do.

I'm actually getting plenty of praise, appreciation, assistance, and loving care. My life feels full and rich, and I don't take that for granted.  I've got nothing to fuss about. But - dammit - my mailbox runneth empty. (There are approximately two exceptions. You know who you are.) And I get it. Summer's over. Back to work. No more vacations to Myrtle Beach, to tourist shops, to five postcards for a dollar. But I had been rather enjoying a run of receiving several a week, and now I'm back to redplum.com advertisements and my water bill. Blech.

The only thing missing in my life - what people are "withholding" from me - is postcards!

So, on the advice of Eckhart Tolle, I will give what I'm not getting. I will go through my entire address book and give, and give, and give. I will remind myself, "You cannot receive what you don't give."

Click this link for more on Eckhart Tolle