Over the last several years, the word ‘abundance’ has infiltrated it’s way into conversations and goal making. Many people I know put energy into creating ‘abundance’. I never used to see anything necessarily wrong with that thought and even bought into the ‘abundant life’ mentality myself. It has been a comfortable term to attach to.
But what is an ‘abundant life’ and do we really need to have ‘abundance’ as a personal or professional goal?
The definition of abundance is “an extremely plentiful or oversufficient quantity or supply“, “overflowing fullness“, “affluence; wealth“. The other word that tends to be found with abundance is ‘prosperity‘. Now if you are talking about love and happiness, abundance of the heart is a good thing. However, our society’s focus on having an abundant life tends to be anchored by the volume of one’s pocket book.
I’ve been contemplating relocating recently and it has stemmed from my desire to lead a life of simplicity. There was a great article in the Globe and Mail featuring blogger Victoria Vargas of www.smallerliving.net. Victoria has embarked on a journey to live a smaller lifestyle, in order to live large. I know, a bit of an oxymoron, but she and many others, are advocating this simplistic lifestyle in order to unclutter not only our homes, but our minds and our energy.
One of her most recent blogs was The 50% Solution for Smaller Living. Wow, what a concept…check it out.
Another great advocate is Dave Bruno who has undergone his own 100 Thing Challenge. The goal? To break free of consumerism. Dave believes “that living without abundance of personal possessions for an extended period of time is the first step we ought to take in order to realize that we don’t need ever-more stuff.“ He has even listed the 100, well, 94 items he has in his possession. Can you imagine, being able to list your possessions in a list of a hundred or less?
Now, I don’t want to slam all the ‘abundance’ seekers out there, but I for one, am adopting Victoria’s mantra to “Live Small and Prosper”.
Crazy idea, I know, but what if living a smaller live, reducing our ‘things’ and decluttering our life actually creates prosperity? Whatever the word ‘prosperity’ means to you. Maybe living small is a way for all of us to create sustainability not only in our homes, in our economy, but for our planet?
My goal, to reduce my life in half…half the possessions, half the expenses, half the time spent in the car, half the food I have to buy (which means umm yea, growing it ourselves). Maybe I will have more time to spend with my children, more money to save, and more energy to garden?
Dare to take the challenge with me?
Thanks, Victoria…for your inspiring message and to Dave, who I noticed owns a Mac Book, iPad and iPhone? Come on Dave, I’d at least have one more pair of shoes in there!!
