Episode 11 - Abundant Focus
Episode11 - Abundance Focus
Last week my husband and I went to Florida with some of our family. We had a great time. We took our grandchildren to the beach, visited with extended family that lives there, and we explored Disney World. We spent 5 days there that were packed full of fun and exhaustion.
On the day we were coming home, my daughter started feeling sick and it was a rough travel day for her. Managing packing, returning rental cars, and all that happens at the airport. It was rough. I felt so bad for her. I couldn’t really help her feel better but I could support and love her as she pushed through the day like a champ. When we finally landed back in Utah and got in our car to head home. I started to feel yucky. My tummy started hurting. I would soon realize that I was probably coming down with what my daughter had.
It is really hard to truly understand what someone is going through until we go through it ourselves.
On our drive home, we stopped at a drive thru and everyone else ordered food but I wasn’t up for it. By the time we drove the hour and half to get home from the airport, I was not doing good. My stomach hurt so bad. I had a terrible night sleep and had a continual stomach ache for the next day. I really haven’t been this sick for a long time. I wanted this to be over. I went to bed that next night with the same stomach ache. I took something to help me sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I opened my eyes. I remember thinking oh my goodness I don’t have a stomach ache! I felt normal. My stomach ache was gone! The word I would describe how I was feeling was relief! The feeling of relief just washed over me. I remember putting my hand on my heart as I looked out my bedroom window and being full of gratitude for this relief. It was such a vivid moment for me. It was a tangible moment. I was fully present and experiencing this relief. It was beautiful. I have been reflecting on this experience for the last couple of days. There are a few things that really have stood out to me that I want to share with you.
It was a reminder that we all have hard things. We all are doing the best we can as we navigate through this earthly life. We are all in different seasons and each person on this earth is having their own unique experience. We can’t totally understand another person’s experience but we can hold space for them. We can comfort, support, and love our fellow travelers on this journey back home.
Being sick and feeling so horrible is actually what made it possible for me to experience the beauty of the feeling of relief. I am not saying that I loved feeling terrible but this experience was a gift. Consider Hardship and Happiness. Struggle and Strength. Anxiety and Peace. Pain and Relief. There are two sides to every coin. The painful, hard experiences are what allow us to fully experience joy. I really believe that we come to this earth to experience this contrast. Knowing the bitter allows us to truly savor the sweet. If we never experience hardships, struggles, or pain we wouldn’t be able to know what peace, joy and happiness feel like. Not only did I experience relief that Sunday morning but it brought gratitude with it as a bonus. It was amazing. I am grateful for the blessing of contrast in this life. It brings with it so much beauty and abundance.
As I have reflected on this experience and tried to share it with others, I actually have been able to create a similar emotion to what I felt that morning of relief. Our emotions are truly created by what we think about and what we focus on. This morning I was doing a guided meditation by Brooke Snow on the Small Seed app. It was on receiving current blessings. In this meditation, she offers the invitation to reflect on a blessing in your life. Either from the past or the present. As you close your eyes and breathe, you are encouraged to picture this blessing in your mind. Seeing it, hearing it, feeling it, and welcoming it. Opening yourself up to the abundance of that blessing. She repeated this invitation 2 more times. One of the blessings I reflected on was my relief experience that I have been talking about which also allowed me to create and enjoy that feeling of relief again. Do you pay attention to how you feel as you go through your day? Do you just go through the motions? What emotions do you want to create? If you want to create more gratitude, joy and abundance in your life, I want to extend the same invitation to you. Pause for a moment. No matter where you are. Close your eyes. Be still. Breath in and out and reflect on a past or current blessing in your life. Be with it. See it. Hear it. Feel it. This doesn’t have to take more than a few minutes. See what you can create by receiving what you already have.
When we find ourselves getting caught up in the mundane of life, it is easy to lose sight of the abundance in our lives. Which causes us to view life from scarcity and lack and then we block ourselves from seeing how abundant we really are. I am sitting here in my office doing this podcast on my computer which will allow me to share my thoughts with you. That is amazing. I talk into a microphone and it records everything I say. I went on a beautiful hike today with friends on a trail that people made for all to use anytime. The river that runs alongside this trail provides water, beauty and power to my community. I got to that trail in my car. I just get in and push a button and it starts and it will take me anywhere I want to go. There are roads that connect me to friends and loved ones. While I am recording this episode there are two contractors here installing new shades on my windows. I will be able to let light in or close them for privacy whenever I want. The windows in my house allow me to look out and see the beautiful view of Cache Valley. The blue skies. The mountains. When we take the time to pause and really view what we already have from a place of gratitude we open ourselves up to experiencing and discovering the abundance in our lives which opens to door to discovering what else is possible.
One of my most favorite and oft repeated quotes is by President Russell M Nelson, who is the prophet of The Church of Latter-day Saints. He says “the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” When we are focusing on what we don’t have, or I would add not even focusing at all but just going through the motions and getting stuck in the mundane, we can’t experience joy or abundance. Our brain naturally wants to focus on what we lack and what we don’t want. Let’s say I tell you to not think of a zebra. A zebra probably popped into your mind. If I said, don't think of a red car. You will probably think about a red car. This is how the brain works. It works at finding what you are focusing on. The better way is to tell your brain what to focus on. Then your brain is going to go looking for that.
Why does this matter? Because what we focus on is who we will become.
Who do you want to become?
I invite you consider how your life would be different if you could receive the abundance you already have. What else could you create from the abundance? What do you want to focus on?
Thank you for listening. If you like what you hear, I would love it if you would share it with your friends and family and leave me a review.
Have a joyful week!
To schedule a free Discovery Call, join my Seasons of Joy Facebook Group, and register for my upcoming An Awakening Retreat go to Seasons Coaching.
