Abundance is the ability to meet your needs when you have them.
I heard this today listening to a Youtuber, and it struck a cord. I instantly jumped out into observer mode to get a snapshot of my life. How interesting.
It’s important to distinguish between needs — real needs — and wants. We seem to blur the line too easily in our society, and it causes enormous stress, angst and anxiety — for ourselves, and our relationships.
In my life, in the past few years, I have reduced my needs to almost nothing, really — or, perhaps more accurately, I aligned with the genuine ones.
I sold, or gave away most of my books and things, my humble camera setup, and most of my musical instruments — partly to pay bills, but partly to get rid of the old, to stop moving the same things around for no reason (I have been moving a lot), and to allow others, hopefully, to get more use out of things that were just collecting dust.
I drive a reliable car, even though it’s looking a little worse for wear. But, it always starts, and always gets me there, and has a good stereo. I rent two bedrooms in a house, quite affordably, in an area that is close to the ocean, numerous parks and trails, and several favorite cafés I frequent.
There are a lot of things I want to experience, to buy, to do, causes to give to, but… needs? Not really.
For a long time, I believed I had a need for a partner, a confidant, a lover, and a best friend. It wasn’t a need, because I wasn’t actively doing much about it. All sorts of nonsense projections and bullshit came up, suggesting it was women, and the world, that were at fault. Not so.
What began as apathy and defeat, settled into a bit of much need-ed emotional maturity. Yay.
But, that’s the thing. Whether we’re conscious of it or not, life leads us toward the fulfillment of our true needs, and our environment will reflect that, too. We may resist what is, but nobody did it to us.
The experiences that come our way are the expressions and the methods that will get us to our ultimate goals. They just might not look that way. Later, with the benefit of hindsight, much becomes clear.
And, with clarity, comes discernment. Then, conscious focus. Thus, the artist begins to recognize the artwork in progress, the song in mid-composition, and the next chapter’s title.
You are where and when you are meant to be. Look again.
Solvitur ambulando