Can everyone attract abundance?

Imagine if everyone has everything that they desire. What the world would look like? I can't even imagine if the world might become a utopia or an "imagined" utopia like the one portrayed in the Wall-e movie. Or maybe like the one depicted in Star Trek. But we know this well that this is a utopia. Even if we want to argue there might be a realistic utopia that is described by socialist, capitalist, or liberalism, a utopia is still a utopia. Well, maybe I say utopia too much.

So it might be disappointing to know that everyone cannot necessarily have everything that they desire. After all, not everyone is born lucky to have good healthcare, education, or a supporting family that can help them to reach everything they desire. Not everyone can attract the abundance they want. Also, the world where everyone has everything is might become a world of utopia or a disaster. Because, on a global scale, if we take everything from the Earth, the environment would collapse. Once, David Attenborough said this:

Anyone who thinks that you can have infinite growth on a planet with finite resources is either a madman or an economist.

Our perspective of abundance

However, this doesn't mean we cannot pursue things that we want or seek for abundance. The case here is how we perceive the kind of things that account as abundance.

We can always find a pearl of valuable wisdom from ancient times until modern life. More often, the lessons remain the same and still relevant. We can dig some passage from a Letter of A Stoic on contentment:

I do not regard a man as poor if the little which remains is enough for him.

- Marcus Aurelius Seneca

It is not the man who has little, but he who desires more, that is poor. What does it matter how much a man has laid up in his safe, or in his warehouse, how large are his flocks and how fat his dividends, if he covets his neighbor's property, and reconds, not his past gains, but his hopes of gains to come?

Do you ask what is the proper limit to wealth? It is, first, to have what is necessary, and, second, to have what is enough.

- Marcus Aurelius Seneca

On a more hopeful note, Thich Nhat Hanh has something to say about the abundance of miracles in our life:

Around us, life bursts forth with miracles—a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter, raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere.

Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles. Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings.

When we are tired and feel discouraged by life’s daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they are always there.

Thich Nhat Hanh – Your True Home

Perhaps the pursuit of abundance is not the case here. Because we already have an abundant life. When we shift our perception that we already have an abundant life, we don't necessarily need to attract abundance.

We already have an abundance in our life

Compared to the past, we have more of the things that Louis XVI had back then. The home, education, or healthcare system has improved way more than in the previous era. How much abundance do we really need? Right now, we can even get plenty of food, music, art, or entertainment right from our fingertips. Literally.

That doesn't mean if you're poor or in unfortunate condition then you shouldn't improve your condition. That is a different case that needs to be solved. However, if you already have enough to live, then the case to attract abundance is not an issue. Moderation is the key here. We can pursue our goals, desires, and wants, but there's a limit to it. If we don't get what we expect, we might create another disaster of disappointment. This will become a disaster if we cling or crave the things we desire. Then, to prevent the disaster, we need to manage our cravings.

It's about what we think

In the end, what makes us desperate for something is our perception, our view, or in this case, our craving for abundance. Because craving breeds an attachment to the idea of having the desired things, and it can imprison us. However, we can always shift our perceptions. The psychiatrist David Burns once said, "We feel the way that we think". In earlier times, Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher said, "People are not disturbed by things but by the view they take of them". This is also true in the case of the pursuit of abundance.

We can always recognize the abundance within our lives. We don't need to search for something else. No need to attract abundance from somewhere out there; you already have the abundance you need.