Living An Abundant Life?

 


I have heard the statements from people of influence saying, ‘live the abundant life.’  The bible says it in John 10 v 10 so you know that this is something that is important, even to God.

I believe living abundantly is hard wired in to our DNA.  We all have desires which are either stimulated by positive experiences, or extinguished with negative circumstances. 

What is abundance?

Abundance means different things to different people but really it all boils down to plentifulness. 

Plentifulness is about having, 'a full supply,' and is identified as a way of providing or producing abundance.

Over my years of collecting experiences, and wrinkles, I have changed my mind on what abundance is.  

At first I thought it was the ability to have a need and not worry about budgeting, but simply go and get it.  I chased that idea for most of my adult life and never got to that position and felt like I had failed to live abundantly.

Now I look at abundance differently.

Now it’s not about gain, but about stewardship.

If abundance is defined as, ‘a full supply’ that means I have all I need, but I have to figure out how to use it to live abundantly.  

It also doesn’t just involve money.  It can be anything from family to physical health.  Every aspect of our life can be efficiently used to create a great life, if we can learn how to harness the skill.

What does living abundantly look like?

It can look different for different people.  Some live very handsomely were as some live with only their basic needs met.

I can see the following things present in a variety of people who would say that they live an abundant life.

Gratitude

Once you realise what you have then you can look at how you are managing it and where you can improve.  I was quite bad with money and so it took time and even some money mindfulness training for me to gain the skills to manage it better.  

I had to realise that I had all I needed I just had to make sure the things I used it for fell within my means.  I had to stop chasing more and be grateful for what I already had.

Doing this took away stress of managing bills because I knew what was going on in my finances because of the new skills I had learned.




Organisation

Living abundantly helps you get yourself organised.  You feel empowered and in control, somewhat, which gives your motivation and confidence a boost.  I have noticed that you also tend to be able to manage your time better too.   

Knowledge

Because you are hands-on with your life, you are more likely to need to know the ins and outs of different things.  This can be on how to do something better for example.  

Getting knowledge helps you identify your strengths and if you don’t know how to do something you usually find someone that can help.

Decisiveness

When you are managing the things in your life it will tend to make you more decisive because you are growing skills and knowledge.  

Also, making those important mistakes can help you grown and learn from experience.  This all snowballs in to making decisions.  Whether that be relationships, purchases, etc. you will become more accustomed to making decisions well.

Resolve

Life sometimes throws things at you that are unexpected.  Practicing living abundantly can help you ride the waves of difficult storms with confidence and resilience. 

It enables you to realise that no matter what, you can are capable.

Final Thought

Living an abundant life isn’t a quick fix to having a life that brings happiness. It takes work, sacrifice, prayer for some, (like me), getting educated or asking for help.

For example, if you are struggling to pay all your bills and you accept help from a local foodbank you are stepping up to make sure what you have can go on other needs.

Whatever aspects of your life that comes up where you think, ‘I would like to do that better,’ remember not to overwhelm yourself.  

Take one thing at a time.  That way, you won’t become discouraged and give up. 

You are meant to live abundantly you just have to figure out what that looks like for you.


If you need support do reach out to someone or an organisation that can help.  If you would like to share your story or contact me please feel free to private message me on our Facebook page or on Instagram.  You can also email me using theencouragerslife@gmail.com address.  


Be sure to check out our next article here on ‘The Encouragers Life.’


 Article written by J. Bingham

Copyright 2021

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