We have been having an ‘eat down the pantry’ month here.
Let’s just say we have an abundance of rice. Also cans of navy beans for some reason. And we have enough oatmeal to feed the neighborhood this winter.
So we have focused on uncovering cans at the back of the cupboard and using what’s in the freezer before we write our shopping list. The freezer is now looking much more deliberate in what it contains. No more tiny bits of frozen mystery-curry (delicious though it was to reheat and eat again!) AND we’ve saved quite a bit of cash on groceries this month.
Every day that we eat up what we already owned, (even if it is an odd combination - sardines and corn anyone?), I find myself feeling very grateful that we have the space and the income to have accumulated a pantry of staples and a freezer of spare meals and last summer’s pesto.
It also feels good to use what we have so that we aren’t being wasteful and we can look forward to replenishing our stocks more intentionally for our preferred diet today.
It got me musing about the word abundance and why it’s so important that we know when we have it, and can let ourselves feel it.
Abundance for me, means more than ‘a lot’ (though it is inarguable that we have a lot of jam in the house!?). For me it means more like ‘ample’ or ‘plenty’. This implies something other than simple quantity - it adds an understanding of sufficiency to the equation. In other words, to me abundance means ‘more than I need’, which implies I understand (at least approximately) the amount I need.
I think this is a crucial concept if we are to live our next chapters successfully and happily, and sustainably.
What size house does it take to make us happy? What income do we really need to do all the things that we deem important? How many good friends does it take to feel cared for? How much time do I need for myself each week to feel grounded and calm? How big does my wardrobe need to be for me to feel well-dressed? How much education do I need to feel like I have the right options in front of me?
Without examining some of these sorts of ideas of sufficiency, it can be so easy to chase quantity for its own sake - more money, bigger house, buying more sweaters because ‘they were on sale’, getting another certification or degree, because ‘what if?’
And yet in reality, when we engage in the work (and closets) needed to do all that chasing, it can actually decrease our sense of well-being. In fact, I’m going to argue that losing a sense of what abundance looks like for each of us could very well be the defining factor in how happy we are.
I think it’s one reason why we’re seeing increased interest in the tiny house movement, and ‘The Great Resignation’. People are realizing that they can be choosier if they aim smaller but ‘better’, and actually end up feeling more abundant. And I do believe that the pandemic helped us re-access what it means to be have abundance in more ways than simple financial wealth.
Obviously, many people in the world, and even in this wealthy country of ours, live with real scarcity. Not enough food or income to be healthy, let alone comfortable. This article doesn’t refer to these folks of course.
But many of us have more than enough.
Research has found (and I’m forgetting where I read this - please let me know if you know this reference), that there are real differences in happiness and wellbeing up to around $70,000 in income. This might be a little higher now with inflation! But above this amount, happiness tends not to change a great deal.
This is likely then, a common measure of monetary abundance. You can certainly get by in America with much less than this in income (and most do), but by the time you reach about $70k, you have already been able to invest in things that make life a little easier and better. You have saved a bit, you can buy organic food, or go on vacation or whatever is your version of being able to do and purchase things that are wants and not needs. True abundance.
So chasing more income above this boundary, for many people, is likely to cost us more than it benefits us. We might end up with more stuff, but it is less likely to be meaningful. In other words, we end up with more low value things or experiences when we just keep adding above a certain amount.
But knowing our own ‘abundance measures’ is only about half of the equation I believe. We also have to feel it. The gratitude for having abundance (even if it’s not in all aspects of our lives, but only in some), allows that abundance to matter and to fill us in a way that leads to authentic well-being.
And what are we really chasing if not that?
So, in addition to recognizing our abundance of canned beans, I find myself considering other areas of true abundance in our lives, and where I could stop adding ‘more’.
What about you?
Where could you stop chasing and starting really living into your abundant life?