023 - The one word they don't want you to know...
Abundance. We’ve touched on this idea before, but it’s an idea I feel strongly about.
Abundance, and an abundance mindset, is knowing that there will be enough to go around and understanding that the opportunities in this world are limitless. Every opportunity yields more opportunities, if you miss one there’s always plenty more to follow. Life is not a zero-sum game - That’s kinda the core of an abundance mindset.
The idea that there’s only so much pie to go around is a lie.
I don’t want to confuse you, I’m not talking about the amount of food in your cupboards or the amount of dollars in your bank account. These things are definitely finite. Meaning, one day if you’re not careful, you could eat all your Cheez-its and if you don’t do something to replenish them, or Cheez-it shuts down the Cheez-it factory, there is only so much to go around.
But what if I told you, it is possible to add to total size of the pie. How about peppers. One pepper has the potential to yield many new pepper plants, and each one of those plants the capacity to yield countless more. The seeds just need to be placed in the proper soil and given some focus or attention (or not). By planting additional pepper plants you’re not taking peppers from anyone’s mouth. You’re adding to the total amount of peppers in existence. The same thing happens with opportunities in general, the creation of one thing leads to the creation of many others. The creation of the car led to the creation of roads and traffic signs and 7/11s.
Every day we interact with things made by somebody. Chances are you have no idea who that person is, but maybe you do, and if you do know who made it, then you probably already know that given the right focus and attention, we too have the ability to make things - That means we have the power to create wealth and value from seemingly nothing, thus adding to the total size of the pie. Restore some furniture, clean a car, hem some clothing, invent a game, whittle some wood, make something cool!
I touched on this a bit in issue 015:
“Start by understanding value is more than dollars. It’s proximity, availability - it’s timeliness and utility - knowledge and understanding. The fanciest most expensive research equipment in the world has little value if no one knows how to use it. Price does not equal Value.” smoke break 015 - how to create value
But if they get it, I can’t have it! BOGUS! Now, exploitation is evil and without education people will be people and it’ll keep happening. But there is another way! Because we have the power to create, that means we can create opportunities, and those opportunities create more opportunities. This works with or without others. Mind you, living in the land of milk and honey might have diluted my perspective on this a bit. I haven’t stood in a bread line or had to fight for water, so maybe this all sounds too easy to say as someone in my shoes. I’ve been blessed to have had an upbringing that’s allowed me to have this point of view. Creativity always beats competition. If you create value that does not mean you are taking it from someone else. You’ve essentially increased the size of the pie.
"You can combine and recombine the same 26 letters to write an infinite number of books” - Kevin Kelly - New Rules for the New Economy
Just think, there are only 12 notes in western music and the emotion that can be expressed with them is innumerable.
I’m grateful to have learned the definition of abundance.
One of my friends growing up had a sticker collection and among them were little cartoon drawings with an accompanying pun. One of them showed a picture of a small piece of bread cutting a rug titled “A bun dance”.