Are you addicted to seeing what is missing in your life instead of the fullness that already exists? After hearing my inner voice give thanks for my lovely home and wishing it had larger rooms and more storage, I had an epiphany. Suddenly I realized that giving thanks and asking for more at the same time is a habitual pattern with me.

I thought I had overcome a deprivation mentality that began in my childhood but apparently it still keeps me in a subtle state of longing. Instead of acknowledging and feeling the fullness of what I have, my mind focuses on something I lack. The principles of the Law of Attraction explain that longing attracts more longing. I now understand how I manifest limited abundance.

Developing an awareness of the abundant creative flow is a challenge in today’s world. Some are dealing with survival needs and others desire something or someone that will make them feel happy or fulfilled. Most of us need help focusing on gratitude and fullness instead of lack.

The process I discovered integrates then transcends the abundance/lack polarity within our minds: We go from a perception of lack (“I do not have what I need to survive.”) to abundance/lack (“I am grateful for what I have and need more.”) to ABUNDANCE (“I HAVE EVERYTHING I NEED RIGHT NOW.”). The final perspective is a gift of grace and creates an unshakable knowing in ABUNDANCE as a spiritual principle within the universe.

Making the mental shift to this “higher” perspective takes awareness, commitment, purposeful action and grace. As you change your distorted earthly perception of lack, you will see your world through the eyes of Spirit and attract more fulfillment, harmony and abundance into your life.

Here are a few strategies that keep your attention on abundance while living in a reality that challenges this spiritual truth:

• Become grounded in the knowledge of an abundant creative flow: You need to believe it before you can achieve it. Find transformational leaders, books and principles that verify this truth. Speak to others about their insights, experiences and doubts. Mastermind groups and workshops for spiritual enlightenment and co-creation come in many forms. The objective: Grow in the reality that you and your life are in divine right order in an abundant universe.
• Stop the “what is missing” thinking when it begins: Challenge and change the thoughts that point out what is missing. Discipline your mind to stay in gratitude. The time to visualize what you want and create goals is not the same time to experience the fullness that already exists. Each time you feel full, complete and grateful, you are attracting more to you. This feeling brings your desires to you in accordance with your highest good.
• Choose to see fullness in yourself and in your life: Even though you observe the world and yourself struggling in lack, hold the ideal perception of abundance in the Present Moment. Abundance is a part of you and is unfolding within you and your life. This is not denial or wishful thinking. It is a choice to see beyond the world of limitation created by the ego personality. The new mindset takes practice, practice, practice before it becomes a habit. As you do your part and invite grace into the process, you will soon reap rewards beyond your expectations.
• Turn the outcome over to a Higher Power: Instead of trying to control outcomes, trust that a Higher Power is in charge. Ask Spirit to help you observe with clarity, do your best and know at the deepest level of your being that what you seek is seeking you and leading to your highest good. Acceptance and gratitude for what is happening now allows you to feel whole and full and transforms you into a master co-creator within an abundant universe.

As you implement these strategies, you will replace a mindset of “what is missing in your life” with “gratitude for all you have.” The feelings of gratitude will outshine your misperception of lack. You will be able to look right through this illusion into the realm of an abundant creative flow. Abundance has many aspects if you are willing to look. It shows up in your health, relationships, possessions, creativity, work, money, physical surroundings, wisdom, spirituality and more. While struggling in one area of your life, you may have abundance in another.

In a vivid dream many years ago, I observed a dark slowly flowing river in front of me. It had no boundaries and nothing could withstand its power. I knew I had to jump into that river and become one with this universal energy. After observing it for awhile, I jumped in and a great PEACE came over me. When I get caught up in “what is missing,” I think about that image and trust that all is flowing in divine right order. This abundant creative energy is freely given from the Creator. I invite you to jump in and experience the truth, peace and fullness that come from merging with it. Abundance is your natural state of being!