Flow Friday ~ Accept Abundance!

Part of the spiritual journey involves detaching yourself from the physical world, dissociating from worldly pleasures, and letting go of materialism. It means humbling yourself, knowing you are not “obligated” to be showered with riches. It means understanding that happiness and fulfillment comes from within, not from anything outside of yourself. It is the realization that the whole world is inside of each and every one of us, and everything else is a projected illusion.

However — There’s a common misconception that in order to be spiritual, you must be living in a cave, sitting there and meditating all day. While this is an extreme option for some, the truth is that your material life does not define your spirituality. In fact, if you are so focused on avoiding all materialism in order to be more spiritual, then you may lose sight of the big picture and end up holding yourself back from true soul progression.

Materialism only becomes “bad” when we let it distract us from spirituality, rather than assist us. In some cases, “worldly pleasures” can actually be a helpful tool for your journey. You simply must be mindful about it.

The universe wants to shower you with gifts. God is happy when we receive, and shares our joy in receiving. Temptations are meant to be enjoyed — mindfully. For as long as you can still practice self-discipline and not take anything for granted, worldly gifts should be celebrated.

Keyword: “mindful.” I will use that word over and over, because I cannot stress enough how important it is.

The thing is, when you are a millionaire or billionaire with a high-power career, when you are famous with millions of fans, when you have countless partners throwing themselves at you… when your life revolves around money, fame, and lust… it is incredibly difficult to focus on spirituality. You’re too busy! Too distracted! And there’s no motivation to seek higher knowledge. The void is still there, but you can easily numb it.

Basically, too much abundance can easily spoil you. But on the flip side, zero abundance does not assure more spiritual fulfillment.

So when a gift comes your way, accept it!

“Ask and ye shall receive.”

Do not become so prideful that you say, “I don’t deserve this.”

How would you feel if you spent a lot of time finding the perfect gift for someone, and when you give it to them, they tell you, “this is too nice, I could never repay you,” and hand it back with no gratefulness…? You would say, “it doesn’t matter — you don’t have to return the favor. I just wanted to make you smile!”

The same way, God and the angels work very hard to conspire plans to go your way and give you things that spark joy. A lot of effort is put in just to make you rejoice and ease your suffering.

Lately I have found that when I ask for something, double is returned! For example, I signed up for a one-bedroom apartment and ended up miraculously getting a two-bedroom due to some “random” force beyond my control. I never would’ve imagined. At first I was almost embarrassed to know that I got more than what I thought I deserved. And still, I can’t believe this happened to me. So I say, “thank you,” even though a part of me wants to say, “no — take it back, give me my one-bedroom, this is so much more than I ever asked for!”

And that is just one of the many examples I am going through right now. For the longest time, I was in this “settling” mindset. I’ll settle for being content yet unfulfilled, I thought. I’ll settle, because it could be so much worse. But then I started thinking… actually, it could be so much better!

Like a jelly donut (or whatever junk food you like), it wasn’t created to taunt you, it was created to bring you pleasure. Don’t glare at it in agony because you think it’s off-limits. Take a bite and enjoy. Say, “yum!” as you rub your belly. Just don’t go shoving a million of them down your throat.

For as long as you avoid greediness and keep your focus on spirituality, worldly gifts are a blessing. You are not entitled, but you are worthy. Life is a short and precious thing that is meant to be enjoyed to the fullest. Don’t go chasing abundance with greed — let it find you.

You are worthy. You are deserving. You are blessed.

Accept abundance!