Five Ways to Feel Abundant When Everything is Expensive
$2 for a single apple? Seriously? Here are some ways to find relief.
Are you playing Whac-a-Mole with bills? Same. Between skyrocketing inflation and corresponding shrinkflation, this has been a financially challenging year for nearly everyone I know.
The good news is, I’m still here, and so are you. Financial challenges can be really difficult emotionally, but they probably won’t kill us.
From 2010-2014, I experienced some pretty extreme financial challenges, which gave me the opportunity to develop multiple practices to remain calm and grounded.
I bartered with a coffee shop for food, and I wore the same khaki green overalls—patched multiple times—every single day. My three shirts were threadbare, and my boots often leaked during the rainy season.
No matter how many resumes I sent out, or how many job boards I searched, nothing seemed to work. “I’m a really good editor,” I’d say to friends. “But I don’t know how to let people know I exist.”
Last year, I had my best editing year ever, and by the end of December, I was booked ahead for three months. Then April arrived, and… crickets.
While enough work has come in to keep a roof over my head—and Ariel’s 😸—it’s a noticeable downward shift from 2022. Whether it’s due to inflation, or a fading ‘halo’ around my 2020 book launch, the slowdown has felt a bit disconcerting.
So I go back to the basics of gratitude that I practiced so intently in the early 2010s:
Today, Ariel and I both have enough food.
Today, my rent is paid.
Today, I have heat and hot water.
Today, I have an abundance of fresh air and water.
Today, I am safe and loved.
In the razor’s edge of this moment, I have everything I truly need.
There are an awful lot of things just above survival level, though, that are out of reach in this moment: Updated glasses. Tax instalments for 2023. Dental work (so so so much dental work!). I want, I grasp, I cling and desire. And there’s the rub.
I’ve learned that money doesn’t flow when I’m resisting what is. When I neeeeeeed money, on an energetic level, I’m pushing it away. It makes sense, I mean, we all know that in relationships, for example, the scent of desperation is just so attractive (LOL). The same principle applies.
Here’s how I navigate this: First, I stop trying so hard, and instead, I take my hands off the controls and feel for life’s guidance. When I relinquish control over the outcome—which is an illusion anyway— things tend to work out in ways I couldn’t have predicted.
Here are some other ways I’ve learned to relax the tension around money and find peace regardless of my bank balance. After all, abundance is a concept, not an emotion. The underlying emotion is calm.
1. Notice what you do have.
The first time someone suggested this to me, in 2008, I rolled my eyes. “I have an abundance of…dust bunnies,” I said.
Over the past 15 years, I’ve had ample opportunity to look for abundance in my life, from an abundance of salt packets in a kitchen drawer to an abundance of greenery in the forest, and even six months of rain is abundance—we wouldn’t have the greenery without it.
Simply noticing abundance where it exists shifts energy in me from constricted to expansive. That alone may not bring in any money, but it makes me feel better.
Isn’t that a big part of what we all want from having more money? To feel calmer? We can feel calmer right now! It’s not like feeling anxious about money is going to solve anything; it’s only going to make us feel like crap.
2. Take time to focus on appreciation and gratitude
You can notice your areas of abundance (dust bunnies or otherwise), and also, look for things to appreciate. The bright fall foliage on an oak tree. A beautiful mural. The way a cashier sincerely wishes you a good day. The fragrance of freshly mowed grass.
I’ve written about the distinction between gratitude and appreciation before. If the word gratitude feels too heavy, or too unreasonable, just look for things to appreciate.
The more I appreciate, the more I find to appreciate. It’s a positive feedback loop that hits all the dopamine receptors.
This may or may not help you feel calmer about money, but in all likelihood, it will at least help you feel a little better in moments throughout your day.
3. Give yourself a break by daydreaming
This, too, is about shifting your energy, so you’re not coming from a place of panic. I know that place all too well, and it’s not a fun destination to visit.
Imagine that you have everything you need and want, whether that’s financial or otherwise. Bring it to mind as clearly as you can, as though you’ve teleported to a different reality.
How do you feel?
Can you feel it in your whole body, or in one particular area?
Does your body relax with relief, or do you maybe feel a surge of energy?
Take breaks as often as you can, because worrying doesn’t help you get what you want; it only succeeds in making you feel bad. You’re already in pain—why ‘pile on’ (for NFL watchers) or hit yourself with a second arrow (for Buddhists)?
4. Allow solutions to come from all angles
Most of us have been conditioned that money can only come through hard, difficult work. Consider where that message comes from. Who benefits from you working yourself to the bone? It’s not you.
When you specify exactly how money should come to you—a raise, a new job, a lottery win— you severely limit your options. Money is a means to an end, not the end itself. What is it you really want? A sense of calm? The freedom to do what you want? A nice haircut? These things can come in countless ways.
If we’re clear on what we want and why, the how can show up in infinite ways. We just have to be open to it.
This doesn’t mean things will always land in your lap (they might, sometimes). You want money to buy a snow blower? Check Kijiji or Marketplace, or maybe your neighbor is upgrading and doesn’t want theirs any more. If you desperately want a nice haircut but can’t afford salon prices, check a stying school near you; they often offer very affordable cuts.
5. Give what you most want to receive
This sounds ludicrous, right? Give away what little you have, when you already don’t have enough? And yet in my experience, it works. This is one of many paradoxes in life.
Generosity is one of the foundational principles of all spiritual paths, and it was the inspiration for the late Cami Walker’s book, 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life.
When I had $2 to my name (which happened on many occasions), I often left a dollar on a wall that children often walked like a balance beam. I mean, $2 isn’t even enough for a cup of coffee, so what did I have to lose? It made me feel expansive and joyous in a way that few other practices have.
Nearly every single time I’ve given something to others, I’ve also received in abundance. It’s a tricky line: Don’t give with an expectation of receiving. Give freely and trust that it will come back to you through an unexpected channel. Life has your back.
Volunteering is another way to give, especially when money is tight. What local organizations focus on areas you’re passionate about? Animal rescue? Environmental preservation? Literacy for everyone? Something else?
One upside: Use this time to go more deeply inward
Janis Joplin wasn’t wrong when she wrote, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Today, I see that my deepest connections with life happened when I had nothing to grasp onto, no way to create a false identity through income, status, belongings or busyness.
When money began flowing in again, I noticed how much I wanted to cling to it, to make it mine. To my chagrin, I also felt much less connected to those around me, especially those suffering on a survival level, because in my mind, having money meant I had something to lose.
If you’re experiencing financial challenges, use this time to reflect on your inner world.
Where are you still holding resistance?
What subconscious limiting beliefs are still running your life?
Is there something else life wants you to do with your gifts?
Of course, systemic issues like classism and racism still come into play—in no way am I blaming anyone for struggling.
While ‘struggling’ has a negative connotation in the dominant culture, being broke has zero relationship to an individual’s worth as a human being.
Whatever the underlying reason, being in a survival situation can be an impetus to go deeper spiritually.
Here are a couple of resources you might find helpful:
Eckhart Tolle’s free video course on Conscious Manifestation
Sanaya Roman and Orin’s classic book Creating Money. For a book that’s channeled, it’s remarkably down to earth and practical. It has helped me relax around money more times than I can count.
Have you done any of these practices? Or have you found other practices helpful? Share your experience in the comments.
This is so incisive and helpful! And I really needed it this morning! Thank you for this Sarah!❤️
Another perfectly timed piece of loving wisdom, Sarah. Because a yoga pal put them in my hand a few weeks ago, I happen to be growing snap sugar peas on my tiny patio these days (California- you can do that here;). Their thread-thin tendrils reach for anything to wrap tightly around and they need gentle help reaching upward, or else they will afix to one another and stop growing tall. They also can't produce peas that way. Your post is beautiful, vulnerable, grounding reminder for me of how to not cling to whatever pops into my adhd brain first, and instead to look up and pick the healthy focus. Keep posting please -much love.