"There is only one consciousness, equally distributed everywhere." - Ramana Maharshi

This year has been a year like no other in history.  On Jan 25th, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power following 18 days of unrelenting public protest.  In August, Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule came to an end as Libyan rebels overtook Tripoli, after 6 months of civil war.  Earthquakes and tornadoes have escalated to unforeseen severity, and the U.S. has seen the rise of the Occupy Wall Street movement in every major city, and met with the opposition of police forces in New York, Cleveland, Oakland, Denver, Atlanta, Nashville, and elsewhere.  

Do you ever worry about someone you love?  I certainly do.  Sometimes I worry about myself, that my own future will not turn out the way I have planned it.  Other times, I worry about friends of mine, who seem to be making bad decisions and heading down the wrong roads.  In the past, I have worried about lovers leaving me, or not loving me the way I love them.  And just recently, I noticed that I also worry about my family, and dread that some of them might die before I get to spend more time with them.

I woke up this morning with scarcity on my mind.  I’m sure many of you have had this experience.  Before my cup of tea, before letting the chickens out in the yard, or taking a hot shower, my mind was churning with fear and disappointment.  The theme today was: “I am not making enough money.”

Life is all about having what you want.  Of course, this goal requires many precursors: Knowing what you want. Knowing what you have.  Wanting what you have.  Letting go of what you have that you don't want.  Then, having what you want and wanting all of your halves, and wholes.  This process is not always linear, and doesn’t have to make too much sense.  Just choose the part you are most excited about and enroll yourself in making it happen. 

Here’s my advice for this week.  Find one thing that you have, and want it.  Want it baaadly.  Positively moan and ache for it.  Than, keep having it.  Now doesn’t that feel good?

Welcome to our weekly practice of being abundance.  At Cafe Gratitude, we believe life is an inside job.  In the great outdoors of our experience, everything moves and changes: the world twists and turns, the markets climb and fall, and the salad greens in your refrigerator are eaten and replaced.  The outside is where we do: we work, play, acquire, release, and walk around our exquisite lives, which are so full of challenges and hopes.

Many of us have been raised to believe that the outside is the source of our experience; that our experience of being abundant relies on the contents of our wallet or bank account. What if being abundant had nothing to do with your finances, but relied on your ability to be grateful for what you already had?  How would your life be different if you knew you were provided for, every day, in every way?  What if you knew that being abundant simply meant receiving what had already been given?