Abundance is Found Within

Dear One,

I hope you find abundance this year.

Not an abundance of more things to stuff in your closet or display on a shelf, though those things could remind you of moments of joy and soothe your weary soul.

Not an abundance of likes on a post or followers on your social media accounts, though the comments on those posts and accounts could point you to the abundance I desire for you.

Not even an abundance of money, though money can sometimes bring momentary peace.

The type of abundance I’m hoping you will find in this new year is a feeling, a state, a place that you can always go when your world is upside down and your life is pure chaos.

This still place could be a cloud on a bright and sunny day, where, as if on a hammock, you relax and drift above the noise and problems too big for your small hands and big heart.

This tranquil place could be a flat expanse of warm turquoise water next to a tropical waterfall, that, like a bath, washes all the dirt and grime of the world away.

This calm place could be a forest of moss and ferns and filtered light, beckoning you to step within her shade.

This untouchable place will be your sanctuary, your spa, your retreat—your strength as you navigate this beautiful and sometimes chaotic life.

Come. Take my hand. Abundance is waiting for you and for me.

Lia

~

In February of 2017 I read Jon Gordon’s Life Word: Discover Your One Word to Leave a Legacy and fell in love with the idea that the simple act of picking a yearly focus word could guide me to live with more intention, focus, and purpose.

I’ve picked a word every year since. The words I pick remind me of something I want to achieve or become, some character trait I want to polish or refine. The word itself becomes my North Star guiding me to my mental, emotional, and sometimes physical goal for the year.

In 2017, I chose the word challenge because I wanted to grow – and because I was naïve to the impact a simple word could have over my life. After all the challenges the world has faced these past couple of years, and all the personal challenges I have faced within my own life, I want to go back and tell the 2017 version of myself, “Hell no you can’t choose that word! What you really want is peace and ease and happiness, not the struggle and fight and pain and grit that comes with the word challenge.”

I started thinking about my word for 2022 back in early November. Words like expansion and abundance, flow and alignment, kept coming to mind. These words felt like buzz words that circled programs or whole practices—people and ideas—I was interested in. All of these words have depth and meaning and power for change, and I associate them with people who are role models for the woman I hope to become.

But I wanted a word that felt authentic to me, a word that could stand the test of time and effect real growth within me.

I’m finding the words expansion and abundance on podcasts I’m listening to, within books I’m reading, in the posts within my news feed(s), and even in my email Inbox. I don’t know if I picked these words or if they heard my desire for peace and ease and happiness and swooped in to work their magic within me.

I started talking about these words with friends and family, and even looked up their meanings to figure out their appeal. I quickly realized that they were highlighting my desire for peace and calm. 2021 has been a wild ride for me and my family as we have faced some difficult decisions within my husband’s business and within our personal life. I want a break from the chaos and problems. I want peace, joy, ease, and happiness.

Now, I know this side of heaven I will have my fair share of problems and hardships, but I also know people who remain calm and at peace even during some pretty major life events.

That’s the kind of peace I desire – an inner peace that exists even in the toughest storms of life. That kind of peace is how I define Abundance. And that kind of peace will require some mental and emotional work on my part.

I’m a recovering perfectionist, people-pleaser, and chronic worrier. I perpetually wrestle with the shoulds and what ifs, but I don’t want that mindset anymore. I want to surrender and let go of trying to control the pieces (other people, some circumstances and situations) of life that I was never meant to control.

I’m choosing Abundance as my word for 2022. Not an abundance of things, but an inner abundance that requires I go within to that still small place of surrender where life just is. That place that helps me remember life is bold and beautiful and grand in all of its messiness and pain.

Universe, take it from here ….