Why Poverty Consciousness Is More Effective Than Abundance Thinking
by Mark and Janet Schlarbaum ~ October 16, 2008
Posted by: Janet Schlarbaum
By Mark Silver
Abundance consciousness is all the rage these days. And why shouldn’t it be? You want your business to be abundant with cash, and you want to be abundant in your giving as well.
It’s always painful to me watching folks trying to reeeaaaacccchhhhh for an “abundance consciousness” and repeatedly fall short of it. What is this “abundance consciousness” anyway?
The most common ways I’ve seen people try to reach for abundance, is through various techniques that usually boil down to trying to force yourself to believe that you really are okay. Except that you don’t feel okay. You don’t feel abundant. You don’t feel happy, or confident, or sure.
If that’s your experience, I urge you to leave ‘abundance consciousness’ in the dustbin, and settle back into the only thing that I’ve seen work consistently: cultivating a healthy poverty consciousness.
A healthy poverty consciousness(!?)
Have you ever noticed that the miracles usually come through when you’ve finally been forced onto your knees? The cavalry comes over the hill at the last possible moment? That you are saved from what you are sure is going to be certain disaster in the knick of time?
This is a universal human experience. Everyone I’ve met has experienced this. So, what’s going on, and can it be reliably repeated?
What’s happening in these circumstances is an example of the effects of a healthy poverty consciousness. If you think about it, it just makes sense.
When someone is handing you something very special, say a rare crystal vase, or a newborn infant, it is critical that you have your hands empty, and also that you are ready to receive what’s coming. Otherwise, the precious bundle coming to you will either go dashing to the ground (if the other person isn’t watching), or it won’t get handed over at all.
To make this work in your business, apply a magnet, which is your authentic neediness, aka “poverty.” And hold it under your empty hands, aka your humility and a willingness to take responsibility for whatever is handed to you.
Combine these in an authentic, sincere way, and you have just used your poverty as a powerful magnetic attractor, much more powerful than any sense of false abundance you’ve been trying to muster.
How do you cultivate these so you can call the cavalry in when you need them?
Keys to a Healthy Poverty Consciousness
• Neediness: Being comfortable with an uncomfortable magnet.
Neediness is very uncomfortable. When we feel lack, we tend towards either collapsing in fear or sadness, or towards hyperactivity of pushing and trying to ‘make it happen.’
Instead, just stop. Stop. Now, what is it that’s not working for you right now? Allow yourself to feel your lack, your authentic neediness, and notice what that feels like. That’s right, it won’t kill you.
• Humility: Your empty cup waiting to be filled.
Jesus said, ‘The meek shall inherit the earth.’ I believe that meekness does not refer to spiritual or physical collapse, but rather to a humility where we know that some things are beyond us, and that we are willing to accept help.
Try on the idea that you aren’t superhuman. Brainstorm a list of ordinary things that you usually do alone. How could you ask for help in doing them? Not because you aren’t capable, but because you are humble enough to recognize your interdependence with others.
• Responsibility: Accepting stewardship for all that is put in your reach.
Response-ability– it’s really just a willingness to show up with what is, and what is coming. When combined with neediness and humility, you become the cup that is finally(!) emptied, so that you have some space to receive.
Allow your heart to run through all three: feeling the lack and neediness, bowing your head with humility at your inability to force an outcome, and then find the willingness in your heart to fully show up with what is, and whatever comes, without needing to know. What do you notice about how that feels?
If you’ve given yourself enough space for this process, you are probably feeling a lot more connected and relaxed in your heart. It’s time to look back at the original situation: what does it look like now? And, what next step does your heart naturally want to take?
Notice what comes in to your business over the next day or so, and use it as a way to develop your healthy poverty consciousness.