Finally Friday Week 22: Abundance Has Nothing To Do With Money

"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into."—Wayne Dyer

You could have everything money can buy: a few Rolls Royces, trips to 5-star hotels around the world, several houses in various locations, your own private jet, etc. Maybe a summer vacation for you means flying in your private airplane or first class to your 5-star resort where you will be pampered by a host of staff. They do everything from the tips of your toes to the top of your head: pedicures, manicures, hair styling, massages—the works! You don't need to lift a finger.

On the other hand, maybe you have a meager amount in your bank account, live in a tiny apartment and pay rent month to month, cook at home and watch home movies. A summer vacation for you may mean a trip to your backyard or garden with a good book, a tall glass of homemade lemonade, a K-mart folding lawn chair, and your favorite radio station.

Which scenario is more abundant?

The truth is, abundance has zero to do with money.

Money can't buy you love, happiness, a clean bill of health, or a fabulous life. Maybe you can buy anything you want, but you will not live forever. Money can't buy you immortality and your stuff will probably outlive you.

Abundance has nothing to do with money. Abundance is about having enough or more than you need. It's a state of mind. It is related to nature and the spirit. In nature, there is nothing lacking. In nature, everything co-exists and works together. To feel abundant in spirit, this feeling of coexistence is important. When you separate yourself from the whole, there is a feeling that something is lacking.

In fact, nothing you own is really yours. However, the ego makes us believe this is so. We say, "I paid for this, so I expect all these things!" or "This service was not what I expected, I want my money back."

Now you are NOT in a state of abundance, you are in a state of lack. You have all the money in the world, but you are not satisfied. Unfortunately, it's a bottomless bucket and you'll never be able to fill it this way.

Or maybe your dialog is more like this: "How come I never have enough?" "How can I get more?" "Why does everyone else have what I don't have?"

Now you are looking over the fence and comparing lawns. Why is her grass greener? Again, you are operating from a state of lack.

I remember once when I was in a Vietnamese noodle shop with my husband Yoon. They were selling $5 bowls of noodles. An Indian man walked in. He looked rather humble in appearance and he apparently came on foot to the restaurant. The owner, who seemed to know him, asked, "How are you?"

His answer sort of surprised me and even today Yoon and I sometimes repeat his words and smile at each other when either one of us says it.

The Indian man said, "Today couldn't be better. I have two legs to walk and money to buy a bowl of noodles. Everything I touch turns to gold." Then, he flashed a smile so wide with sparkling eyes so bright and in that moment I was completely convinced that this was true.

In fact, everything he touched DID turn to gold in a metaphorical sense. This was his experience both mentally and spiritually. Complete abundance was radiating from this humble looking man. He had everything he needed. He was completely fulfilled.

Some people marry for money, I married a monk. This is not a usual scenario. I remember once my uncle said to me, "It must really be love, because who would marry a monk? They don't own a thing."

And yet, I often feel like the Indian man. I feel completely abundant. I feel like everything I touch turns to gold both spiritually, mentally and even physically. It's not something that can be taken away or lost. It's an inner state. In my opinion, this inner state is more valuable than anything on the material plane. It comes with earnest practice. It comes with connection, love, sharing and opening. It comes with being generous and not expecting anything in return. It comes with realizing that we are all connected in some way. This is true abundance and I wouldn't trade it for all the dollars in the world.

365 Inspirations—306: Winds of Change

"The wind has its reasons. We just don't notice as we go about our lives. But then, at some point, we are made to notice. The wind envelops you with a certain purpose in mind, and it rocks you. The wind knows everything that's inside you.."—Haruki Murakami

Yoon opened the bedroom window a little in the middle of the night to let some air in. I had been getting up early for the last two days and I finally didn't have anything on the schedule, so I slept in.

I was warm and snug under a pile of blankets. I felt the room getting brighter, so I was somehow aware that it was morning. The wind was blowing through the trees in our backyard. I was in a half-dream state. I let this wind wash over me, carry me on my bed into the clouds. I let it cleanse me. I felt so light and happy. The winds of change were moving through my room, bringing in lots of light and clearing out the old.

We woke up late and Yoon made a nice breakfast. We stared out at the leaves on the trees swirling through the air. There was much to do today, but we ate our breakfast leisurely.

"I heard that a big storm is coming today!" Yoon announced.

"Let's go to Greenlake. I want to feel the wind and leaves all around me."

We put on our waterproof gear just in case the rains came while we were on our walk, and headed off to Greenlake.

The wind whipped and whistled and there were white caps out on the lake. Oddly, it didn't feel cold out. It was a warm, pleasant wind.

We ran into one of Yoon's yoga students decked out in rain gear also making the 3-mile loop around the lake. Her face was bright and cheery and we stopped and chatted a bit.

Gusts of wind had stripped many fall leaves from the trees, leaving them naked and vulnerable. Branches were strewn everywhere, even in the middle of our path. Some trees had fallen into the lake, their roots now exposed to the elements. People wearing rain boots and rain gear, talked about power outages in the area.

But I did not feel an ounce of fear.

I felt so alive, light and FREE. I felt completely confident about our next journey. I felt that the winds needed to be there to clear out the old and bring in the new.

We came home and started to organize and shift around furniture and straighten our house in preparation for our next chapter. There will be yoga classes in our house after we return from Hawaii because my husband has closed his yoga studio.

My writing room got a major update. One of Yoon's huge plants from the studio is breathing new life into my space. A futon sofa and a carpet from the living room now adorns my room and the bed has been moved to the basement. I brought my vision bulletin board back to my space.

My little writing room is vibrating now. In fact, the whole house is vibrating with new energy. I can't wait to see what unfolds. I'm so grateful for the winds of change that came into my life today.

Do you like to go out in the wind? Have you felt the winds of change recently?

365 Inspirations—179: Yoga, Writing and Collaging Retreat

Yoon's Yoga Bliss Retreat at The Yoga Lodge

"Love one another and help others to rise to the higher levels, simply by pouring out love. Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy."—Sai Baba 

 Today, after breakfast, I took a quick shower and pulled on my yoga clothes. I decided to go to yoga class after a week-long hiatus. The thing is, I sometimes think, "I don't really need to go to yoga today, there's lots of other things I can do."

But when I got there and I found my place on the floor with a dozen other people, I felt so grateful.

I could have been a million other places, but I decided to tune-in and go to yoga today.

Once I started moving my body and feeling myself in my body without thoughts, I knew this wasn't just something on the list of things to do for the day. THIS WAS IT.

The class was moving to the rhythm  of the music and each other. This doesn't happen if I am all alone doing yoga. This happens when a group of people are together exchanging energy.

This made me realize how interconnected we all are and how I choose to spend my time.

I want to spend my time with people who are inspiring and uplifting. I want to exchange energy with people who want to be the highest version of themselves.

Today we were all there moving together and I felt expanded out in all directions. I did not feel my limited mind or body. I felt that anything was possible.

I can't wait for our 3rd annual yoga, writing and collaging retreat at The Yoga Lodge coming up August 9-11. I know it will be an amazing opportunity to open up and connect to like-minded people. This year, we have people flying in from other states to join! I'm excited to meet everyone. We have about three spots left for anyone who is interested. Here's the link: http://www.yogalodge.com/retreats/yoon-jenkins.html

Have you ever done something that you almost didn't do and now are so grateful that you did? What was it?

365 Inspirations—162: Unexpected Gifts

Hugging trees in Hoh Rain Forest, Washington

"You give but little when you give of your possessions.  It is when you give of yourself that you truly give."—Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

This is my last week of the quarter and then I'm on break for two weeks. I have to say that I really look forward to the time off as it was a heavy quarter of teaching for me. This summer I plan to only teach one class in order to give myself time to work on other projects.

There were many occasions, during the quarter, when I wondered how I'd make it through the day. Teaching classes back to back for 5 hours with very little down time was really challenging. I did my best and gave the students all that I had.

Now it's the end. Today I spent my class time proctoring a state test and then I met students individually to go over their tests and get them registered for next quarter.

It's really hard to gauge, at times, if everything I'm doing is having any impact. I think we are all our own worst critics at times, so I was happily surprised to hear all the positive feedback from my students today about my class.

Some students wrote letters, some gave gifts and some verbally let me know how much they really appreciated my class and me. I really did not expect any of this and that made it all the more special. Here's a letter from one of my students today:

Not perfect, but heartfelt!

What I realized is that if you give your full attention to whatever you are doing, it will not go unnoticed. You may not realize the impact you have on people and your surroundings, but the things you do are important.

This appreciation from my students, which came in many different forms, was an unexpected gift. These gifts are treasures that make me want to keep on giving.

Have you ever received an unexpected gift?

365 Inspirations—127: Do What You Love....

I was a guest speaker this evening at a non-fiction writing class at the U of W

"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally."—David Frost

Late last night, after writing a post about "struggling," I picked up an old book from a shelf in the living room. Someone gave me that book in 1993 or 1994 at my good-bye party. I had just quit my job.

The book is called Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow. The title says it all.

I needed to revisit that book last night. I needed to remember the circumstances in which I received that book.

I had recently graduated from college and, after an endless job search, I landed my first job at a vocational rehabilitation firm as a job developer. My job was to make cold calls to businesses asking questions about various jobs.

It was good pay, I had my own office with my name on the door, I had great benefits.....but I wasn't happy.

After a meeting one day, I gave my boss my notice. I still remember that day so clearly. I felt so incredibly free. I felt like my car was flying on the way home. At a good-bye party, a co-worker gave me the aforementioned book. She told me that she was proud of me for following my heart. I can't forget that day.

I had no idea what I would do. I lived on ramen for the next few months and got a job as a hostess at Tony Roma's. I moved into the basement of a house because the rent was cheap. I got rid of things. I had a garage sale. I downsized.

I had free time, so I read the book. I volunteered for a literacy program and helped teach a 13-year old boy how to read. Eventually I ended up in Mexico teaching English and later ventured down to South America. My life of teaching ESL and traveling had begun. And I really loved it.

I still love it, but I'm being called to do something else.

Today I was a guest speaker at a non-fiction writing class at the University of Washington. I talked about my journey from blog to book. It was a wonderful group and I felt I had so much to share. I felt I was in my element.

I know this is what I want to do. I want to share my experiences through writing and through classes/workshops/retreats in order to help others fulfill their own dreams, whether it be writing, blogging, knitting, skydiving, unicycling or juggling.

I feel I have a lot to offer and I'm ready to not be afraid of that anymore. I'm ready to move completely into who I am and help others get there too.

This is my calling. This is where I'm headed.

Are you following your passion? Are you living an authentic life that fits who YOU are?

365 Inspirations—123: Book Event in SUNLAND

"Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it."—Mahatma Gandhi

My mom and step father live in SUNLAND. It's a community in Sequim, WA. Tonight, a few book clubs gathered together and we did a book event.

I write every single day. I write here because I get something from  keeping daily posts, but what a bonus if others are  getting something from what I write too!

 It's always good to get feedback and I'll admit that sometimes I am not very good at getting around to all the blogs I'd like to read. However, if I do land on a blog and enjoy the post, I always leave a comment!

I think feedback is really important. It encourages me to keep going and doing what I'm doing. Tonight I got A LOT of feedback and I was so grateful for it.

The book event was in the Sunland club house where my parents live. People went out of their way to prepare appetizers and set up the facility. When we got there, I was happy to discover that most of the people had read my book, liked it and knew a lot about it. Many had prepared detailed questions and even knew the page numbers of the passages they wished to ask questions about.

Signing books at Sunland Book Event

My husband played a gong and chanted just like he did at our other book events.

I don't know how many authors have appeared in person at these book clubs, but I think it was extra special for everyone to be able to talk to the author of a book they had just read with their book groups.

What I got from this event is that sometimes you may think the small things you do are insignificant, but every little thing counts. Also, you don't know how you may affect someone. You may think that what you say or do has no affect on people, but what you say and do DOES in fact affect people. In some cases, people may change the way they say and do things. They may reflect more on their own lives and even make a positive change based on something you've written, said or done.

That's what made me want to keep writing tonight. That's what made me want to keep opening and sharing with people.

I'm happy to be in quiet SUNLAND this evening with my family. It was a BEAUTIFUL day here. The weather was perfect and we took a walk out at Dungeness Spit and saw all the snow-capped mountains and the ocean. Now it's time to take rest. I feel a lot of gratitude this evening. I feel happy and fulfilled.

In what ways do you share with others? Are you aware of what you say or do and how that is affecting other people?

365 Lessons-Lesson 26: Let Go of Fear

I must be in sync with some of my other blogger friends because they have also touched on this subject. It's a big one, so it's worth addressing again and again. Right now my Facebook status update reads, "What are you afraid of?" I'm sure some of my friends had an idea that one of my intentions of asking that question was to gather thoughts for a lesson here. The answers people wrote were: spiders, being a bad person, getting old, losing my loved ones, failure, success and severe pain (success and severe pain were mine and I questioned if those are separate things or if they go together). The list of what we all fear could very possibly be a endless blog post. Everyone fears something.

I have another blog called Writer's Rising. It's a collaborative blog for writers. Recently there have been several new authors added (If you are interested in writing for Writers Rising, leave a comment or send me an e-mail). One new writer named Sai from New Delhi, India (his blog is Waves Upon The Shore) really struck a cord with me about fear. Just as I was about to post this, he also posted on this topic in his introduction. He talked about how he used to be afraid to write because he worried about what others might think of his writing. He would edit his writing so much that nothing was left of himself. He let go of this. The result is beautiful. In his intro on Writers Rising, he talks about a chant he says to himself. It is "Aham Brahamsmi" or "I am the universe." I LOVE this. Basically this means that all the strength of the universe is ours.

It's no easy task to learn to let go of fear. Fear blocks us. It creates a shield and I believe it blocks our ability to realize that we are, in fact, the universe. That there is something beyond what our tiny minds can perceive. There is a greater force at work...call it God, higher consciousness, grace, or whatever you wish.

For me, when I realize that I am just a small dot in a much bigger picture of things, I lose a lot of that fear. In deep meditation, many of the parmeters of "myself" start to disappear. I start to expand. I no longer know where I begin or where I end or if there is even this "I" I speak of. There seems to be just space which encompasses all things within it.

I still have fear. I am not immune to it. I am human. It comes and goes. I still worry what people might think of me or my writing. It is still scary to open myself up. It's risky. Yes, it's a very big risk. But, I'm willing to go there. Why? I have learned so much by diving into this fear of mine. I have met other people, like Sai, who also share this fear. I feel that by opening up, I start to actually let go. I realize that there is not much difference between you and me and what we fear. It may be different things, but it's all the same. It's fear.

Other things I fear or have feared in the past are not having enough money, severe pain, my health, death of a loved one, having a car accident, technology etc. etc. This is all I can think of right now.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along. You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

Fear is debilitating. It is restricting. Fear tells us, "Don't do anything because it might be wrong or something might happen." If your intentions are good, how could something be wrong and what could really happen to you anyway? These are all just "coulds". We are saying, "This could happen or that could happen." These are all just thoughts. Nothing has happened yet, has it? If you are fearing a situation that happened in the past, who knows, it might be different this time around.

I have found that the only way to embrace my own fears is to believe that everything will be just fine. That I will be o.k. and so will others. That, as Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The rest are just projections in my own mind of what might happen.

Ultimately, it is the fear of our own death that we are afraid of, isn't it? Of the extinction of ourselves and others. That everything about the lives we are living will terminate at some point in time. What happens after depends on what you believe. Knowing that we have such a limited time for this life, I intend to face as many of my fears as possible and expand and share with as many people as possible. Time is so precious and the time we have in this life is limited. Who has time for fear?