JUNE 17, 2016
 

Living With Abundance
 

Three days ago, in the midst of my usual long list of to-dos, and my mind seemingly not functioning as sharply as I kept on compelling it to, I took a break. Just a short pause, I convinced myself, needing permission for a respite, to take a breather, to go gently on myself. And so with these rational reasons, my significant other and I went for a walk at High Park in the west end of Toronto. Yes, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, when we both “should” have been hard at work in front of our computers (yes, those judgments about playing hooky). Oh, besides, we needed the walk for exercise and to stretch our legs, oil our joints – hah! Permission from self received.
 

Along quiet dirt trails we meandered, stopping to marvel at robins chirping, flying, hopping about us (I’ve never experienced all these robins congregating this much around me/us before!). What a surprise smelling the gentle scent of pine in the air (in this city? What a miracle). How comforting having the soft sun and gentle breeze leading the way (after endless months wrapped in thick clothing, I’m just getting used to exposed skin again). Finding benches under the cool shade and saying hello to expectant chipmunks at our feet probably wondering if we brought treats (we have only met chipmunks previously around cottage country). Hand-in-hand, we looked above us towards a smiling purple-blue sky, below us at the squirrels also enjoying the afternoon, and around us at the old-growth pine trees that whispered their “hello, glad you’re here”.
 

And I understood even more what abundance means. To be given so much and so freely, and to receive with no reservation, no guilt.
 

Often, we ask for and equate abundance in terms of money. May you be filled abundantly, we say and hear, meaning more material blessings. Not to say these are not gifts of abundance, for sure they are, but when we’re stuck with just this one notion of what it means to experience plenty, we may miss out on the bounty that surrounds us. The overflowing gifts we do not need to buy. The love we share with each other. A quiet afternoon around nature. Even the ability and health to be able to walk around and breathe well. We take these for granted in our pursuit of ‘abundance’. Abundance is indeed for the taking for all of us, everywhere – if only we take a pause, and it’s up to us to choose how to see it.
 

What fills your life with abundance?
 

©2016 Copyright Margie Santos