Enough. Enough! ENOUGH!: Scarcity Season in Full Effect.

As a solopreneur right about now is when the scarcity fear sets in. 

Instead of enjoying my schedule as having more free time than normal I read it as a financial hardship that so many clients are absent. 

Worry about buying gifts and paying for more holiday dinners than normal sets in. Do I even have time for all those dinners?

Will I get sick this season? Am I healthy enough to withstand? 

Look at all these in store and online deals … should I buy that THING now?

I know people are saying thoughtfully Good people don’t buy stuff on these few days, but I feel like I really need that thing … and it’s a whole 10% off. 

Did I do enough this year? Make it on the nice list?

Lets see, it’s Christmas … then New Years … then TAX SEASON!

The feelings can rise up through a number of different words and voices, but it’s always the same: Do I have enough? Did I do enough? Am I smart enough? Funny enough? Loving enough? Lovable enough? 

Am I enough?

Enough for what? For whom? 

This feeling of scarcity eats away at our resilience. It chips at the foundation of who we individually are, and limits the work and creativity we can bring forth … because it puts us operationally in fear mode where we react rather than respond. It heightens the nervous system to the point that all decisions seem scary, immobilizing us. 

The feeling isn’t unwarranted. It’s ancestral. In villages and tribes our survival depended upon there being enough food / enough fire / enough shelter / enough for us to survive. That survival also depended upon our ability to communally get along with one another. We had to be not only productive, but liked. (Or at least not disliked)

Scarcity has historically been a really real thing. 

But, take a look around your house / office / car / wherever you’re reading this. Chances are you’re in a place of “enough” if not abundance. Odds are strong that your business is doing just fine. Most likely you have enough money for the important things, if you just choose to prioritize and streamline … just a little. Undoubtedly people like you, and you are loved. If you have a cold … you’ll get better soon enough. And there is more than enough time. Always.

Then listen to some news. Drive around that neighborhood you often avoid. Look at the faces asking for spare change at the freeway exit. Notice the person in the office who always eats alone. Listen to the stories about people … friends and relatives … living their last holiday. In the mirror you may even recognize the person with too little time left. 

What would it feel like to know that you have more than enough to offer to someone who really needs it?

A dollar. 

A meal. 

A smile. 

Being of service is the best way to pull yourself out of the fear of scarcity. Giving of yourself /  your time / your resources brings forth the knowingness that you have helped a brother or sister, while proving to your ego that YOU ARE ENOUGH. Always. 

I write these words because I need to read these words. I’m with you totally. My fear of scarcity tends to look like money worry. I’ve been that guy with dollars in a bank account not knowing when the next check would come in. That memory … those gut feelings … often don’t realize that my life and work load are different now. It still FEELS real. So, I do exactly what I did then. I volunteer more time and resources.  

Sometimes it takes the form of teaching free classes. In the past it’s been creating gift bags for the homeless. I’ll often round up clothing to donate. Or give an extra nice tip to an unsuspecting food server or barista. I sit and talk longer with students after sessions … create free online content … and share my time with friends and family, instead of worrying about work. There’s always enough time for that. Always.

In turn the Universe is reasonable.

When you graciously give, chances are you generously receive … more than enough.

HOMEWORK: How can you be of service today? This season? Throughout next year? 

If you don’t currently have one, I invite you to make an actionable game plan of giving and service. A plan where your work / your resources / your time / your smile (whatever you have to give) help create a space with less fear and a clear message of “Together we are enough!”

And to my friends who also struggle with money worry, here’s my tip: Take yourself to lunch. Buy yourself the expensive coffee. Splurge on that new jacket. Drop $5 into the charity bucket rather than walk by. Whatever you have to spend on yourself or others, do it. It’s a declaration to the powers that be that you are operating at full capacity with an awareness that you HAVE ENOUGH and therefor CAN. 

~ james CRADER