I can’t change the world. No one can. Not on their own. But everyone contributes to the collective consciousness. So logic dictates that what I do matters.
understand and empathise, to reach out to each other with good will and peace in our hearts; then we can create a world that inspires us with wonder and that we love living in.
‘FIGHT OR FLIGHT’ OR HEALTHY BOUNDARIES? That’s an abundant world. It’s possible. But how do we get there? It’s a collective choice. And it’s also a personal one. I can’t change the world. No one
can. Not on their own. But everyone contributes to the collective consciousness. So logic dictates that what I do matters. How I do it matters. I can’t really expect an abundant collective to be created while I’m personally behaving in ways based in fear, aggression or intolerance, can I? Does knowing that stop me? Not
always. Sometimes the system I’m living in
scares me. Sometimes I feel powerless to change it. When fears are running high, we naturally switch into ‘fight’ or ‘flight’. It’s a survival mechanism. Over the past few weeks I’ve had a
couple of unfortunate exchanges on Facebook. I’m not proud of it, but I understand why it happened. There’s some scary stuff going down in the world and having online arguments can be part of my ‘fight’ response. More often though, I choose ‘flight’.
I retreat into my shell like a turtle. I withdraw from the world, because I feel that what the world is showing me is just too frightening to deal with. Now, there are forms of withdrawal
that can be good. I call those boundaries. I don’t like to hang around with many negative people, for example. I try not to read too much negative
news. I try to have enough quiet time, reflection, and meditation in my life so I can calm my nervous system and prevent it from going into ‘fight’ mode so easily. Lately, though, it hasn’t been about
me having healthy boundaries… I’ve just been hiding out in my turtle shell because I’ve felt that I can’t handle what’s going on in the world. It’s too much. When I’m like that, I’ve come to
realise that what I’m doing is blocking new abundance and opportunity from entering my life. There’s only room for me and my fears inside that turtle shell… and nothing else. That’s what turtles have to do with
abundance. Nothing. (I speak metaphorically of course.
Real turtles are amazing, cool and an important part of our ecosystem.)
MOVING OUT OF THE TURTLE SHELL AND TOWARDS THE ABUNDANCE PARADIGM Being in my turtle shell may feel like a safe place, but nothing is moving forward while I’m in there. It’s a place of zero growth and zero new opportunities. How do I shift out of that? How do we
all shift out of it? Well, if the scarcity paradigm is about
fear and suspicion, then the abundance paradigm is about empathy and connection. When I’m in my shell, what I really need is to reach out, even though it’s hard for me to do that. I explained my turtle shell scenario
to one of my most empathic friends and she had a great idea. She said: “Let’s have a code. When you’re in your shell, text me a picture of a turtle so I’ll know. Then, when I get the
turtle picture, what would you like me to do in response?” I said: “Text me a time so I’ll know
when is a good time that you can take a call from me, listen to my fears and gently talk me out of my shell.” That strategy helped me feel I
have permission to reach out without imposing. In fact, just getting that permission alone was enough to bring me back out of my shell!
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER So when I say, “We’re all in this together”, it’s more than just a platitude. I need my abundance collective, and my abundance collective needs me. Especially when the whole scarcity paradigm is raging and all its associated fears are running high. My friend and I decided we’d respond
to the madness by being there for each other – ot to amplify each other’s fears, but just to listen and gently coax each other back into actively and collectively doing our part to create the kind, abundant world we both want to live in. n
Connect with other readers & comment on this article at
www.livingnow.com.au
Julie Ann Cairns is the author of the top selling Hay House book The Abundance Code: How to Bust the 7 Money Myths for a Rich Life Now,
and the Director and Producer of the documentary of the same name, The Abundance Code. With over 25 years of experience in wealth creation, Julie Ann is uniquely qualified to help people accelerate their own journey to abundance through practical tips and powerful mindset enhancements.
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