Abundantly Clear

Even though philosophers have been pondering it for centuries, in the scheme of things, the concept of abundance is a relatively new one for human beings. Like most animals, humans evolved in an environment where their prime concern was finding enough food for their next meal. It was not until the agricultural revolution that humans developed an ongoing surplus of food and were able to settle in one spot. As they had stopped moving around, humans could now acquire “things”. This transition from hunter-gatherer to farmers happened around 10,000 years ago, which, in the context of four million years of human evolution, is a mere moment ago. Coping with abundance is not something that human beings have evolved to do. Moving away from the base needs of survival created the possibility of abundance but in a world where we have so much what does abundance really mean?

Money, money, money
In our Western culture of growth and consumption, the term abundance is often equated with money. You want money so that you can do stuff and buy things. Money might also help you appear more attractive and desirable to others. Does having more money, though, mean that you will feel better and more abundant in your life?

This was a question raised in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In that study, people answered questions about income, satisfaction in life, emotions, stress levels and overall wellbeing. The results indicated that most people were quite satisfied with their life but that feelings of overall wellbeing did rise with income. Interestingly, there was a celling to this effect and once income reached a certain level, increases in income did not contribute to raised levels of satisfaction in life.

Up to a point then, money can facilitate a sense of abundance by allowing you the freedom to do the things that you want to do. Beyond that point, though, the relationship disappears. Henry David Thoreau may have been right when he said that beyond a certain point, wealth increases the heat in your life and cooks you. Once the basics of life are catered for, how abundant money makes you feel depends entirely on your values and your perspective.

If money isn’t what abundance is about then, surely fame, the other currency of our celebrity-crazed times will lead to feelings of abundance?

The fame game
“Celebrity” and “success” have become synonymous these days. Name recognition is everything, regardless of what you are known for. Being good enough at something to become well-known is an old-fashioned approach. Celebrity has become the goal and is the reward sought by many. Yet does fame and celebrity create a feeling of abundance in your life?

This idea was examined in a study published in the Journal of Research in Personality. For this research, people in the first two years after graduating from university were given psychological surveys to assess satisfaction with life, self-esteem, anxiety, physical signs of stress and the experience of positive and negative emotions. The subjects were also tested to see whether their motivation in life tended to be “intrinsic” or “extrinsic”. This post-graduation period was selected because it is typically a critical developmental juncture for young adults when they are able to determine for themselves how they want their lives to proceed.

Motivations were identified as either “intrinsic” or “extrinsic” by asking participants how much they valued having “deep, enduring relationships” and helping “others improve their lives” (intrinsic) versus being “a wealthy person” and achieving “the look I’ve been after” (extrinsic). The participants also reported the degree to which they believed they had attained these goals. To track progress, the survey was administered on two occasions separated by 12 months, one year after graduation and two years after graduation.

The results showed firstly that the more committed you are to a goal, the greater the likelihood of success. However, getting what you want did not always lead to a feeling of abundance.

The research showed that reaching materialistic and image-related milestones contributes to feeling worse about life. It seems that despite their accomplishments, individuals who desire and even achieve extrinsic goals, such as recognition, then experience negative emotions like shame and anger and physical symptoms like anxiety, headaches, digestive problems and loss of energy. By contrast, people who value personal growth, close relationships, community involvement and physical health become more satisfied and feel more abundant as they achieve those goals. These intrinsically motivated people experience a deeper sense of wellbeing, more positive feelings toward themselves, richer connections with others and fewer physical signs of stress.

A sense of abundance does not come from money and neither does it come from fame, but there is another commodity that if highly valued might yield feelings of abundance. That sought-after quality is time.

Buying time
In a frenetic “24/7” world, most people would say that they crave more time. Yet how much time do you need and is there any amount of time that would make you feel more abundant?

The answer to that question might lie in a study from the University of Toronto. In this study, researchers set out to discover how your attitude to time impacts your capacity for happiness. To do this, they first had subjects complete a survey. One group of subjects were given a survey which contained questions that primed them to think about time in terms of money.

The subjects then undertook experiments that involved them participating in leisure activities. Those people who had been primed to think of time in terms of money put a price on their time, and showed greater impatience and less satisfaction during the leisure activities than did the other groups. However, this money-oriented group showed more enjoyment and less impatience when they were paid to listen to music.

This means that thinking about time in terms of the money you could be earning in that time changes the way that you experience time. In the end, treating time as if it has a monetary value is a sure way to reduce your happiness and feelings of abundance. It is not how much time you have that determines how abundant you feel, but how you think about the time that you have.

Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Before we explore the pattern, let’s look at one last element that might be expected to impact your experience of abundance, that being the nature of your connection to other people.

Connected to abundance
Psychological theories suggest that higher status should raise your sense of wellbeing. However, if it is not the money or wealth component of high status that increases happiness, then what is it? A study published in the journal Psychological Science may have found the answer. Researchers hypothesised that high status could lead to respect and admiration from your friends, neighbours or community and that this might lift your overall sense of wellbeing and happiness. Their thesis was that more respect would lead to more influence and being more integrated into the fabric of your social group.

To test this, researchers surveyed students who participated in a range of groups and calculated their sociometric status (psychological speak for “respect”) by using peer ratings, self-reports and the number of leadership positions they held in the groups. The students also reported their total household income and answered questions about their social wellbeing. The results showed that levels of respect but not money predicted happiness and wellbeing.

In another study, researchers followed students in an MBA program and found that after they left the program, changes in their sociometric status caused lifts in happiness where changes in socioeconomic status did not.

The explanation for this might lie in the theory of adaptation. Numerous studies show that people quickly adapt to new levels of income or wealth, but being socially integrated and having influence and respect just never gets old. This shows us that community is essential for personal wellbeing and that a sense of abundance cannot exist without having a place in this world and feeling valued.

Putting the “you” in abundance
In the end then, what is abundance? It is not money, it is not fame and having more time is not the answer, either. External “things” and acquisitions do not bring a sense of abundance. In contrast, community, connection to others and respect from others contribute to feeling abundant. The other essential component to a feeling of abundance is you.

A feeling of abundance must begin within you and arise from the philosophical approach that you bring to your life. Some guidance as to how to develop that philosophy comes from ancient philosophers because the development of an appropriate abundance mindset is a concern that goes back millennia.

Aristotle spoke of the “golden mean” as the virtue which is found when you live deliberately in the middle between excess and deficiency. The Greek philosopher Epictetus said, “Don’t set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need”. The Roman philosopher Seneca observed, “You ask what is the proper limit to a person’s wealth? First, having what is essential and, second, having what is enough.”

The answer these philosophers are pointing to is that real abundance comes from within and from knowing your own requirements. When you let go of relying on external circumstances, become knowledgeable of who you are and open yourself to the possibilities of the moment, then you will discover the abundance that already exists in your life and create the abundance you need.