Less Is More! Seeking Abundance!

Monday, February 11, 2013:
The huge snow storm that covered most of New England over the past few days was nothing more than an average snow storm here in Northern Vermont.
Saturday morning as I waited for the bus; the temperature in the single digits, the wind whipping snow around me, I watched people, warm in their cars, slowing driving by.
For a moment I was aware of an inner voice that I have not heard in recent years. A voice expressing resentment that I have to wait for a bus in the cold while others, obviously, have an easier life!
I imagined folks automatically starting their cars without leaving the warmth of their homes, heading into a heated garage, sliding into a nice warm car, and heading to work without the discomfort of cold, snow, and wind.
Life is far too rich and full to allow that voice free reign!
I looked around at the beauty surrounding me.  I felt the sharp, crisp air on my face. 
I listened to the crunch of the snow under my boots, and felt joyfully aware of the warmth inside my down coat, winter boots, hat, scarf, and mittens!
I was bundled up like a child sent out to play in the newly fallen snow.
Do you remember a time when you had ‘less’ than others and were aware of the richness the perceived lack created in your life?
Where in your life has your conditioning led you to believe you are lacking?   Find the abundance hiding in that very space!
As I waited for the bus, this thought reminded me of a time I was living in a tiny rural town in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. This was in the mid 1970’s.

We had a wood parlor stove in the living room and a wood cook stove in the kitchen.  The house had little, if any, insulation and we burned a LOT of wood during the course of those winters.
We didn’t have the option of simply turning up the thermostat or setting the oven to 350 degrees to bake our bread!  And yet I clearly remember the joy of learning to bake bread in that wood stove! 
There were other joys in that world. The joy of chopping wood, using our bodies and the natural world to create our warmth.


Having no indoor plumbing was yet another challenge/joy!! 😉

Heading to the outhouse at -20 degrees Fahrenheit (yes! Minus 20 degrees) was an experience not soon forgotten!

You would be amazed at the beauty the rest of the world missed on those cold cold trips to the outhouse. The sky was never clearer, the stars never so close, and the Northern Lights are hard to imagine!
Were we lacking the privileges of our modern culture? I suppose so… but what a treat to have those memories!

No, I certainly don’t want to go back to those days of heating with wood and using an outhouse!
But I do know that whatever our circumstances, lack is a perspective that we choose.
Today look at what we think we lack in our lives. Open our minds to the opportunity of seeing what we think of as lack from a new perspective!