It is a simple procedure to calculate the number of seeds in an apple. But who among us can ever say how many apples are in a seed? No one—and the reason is that the answer is infinite. Endless! That is what the abundance principle is all about: endlessness.

It seems a paradox, because we as human forms seem to begin and end at a specified time, and so endlessness is not a part of our experience in form. But it is difficult to imagine that the universe has any boundaries, or that it simply ends someplace. If it does, what’s at the end, and what’s on the other side of what’s at the end? And so I suggest there is no end to the universe, and there is no end to what you can have for yourself when this principle is part of your life.

Consequently, abundance, with its absence of limits and boundaries, is the very watchword of the universe. It applies to us as much as it does to everything else in the One song. We should be conscious of abundance and prosperity and not make scarcity the cornerstone of our lives.

Scarcity Mentality

If we have a scarcity mentality, it means that we believe in scarcity, that we evaluate our life in terms of its lacks. If we dwell on scarcity we are putting energy into what we do not have, and this continues to be our experience of life.

The theme of so many people’s life story is “I simply do not have enough,” or “How can I believe in abundance when my children don’t have all of the clothes that they need?” or “I would be a lot happier if I had…”

People believe they live a life of lack because they are unlucky, instead of recognizing that their belief system is rooted in scarcity thinking. Yet as long as they live with a scarcity mentality, that is what they will attract to their lives.

Everything that it would take to eliminate scarcity in this life situation is already here in the world where we live and breathe every single day. Where else could it be? The truth is that there is enough to go around, there is an endless universe for us to work in, and we are a part of that endless universe. Once we truly know this, we will see it working for us in thousands of ways.

Everyone that I have ever met who moved from a life of scarcity into a life of abundance has discovered how to believe and live this principle. I mean every single person, including myself. But how do we get rid of a scarcity mentality?

Discarding a Scarcity Mentality

The first step toward discarding a scarcity mentality involves giving thanks for everything that you are and everything that you have. That’s right — give thanks, but not in some meaningless charade. Truly appreciate the miracle that you are… the fact that you are alive; that you have eyes, ears, feet; and that you are here right now in this marvelous dream. Make an effort to begin focusing on what you have, rather than on what you are missing.

Nothing is missing. How could anything be missing in a perfect universe? When you begin to focus on being thankful for all that you have — the water you drink, the sun that warms you, the air you breathe, and everything that is a gift from God, you will be using your thoughts (your entire essence) to dwell on abundance and your humanity.

Keep in mind that you are one cell in a body of humanity, and that cell requires harmony within in order to cooperate with the adjacent cells. As you do this, your energy will shift to the miracle of your being here. While you are focused on the miracle that you are and all that surrounds you, you cannot be focused on what you are not, and what seems missing from your world.

Practice Being Thankful

As you practice being thankful, expand the list of things that you are thankful for. Friends and family. Clothes and food. Any money that you have. All of your possessions, every single thing that has come into your life for you to use while you are here. I mean every single thing. The pencil, the fork, the chair, everything.

Begin to focus on how thankful you are to have these things in your life now, when you need them. Think of them as yours to use temporarily before sending them back into circulation.

Once you train yourself to begin the process of being thankful for everyone and everything that comes your way, as well as being appreciative of your very humanity, you are on your way toward eliminating a scarcity mentality.

It really is quite logical. Whatever you tend to think about is what you will focus on, and create more of. For example, if you have some debts and some principal, and your entire focus is on what you have, then you will expand your principal. If your principal is only five hundred dollars and your debts are five thousand, and you focus on the money that you have, you will begin to do something with it. Whatever you do with it in a positive way will help it to expand.

Conversely, if you focus all of your thoughts on your indebtedness, always reminding yourself how poor you are, and making that the focus of your emotional life, that is precisely what you will expand. This is very clear when it comes to minor illnesses. If you focus on your cold, always talking about it, always complaining to everyone you meet about how lousy you feel, you will expand what you focus on. That is, your energy will flow to the cold that you are so proud of. But if you focus on all of you that is not sick, and tell others how great you feel you will expand wellness.

We act upon our thoughts. These thoughts literally become our daily life experience. Consequently, if you spend a great deal of your life energy focusing on scarcity, that’s what you are going to expand in your life. I can give you a real-life example of how this works.

Focusing on What’s Missing?

I have a dear friend named Bobbe Branch who lives in Wenatchee, Washington. She is a spectacularly alive, higher consciousness person who is a true joy to be around. In virtually all areas of her life she has mastered the principles of abundance. Yet in the area of her career she continually focused on what was missing in her life.

Bobbe is a very talented singer and songwriter and wanted to produce an album of her songs, but she was convinced she did not have the financial ability: she was operating from a scarcity mentality when it came to money. And this scarcity mentality took over when it came to her performing in front of an audience: she was sure she could not.

We talked for several hours one evening about her belief that she would never have an album unless some angel suddenly emerged to provide the funding. I tried to help her see that this belief was the very thing keeping her from actualizing her dream of recording her own songs.

I invited Bobbe to sing her beautiful music at some of my speaking engagements. In spite of her fears, she performed beautifully to standing ovations and began focusing on what she could do rather than what she felt was impossible or difficult. The more she thought about singing in front of an audience, the more that very thing expanded in her life, and after a year or so she was accepting singing engagements. Then came the big challenge for Bobbe to view herself in a prosperity manner.

In a phone conversation she told me that she had finally mustered the courage to inquire how much it would cost to produce an album using one of the finest arrangers and musical directors in the Northwest. The total was more money than she had ever accumulated in her life. I told her to begin focusing her thoughts on prosperity, and never to allow a “lack” thought into her consciousness.

She began to get the message. One evening I received a long-distance phone call from Wenatchee, and Bobbe announced, “I’ve been thinking about nothing else but having that money at my disposal. I never let in a scarcity thought.” She then said that she and a friend at work were discussing ways to make it happen. Bobbe said, “What if I asked fifteen of the people I know to invest one thousand dollars in me and my music? I mean, people who really believe in my singing?” To her delighted astonishment her friend said, “I would love to invest that in you,” and Bobbe realized she was already one-fifteenth of the way there.

In three days she had drawn up investment portfolios and signed up the necessary investors, all of whom invested one thousand dollars to be repaid within one year. She was ecstatic that she finally overcame her belief in scarcity, for when she focused on abundance that is precisely what expanded for her. Within two months she had produced her album, Happiness Is the Way, with three songs on it that were conceived around Eykis, the lady about whom I have written a book.

Now Bobbe is busy promoting her music and happily working at making it a big hit. Focusing on abundance rather than scarcity is paying off handsomely for her. She has repaid almost all of her investors and is in a second run of the album. Her dedication on the album reads: “To my friend Wayne Dyer. I appreciate all you have done to encourage me to dare to risk.” All I really ever did was help her focus on what she wanted to expand in her life.

What Limits Have You Chosen to Believe In?

To experience anything other than abundance in your life you actually have to deliberately resist it by focusing on scarcity!

When you live and breathe prosperity with a belief that everything is in huge supply, and that we are all entitled to have all that we can, you start actively treating yourself and others in this fashion. This principle applies to the acquisition of wealth, personal happiness, health, intellectual pursuits, and everything else. It relates to the ancient Biblical promise, “To him that has, shall more be given.”

It truly works. This universe is an incomprehensibly large enterprise, too big for us to begin to comprehend from the perspective of our limited bodies. Abundance reigns everywhere. The only limits we have are those that we encourage with our belief in those limits.