Abundance

My dad was the son of an Italian immigrant. I am named after my grandfather. When my dad and I shopped for food and cooked (you learned this before baseball,) we would go to markets where produce, cheese, fish, you-name-it were stacked high and falling over. Abundance was everywhere and was part of the ethos of the markets.

My dad was an engineering consultant, short-hand for "long term unemployed." We either had tons of money or none. We lived as if we had abundance, not because we overspent (there were no credit cards at the time) but because we knew there was more. We had what we needed and then some.

My dad often said, "When you have it (money,) enjoy it and spread it around. When you don't have it, live off what you have.  You have what you need."

People I know who see scarcity all around and are prone to be conservative (not talking politics here) as a whole seem less happy than those who are content with what they have, wealth or not.

Where is your abundance? Or do you see only scarcity? What can you share?

Abbondanza!

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV)