There are many different roads to an abundant life - it’s all within our own reach, says Dr Charmaine Saunders who offers us some of her favourite affirmations.

In the New Age lexicon, the word “abundance” is used liberally. Narrowly defined, it just refers to quantity, so how can that relate to our daily lives, our emotions, material needs and spirituality? Do we just want a lot of all these things - surely quality matters equally as much?

ABUNDANCE OF MIND
Expansive thinking creates an abundant life; limited thinking creates a restricted existence. So, the first thing we need to do is take stock of our regular thought patterns. Are we reinforcing a positive life with our mind power, or just the opposite? Each of us processes about 90,000 separate thoughts on any given day. Just consider if most of these were self defeating and then imagine the effect if they were uplifting? What a difference! You have the choice between these mindsets - yes, it’s a choice, not a fixed habit that you can’t change. Say the affirmation, “I think only expansive thoughts.”

Other ways that you can create abundance through your thinking are to stay in the moment, foster love in all its forms, stay positive, trust, let go of judgement, and be generous in thought, word and deed.

EMOTIONAL ABUNDANCE
This is impossible without letting go of old baggage, working on self awareness and finding the courage to face our demons. As long as we’re trapped in recurring patterns of co-dependence, sabotaging behaviours and insecure negativity, there can be no fullness of experience. Emotions are energy, and energy, if not allowed free flow, gets trapped, locked, repressed and basically causes trouble! It’s not possible always to understand emotions because they’re not cerebral or rational; they just are. No matter if the emotions are seemingly positive ones like trust, joy, love, kindness, hope or negative like anger, hate, jealousy, greed, fear, they should be released without restraint. As soon as the energy is allowed free rein, it’s gone. There’s no abundance where there is entrapment - the two are mutually exclusive. Feel what you feel, make no apologies. A helpful affirmation to encourage that liberation is, “I freely allow my emotions to flow from me.”

ABUNDANCE OF THE SPIRIT
Openness is the key to this aspect of abundance. Spirituality is our natural gift, our birthright, one of the things we don't have to earn in life. So, to achieve abundance in this area, we only have to allow it, open our hearts and souls to the Universe, to Truth, and the rhythms of our own inner yearnings. Life is a short journey by design. It's not intended to be the whole story or, indeed, the main purpose of our existence. Life on Earth is a physical visitation, marked by challenge, growth, healing and lessons, not especially easy, but essential. Out of our bodies, we are our true selves, our truest selves, our perfect manifestations. In order to access this, we only have to journey within to meet the inner self and there to find sanctuary, rest and spiritual refreshment whenever it’s needed.
Suggested Affirmation - “I am comfortable in my spiritual reality.”

MATERIAL ABUNDANCE
Most people would equate the notion of abundance with money, wealth, material acquisitions, status and suchlike. Money, like emotion, is energy. Free it up and you’ll have access to all the money you need and want. It’s essential to separate the idea of wealth from the idea of effort expended, money from work or success from status. Remember the saying, “Do what you love and the money will follow.” It’s a very appropriate axiom in this context. And to paraphrase poet and author of The Prophet Kahlil Gibran, who suggested it was more honest to beg at the temple gates than to do work you hate. Find what your passion is and go for it with no thought of the end result. Otherwise, your dream will be diluted, corrupted and you will live a half-life.

When I started on my new career journey twenty years ago, if I had known how truly hard the path was going to be, I doubt if I would have had the courage to continue. My vision has really truly blossomed in the last five years or so, but during the previous fifteen years, I never once thought of giving up, not even in the darkest hours, for one reason and one reason only - I knew I was on the right path. Lonely, scary, insecure, sometimes hostile, but right, my destiny. I am doing what I came here to do so I have material abundance whether I have one dollar or a million.

There’s nothing wrong with seeking tangible manifestations of abundance in the forms of house, car, cash, assets, all kinds of trappings of success, but never believe that they make you a successful or happy person. In fact, the reverse is true - if you’re happy, you’ll attract all the good things of life; true abundance, not just empty symbols.
Suggested Affirmation - “I have abundance in all areas of my life.”

A SPRINKLING OF JOY
For me, there can be no abundance without joy. Joy is the raw material of everything that is rich and full about being alive, in other words, abundance. If you can’t feel your inner joy, it doesn’t mean you don’t have any - it just means you haven’t learnt to access it. Sit in silence, feel your inner peace, laugh, dance, play with children and animals - they will show you by example - walk near the ocean, do simple things that are fun like playing games and telling jokes, talking with friends and doing things you love.

Joy is light. It is the angels, the sun, the moon, the stars, a baby’s smile, a puppy’s wet nose, a lover’s touch. It is all the wonderful things we take for granted. Let the moments of your life flow freely without the limitations of your fears, insecurities, your ego and your anger, your pettiness and your greed. Think of how liberated you will be!

Thought generates matter so be careful what you think about, the words you utter and most of all, your expectations in life. Hold tight to Joseph Campbell’s philosophy of “Following your bliss” which just means doing what feels right for you, honouring your own needs and letting your inner child play whenever possible. Abundance doesn’t have to be largesse; it can be expansiveness in miniature, small pieces of prosperity sprinkled through the days of our lives.

Suggested Affirmation - “Joy is my companion every day.”

In summary, there are many roads to a more abundant life if you simply stay open and foster a truly positive attitude to everything that happens to you. Even the mundane, the tedious, the repetitive, the necessary can be rich in meaning if seen in a positive light. Remember one keyword for each area of abundance you wish to foster. So, for mental abundance, think positive; for emotional, freedom; for spiritual, openness; for material, attraction; for joy, flowing; for abundance in general; desire.

I first heard of “prosperity thinking” twenty years ago and it was like coming home to hear of an idea I had ever held in my heart. I have always believed in the goodness of life, as a child trusting and in awe of the world’s beauty and life’s possibilities. Essentially, abundance is just fullness of experience. So, if we choose that as a way of life, we can only be extended and stretched, attracting true prosperity which can be a Lotto win or the touch of a child’s hand.

I read this very simple affirmation recently - “I am abundance” and I think that is the truest and best thought I can leave with you.