Abundance

I’m sitting at a picnic table at the edge of the sea. It’s a beautiful sunny day, sweetened by the songs of finches and the scent of lilacs and beach roses. The gulls are splashing in the pools that form at low tide. From where I sit I can see the markers for more than forty lobster traps.

A dozen common eiders swim toward shore in a row so straight they put the Rockettes to shame. This is Pemaquid Point, one of perhaps a hundred peninsulas that decorate the Maine coastline like fringe on a flapper’s dress. I am surrounded by abundance.

I owe this glorious experience to the generosity of a prosperous friend who is renting this cottage and has given it to me for the week. Chris is the embodiment of my favorite word - abundance. The more money he makes, the more he gives away to other people. The more money he makes, the more he does for others.

Now, you may think, well sure, he has money so he can afford to be generous. But that’s where you’d be mistaken. Chris is not generous because he has money; he’s generous because that’s who he is. It is his nature. Embedded in his character is the spirit of abundance, the expression of which is generosity. People like Chris always have a sense that there's plenty to go around. They are human cornucopias.

Sadly, we all know wealthy people who’d never give a nickel to a beggar. But hoarding has never led to happiness. My friend Chris is always smiling, and his joyous disposition is contagious.

Abundance is an attitude. It’s not about money or even material goods necessarily. It’s about sharing, giving away, whatever it is you have to offer. It comes from knowing that we all have gifts that someone else needs, and there’s no better way to feel connected to other people and to the planet itself than to share your gifts.

Thanks Chris for being who you are.

Copyright 2008 starfishdoc