Abundance
Wealth and abundance is at the core of a Taobabe mindset. One cannot be a self-proclaimed confident, sexy, and powerful Taobabe when one’s overriding gut feeling is that of destitution and starvation. Of course, my well-fed, plump and healthy body will easily dispel the myth that I am starving and destituted, despite my brain’s best efforts to convince me of this ‘fact’. Still, I manage to make great inroads in convincing myself of my destitute status sometimes, and it is at these times that I must guard against that poverty-ridden mindset, and remind myself that I am reveling and luxuriating in abundance.
Truth is, we are all kings and queens living in an abundant paradise, geared towards providing us with every possible thing we need to not just live but thrive and prosper. The Mother Universe provides and nurtures us, with plenty to spare, and all we need to do is climb and pluck the fruit from the trees of plenty. The resources available, if spread out to every single person on this planet, would be more than adequate for everyone to live quite well. So why is it that we often feel as if we are in need?
The answer is simple. We are gods and goddesses. Whatever we think eventually becomes reality if we think hard enough and dwell on it long enough. If we constantly go around thinking we are in desperate need, or fearful that we do not have all that we need, the result will be that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In our panic, we hoard our resources, create boundaries that keep everyone out of our bounty, and we stuff our homes with all manner of things that are designed to make us feel better about ourselves and dispel our poverty-driven mindset. One more television set, one more pair of designer shoes, one more land yatch, these are things we cannot do without. We are desperate to get that newest cell phone, that latest high-tech gadget, because without it, we are in desperate need and are lacking in things that are crucial for our survival in this concrete jungle of blinking lights.
If we are unable to assuage our raging fear of not having enough, we beg and borrow our way into mountains of debt to get the things that will keep us from feeling destitute. After having exhausted that avenue, we resort to cheating, stealing, and lying; we even kill to get what we think we need, and we end up even poorer and more destitute-minded than when we started.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Abundance flows towards us like a flood! All we have to do is appreciate and be thankful of the abundance that has been raining down upon us all this time, and not be like the spoiled little princess, sitting in her pink throne room, filled with her things, and still demanding more, more, more!
The Tao Te Ching speaks of this abundance with eloquence.
Chapter 34
The great Tao is like a flood
It can flow to the left or to the right
The myriad things depend on it for life, but it never stops
It achieves its work, but does not take credit
It clothes and feeds myriad things, but does not rule over them
Ever desiring nothing
It can be named insignificant
Myriad things return to it but it does not rule over them
It can be named great
Even in the end, it does not regard itself as great
That is how it can achieve its greatness
The Tao gives in abundance, and all without insisting on receiving homage or sacrifices. There is no insistence on having us do penance or swear fealty. We don’t have to do anything. In fact, whether we do or not do, say or not say, thank or not thank, it matters not at all to the Tao. We still receive, whether we want it or not. Now that’s what I call unconditional love from the Energy Source.
How can we gauge the extent of the largesse coming from Mother Universe? It’s as easy as making a list. One good way of documenting our gifted bounty this is to follow the advice of Martha Beck from O, The Oprah Magazine, April, 2009. In her article, she gives a simple exercise that gives us the chance to fight back against that destitute mindset, by acknowledging just exactly how wealthy we truly are. Her advice is to make three lists. The first two are fairly simple and quick to do. The last one… well, it could take a lifetime to accumulate.
1. List 10 times you thought that there wouldn’t be enough of something and you survived.
2. List 10 areas where you have too much, not too little.
3. List 20 — or 50, or 1,000 — wonderful things that entered your life just at the right time, with no effort on your part. Start with the little things (oxygen, sunlight, a song on the radio). You’ll soon think of bigger ones.
What I discovered was that, like a mother nurturing a baby, at the moment that I needed something, the Tao provided it, without my even asking for it. It may not have been the exact thing that I wished for, but it suited my need exactly. After all, what mother would continue to feed her baby ice cream every time the baby cried out in hunger? I always thought it was beginner’s luck, but when I moved out of the beginner position, it turned into serendipity. However, it stopped being serendipitous luck once it happened over and over and over.
I can only conclude that I have been provided for, mostly without my even noticing the timeliness of my provision. Consequently, my third list has gotten quite long, and is still growing. At this rate, I’ll be the world’s wealthiest Taobabe by the end of my lifetime.
Taobabe 
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