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I often sit in my chair by the front window in the mornings. It’s a time to wake up, drink my coffee, enjoy the glory of the sunrise while I write in my journal and meditate and just think about myself and where my head is at. Like many mornings, one thing I like to incorporate is what I am grateful for, and so I did today as well.

My morning ritual of coffee and journaling.

Today what I came to be grateful for is the abundance in this world, specifically in the grocery store. I got to thinking about juicing (we’ve been juicing on and off) and how we need more kale to make the green drink. I thought about how when I go to HEB there will be big bags of kale there, and lots of them. Or if I go to Whole Foods, the vegetable wall will be crammed with them. If I don’t want those, I can also buy kale in a clear plastic box. I can drive to yet another store – almost any grocery store – and find kale. So much kale! And that is in my little slice of Texas! This tiny little area I live in. And that’s JUST KALE I’m looking for. Wow!

I am so grateful that at any time I can buy whatever I need. I can’t think of ANYTHING that isn’t available to me at ANYTIME I want it. We live in a world of abundance. I choose to see the amazingness in that, and not focus at all on the limits that might keep me from receiving such abundance. I can enjoy the fact that abundance is true in my world.

So, how do I keep this knowledge of abundance from getting me down? When I have the knowledge of that what I desire exists, but I am not able to acquire it? I enjoy the smell.  LOL. Let me explain.

Enjoy the smell!

I have been eating gluten free for the past 14 years. I pretty much have avoided any breads, or baked goods all this time and in the early years there were no viable alternatives like there are today. No soft breads for sandwiches, no tasty cookies or cakes. I just did without. What I learned to do was enjoy the smell. When my son would get a piece of cake, cookie or brownie I would ask to smell it. And boy did it smell so good! I couldn’t have it, and really I didn’t want it for knowledge of what it would do to me (throbbing headaches – no thanks). So I would fully enjoy the smell. It wasn’t long for that to be totally enough.

So now when I want a gorgeous new couch, when what I really need to spend my money on is car repair or braces for my kids teeth, I can enjoy the beauty of the gorgeous couch. In a way, I detach from the wantingness and enjoy the existence of. I will take it a step further by realizing the creativity it takes to design it, and all the people that are involved in bringing the idea in that designers head, into reality. To me, that is amazing. Abundance of creativity.

Being a professional home organizer, you can imagine all the “things” I see that people have. ALL KINDS of really cool things! In the early days I would think, “ooh so cool – I want one of those!” but I surely didn’t have the need for it, not to mention the means. My means were tied up with the things we already have and the needs we truly have. So what do I do? I go without.  I can choose to feel deprived or I can look for things to be grateful for. This took some time to reconcile in my mind; to detach from the wantingness and to enjoy the existence of. So, very much in the way I can fully enjoy the smell of a tasty treat or delicious fresh baked bread, I can enjoy the beauty of a couch – without wanting it.

I encourage you to “enjoy the smell”.  One simple way to cut back on all the “stuff” you acquire that can clutter up your life is to detach from the wanting of it and enjoy the existence of it. Add in gratitude for its beauty or interesting design, and you are really in a state of appreciation.

What do you do to help resist the urge to buy something you don’t need, but just want? What do you do to help overcome feelings of depravity when you can’t get something you want? Share your thoughts – we can all learn from each other!