Scarcity Mentality Analysis

The phone rings. It's a friend of yours who just booked a recurring role on a big television series. She is ecstatic; her voice sings and screams in a high pitched excitement. She is so grateful to share her moment with you. Despite your genuine desire to be happy for your friend's good news, a pang of anxiety erupts in the pit of your stomach. Your heart begins to race, your breath becomes shallow, your face burns red, you even feel like crying. Worst of all you feel shame at your inability to enjoy your friend's success.

When you have a visceral, full bodied response to hearing of another's achievement, it can be indicative of a deep psycho-spiritual conditioning known as the scarcity mentality. The scarcity mentality is a worldview rooted …show more content…
An abundance paradigm views the world in terms of boundless potential, where there is the possibility of enough for everyone. If you identify with a scarcity mentality you may view the previous sentence with skepticism and dismissal, or equate an abundance perspective with a deluded utopian vision. Yet rather than a Pollyannaish denial of injustice, an abundance mentality views the inequities of the world as stemming from scarcity consciousness on an individual and collective level. World hunger is not a result from a dearth of food, it's a product of national and global policies rooted in greed and scarcity. While there may be a finite amount of oil on earth, there is an abundance of alternative energy …show more content…
When you see the world as scarce and perceive the success of others as threatening, you project an air of desperation that is off-putting towards opportunity. The old adage of "don't network, make friends" comes to mind. When you enter a situation from a scarcity mentality, all you see is what others can do for you. This agenda is transparent and usually makes people run! When you can rest in a place of abundance you open yourself to be of service. You are able to authentically connect with others and you radiate an attractive, positive energy. Wisdom traditions throughout the ages reiterate that you only get what you give away. This does not mean martyrdom, nor does it mean feigning philanthropy, or repressing jealousy or shadow. It means doing the internal work of dismantling scarcity conditioning, and re- aligning yourself with an abundance mentality which can foster inspiration and generosity for yourself and others. Ultimately, it's a much easier way to