The original transcript of the dialogue between Me (M) and the Enlightened One (E).

M:

So what’s your definition of Scarcity?

E:

Scarcity is the impending fear of uncertainty where you start doubting whether what you need will be available or not.

If we live with a scarcity mindset, we adopt the view that life is a zero-sum game, we say, “If you have something, I have less.”

this doubt generated through scarcity mindset in turns activates the most primitive part of the brain that deal with urgency of survival and competition.

That mindset then sets us at opposition to people who are successful!

And what a silly way to be if you want to learn the lessons of how to be a success yourself.

M:

But don’t you think our instinct of survival and competition has stood the test of times and made us what we are today?

E:

No doubt that it has stood the test of times but it has seriously outlived its utility in times we are living.

M:

How?

E:

A candid talk to any of your grandparents about the quality of life that they used to endure during their youth in comparison to life on offer in today’s world should address all your apprehensions regarding the urgency of survival.

M:

There is no argument that today we are witnessing some exponential improvements in our life thanks to widespread application of information revolution.

But the scarcity of money and time is something that can’t be denied even today.

E:

True but not true.

Your presumption that there is scarcity of money and time makes you more agreeable to accept the trade off between the two.

And this presumption of yours never gets challenged during the entire course of your life. As a result you end up getting either one of them at the cost of other.

And that’s the precise reason why there are so many takers for numerous Courses on money and time management.

Do you know how this mindset of scarcity gets manifested in our life?

M:

By being more insecure and thus clinging to all forms of securities, we end up coloring all those choices that we make on daily basis?

E:

Not bad…I am really impressed.

In fact what’s interesting is that our current feeling may or may not necessarily mirror our actual situation.

Rich folks can feel insecure about money, while penniless monks can feel like they have everything at their disposal.

In the morning you hit the snooze button and when you wake up it’s already 7:30 instead of 6:00. You are immediately gripped by a strong feeling of scarcity.

M:

Let me try one.

One lovely evening you get the news from your government that bills of higher denomination would no longer be accepted as legal tender: A strong feeling of scarcity.

E:

And you know very well that it’s nothing more than just a feeling…

Then you have “abundance” that lies on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Abundance is the feeling that “All I need right now is well within my reach and any apprehension about the future is such a waste of time.” It is the feeling that you can count on your future, to watch your back.

There is absolutely no denying that abundance feels great and scarcity feels bad.

In fact we could say that the feeling of abundance is the primary feeling we often seek in life, because it represents the things we desire so fundamentally: security, gratification, autonomy and freedom.

M:

But don’t you think that both these feelings of scarcity and abundance are not permanent one?

E:

Indeed…

In fact more often than not our feelings of abundance and scarcity seem to depend a lot on our emotional reflexes than on an objective assessment of our actual circumstances.

Discovering less of something than what we expected often triggers the feeling of scarcity.

Whereas, the discovery of anything more than what we expected ends up producing the feeling of abundance.

And it seems true regardless of our starting point.

M:

You mean to say that our mental and emotional state invariably colors our perception and experience of everything in life.

E:

There you are, right on the button again.

Slight but consistent change in your overall perspective changes how you end up seeing your world and which in turn changes how you see yourself. You can use your narrative to redefine yourself and re-imagine the boundaries of possibilities.

when you get rid of your limiting narratives, take massive but consistent action, and find the strategies that work, the results you are capable of producing are truly miraculous.

M:

How do we change our narrative to redefine everything?

E:

I know it’s hard to change your narrative specially when you’re in a lousy state. If you are feeling down and out then it’s not possible to think that ‘Life is beautiful!’

Have you ever been really angry with somebody, and suddenly you find yourself recalling every freaking thing that person ever did to irritate or annoy you?

When you get into the state of anger, it switches on that specific part of your brain that supports that state, and all the accumulated stories that keeps you there quickly seem to appear so effortlessly.

By contrast, if you’ve ever fallen head over heels in love, can you recall how the world looked? It was like looking through rose tinted glasses: everything was amazingly beautiful. That’s how a positive state of mind can alter your outlook.


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Originally published in http://studentlifemadeeasy.com/the-myth-of-scarcity/

Originally published at medium.com