A life of abundance mindset

 That’s hard. When I was young, my parents weren’t rich (and still so) but we were not fuck poor. 

However, I definitely grew up as a kid in an environment that tells me that everything is scarce. My siblings and I seldom have new toys. We have hand me downs, and gifts from our “richer” relatives. We cherished every single toy we have in our possession. We took good care of them and played with them for many many years. 

We never worry about food, but now that I looked back, we certainly didn’t have a protein rich diet vs what my kids have now. It’s a lot of rice, bread, noodles. Even adding an additional egg is rare. I grew up thinking it’s abnormal to just eat a meal which composes of more than 20% meat by volume. 

I never had new dictionaries, just old and tattered ones that our older cousins passed to us, probably because they would simply buy a new one if the current one is too torn and battered.

I seldom have new clothes, except when it’s CNY. 

I still fondly recall how excited I was when my mother agreed to let me buy jeans and polo tee from Giordano, which is my first introduction to what a “logo” on a piece of clothing meant. It meant pride, trendy, and more importantly, I am not that poor. That’s how shallow I was. But it’s ok. I was like a frog inside a well, my vision was severely limited by my circumstances, combined with my character of being introverted and afraid to ask.

Even though I have considerable resources now, even when retired, my burnt in mindset never really departed. The mindset of scarcity, fear of future losses, fear of taking on risks. Frankly, it kind of served me well in my career as an engineer/architect of infrastructure; making magic out of limited resources, being very creative, ensuring risks are mitigated well in advance etc. 

but now that I am retired, I’m wondering if I should retire this mindset for the better good for myself. I feel it makes me worry for nothing going forward. I am not going to take humongous risks of course, but I don’t want to thread water either. I have less years ahead than what had been lived, and it’s a pity to continue to be like this. 

So, perhaps it’s time to acknowledge what I have and don’t continue to live with a scarcity mindset. I should aim for a better mindset that suits my current stage of life…a mindset of abundance.

No, it’s not just about dollars and cents, though I do think I will do fine in that aspect. 

It’s about the abundance of time, energy, opportunities, to live a good life. To live a loved life. To live an experienced life. Some of these will definitely cost money, but I think a large part of it simply requires effort on my part. 

Eg, if I have physical impairments, besides just having the money to pay for medical services to fix them, it also requires me to intentionally go get treatment and follow through whatever comes to aid my recovery. And that includes eating well, having a positive mindset generally, and keeping my physical body in tip top condition 

It will take effort to outlive my scarcity based upbringing. My old mother, today still carries such mindset to living, and her constant nags and unsolicited advices just continue to pigeon hole me into that mindset even though I am already considered an old fart. 

I loved my mum to bit and will always be there for her, so she can continue to do what she does and I will stay respectful but not receptive to such mindset. I am my own person, I thank her for her parenting efforts but I am no longer required to listen to her life advice as those are outdated and not applicable to me today. She won’t understand the circumstances I have now vs what she went through. A life of abundance is what I face actually, while she didn’t unfortunately. But for sure she won’t have to worry about her material needs going forward as long as I am around (and she will also get a decent sum to live on should something untoward happen to me).

So, this is to myself: break those chains, keep the relationship, but break the chains and be yourself and own your own life. Mindset change is due and very due. Onwards to a happy and abundant life. I have this wonderful chance that most humans alive right now on earth won’t. And I will not waste it. I will use it fully so I don’t let down those who won’t have that chance.