Why Prosperity Matters

Prosperity: noun. A successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects; good fortune. Prosperity  business.

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abundance of fruit (Pixabay)

(Though most people think of money when they think of prosperity, I think of prosperity as being abundant in all aspects of your life. Also, our 9-year old is obsessed with fruit and loves it way more than money, so the picture above made her salivate. What makes you feel prosperous depends on one’s perspective–and age!)

WHY PROSPERITY MATTERS

When was the last time you asked someone how things were going and they responded with anything like this: “Awesome, thanks! Everything in my life is better than I could have ever dreamed?” My guess is you haven’t heard that often. More likely, the answer is along the lines of “Well, they’re going,” or “I’m hanging in there,” or the standard, but definitely not awesome, “good.” Why is that?

You could argue that the first response is bragging, and that “good” is simply our accepted societal norm. Maybe we don’t always think the people asking really want an honest answer. If saying your life is thriving is considered a brag or goes against what we think people want to hear, then I’m here to advocate that we need to change our expectations—that we should strive to attain our dreams rather than just to “hang in there.” We should change what we consider the norm. If having an awesome life was the new normal, we’d find the other responses above to stand out rather than the other way around.

What we tell ourselves matters. If you aim for average, that’s what you’ll get. It’s like that commercial where a young girl discusses her life dreams and sarcastically proclaims “I want to claw my way to middle management.” When you accept the message if that if you work really hard and persevere, you’ll maybe earn enough to make ends meet, then you likely won’t go beyond that. What if you dared to dream bigger than that? If you shoot for the stars, you may not quite hit them, but you’ll sure as heck make it way past average.

So why does prosperity matter? Because if more people were living the life of their dreams—a life where they truly felt alive and that they were thriving, it would help everyone. There’s a saying that a rising tide lifts all boats, and we need to step up and help lift each other by becoming our best possible selves. One of the quotes I often share with my clients is by Marianne Williamson: “It is not that we fear …but that we are more powerful .” My job with individual clients is to encourage them to step into their power, and I’m asking you to do the same.

Imagine the good you could do if you were living at your highest level—doing work that was meaningful to you, having amazing relationships with friends and family, experiencing wonderful adventures, and maintaining an abundant flow of money. Aside from the obvious benefit of being in the position to financially help out causes and organizations close to your heart, you’ll also be a beacon to others, a role model of the amazing things that are possible when you refuse to accept the norm. You’ll help create the new norm, one of prosperity.

I dare each of you to aim a little higher, dream a little bigger, then take a step in that direction. Every big goal is reached not by one huge leap, but through putting one foot in front of the other until you get there.

Until next time. 🙂 Dr. Kristi