As tomatoes blush in the greenhouse and berries ripen, seeds that were sown in spring manifest in summer. Bees work in harmony, scattering pollen far and wide. And with more daylight than at any other time of the year, the sun invites us to seize every moment. To lean into the light, enjoy the fruits of our labour and celebrate the fertility of the earth.
Of all the sights to behold in summer, seeing wild flowers in full bloom is one that I cherish more than most. Why? Because it never ceases to remind me of the joy that can be found in this world… if we choose to see it.
From frothy cow parsley, delicate daisies and dramatic foxgloves standing to attention in the garden, to pastel-coloured forget-me-nots, scarlet poppies and buttercups swaying in the breeze. To some, they are weeds weighing the garden beds down. To others, they are the stars of the English summer meadow, which attract wildlife and bring an abundance of colour, butterflies and bees our way…
That’s why when I think about summer, I think about our potential. I’m reminded that the more we give to the universe, the more we are likely to get back. And – given the endless signs of abundance on offer in Nature – I’m comforted by the idea that this world has more than enough opportunity to go around.
I’ll be the first to admit that opening myself up to abundance in my day-to-day life didn’t happen overnight. It certainly didn’t always feel easy to access, either. There have been times in my life where – consciously or not – I’ve reverted to feeling like the victim because it seemed like the safest thing to do.
In the early days of my career when I’d see other people get offered my ‘dream’ job, when I first started house hunting and my ‘dream’ home fell through, and when I was younger and feared I’d never find my ‘dream’ partner, my disappointment often felt like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I would assume something was about to go badly, and lo and behold it would; then I would use that as evidence that things never work out for me. It was a mindset that I can now recognise as a ‘scarcity mindset’ – the belief that there are limited resources available, so if someone else has or experiences something, it means that there will be less for you to have or experience.
Thankfully, though, when the consistent hard work that I’d always dedicated to my career started paying off, my mindset started to shift. Without knowing that it was called an ‘abundance mindset’ at the time, I realised that I was starting to focus more on what was going well for me, as opposed to dwelling on what wasn’t. A choice that brought so much positivity into my day-to-day life almost instantly. So much so that I went on to apply this approach to every aspect of my existence for that reason.
The more I put myself out there, said ‘yes’ to opportunities and paid attention to what was working, the more opportunities came my way. Instead of seeing other people’s joy and success as a threat, I came to see this as evidence that both were real and there was certainly enough to go around. And when I started to get really clear on my goals and values, shared them with the world and actively started working towards them each day, dream projects (like Evergreen!) and opportunities felt easier to come by. So, too, did feelings of contentment and genuine gratitude.
As someone who gets excited by visual things, I often find myself with a pen and journal in hand these days, writing down my ambitions and dreams so that I can see them laid out before me, too. Taking the time to visualise them on paper makes them seem more real and feels like striking a silent deal with myself – I now have no choice but to make them a reality. Perhaps it’s because they’re no longer fleeting thoughts in my head, but real goals that have now been committed to in ink! Consciously visualising my dreams and actively reminding myself that they can materialise on a daily basis (if I commit to them) plays a crucial role in how I navigate my life today.
It’s here that I feel the need to pause for some clarification, as the practice of manifestation is often misunderstood. To be clear, success, joy and dream opportunities don’t just pop up overnight for me because I decided to think them into existence one day. Rather, with the help of some brilliant podcasts and self-help books (I highly recommend Mo Gawdat’s book Solve for Happy as a brilliant starting point), I made the choice to change my perspective – a choice that is available to us all – and started to see life as a series of opportunities and lessons that were mine for the taking. That mindset has had a knock-on effect on how I show up in this world and how I choose to approach and spend my days. And, eventually, my positive mindset has led to positive actions which have yielded positive results.
If you are struggling to find the opportunities and happiness that are out there waiting for you, please remind yourself that abundance is not something that people acquire. Abundance is something that people choose to engage with through the power of their thoughts. Should you choose to engage with it, too, something tells me that it will be ready and waiting to embrace you with open arms.
Lydia’s first book Evergreen introduces her followers to the importance of the natural world in her life. It is published by Orion and available from all good bookstores.
