What Adverb Will You Use?

This article was originally published in the Autumn 2017 issue of Choices Magazine.  To view the published format, please click here.

When I think of prosperity I think of it within financial terms but that definition falls short of its full meaning. The act of having prosperity is much greater and has far more value than a pure financial sense. Instead, it is an attitude more than a personal goal of financial fortune.

When we focus only on the need of financial means we are actually limiting ourselves from the very thing we desire because we are admitting we are without. To obtain wealth, focus needs to be on seeing opportunities and capitalizing on those events. As an example, I volunteer at a Thrift Store and we have a drawing each month for a gift basket that customers can enter with a raffle ticket they receive after a purchase. Every time I work I hear about a quarter of our customers say, “No thanks, I never win.” I can’t help but wonder how that affects all of their decision-making. I’m not saying we need to enter every contest (nor is it wise at times) but more to reflect on how many times the universe gives us an opportunity to improve yet we say no. What opportunities are being missed by that simple decline?

Miracles happen after we take the first step but we have to move. How many people do you hear saying they want something but when asked they aren’t doing anything to obtain it? To gain prosperity you must first make an attempt. If your job isn’t what you want, are you putting in applications? If your relationship isn’t working, are you doing counseling? If your kids aren’t spending time with you, are you taking the first step and inviting them? We can’t change our circumstances unless we move and we can’t expect to move unless we are proactive in doing it. It is action first–results follow.

If you want prosperity in your life you will have to change. Take the first step, fill out the application, show up for the interview, and, be excited to be a part of something new. If you can’t do that then prosperity will always elude you. For prosperity is an action word, a noun, requiring an adverb to define it and that adverb is YOU. What are you waiting for? Life is that raffle ticket, you only have to take the time and energy to fill it out and see possibilities unfold. What adverb do you want to describe your prosperity? I’m choosing abundant to define mine. Pick a great one!