“Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend.”
Breathnach presents abundance and scarcity as simultaneous options we choose between.
Have you ever sat by a window on a rainy afternoon and felt a strange tug-of-war in your heart? One moment, you are deeply grateful for the cozy warmth of your blanket, and the next, you are mourning a missed opportunity or a friend who lives far away. This beautiful quote by Sarah Ban Breathnach reminds us that life isn't just one thing or the other. Abundance and lack are like two different landscapes existing in the same world. We don't have to wait for the lack to disappear before we can find the abundance; instead, we get to decide which part of our reality we want to feed with our attention and care.
In our everyday lives, this shows up in the smallest ways. We might feel the lack of time when looking at a long to-do list, but in that same breath, we have the abundance of a fresh cup of coffee or a quiet moment to breathe. The tragedy isn't that both exist, but that we often spend all our energy weeding the garden of what is missing, leaving the beautiful flowers of what we already have to wither away from neglect. When we focus solely on the drought, we forget that we are actually standing in a lush meadow.
I remember a time when I felt quite overwhelmed, much like a little duck lost in a heavy fog. I was so focused on the projects I hadn't finished and the goals I hadn't met that I completely missed the sunlight hitting the pond. I was tending to my garden of 'not enough.' It wasn't until I forced myself to stop and name three things that were going right—the soft feathers of my friends, the clarity of the water, the strength in my wings—that the landscape began to shift. I realized the abundance was always there, waiting for me to notice it.
Choosing your garden is a practice, not a one-time event. It is a conscious, daily decision to turn your gaze toward the sunlight. It doesn't mean pretending that the shadows don't exist, but rather refusing to let them be the only thing you cultivate. When you find yourself spiraling into thoughts of scarcity, try to gently redirect your energy toward something that feels full and nourishing.
Today, I want to encourage you to take a little walk through your own inner garden. Take a moment to look past the weeds of worry and see if you can spot just one small bloom of gratitude. What is one abundant thing you can tend to right now?