My soul circle group had another great discussion this week that has stuck with me all week, so I'm expanding on it here because I think it will help others, too.

We're expecting a storm here, so I headed to grocery store to stock up. It's a habit I picked up in the Northeast. We have a fear of scarcity because things might shut down. So there I was in the supermarket for just a few things -- we didn't need much. But I saw people buying up all the bread. There were only a few loaves left. I didn't need bread, but in that moment, I felt like if I didn't get some, something bad would happen. I think that's thanks to lizard brain -- the leftover instincts from our pre-historic ancestors who were hard-wired to survive. We don't want to be left out. That's scarcity.

Then there's abundance. We're pretty materialistic in this country and we want all the things. But it's not really the things we crave, it's the feeling we get when we have the things.

Gratitude helps me keep those feelings of needing to go out and chase more things. It keeps me in that state of abundance. I try to reframe the things I'm afraid of and be thankful for what I do have and have had. My kids are teenagers, and starting to gain their independence. That's hard, because my identity was tied to raising them for so many years. I have a feeling of scarcity about the time we have left and wonder if I did enough, teach them enough, etc. I flip that into abundance by looking back at photos and other memories to remind me of all the good times we had together.

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