Gentle reader:
Do you fear there will never be enough? Or do you know there will always be more?
I love serendipity. You never know when a serendipitous moment or confluence of events/thoughts/circumstances might occur. But there will always be further instances of serendipity. When something serendipitous happens, you should always take note and savour it to the fullest.
The two most interesting things I’ve seen shared via Twitter this week have touched, in a manner most serendipitous, on abundance thinking.
On the deliberate basis of no further reading or background research (I will explain my wilful slackness of method in a mo), I take abundance thinking to describe a state of willingness to share knowledge and experience. It’s about being open to possibility and chance, and the taking of risks. Of being open, you might even say, to serendipity.
I base my “understanding” of abundance thinking entirely on two tweets.
The first came via my long-standing Twitter friend Gurprriet Siingh, who tweeted a link to the following image on scarcity thinking versus abundance thinking:
The second came via my new Twitter friend Megan Borrie, who – in the context of this week’s outstanding #NZLead chat on HR blogging (as facilitated by Richard Westney) – shared the following words of wisdom: “Give all your good stuff away, and good stuff follows.”
We were not talking about abundance thinking there. But Megan has nonetheless nailed it in 10 words. Serendipitously enough.
If you know anything about me at all, you might well know that I love social media and the sharing, learning, silliness and serendipity they offer. It strikes me that abundance thinking is a state of mind that lends itself perfectly to social media.
Now, as stated above, I have taken a risibly lazy approach here in terms of background research on abundance thinking. That’s because I would love to open this up to your views on the subject:
- What was your first reaction to the definitions of scarcity thinking and abundance thinking shared by Gurprriet? Which perspective appeals to you more? Do you operate from a scarcity thinking perspective, or one of abundance thinking?
And one more question:
- What was the biggest or the most recent moment of serendipity in your life?
I would love to hear from you. Please do consider getting in touch.
Serendipitously yours
Michael
PS: I thought an image from the timelessly charming Richard Pryor film Brewster’s Millions might be apt for this post, given the title. But a search for a copyright-free image threw up an ad for the 1921 original version of Brewster’s Millions, starring Fatty Arbuckle. I cannot lay claim to having seen the original, but the newspaper ad (from which the picture above is taken) is gorgeous. “Ever wonder how you’d spend a million? Well, Brewster got his. And had to squander it, every cent, in a year! But when everything he touched made money – you’ll howl with glee at the stunts he did to grow poor!” Modern film poster copywriters take note.
MJCarty 
