Welcome to July – Abundance and joy

Welcome to July! I am trying something new. It’s been a while since I have written a blog but I want to get back into it and I thought I would share something with you on a monthly basis around wellbeing.

As a wellbeing lead for my team in my day job, I prepare a monthly wellbeing post based on a different theme each month (guided by the book ‘a year of mindful living’ by Joey Hulin). So I decided that from this month onwards I am going to share those here and add a little extra to demonstrate how these themes align with the principles of living La Vida Lagom.

July is the height of summer  (or at least it is supposed to be) – the solar energy of July represents strength, light and love, and the world around us is in full bloom   So the theme for July is abundance.

But what is abundance? To have an abundance of something is to have more than you need. It’s often used to describe positive qualities, such as “an abundance of love.” So if Lagom is having just the right amount of what you need, how does abundance work as a wellbeing theme when you are living La Vida Lagom?

In order to manifest what we want in life/from life, our energy must be vibrating at the level of abundance, gratitude and appreciation, just as the flowers in full bloom attract the most bees 

But having ‘enough’ is a concept many of us struggle with, feeling like we don’t have enough money, love, opportunities, things… When we feel we don’t have enough we grasp and hoard what we do have. But having abundance is not the presence of things or money, it is the current of connection, joy, generosity and love that forms the foundation of all our experiences. When we put down the idea of what life should be like, we are free to whole heartedly say yes to our life as it is. 

Living La Vida Lagom is just this. Not having more things than we need, and by removing the excess of physical things from life, we gain an abundance of clarity, space, experiences and joy.

It is OK to want to attract more of what you love in life if those things truly bring you joy and keep your energy nourished and topped up so that you can give back to the world . Collaborating, sharing, supporting and uplifting each other creates space for others to do the same for you.  The more you give, the more you get. 

Here are some ideas for July in the theme of abundance and La Vida Lagom…

• Provide some positive feedback to a colleague that has done a good job
• Congratulate a friend or colleague on a recent achievement
• Do something nice for a stranger, it could be as simple as sharing a smile, having a conversation on the bus or the train, or if you are able to, paying for their coffee in a cafe
• Collaborate with someone on a project and share your creations with the world (or at least your social network to start)
• Give to charity or get involved with volunteering
• Practice gratitude to acknowledge and appreciate what you do have each day
• Take some time to journal and consider what does abundance look like/feel like to you? Is there anything you are holding back, hoarding or grasping at because you fear it is in limited supply?

From a sustainability perspective wasting less, gives us more. Did you know only 0.5% of the Earth’s water is available for drinking? Reducing our unnecessary water consumption means more is available for necessary needs such as drinking.  

Here are a few hints and tips to reduce water in July…

• Collect rain water and use this for watering plants – this could be a water but or something as simple as a bucket – on the days that it does rain collect this water and use it to water plants on the summer days when there is no rain
• Re-use tap water – For example use the washing up water, or the baby’s bath water to water the plants – as the summer advances and as the climate change worsens we are likely to end up in a hose-pipe ban in parts of the UK this summer – use the water you are already running for dual purposes
• Take shorter showers and take showers over baths
• Re-wear clothes and only wash when truly needed
• Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth
• Use a water saver in the toilet to reduce the water needed to flush
• Only fill the kettle to the amount you need (this saves water and energy)
• Fill a Jug of water and keep it in the fridge for drinking (to reduce the time needed to run the tap to get the water to a nice cold temperature)

Let me know in the comments below any other water saving tips you use at home or at work 

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