When the movie "The Secret" came out and talk of 'manifesting' entered the mainstream, a common criticism could be heard over and over again: how can there be enough for everyone? The idea of manifestation and creating abundant wealth, property, and opportunities was seen as entitled, elitist, and privileged. How could there be enough money in the world for everyone to be a millionaire? How could there be enough resources to allow everyone to have the car or house or belongings they've always wished for? How could there be enough people willing to do the hard labor of the world--farming, manufacturing, etc--if everyone is doing their dream 'job' or in early retirement?
Some would-be manifesters pushed back. They said that not everyone would want big houses. Not everyone wants to work only 3 hours a day. Not everyone wants leisure or servants or vacations at the same rate as everyone else. Hmmmmmm. Really?
On the path of awakening, balancing material abundance with my spiritual life is definitely part of the journey. As I have become more closely attuned to my spiritual life and purpose, the type and amount of possessions I have and the way I use money has definitely shifted. Maybe you have noticed a shift, too? Nowadays my values of spirituality, relationships, health, freedom, intuition and love inform what is manifested in physical reality. That which is not aligned with my values seems to no longer be present. I went through a strong minimalism phase that truly clarified how I wanted to be living my life. Editing physical reality--and continuing the edit--opens up space for the second and more potent form of abundance: spiritual.
Spiritual abundance is the abundant abundance. Joy, love, peace. Unlike physical reality, spiritual abundance is truly unlimited. Right now, everyone on the planet can have joy. Everyone can have love. There are definitely other things we all need to work collectively towards--such as peace and freedom--in order for these to manifest in physical reality for everyone. Yet, human history is populated with stories of people who found inner peace, inner freedom despite their external circumstances. Despite physical reality, spiritual abundance is abundant!
Maybe right now you are experiencing major health issues. Or you have a terrible job. Or you are grieving, because someone very close to you has died. Right now it may be impossible to change physical reality, to manifest something different. When one has to face what is hard, what is difficult, this world can seem cold and malevolent. Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel writes, "I shall always remember that smile. From what world did it come from?" My answer would be, not from this one. From the other one, the spiritual one, that is always, always abundant.