Prosperity vs. scarcity

Prosperity and scarcity center in the mind. I truly feel for the children who live in poverty. One out six children in the United States live in poverty. The rate increased from 12 percent in 2021 to 17 percent in 2022. It does not have to be that way. Sadly, many adults live in scarcity but not in poverty. They have wealth yet they perceive that there are limited resources, usually time and money. Some argue that a scarcity mindset is beneficial because it makes you more effective with your decisions. I know. This makes no sense.

Yet, scarcity is predominant with many people. It stems from a belief system or conditioning as a child. In my experience, it is a hard pattern to break. It is almost addictive. One of my students recently asked what horses see. This made me curious if horses perceive scarcity. “Every perception is a creation,” said neuroscientist Gerald Edelman. A horse’s vision differs from ours. They have less acuity and have a 350 degree view of their surroundings, to start. They perceive differently than us but they share the same process.

Our brains receive the sensory information, our mind decodes it and then spits out an answer. Sometimes the answer is dead wrong. With a horse for example, they may see a puddle in front of them and then interpret it as a swamp where they will drown. They perceive it erroneously.

I teach therapeutic horse riding to a 5-year-old boy. He has been diagnosed with autism. He does not perceive himself as autistic. He shows up each week wanting to learn how to ride a horse. When we began working together, I asked him to help me lead Tully, the all star pony. I stood on Tully’s left side and held the lead rope. I asked my student to stand to my left and hold the rope with me..

A few weeks later after he built some confidence, I asked him to lead Tully. He took my position and I stood to the left of my student as we both held the lead rope.

Last week, 3 short months after our first lesson together, the young boy led Tully without me, holding the leading rope as I stood by his side. I asked him to follow me. He knew this was a big deal. Tully was impressed. The student experienced prosperity. His diagnosis did not define him. He created his perception!

This holiday season consider giving to a local food bank. We all have the right to prosperity.