In this article I offer some reflections on abundance-based thinking and its anthesis scarcity-based thinking.
We live in a world where sometimes it seems like scarcity is constantly whispered into our ears. There is not enough time. Not enough money. Not enough opportunity. Not enough love. Sometimes it seems like there is not enough you. How often do we hear people saying ‘I am not enough’?
For some people this mindset is so common, so automatic, that they never question it. Scarcity becomes the default lens through which life is viewed. In these cases, it shapes how we make decisions, how we relate to others, and even how we see ourselves.
In Huna, there is a different way to see the world. A more generous way:
Scarcity thinking is not just about material things. It is a form of contraction, a tightening around life. It often sounds like:
“I must hold on to what I have”
“If someone else wins, I lose”
“I cannot trust life to support me”
“I have to struggle or I will fall behind”
If we consider the Huna principle of Ike – the world is what you think it is, when the mind expects lack, the body tenses, imagination shrinks, and opportunities seem to disappear. Scarcity becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
There is also a certain irony here as scarcity thinking often occurs in people who genuinely want safety and to flourish. However, fear-based protection often turns out to be self-limiting.
Scarcity says, “Protect first, then maybe I will feel safe.” Abundance says, “Feel safe first, and life will respond.” Both become true in the world we create.
Abundance is not naive optimism or pretending everything is perfect. It is a relationship with life anchored in trust, creativity, and openness. It says:
“There is always another possibility”
“Life responds when I do”
“I can create instead of compete”
“Generosity strengthens me”
This demonstrates the principle of Makia – energy flows where attention goes. What we feed with our focus grows.
In Huna, abundance is experienced, initially at least, through awareness, not acquisition. It begins as a subtle shift in the body, a softening and a widening of perception. It is remembering that we are part of a living universe in motion, not isolated fragments struggling for scraps.
Abundance shows up not just in money or possessions, but in things such as:
A person with few resources and an abundant spirit often thrives. A person with many resources and scarcity fear often struggles.
One of the most misunderstood ideas in abundance teaching is generosity. Here generosity is not giving because you ‘should.’ Nor is it forcing kindness to prove some kind of spiritual virtue. It is giving from the recognition that life flows.
When you trust flow, sharing becomes natural. When you fear loss, hoarding becomes normal. Abundance grows where trust is exercised.
Huna posits that we all have a drive to grow and that life is naturally moving, expanding, unfolding. Waves do not fear running out of ocean. Trees do not hesitate to grow leaves in spring. Human consciousness is the same unless the mind tightens around fear. Abundance is a natural state when fear loosens its grip.
One useful practice is, from time to time, tune in and ask yourself which one of these most reflects me today: scarcity or abundance? This awareness can provide a useful starting point for change if required.
Abundance is about freeing ourselves up to be open to possibility: It is useful to establish a ‘habit of abundance’ for which you might find the following daily practice which draws on multiple Huna principles useful:
This single question can shift imagination from contraction to creation, and imagination is a bridge to reality. You may not get an immediate answer. That is fine. The point is the opening. Abundance often begins not with a solution, but with a softening of the inner resistant stance.
Here’s wishing you an abundant year ahead.
If you want to learn more about Huna and related topics, our programme of live online classes might just be for you. You can find out more about available classes at the following link. (Check back regularly for updates. Any questions about any of the events just get in touch.: www.urbanhuna.org/events
We start our eight part weekly online class Healing With Focussed Imagination on 12th January 2026.
