The costs of abundance.

When I was younger my grandmother used to say, 'you will be abundant when you can manage it'. I didn't agree with her - yet.

Growing up in the Bronx in the eighties I saw three kinds of people - blue collar workers, drug dealers and drug addicts. As a young kid, the dealers' lives seemed over abundant. The allure was strong. As I got older, I realized what dealers go through daily. You have to be strong-willed to be in that line of work. Territory issues, trust issues, looking over your shoulder, death or prison stints breathing down your neck by the minute. The costs of abundance. Granted, a lot of people who "chose" this lifestyle just want to get out of their current social and economic conditions. Nobody wanted to stay in the hood. The blue collar workers were driven by the same motives of changing social and economic status.

As an adult, I now fully understand what my grandmother meant. The management of abundance wasn't talking about bank accounts and financial consultants. Rather, she was referring to the dues you'll pay to get it and your resolve in handling it when it arrives.

What are you willing to pay for change? How much have you paid for success? Are you seeing results? Are you seeing the fruits of your labor? And if so, are you putting back into your soil to enjoy more harvests?

Even the best of us lose sight of our goals and what's important in lean and fruitful times. Sometimes the amount of loss weighs greater than the gains themselves. Stay focused.