It has been an interesting process starting up a side business these past few months.

The learning curve is steep. There is so much to learn!

I remind myself of how I felt when I was first starting out as an SLP. I never thought I’d get it, or be comfortable with it, or have things become second nature.

Here I am 20 years later, and while I still love to learn new things (and make a point to continue to learn), I have enough foundation that it is second nature.

I am so grateful that I had some awesome teachers. Awesome supervisors. Awesome fellow students and new grads. Awesome mentors. Awesome colleagues. I learned so much from them and am so grateful that they gave of their time and knowledge so freely. And over the years, I like to think that I give back freely to those who are seeking assistance.

I am so grateful for the abundance mentality that people had.

The mentality that there is enough knowledge to go around. That you don’t have to hide knowledge from others and keep it for yourself to make yourself look good. That there are opportunities everywhere for everyone.

Starting this new business, it is so clear to see how many live and thrive in with an abundance mentality. I ask a question – and they freely give help. Suggestions. Ideas. Advice. Guidance. Encouragement. These are the people I want to surround myself with. This is the kind of person I want to be. There are enough clients, enough destinations, enough choices, enough opportunities, enough knowledge to go around!

Unfortunately, I have also seen the scarcity mentality these past few months. I won’t help you because we are in competition. Or, you should know that. Or, you should be researching that on your own. Or, I had to figure it out, so should you. (Which I do believe you need to be doing the work – so you need to make sure you are doing it and just sitting back wanting others to do it for you!) Helping is threatening. Or too time consuming. Or just not fair.

What a difference it makes when you encounter someone living from a place of abundance than from a place of scarcity. It is night and day. You feel it. You feel love, generosity, encouragement  and support when they are coming from abundance. And if they come from scarcity, it’s easy to feel ashamed, stupid, frustrated and undeserving when you reach out for help.

We can’t control if others are living with scarcity or abundance. But we can choose where we want to come from. We can choose to believe there is enough love to go around, enough opportunities to ensure everyone is wildly successful, and enough kindness and support that will never run out. We are not in competition with anyone. We don’t need to be. We can give generously, freely and kindly. There is always more from where that came from.