I was doing a presentation at a girl’s high school last week and was chatting to a very wise lady before the talk about the issue of “scarcity thinking” and how it can be seriously problematic. After pondering this for a few days, I’ve come to the conclusion that it can swing both ways and here’s why.
What is “scarcity thinking”? For me, it’s simply the belief that there’s not enough to go around. To some extent I was raised with this kind of thinking because my mom had been raised post World War 2 – a era of tremendous frugality because supplies really were scarce. When you’re rationed to a tiny square of butter and a teaspoon of jelly for the week and no new clothes in a year, you tend to get the idea.
Rationing informed the way that my mom lived her adult life and raised her kids, and in many ways her scarcity-thinking was incredibly positive: nothing was wasted, everything was re-used until it literally fell apart, every material item was precious. Her mind-set was the polar opposite of our modern mind-set, which is part of the reason that we’re wrecking our planet.
In 2011, everything is disposable – from cell phones to one-time-use water bottles, when we’re done we thoughtlessly trash them, hoping they’ll get spirited away safely. They don’t – the cell phones add to the growing mountains of toxic e-waste, and much of the plastic finds its way to the giant pacific garbage patch. When an appliance breaks, it’s cheaper to buy a new one that’s come from China or India, than it is to get it repaired.
My mom can’t bear to see waste of any kind and I think a lot of people from her generation feel the same – it breaks their heart. When mom visits, she rescues all the veggies from the bottom of my crisper drawer, terrified that I’m going to throw them out, and gets busy making soups and stews. The U.S. throws away a staggering 34 million tons of food each year. Food waste is second to paper waste, however, a lot of paper is recycled, whereas food makes its way straight to landfill. I think we could all do with a dose of our great grandparent’s medicine – to value the goods, and particularly food, that has been provided us – this is one of the main reasons I like to offer a blessing before every family meal.
I watched a documentary a while ago about school kids in Southern CA who go and come back from school hungry. It was heartbreaking. One young teen said she hung around the cafeteria praying that kids would leave leftovers that she could eat; another kid was humiliated as her dad had to stand on the side of the street and beg. These families know what scarcity is, and when I stop to think about the fact that thousands of kids in our own backyard are going to feel hunger today- that this kind of scarcity is very real, it motivates to think beyond my own needs and wants.
Conversely, scarcity thinking can have negative consequences. The belief that there’s not enough to go around prompts humans to grab as much as they can – it can incite a kind of greed, which is only too prevalent in the behavior of people around us today. The environmental movement is constantly warning us of the scarcity of natural resources and that they are running out – does this cause us to grab or conserve? I wonder.
It’s interesting to see if you have scarcity thinking in some area of your life and whether it has negative or positive consequences. My scarcity thinking centers around time. There’s never enough time in the day to do everything I need to do – if I allow myself to be motivated by this false belief, I get completely stressed out and minimize the quality time that I might have otherwise spent with good friends and family. It’s something that I try to work on and sometimes reversing the belief in the form of an affirmation can be really helpful: I have all the time in the world to complete everything I need to do and to enjoy my day – phew! Just saying that out loud allows me to walk into my day more peacefully.
So like almost everything, a delicate balance is where the sweet spot lies. Understanding that there is a scarcity of resources is real, as is the fact that half the world’s children go hungry everyday. Although I can’t spirit the food off my plate to feed the hungry, realizing this can make me really value what I have. Understanding that here in Los Angeles, we’re using more than our fair share of water by irrigating front lawns in what is essentially a desert, is a wake-up call, and a nudge to try to conserve what is actually becoming scarce.
On the other hand, affirming that the most important things in life – time, energy, and our capacity to love are infinite and plentiful, leads us through our days on a firmer footing. I try to remember to ask myself throughout the day: Are you motivated to do this by fear or Love? If it’s the former, I don’t do it!
I grew up in a very (painfully) frugal family as well. My family did not make it fun, and after I left home I swore I would not return to that lifestyle…as we were dirt poor and unhappy.
However, in the last few years, finances have take a downward turn and I thank God for the training I had growing up!
We first gave up meat and started upcycling because of the budget, but now have gone vegan for so many more reasons than just our budget. We relocated to Texas this year and I am learning how to garden in a drought…this is proving interesting, but I feel a necessary education for my family. I watched some You Tube videos about “Greening The Desert” and am looking for drought tolerant plants and incorportaing methods I never needed in our relatively wet former home.
There is so much to learn yet, but the road can be SO much fun if a person a passion for it! I agree with you…if fear is the motivation, it is not worth it. 🙂