The Art of Abundance ADVANCE PRAISE FOR “An operating guide for how to live a whole life.” —John W. Lee, founder and former CEO of Learning Curve International “The Art of Abundance is universally grounded and rooted in great truth. I loved every page! This is a must-read for a new era of financial leadership.” —Leanne Jacobs, author of Beautiful Money “The secret to a life worth living is found in our total emancipation from the fear of ‘not enough,’ and Dennis Merritt Jones succeeds brilliantly in awakening us to this truth.” —Dr. Kenn Gordon, spiritual leader at Centers for Spiritual Living “Dennis Merritt Jones is one of the canniest and most pragmatic figures in modern metaphysics. In this to-the-point guide he combines mystic idealism with workaday insights to help you think epically about the kind of life you want.” —Mitch Horowitz, PEN award–winning author of One Simple Idea “ Picking up where most other prosperity books leave off, author and spiritual teacher Dennis Merritt Jones offers us a deeper dive into understanding the principles and practices for creating a life truly worth living.” —Wendy Craig-Purcell, CEO and senior minister at The Unity Center “Dennis Merritt Jones has not written another ‘get rich quick’ book. Instead, he has created a handbook for a life worth living, a mindfulness guide. With exercises to delve into, power points to personalize, parables, and beautiful writing, The Art of Abundance is one of those books I can imagine enjoying, again and again, finding gems with each re-reading.” —Edward Viljoen, author of Ordinary Goodness and The Power of Meditation “Dennis Merritt Jones walks us through the bumpy terrain of self-limiting boundaries into the self-empowered garden of material and spiritual freedom.” —Barbara E. Fields, executive director of the Association for Global New Thought “Embrace and enact the ten foundational rules in The Art of Abundance. You will unleash dynamic growth and prosperity in your life.” —Roger Teel, author of This Life Is Joy An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC 375 Hudson Street New York, New York 10014 Copyright © 2018 by Dennis Merritt Jones Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader. Minimum portions of this book originally appeared in different form in the following publications: The Huffington Post and Science of Mind magazine. TarcherPerigee with tp colophon is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Jones, Dennis Merritt, author. Title: The art of abundance : ten rules for a prosperous life / Dennis Merritt Jones. Description: First Edition. | New York : TarcherPerigee, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references. | Identifiers: LCCN 2018001581 (print) | LCCN 2018002766 (ebook) | ISBN 9780399183942 (Ebook) | ISBN 9780399183935 (paperback) Subjects: LCSH: Self-actualization (Psychology) | Happiness. | Success. | BISAC: BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Inspiration & Personal Growth. | SELF-HELP Personal Growth Success. | SELF-HELP Personal Growth Happiness. Classification: LCC BF637.S4 (ebook) | LCC BF637.S4 J666 2018 (print) | DDC 299/.93—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018001581 Cover design: Jason Heuer Cover photograph: Valentyn Volkov / Shutterstock Version_1 This book is dedicated to my parents, Russell and Evelyn Jones, who, by example, demonstrated that a prosperous life is evidenced, first and foremost, by an abundance of love. CONTENTS ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE ART OF ABUNDANCE TITLE PAGE COPYRIGHT DEDICATION CHAPTER ONE A Life Worth Living CHAPTER TWO Rule 1: Be One with Life CHAPTER THREE Rule 2: Be Aware You Live in an Expanding Universe CHAPTER FOUR Rule 3: Be Accountable for Your Consciousness CHAPTER FIVE Rule 4: Be Focused CHAPTER SIX Rule 5: Be in the Flow CHAPTER SEVEN Rule 6: Be Passionate CHAPTER EIGHT Rule 7: Be Blessed CHAPTER NINE Rule 8: Be of Service CHAPTER TEN Rule 9: Be Courageous CHAPTER ELEVEN Rule 10: Be a Catalyst for Good CHAPTER TWELVE Conclusion RECOMMENDED READING ABOUT THE AUTHOR CHAPTER ONE A Life Worth Living Understanding the Art of Abundance Changes the Rules of Engagement with Life When I think about creating abundance, it’s not about creating a life of luxury for everybody on this planet; it’s about creating a life of possibility. It is about taking that which was scarce and making it abundant. —Peter Diamandis It is my sincere belief that the world doesn’t need yet another self-help guru or prosperity book outlining the latest techniques on how to win the lottery or how to go from rags to riches in twenty-one days . . . or how to manifest the right and perfect job, relationship, or parking space . . . or even how to heal one’s various physical ailments. What the world needs is a new perspective regarding what gives meaning and value to life; to recognize that everyone strives for essentially the same thing. No, it isn’t money or “stuff” on the material plane; it’s something far less tangible and far more rewarding. Behind every thought, deed, and action of every human being of rational mind on this planet is the desire for freedom, inner peace, and a life worth living—a life that is filled with purpose and meaning, a life of fulfillment and wholeness. However, for the majority of the more than seven billion beings who share this planet, the idea that this type of life exists is impossible to conceive. Instead, they hold the erroneous belief that money—or material success—alone will garner the life they desire. This collective belief has been the cause of untold suffering for millennia. If you sit with this idea for a moment, you may discover there is a place within you where this same belief resides. The point is to understand that beyond everything you think you want, what you truly seek is quite basic: a life of wholeness, a life of peaceful satisfaction. The irony is that such a world already exists—but only for those who have eyes to see it and faith to claim it. The problem has been that the majority of humankind doesn’t know where to look for such a life. That is the purpose of this book: to help one open their eyes to the limitless amount of wholeness and abundance that lies waiting just beyond their current belief system. However, it is important to understand at the beginning of this journey that The Art of Abundance is not a book about prosperity; it’s a guidebook to creating wholeness in every area of our lives. Creating a prosperous life is quite different from creating “prosperity.” This is a book about creating a prosperous life—a life worth living—through accessing and utilizing a principle that is as old as the Universe itself: the Principle of Abundance. Throughout this book it will be made clear that there is a distinct delineation between abundance and prosperity; they are more than two different words that many people take to mean the same thing. Robin Williams is quoted as saying, “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” I invite you to embrace his words and open yourself to exploring new and different meanings for the words herein—you may discover new ideas that will modify your perception of the world and deepen your understanding and experience of what living an abundant life really means. My desire is that The Art of Abundance: Ten Rules for a Prosperous Life will speak to your mind and your heart. Not only do I want you to think about abundance and what it means to you, I also want you to experience how you feel about abundance. This is important because behind your feelings you’ll discover your deepest beliefs lurking, often without your awareness, operating incognito. In other words, what you think about abundance may differ greatly from what you deeply believe about abundance and, thus, your ability to demonstrate abundance in your life. An exquisite balance between head and heart—thought and feeling—is required to access the principle of abundance that awaits your awareness and acceptance. The word rule can be used as either a noun or a verb—and both are relevant in the context of this book. The thinking mind is objective and hungers for details. It is always looking for rules to follow; steps to take; a logical, linear process by which to arrive at a goal; the how-tos of getting there. It is for this reason that I offer, within each of the ten Abundance Rules, principles and practices that when followed faithfully will lay the foundation upon which a life worth living can be built. The phrase “practice makes perfect” makes sense; because the mind sometimes tends to wander when learning new things, the practices lay out a clear road map for the mind to follow. As a noun, a rule might