Picture the most joyful person you know. What does her face look like when she smiles? What kind of energy does he seem to give off when you stand nearby?

Now, picture the most negative person you know. What do her eyes look like? Does she say “no” more often than “yes?” Does he always seem to talk about life as if he’s missing out on some secret?

When it comes right down to it, we have two choices for living. The first is from a place of abundance. From this vantage point, the world is full of joyful possibilities. Problems exist, but we choose to keep moving forward no matter how slow the pace or how difficult the circumstances. The second is from a place of deficit. There always seems to be something lacking. We’ve been left out, again. We’re mired in real and imagined problems that just leave us stuck right where we are.

Sound familiar? We all know someone from each side of this street, and we know people who are both (including ourselves). Here’s what I know for sure . . . our natural state is one of abundance. Living from a place of deficit is something we pick up along the way that gets in our way. The good news? Each one of us has the power to find the way back toward living in a world full of possibilities. We just need to trust ourselves.

Children are great examples of our natural state of abundance. Think about a child learning to walk. At first, she realizes that by standing up, she can get at a whole new world. Pretty soon, standing up isn’t enough to experience that interesting world and she sees something she wants to touch that’s just out of reach. Still unsure about what to do, she reaches out with the top half of her body while her bottom half stays still. She loses balance and falls. Soon, the lure of the unknown beckons and she stands up again. This time when she stretches out her hand, her feet inadvertently move, and she gets closer to her target. With practice (and a few more falls), she keeps inching forward and eventually takes her first steps.

Science can cite many valid reasons why the milestone of walking takes place. I’m not a scientist. I believe that a child’s innate curiosity nurtures a natural state of trust that what they’re trying to do will work out somehow. Barriers exist, but they’re typically not showstoppers (unless imminent danger is present, and someone intervenes). Children learn to walk because it’s the next way they can satisfy their curiosity about the world around them. They don’t wait for someone else to do it for them.

It’s important to ask for and receive help and support. After all, a child doesn’t learn to walk alone. And, we aren’t meant to live our lives in isolation. Somewhere along the way, though, we stop trusting that we have a starring role to play in finding our own unique path forward. We convince ourselves that our job, degree, relationships, and possessions are the keys to a life of abundance. We try to follow in the footsteps of those who have come before us and seemed like they had it all together. We stop being curious. We focus on our barriers. We grieve over what we think we lack. We stop trusting ourselves.

My biggest wish is that one day, we realize that abundance celebrates the person we’re constantly becoming. It comes first from our own sense of discovery and hope. It allows us to trust that we’re right where we need to be in each stage of our life. It doesn’t start in the hands of other people. It’s always been in our own.