In times of great economic fluctuations and uncertainty, it is our nature to contract,  pull in, look for cover, and try to ride out the storm. We often wait and try not to make changes, holding on tight to our present way of life until the storm passes. If we know that a storm will only last for a day or two, we are confident that we can ride it out. But even when the world is in a period of great change and the storm has no end in sight, pulling in, contracting, holding tight and waiting is still not the best way to deal with the situation at hand.

There is an old saying that “God never closes a door without opening a window.” But if you are pulled in, holding on and hiding,  it is hard to see exactly where a window is from which you can fly.

When you are not sure what to do or where to go, begin by going inward and examining not only where you are, but how you got there and who you became in the process. This is a time when you must look to yourself to see where you are on your “How much do I love myself?” meter.  Follow that up by checking in on how much you really loved the life you were living before the storm.

When the duties and activities that have been constantly sucking in your time and energy suddenly seem to have either gone away, are no longer available, or are no longer practical, recognize how their absence has given you back the wonderful gift of time.

How often in the past, did you complain because you never had the time to do the things you wanted to do?  If it wasn’t work,  your time was over committed because of family,  personal,  social,  or business obligations.  For many, with the tightening of the economy,  those obligations are no longer affordable.  Tough choices had to be made, or were made for you.  The question is – what are you going to fill that time with?  Look around YOU,  maybe you are not the only one that suddenly has more time.

Is your life partner more available as well? Are your children no longer taking as many lessons or participating in after school activities five days a week? Or maybe it’s a good friend or a treasured sibling. Yours is not the only world that is changing in all this upheaval, so who can you spend more “together time” with?

Think back on when you were a child and the things you loved to do,  when the world was not quite so chaotic.  Is it a discovery time? Now you have more time not only to explore yourself and your neglected interests, hobbies and passions, but the people who are important in your life. Sure, you can all sit around with your family or friends and take turns complaining about how unfair everything is and then do mind numbing activities like sit around and zone out to the TV, or you might all go into your respect corners to play games on the computer with occasional breaks to complain how unfair it is, but why would you want to?  Doesn’t sound like much fun, does it?  Or you can take this opportunity,  as you learn yourself, to teach your children, how to deal positively with tough times.  You can discover ways to have fun,  be connected and enjoy yourself – ways that cost nothing more than time and effort.

The more you are able to rediscover your passions, learn to love yourself and love others in new, different and more intense ways, and allow yourself to see where your passions take you, the more you will discover that abundance, in many different and unexpected ways, will start to flow into your life.

Release your attachments as to how things need to look, or should look, so that you can see all the different windows of abundance and the many opportunities God is offering you.

Love,  love,  and love more,  in all of its flows and all of its aspects, and within those flows, you will find the flows of abundance.

So if God has closed doors in your life or if  things are not working for you the way you might want them to, Go find  windows that God has opened  JUST for you as a result of the doors He allowed to close in your life! Some of your biggest blessings and your best days ahead will be in the new and open windows that God has opened and prepared just for YOU!