Closing or Opening the Barn Door

This week in our reading of "Abundance Now" in the Emerge Book Circle, we are focusing on relationships, as the author, Lisa Nichols, believes that true abundance comes not from our bank account, but from our relationships.

Today, I invite you to reflect on our own relationships using this story from the book "The Wisdom of the Shamans" by Don Jose Ruiz:

A long time ago, there lived two neighboring families. They had always been kind to one another. Both families farmed their own food, but one year one of that family's crops was damaged by a fire. 

He went to his longtime neighbor and said, "Is it possible that I could get some of your crop to feed my family? And could I have some seed to start up again next year?"

The neighbor replied, "Yes, of course, my barn is open. You can take whatever you need for your family?"

That winter he took what he needed to feed his family, as well as seed to plant his own crops again. The following year the family's field completely recovered from the fire, and they had the most bountiful harvest ever. In fact, their crop was so huge that he began selling his extra vegetables and seeds at the market. But he sold so much that he again ran short for his family. However, since his neighbor's barn was open, he decided that he would just continue to take crops from his neighbor. 

This continued for a long time, with the farmer helping himself to his neighbor's open barn in order to feed his family. Finally, one day, he went to get some food from the neighbor's barn and found that it was locked. He knocked on his neighbor's door and asked, "What happened? Why did you close the barn on me?"

And the neighbor replied, "I didn't close it. You closed it. You closed it because you took advantage of my gifts." 

When it comes to your relationships, where are you taking advantage of an open door? Where might you benefit from closing the door?

I would love to hear from you.

In possibility,

Theresa