Is it “Back to School” already? It is in the Target dollar aisle. From apple adorned hand towels to unicorn erasers and highlighters in the form of nail polish, you’d be wise to stock up now since next week it will surely be time to say, “Hello Fall.” Oh the thrill of this aisle! It’s brilliant. I’m a sucker for the season. Every. Time.

But these thrills are often left in my storage room being saved for some contingency plan I’m still not completely sure of…Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of great finds I have proudly purchased from this aisle. I fully intend to use my hair wrap any day now—but this happiness is temporary. I started seeing a few more dollars in my bank account when I stopped shopping in the dollar aisle—all those dollars add up as it turns out. I figured out how to enjoy being inspired by this aisle instead of buying into it (and from it). Suitably so, this discovery hit me when deciding if I needed an adorable banner that read, “Make a Wish.” It was only a dollar…

If you had three wishes, what would you wish for? I ask my students this, and nearly every one of them spends at least one wish on money—a million dollars, a billion…and if a particular amount isn’t specified, the “money wish” usually comes in the form of some other expensive “thing.”

I’m amused at the diversity of responses I receive from college students ranging from the desire to have “stuff,” more “stuff” and expensive “stuff” to having close friends, more time—that time is usually allocated for more fun, and to be successful, though that term seems to be yet another form of wishing for money.

When I was a kid, I used to wish that every time I reached into my pocket, I’d always have the exact amount for whatever I was buying. I thought I had figured out a way to outsmart my wishes or whoever was hypothetically granting them, but what I discovered without knowing it was how to tap into the abundance that is always available to all of us. With the help of some wise words, I realized abundance is a state of mind. I discovered how deep my pockets truly are, and you can too with these five abundance hacks (no purchase necessary):

Abundance Hack #1: “Stuff”

Persian poet, Rumi reminds us, “The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.”

One way to think about these words is:

The less stuff you buy, the more you are able to create.

I watch my children play throughout the day, and I most enjoy their ability to imagine anything they desire into being through nothing more than their imaginations. A cup is transformed into a telescope, a cage for bad guys, a vase, or a bug container. I have used this inspiration in public speaking in hopes of awakening the dormant imagination in my students. Students are so bombarded with information, they often need a little nudge to pretend again. I have them prepare impromptu speeches using items often inspired my children to sell the audience on how many uses their given item is capable of beyond its original purpose. I am delighted by what they come up. In fact, most of my time teaching public speaking centers on strengthening my students’ imaginations. I love nothing more than watching my students pretend in the same way my children do.

Whenever I “need” something, I like to look around at all of what is already available to me, and I almost never run out of ideas. This is the power of the creativity our imagination supplies, and its supply is never ending, no matter how much we “take” from it. I am reminded by this every time I think I have to buy something—I think, would my children stop playing if they didn’t have what they “needed?” Of course not! Just like children, we tend to well with a good dose of imagination. Imagination is the home of inspiration.

Abundance Hack #2: “Time”

Plato proclaimed, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

Second to the money wish, the other sought after scarce resource is time. Since we need time, we need to invent ways to find it. We invented time, after all, so it seems possible to create more of it when needed. What if every time you reached into your pocket you could pull out the time you needed—five minutes here, a half hour there…pockets of time, what a concept! The hack here is that this already exists. It’s not more time we need insofar as our perception of time needs readjusted. There are so many pockets of time we’re missing in the day. We’re losing time in search of it. As a working mom of three with a passion to write and speak, and still have time for a social life, I often get asked, “Where do you find the time?” Find it? I don’t know that I find the time to do all of these things as much as I realize the control we actually have over our time. Time only feels like a limited resource when you don’t treat it like the old proverb suggesting, “There is no time like the present.” This is often interpreted to encourage us to stop putting off something, but I think it’s even simpler than that. I think it’s quite literal, meaning, there is no time except the present. Presence can stretch out even a minute. I take full advantage of this every time I’m gifted a pocket of time. Grabbing clothes from the dryer—pocket of time. Walking from the back of car after loading groceries and kiddos to the front of it—pocket of time. My eyes opening before the sounds of my children greet them—pocket of time. Long checkout line—pocket of time. Traffic—you get the idea. I have managed to stretch out so much of my time with this simple awareness—there is no time like the present. This awareness does not change how much time you have in a day, but it absolutely does change your perception of who’s in control of that time—you are! You decide all day long what to do in those pockets, and I have become pretty picky about how to spend that time. If I have a pocket, I decide how to spend it. There is no wrong way to spend your time as long as you’re present in the decision of how to use it. So shower, do some work, check Instagram, fold a load of clothes, close your eyes, do whatever makes you feel like you’re getting the most out of your time, and you will feel its abundance. When you are in control of your time instead of feeling like time is controlling you, you will be amazed not only at how much you accomplish but more importantly, how good you feel about it. I rarely think anymore, I could have done more today (a previous anxiety inducing thought). I now think, I’m out of time today, and I feel good about what I got “done.”

Abundance Hack #3: “Connection”

Aristotle argued, “Without friends, no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.”

Rudimentary to our existence, we have a need to belong, to connect to people. The philosophical question “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” I would argue the answer to this is no. We exist in relationship to one another. If I’m funny, it’s because you laugh– is a different way of thinking about it. We need each other, plain and simple. I am astounded by the number of students who sit through an entire semester with the same group of people and never talk to each other. In my classes, we bring the chatter back. I love waiting outside my door a few minutes before class and listening to the sounds of a connected classroom. This doesn’t take long to achieve either. We are hard wired to connect to others, so given the playing ground to do so, we do it rather quickly and fairly well.

Oscar Wilde wrote, “Ultimately, the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.”

It is so much fun talking to people. Talk to people when it feels right, and you will be surprised at who may reveal the message you’ve been in search of. There is an abundance of connection all around us, but it is up to us whether or not we plug into it.

Abundance Hack #4: “Fun”

Known as the “prince of paradox,” G. K. Chesterton revealed, “The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.”

How about a little heaven on Earth? Surely we can accomplish this, and one way to do it is treat the world as your playground. Here again, I’m inspired by my children. A waiting room can be heaven or hell depending on how we perceive it…if we’re tapped into our imagination, we will find ourselves tapped into the abundant opportunities to play all around us, much like children do. A waiting room is no more than another pocket of time, and you get to choose how to spend it. Another way to have fun is to be all in. Being “all in” is a mindset. It means no matter what you are doing, be fully present and you are sure to have fun. If it’s a costume party, wear a costume. Even in the most unpleasant situations, you will be amazed at the underlying humor that will turn your scoff into a good laugh with nothing more than a switch of your perception. I think we are intended to enjoy life, to have fun, to play. When the whole world is your playground, you see the world the way children do, and most children when unhampered (not prevented from this view) seem to be having a lot of fun.

Abundance Hack #5: “Love”

Stoic philosopher, Seneca said, “One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.”

A few years ago, I came across an article, I believe written by a psychology professor, who made a connection between how we treat each other to a bumper sticker that reads something like “New Driver. Patience Please.” The author argued we are more patient/forgiving when we see this bumper sticker because we operate from an understanding of the person driving. The connection made was that all people wear imaginary bumper stickers: Just divorced. Lost my dog. Lost my job. Debilitating pain…you get the idea. How differently we would perceive these people if their “bumper stickers” were visible. The argument here is one of understanding, and we are in no shortage of this, we just have to decide to see it. See a person’s struggle, and you will instantly understand that person. Just like you have probably thought before, if that person only knew what I’m going through/have been through.

When a student comes to me with something going on in their life preventing them from completing an assignment, I find myself often saying, I appreciate that, and what I’m saying to them is I understand. This leads me to believe understanding and appreciation are the closest words we have for explaining the concept of love. I’m not alone in thinking appreciation and love are one in the same. “I appreciate that” means “I understand that.” Wanting to be understood is the same as wanting to be appreciated. And these feelings are the same as wanting to be loved, to feel love. When you see the struggle a person carries, it takes very little effort to appreciate where they’re coming from. It does not always mean you will agree with someone or even like to be around that person. It simply means you understand them. You understand why they are the way they are, do what they do…etc. I do not like when my toddler throws an epic tantrum, but I understand when he has no other way of getting his emotions out. I do not like when someone is unkind or rude, but I understand their actions likely have nothing to do with me, and that understanding allows my love for people to be unconditional. This is where forgiveness comes from too. Forgiveness in a grand sense is understanding. A friend to all may mean nothing more than being someone in the world who sees all of those invisible bumper stickers people are wearing. It’s like a super power, transforming every transaction as one rich in opportunity to understand another human being. This is when we experience love, and there is a wealth of exploration here…over 7.5 billion opportunities according to the last world population count.

If I had three wishes now, I’d wish for health, happiness, and people to share both of those things with.

Of course, money provides more freedom, but without the aforementioned, what good is that freedom? The next time you make that Target run, don’t go through the dollar aisle looking for something. Go through it (and life) knowing all that you need is already in your pocket, and go for the surprise of what you might find. From this view, you’ll be inspired by what you find rather than swindled by the season. That kind of thrill is sustainable.