Your Brain is Wired to See What's Missing. This Prosperity Practice Changes That
I got life…
Your brain is doing exactly what it was designed to do: scanning for problems, threats, and what's not working. This negativity bias kept our ancestors alive by staying alert to real dangers, including systemic oppression and injustice that we still face today.
But here's what happens: sometimes our brains stay locked in survival mode even when we have more choice than we realize. We become so focused on what's missing that we lose sight of what's actually here.
The good news? Just like our brains naturally build neural pathways toward negativity and scarcity, we can learn to interrupt that process and build something different - pathways toward prosperity and possibility.
What is a Prosperity Practice?
A practice is something we return to again and again, rewiring our brain's default programming through repetition. Prosperity practices are designed to remind us that prosperity isn't something external we chase. It's something that lives within us, something we have to cultivate and grow.
Think of it as training your attention. Instead of defaulting to lack, you're learning to recognize abundance - not the kind that ignores real struggles, but the kind that sees what's actually present alongside those challenges.
The Practice: Stop Looking at What's Missing
Here's how this works in real life: When Connection Feels Lacking
We're often looking at what's not there...
"That person didn't call today"...but who did reach out?
"I'm not where I want to be in life"...but where are you right now? What have you built so far? What small victory happened today that you almost missed?
When Money Feels Scarce
"I don't have the bank account I want."
Financial stress is real and heavy, especially in these times. And in this moment, what support do you have? In what ways are your needs being met? What resources do you actually have access to?
This isn't about dismissing financial pressure - it's about recognizing that even in difficult circumstances, we're rarely starting from absolute zero.
Learning from Nina Simone
Or you may find yourself saying "I have nothing." One of my favorite Nina Simone songs is a masterclass in how to shift from scarcity into prosperity.
In "I Ain't Got No/I Got Life," she starts where many of us live - cataloging everything missing, everything we lack. But then something shifts. She takes you on a journey from that familiar place of "not enough" to discovering what's been there all along: life itself. The life flowing through her body. She captures that transformation perfectly - I ain't got no, but I got life.
Returning to Your Senses
When was the last time...
You paused to notice the breath in your body?
The sun kissing your skin?
The scent of something beautiful?
The sound of laughter nearby?
When was the last time you sensed your existence, the fact that you have life?
These aren't just nice thoughts - they're doorways back to recognizing what's present. Your body, your breath, your capacity to experience beauty - these are forms of wealth that exist independent of your circumstances.
Reframing Common Struggles
"I don't have the relationship I want." What moments of connection have you experienced recently? What relationships, however small, bring you comfort?
"I'm not where I want to be in my career." What skills are you building right now? What are you learning in this season?
"I feel like I'm behind in life." What small steps have you taken that you're not giving yourself credit for?
The Shift
This is how we shift out of scarcity consciousness. Stop looking at what's missing and start asking different questions. The prosperity practice isn't about getting more - it's about seeing what's already here. It's not about pretending everything is perfect or ignoring real challenges. It's about training your brain to notice the full picture: both what you're working toward and what you already have access to.Every time you ask these different questions, you're literally rewiring your neural pathways. You're teaching your brain that there's more than one way to look at any situation.
Ready to Reimagine Prosperity?
If you're ready to transform your relationship with yourself and create the structures that support your healing, I offer guidance through:
1:1 Prosperity Guidance - Personalized support as you remember your wholeness and create the structures that honor your truth.
Prosperity Clarity Session - A single session to explore what healing means for you and the care you deserve as you transform your relationship with yourself.
"Who Are You?" 6-Week Group Program - Beginning January 2026. Journey with others who are also returning home to themselves, integrating all parts, and remembering they were never broken.
About the Author:
Joy Long is a mother, writer, healing artist, ecotherapist and prosperity guide devoted to remembering wholeness in a world shaped by fragmentation. She is the founder of Whole with Joy, a healing movement rooted in embodiment, Earth wisdom, and joy.
Joy’s journey has moved through community mental health, private practice, ecotherapy, movement, ritual, and creative expression. It has also been shaped by years of travel and learning across the African diaspora, the Americas, and other land-based cultures, where the wisdom of place, the centrality of rhythm and movement, and ancestral ways of knowing deepened her understanding of what it means to live in right relationship with self, community, and Earth. Motherhood, ancestral memory, and a lifelong relationship with nature continue to shape both her work and her way of being.
Rooted in earth-based spirituality, somatic healing, attachment healing, and Black feminist and eco-womanist traditions, Joy creates spaces for people to reconnect with themselves, each other, and the living world. Through individual prosperity work, organizational wellness consulting, and community healing offerings, her work invites a remembering: that prosperity is not something we earn, but something we embody when we return home to who we are together, with dignity, pleasure, and power.