Last week, I went to a wedding with a few friends. Our table was at the very back. We joked about being the misfits and laughed it off.

Until it was time for cake.

Unlike the buffet-style dinner, waiters were delivering beautiful pieces of cake to each table. As I was talking to a friend at another table, I even helped one of them pass a couple of plates around.

Then I went back to my table and I noticed our table and a few others hadn’t received any cake yet. The waiters had stopped serving and the dance music had begun.

Some of the tables were *very* concerned. Did the kitchen run out of cake?! Surely not.

We talked to one waiter. And then another. Neither knew what had happened. Maybe all of the cake was gone after all.

Our table shrugged it off and hit the dance floor. But others actually seemed disappointed. Or maybe it was concern. In any case, it had become a thing.

Then, within a few moments someone pointed to a table at the corner of the venue. There it was — cake for days. Plates and plates of cake. There were even leftovers at the end of the night. Joyful wedding vibes were restored all around.

What’s your cake?

Is there something you’ve been wanting – something that feels scarce? Other people seem to be getting it, but you’re not. Maybe it’s money? Time? Success? Career growth? And the more you look for it, the scarcer it seems.

Whatever it is, maybe there’s more of it than you think. And if that were true, what would you do next? How would it impact how you move through the rest of your day and week?

Scarcity leads to obligation, desperation, and resentment. Abundance leads to choice, joy, and generosity.

And it all begins with a shift in mindset.

PS: The idea of “abundance mindset” was popularized by Stephen Covey in his 1989 book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," in which he contrasted it with a scarcity mindset. But it dates back much further to ancient spiritual and philosophical traditions that emphasized the importance of cultivating a mindset of abundance and gratitude. It’s now part of our experiences focused on Resilience and Management.