Wild Abundance: What Nature Teaches Me About Wealth

Nature is wired for extraordinary abundance.

Sometimes, however, it's easy to forget that. We live in a world that constantly reminds us of scarcity—there are times where it seems there's not enough money, not enough time, not enough resources, not enough to go around for everyone. Yet whenever I step outside and observe nature, it tells a very different story.

Recently, I came across something that really fascinated me. In a 2015 study, Anna Armstrong and her team estimated there are more trees on earth than stars in our galaxy. It's almost impossible to comprehend. But, perhaps that hints at the incredible abundance that can be found on our planet.

I have several fruit trees on my property in the Currumbin Ecovillage. And every year they produce hundreds of fruit. When the fruit ripens, there's far more than I could ever eat. The fruit- bats feast on them. Other wildlife enjoy what falls to the ground. Friends and neighbours leave with bags full. And then, before you know it, it's all gone. Another season has passed.

Perhaps there's a lesson in this…Nature doesn't just teach abundance. It teaches preservation.

Most of us are taught to focus on acquiring more. More money. More success. The next milestone. The next investment. The next achievement that promises that this will somehow make me complete…and abundant.

However, growing wealth without learning to preserve it is like trying to fill a leaking vessel. You can keep pouring more and more into it, but it never becomes full enough to overflow. The answer isn't always to gather more. 

The old saying, "Make hay while the sun shines," carries a certain wisdom that speaks to this. There are seasons for growing, seasons for harvesting, seasons for storing, and seasons for drawing on what we've carefully preserved.

Nature understands this instinctively.

Seeds can lay dormant for lengthy periods. Water can be held in certain soils. Some animals gather food before their harsh winters. 

We often pray for abundance, but nature shows us that abundance comes with responsibility. A harvest isn't the end of the story; it's the beginning of stewardship. How do we honour it? How do we care for it? How do we make it last? Because, ultimately, seasons change.

Living with this awareness requires a shift in perspective. Instead of seeing life through the lens of scarcity or endless acquisition, we begin to recognise the quiet abundance that already surrounds us. Gratitude naturally follows, and with gratitude comes stewardship.

Perhaps that's why spending time in nature feels so restorative. It reminds us of something we've always known but often forget.

Life isn't constantly asking us to chase more.

It's inviting us to recognise what we already have, to care for it wisely, and to protect & preserve it, so that abundance can continue to flow.

Armstrong, A. Forest ecology: Three trillion trees. Nature Plants 1, 15154 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2015.154 

If you like this reflection and would like to follow my deep dive into nature, please subscribe to my newsletter on the bottom of my home page. I promise to respect your inbox - I only send these out once a month.