One of the most vexing parts of living in physical reality is the fact that reality appears to be fixed and constant, and this means resources are limited. If what you see is what you get, then reality is already created and there is only so much of it. 
In a traditional worldview where energy reality is absent and the only reality is physical reality, there is only so much water, only so much oil, so much land, so much money, and on and on. This means that if you have more, then I have less, and vice verse. Unless we are incredibly wealthy, we are constantly bemoaning our lack of just about everything.
As a result of these limited resources, we have created a culture where competition is not only the norm, but the approved and expected way of providing food for our tables and roofs over our heads. And all too often, this competitive drive results in a cutthroat kind of capitalism where many are hurt so few can gain.
While it is easy to deplore this state of affairs and wish, and even strive for, a more equitable way of distributing resources, we should also keep in mind that limitation has its value. Limitation is almost always the underlying ground of creativity, and a necessary prod for expanding our potential.
Just think about the times you’ve been your most creative. For me, it has almost always been when I have lacked something I needed. As a very poor graduate student, I found that buying discounted vegetables and making a huge pot of soup on Sunday would give me more than enough good food for the week ahead. Whether it was making a fish hook from a paperclip or fashioning a bookcase from three baskets turned on their sides and fastened to the wall, my creativity was able to turn lack into abundance at the very least, and great design and aesthetic pleasure at the most.
I have to admit, I had a great teacher in a foster grandparent on whose farm I worked in the summer as a teenager. Whenever a machine or a fence or anything broke or needed to be replaced, rather than go to town, my grandfather simply rummaged around the farm, picked up this and that, and before long, the problem was fixed.
This creativity was exercised not only on simple necessities like plumbing and construction, but on his more complex hobbies that included a Model T and a small plane. Through watching him, I came to understand that limitation often leads to the most ingenious solutions and discoveries.
If it weren’t for lack or limitation, or running down a blind alley, we would not be forced to find new ways of doing things, explore unfamiliar avenues and/or try new flavors. If you are hungry, lots of things taste good that might not have tasted good before. When confronted by necessity, we are pushed beyond our comfort limits, forced out of the boxes we have made for ourselves, and exposed to vistas not available to us previously.
This principle can be seen especially well in the arts. The painter’s challenge is the fact that his canvas only has two dimensions. How can s/he create the illusion of three dimensions with this limitation?
In fact, artists often give themselves limitations just to make their work more interesting and creative. I know a quilter who purposely uses only saved scraps of cloth from other projects just like her grandmother, even though she could easily buy whatever kind and however much material she wanted. For her, the process of quilt making is much more creative because she has limited herself this way.
I also know of an African artist who limits himself to working solely with caps and metal neck rings from bottles. From these cast-off items he creates three dimensional, woven fabric-like sculptures of breathtaking beauty that cover entire museum walls. The creativity in his art forms is truly amazing because the items he creates with are not only common trash, but limited to only two small shapes.
If you’re an artist (and everybody is), limitation can actually be fun. But even if you think you’re not an artist, when it seems like you’re at the end of the road, it’s very helpful to realize the important role of lack and limitation in getting us to expand and actualize our potentials. Limitation forces us to move beyond what we think is possible.
Maybe that’s what physical reality is all about.
For more on the energy realm, see my book, It’s All About Energy: Adventures in Expanded Reality”, available on Amazon, in local bookstores and on my website: www.transformationalexpansion.com