There has been a lot of discussion recently, in light of the
world-sweeping movie The Secret, about the Law of Attraction. As with
all ideas when people first come across it an excitement ripples
through, however the key to using a law like this is perseverance. To
keeping it working in your life after the initial enthusiasm wears off.
Why
does it wear off? Well, we are rather like stately liners at sea, move
the rudder and it still takes a while to change course. It is easy to
get despondent if we cannot see the change of course immediately.
Speaking about this with a few of my clients the main challenge most
people talk about is keeping their thoughts on the positive. It is
challenging when they don’t feel so good, when the day hasn’t gone so
well and it all feels a bit flat. If you read the Teaching of Abraham
with Esther & Jerry Hicks you will soon find out that the Law of
Attraction works for our thoughts as well as many other things in our
life.
If we are thinking sad, angry or frustrated thoughts we
are not going to able to attract happy, joyful blissed out thoughts.
They are too far apart and will jar with where we are right now. We
will be unable to hold them. So, if you wish to use this law to move
your emotional state towards happiness what is it that you can do?
Move
your thoughts one step up the ladder. In other words if you are feeling
angry perhaps you can move to frustrated. Or if you are feeling
frustrated perhaps you could move towards optimistic. Each move up the
ladder then draws more thoughts equal to this vibration. Once you are
in the next vibration the law can then attract the following one. In
this way we can move up the vibrational ladder towards happiness.
I
have found that once you are aware of this idea it doesn’t take much
time to progress. The more you use the Law of Attraction to draw
towards you better and better thoughts, the less time it takes to bring
yourself back into alignment with whatever you are wanting to create in
your life.
So, next time you find yourself in an emotional
state that does not correspond with what you want in your life ask
yourself “what thoughts can I focus on right now? What would move me
towards my goal?” As I say to many people, what have you got to lose?
Plus, there is a large chance you’ll feel happier!
|
|
|
The Trickiness of the Mind… |
|
Have you ever had a really great idea just drop into your mind, one
that would be really fun to do, or an idea of how to address a tricky
situation, or a new way you could be with someone, only to find that
when you wanted to recall it, it had gone?
One of the things I
always say to my coaching clients is to make an instant note of these
insights, these inspired thoughts, or our mind will spirit them away.
It is not enough remembering you had to remember something, the old
‘tie a piece of string around your finger trick’, you have to remember
the details. Two days ago I had a really inspired idea for the blog
and, not following my own rules, didn’t write it down. I can remember
actually saying to myself ‘I don’t need to write it down, it is such a
cool idea I’ll never forget that!” And here I am wracking my brains for
an inkling of what it might have been.
Why does this happen?
Well, it has been my experience that as we grow and evolve as spiritual
beings we also have a part of us, the ego, that does not want us to
change very much. It is very happy with the status quo and feels quite
threatened when we invoke change. It is almost as though it is on the
lookout for any new idea that may involve change and, if it can, will
snatch away the idea and bury it out of sight. This doesn’t mean the
idea you had wasn’t a good one, for example the blog idea was brilliant
- well I thought so :-) but it is sometimes that we simply cannot hang
onto the ideas. They are on the edge of our consciousness, just as we
can’t remember a dream two hours after waking even though it might be
crystal clear when we woke.
So what’s the lesson in all this?
Start to become aware of these drops of wisdom that come into your
mind. And, know your own fallibility and write them down. A couple of
months ago I wrote about the idea of following the One Inspired
Thought. This is a reminder to capture them. You can’t follow them
unless you can remember them. These Inspired Thoughts are often
instrumental for change in your life. They can give you a way forward
when you’re stuck, they can show you that you can create what you wish
for, they can lead you to places you can’t even imagine right now.
So,
carry a notebook with you, have a book by your bed for when you wake up
with a great idea, or just tell someone you trust so they can help you
remember. If you articulate the thought in some way it will stay in
this dimension, if not it might just dissolve, be sneaked away by our
personal saboteur, or be lost in the busi-ness of life. Capture it, act
on it and see your world change.
|
|
|
Take 100% Responsibility for your Life |
|
This idea is not a new one but it has been talked about a lot recently
in light of the DVD The Secret and many other presentations in the
media etc.
I was listening to a Jack Canfield recording and he
told a great story that I feel answered the question that is often
asked “How can I take responsibility for something that happens to me?”
An earthquake wiped out a freeway into Los Angles a while ago
and driving into the city was horrible, long queues moving nowhere.
During the chaos a local TV interviewed two people. One guy was
complaining and arguing about the situation. All he could do was blame
and he was very upset and having a terrible day. The second guy was
sitting in his car very content. He had brought food and coffee, had a
book to read and music to listen to, a warm rug in case it got cold. He
had left home at 5.00am so he felt he had done all he could to get to
work and that his boss couldn’t have asked more of him. He was dealing
with the situation with calm forethought and a happy demeanour.
This
simple story illustrates that you can take full responsibility in the
way that you respond to a situation. After all, the dictionary
definition of responsibility is 'the ability to respond’. The guy who
was happy with his situation was dealing with the same set of
circumstances that the guy who was unhappy. He had just responded
differently. Instead of being the victim of the traffic jam he had done
everything he could to ensure his experience was going to be ok. He had
taken responsibility for his life in that moment.
Each time we
complain/blame or are resentful about something or someone we are not
taking responsibility for our lives. We can choose to act differently.
We can choose to see the best in every situation, and respond
accordingly.
I was contemplating this for a few days when I
received some mail in the post in which one of my tax forms had been
wrongly presented. Now it wasn’t my ‘fault’ I had actually filled them
in correctly, but still I now had to deal with the fallout. In Spain, a
foreign country and foreign language this is not the easiest. In the
past this would have driven me mad and I would have spent the most part
of a day bitching and complaining about the incompetence of everyone
else but me! However, because I had been focusing on taking 100%
responsibility I remembered, and in that moment chose to respond
differently. I was calm, did not get angry and just worked out what I
had to do and who I needed to talk with to sort it out. I have to
report that never, in all the five years I have lived here has my
experience with Spanish Officialdom been so easy. I responded with
ease, and so did the tax office. By taking responsibility for my life
in that moment I create a far better scenario than my blame/complain
attitude of the past would have done.
Where in your life do you
blame? Where are you holding resentment? What do you complain about? If
you do any of these things you are not taking 100% responsibility.
Until we do we cannot be the master of our lives. Fancy giving it a
try? You have nothing to lose and, from my experience, a lot to gain.
Your world is in your hands.
|
|
|
I was having this kind of grappling conversation on the net today with
a friend about the ego and why it was how it was, and was it an
illusion, and why do we have it, what is it’s purpose and maybe we
should just get rid of it!
I was reminded of a story I heard
from Ramakrishna, a highly respected Indian saint who lived in the
1800’s. He saw the ego as the coachman, and the Soul as the owner of a
coach and horses. Because the coachman (ego) cannot see the owner of
the coach (soul) sitting quietly inside he believes he is totally in
charge. However, as the owner gradually but firmly makes himself known,
the coachman, maybe reluctantly at first, relinquishes and drops the
fantasy of control and eventually becomes content with the role of
servant. It is the same with us. Our ego is sure that it totally runs
our show, but gradually as we become more aware of our spiritual
nature, our Soul, we can choose to come from our heart rather than be
at the mercy of our egoistic responses. When this happens, the ego
becomes a useful and essential tool for getting things done in the
world.
To experience this physical world we need the right
tools; the ego is one. As we follow our spiritual path, whichever it
is, it leads us towards the knowing of our true Self, it helps purify
the mind, and thus the ego. We become more aware of our divine nature.
This does not destroy the ego but rather allows us to see it for what
it is and no longer believe it is who we are.
A second part of
the conversation was why? Why have this illusion, this ego, this
separation? Big Question. Short answer – because only in this dimension
of duality can God experience God. In the spiritual realm there is only
One, and so the polar opposites, good/bad, right/wrong, hot/cold,
love/fear cannot be experienced. The desire of the Universe to
experience everything created the Universe as we know it. Our journey
is the one back to the Oneness. That Oneness we see when we look deeply
into someone’s eyes.
Whose eyes are looking out of today? The
ego’s or the Self? Can you shift your focus to see the illusion, to see
the truth? Can you revel in the play of this Universe?
|
|
 I have a quite a few conversations recently with my clients about the
concept of “everybody”. The ‘everybody’ I am talking about is the
‘everybody’ that is in our mind that acts as our internal censor.
The
“What will everybody think is if change my job again?”
“What will everybody say if I stop going to weight-watchers?”
“What will everybody do if I don’t fall in and do what they all want?”
Somewhere
along the line we have empowered this everybody panel and they stand in
judgement of us, censoring our thoughts, actions and decisions. We need
their approval before we will do anything. Most often this is
completely subconscious, we don’t consciously hand over our power, but
it is what happens.
Once we start to become aware of our
‘everybody’ we can then start to make some changes. Take a moment, who
is in your ‘everybody’ panel? Whose approval are you always trying to
gain? Who is the person or people in your life that you feel most
judged by? Now these people may or may not actually judge you,
sometimes we can just think they do. But the main point is whether they
do or not you are the one who can change this.
You can fire
them from your ‘everybody’ panel. You can decide that you no longer
need them to be your approval group. You can decide to take back your
power and stand up, responsible for your world. One of my clients
realised that he didn’t even have real people in his panel; it was
simply ‘the world’. Once he saw this he could also see how it had no
foundation, and could start to reclaim his decisions. Becoming aware of
this pattern in your life is the first step to change.
If you
truly wish to step out from under your ‘everybody’s’, start with the
small stuff. Begin with a situation where it doesn’t feel like life and
death, but more like testing the water. I realised when I first started
living from my heart rather than letting ‘them’ make my decisions, that
most often it was fine. If I truly spoke up and said what I wanted to
do and owned the decision a lot of people in my ‘everybody’ panel, who
I thought would disapprove, actually got it and said – ‘we only want
you to be happy’. It was a revelation.
So who are you
empowering, who's in your 'everybody' panel? Do you want them there? Or
is today the day you start the process of change? Why not make today
the day you put only your unconditional cheerleader up there – YOU.
|
|
|
