Earlier this year I was on a marketing call that was so much more than a marketing call! It was more about getting rid of clutter and getting to the bottom of who we really are.
The speaker introduced me to this powerful 4-word question: "So I can what?" Use it over and over again until you find out what is really important to you. For example, if you say that money is important to you, you would follow it up with "So I can what?" If you say spend more time with your family, then again you would follow it up with "So I can what?" You keep asking this over and over until you get to the very bottom of what you want.
In my case, I got to "connecting with people," and couldn't think of an answer to the question, even though I was pretty sure I could go deeper. He advised me to just stay with that answer for a while and keep asking myself the magic question until I got an aha! After the call, I got the aha! and was able to go down even deeper! I love connecting with people so I can share knowledge! I love to teach and to learn, and that is what gets me really, really excited! Now I will stay with "teach and learn," and perhaps one day I will have another aha! and go even deeper!
The cool thing is that when you get that deep inside you, you realize that what you really, really want, you already have! And it will be something that will always be with you -- and cannot be bought or sold with money. It will not depend on popularity or on others agreeing with you. It is who you are at the very core!
The closer you get to who you really are, the less fear you will have in your life! How cool is that?
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Magic Question - Part 2 of 3
Many of us spend a lot of our lives in resistance. We are pushing so hard against what we don't want that we are actually creating it! You may even know that you are in resistance, but you don't know how to get out of it!
Resistance often leads to self-judgment or judging others. I had an experience where I was really feeling bad about a particular relationship in my life; in fact, I was beating myself up because of these bad feelings I have been carrying these past years. Finally I backed up and said, "Isn't it interesting that I feel this way about this person?" Immediately, all resistance, stress, judgment, and negative emotion left me. We know that "that which we resist, persists," but that concept had never been so clear to me as it was on that day.
And the magic question that dispelled the resistance was "Isn't it interesting that...?" It totally allowed me to look at the situation in a different light. And then I followed it up with the first magic question: "How can I...?" "What can I do differently...?"
For example: "Isn't it interesting that my son always pushes my buttons?" "Isn't it interesting that I have 6 hours' worth of work, and only 3 hours to accomplish it?" "Isn't it interesting that I got upset when that driver cut me off?" "Isn't it interesting that I need $1,000 for an unexpected bill, and I don't have any extra money in my account?"
And then when you've removed the resistance and judgment, it's easier to follow those questions up with "How can I have a peaceful and fulfilling relationship with my son?" [spend time with him doing things he enjoys] "How can I accomplish 6 hours' worth of work in the next 3 hours?" [Maybe some of it can be done another day; maybe some of it can be delegated; maybe a simpler process will come to you] "How can I be at peace while I drive?" "How can I attract an extra $1,000 in the next couple of months?" [Maybe I can do a week-long summer camp for Preschoolers or elementary school students - or drama - or dance - or piano]
It's been fun to see how "interesting" my problems really are!
I'm curious to see how it works for you, too! Won't it be "interesting" to see if it works for you, too?
Resistance often leads to self-judgment or judging others. I had an experience where I was really feeling bad about a particular relationship in my life; in fact, I was beating myself up because of these bad feelings I have been carrying these past years. Finally I backed up and said, "Isn't it interesting that I feel this way about this person?" Immediately, all resistance, stress, judgment, and negative emotion left me. We know that "that which we resist, persists," but that concept had never been so clear to me as it was on that day.
And the magic question that dispelled the resistance was "Isn't it interesting that...?" It totally allowed me to look at the situation in a different light. And then I followed it up with the first magic question: "How can I...?" "What can I do differently...?"
For example: "Isn't it interesting that my son always pushes my buttons?" "Isn't it interesting that I have 6 hours' worth of work, and only 3 hours to accomplish it?" "Isn't it interesting that I got upset when that driver cut me off?" "Isn't it interesting that I need $1,000 for an unexpected bill, and I don't have any extra money in my account?"
And then when you've removed the resistance and judgment, it's easier to follow those questions up with "How can I have a peaceful and fulfilling relationship with my son?" [spend time with him doing things he enjoys] "How can I accomplish 6 hours' worth of work in the next 3 hours?" [Maybe some of it can be done another day; maybe some of it can be delegated; maybe a simpler process will come to you] "How can I be at peace while I drive?" "How can I attract an extra $1,000 in the next couple of months?" [Maybe I can do a week-long summer camp for Preschoolers or elementary school students - or drama - or dance - or piano]
It's been fun to see how "interesting" my problems really are!
I'm curious to see how it works for you, too! Won't it be "interesting" to see if it works for you, too?
Monday, October 26, 2009
Magic Question - Part 1 of 3
I have learned that when I ask better questions, I get better answers! There are open-ended questions (an infinite possibility of answers) and there are closed-ended questions (yes or no). Using a closed-ended question (one that has a very specific answer) is like searching the hard drive of your computer. You are very limited in the number of answers that are available. Using an open-ended question is like searching the internet – the number of answers available are infinite, and it’s possible that you will find an answer you never would have thought on your own.
This week we are going to explore the power of using open-minded questions in our self-talk, and in our talk with other people. I call these magic questions.
The first magic question is using words like “How…” or “What if…” instead of “Why…” or “Am I…”.
So instead of asking “Why am I always broke?” or “Am I ever going to lose weight?”, try asking questions like: “How can I double my income this next year?” or “What is one thing I can do differently that will greatly increase my financial outlook?” or “How can I change the way I view my body/weight loss?” or “What is something I can do differently to achieve a healthier body?”
Try it out! I would love to hear the experiences you have with this!
This week we are going to explore the power of using open-minded questions in our self-talk, and in our talk with other people. I call these magic questions.
The first magic question is using words like “How…” or “What if…” instead of “Why…” or “Am I…”.
So instead of asking “Why am I always broke?” or “Am I ever going to lose weight?”, try asking questions like: “How can I double my income this next year?” or “What is one thing I can do differently that will greatly increase my financial outlook?” or “How can I change the way I view my body/weight loss?” or “What is something I can do differently to achieve a healthier body?”
Try it out! I would love to hear the experiences you have with this!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Weight Loss Fears
I can definitely relate to the fears that so many people feel about weight. I recently lost 30 pounds (I still have 30 more to go...,) and I can't believe what a difference it makes in my confidence. I keep telling my husband that it shouldn't matter, but then feeling like it shouldn't matter just adds more shame and guilt to what I was already feeling (I'll be blogging more about that next week...). As if I didn't have enough negative emotion already tied into it.
I have learned the importance of being in harmony spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Each of those areas is like a lock on a gate, and when all 4 locks are unlocked, the gate opens up and literally invites you to walk through. Not scary at all!!!
I was aligned spiritually and emotionally so I couldn't figure out why the weight wasn't coming off. I listened to a self-hypnosis CD by a respected person in that field EVERY night for 30 nights (to get myself mentally aligned). Within 2 weeks, a weight loss method I had never heard of FOUND ME!!! After more than 10 years of "failing," it was great to be completely aligned for success!
I know that fear keeps a lot of people from losing weight (or from any other success in their life), but once I was aligned spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically, all the fear melted away!
(If you want to know more about how I lost weight, feel free to check out my website at www.coachalisa.com. I will be adding more information in the next couple of months, too!)
I have learned the importance of being in harmony spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Each of those areas is like a lock on a gate, and when all 4 locks are unlocked, the gate opens up and literally invites you to walk through. Not scary at all!!!
I was aligned spiritually and emotionally so I couldn't figure out why the weight wasn't coming off. I listened to a self-hypnosis CD by a respected person in that field EVERY night for 30 nights (to get myself mentally aligned). Within 2 weeks, a weight loss method I had never heard of FOUND ME!!! After more than 10 years of "failing," it was great to be completely aligned for success!
I know that fear keeps a lot of people from losing weight (or from any other success in their life), but once I was aligned spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically, all the fear melted away!
(If you want to know more about how I lost weight, feel free to check out my website at www.coachalisa.com. I will be adding more information in the next couple of months, too!)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
What makes you real?
This is one of my favorite all-time quotes from a lady who I really look up to and admire, Marjorie Hinckley:
“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”
Take some time today and think about -- and WRITE DOWN -- some of the great things you do all the time that make you a real person! Focus on all the great things you do, and you will start to see what an amazing person you really are!!!
“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”
Take some time today and think about -- and WRITE DOWN -- some of the great things you do all the time that make you a real person! Focus on all the great things you do, and you will start to see what an amazing person you really are!!!
Monday, October 19, 2009
We are Real!
I love it when certain themes keep coming up for me over and over! Then I know I really need to pay attention and learn from them! One theme that has been coming up for me a lot lately is how we see ourselves. So that's what I'm going to blog about this week.
Most of you know that I recently lost 30 pounds. I hate that when I look in the mirror instead of celebrating the 30 pounds I have lost, I often feel myself getting discouraged over the 30 pounds I still need to lose. How many times do we look in the mirror and see the one or two less-than-perfect features on our bodies, while we totally overlook our beauty?
The media is lying to us when they tell us what the perfect woman is supposed to look like. They use tricks like lighting, angles, photo-shopping, etc to enhance the looks of the models. We were never meant to look like that -- we were meant to look like what we see when we look in the mirror!
A picture is worth a thousand words so I'm going to stop talking now and let you watch this instead:
Most of you know that I recently lost 30 pounds. I hate that when I look in the mirror instead of celebrating the 30 pounds I have lost, I often feel myself getting discouraged over the 30 pounds I still need to lose. How many times do we look in the mirror and see the one or two less-than-perfect features on our bodies, while we totally overlook our beauty?
The media is lying to us when they tell us what the perfect woman is supposed to look like. They use tricks like lighting, angles, photo-shopping, etc to enhance the looks of the models. We were never meant to look like that -- we were meant to look like what we see when we look in the mirror!
A picture is worth a thousand words so I'm going to stop talking now and let you watch this instead:
Friday, October 16, 2009
Struggle vs. Joy
I've always believed you can learn and grow through struggle, or you can learn and grow through joy.
When we don't understand these success principles, we usually wait until we hit "our" rock bottom, and then struggle our way through it. We still learn and grow, but sometimes it is a long drawn-out process.
When we understand these success principles, and we are present and choosing to learn and grow, we experience the joy of our experiences. It is easier to do it this way - and a lot more fun! Bad things still happen, but we know the Law of Rhythm so we know the bad times won't last, and that better times are around the corner. Instead of getting weaker, our faith actually increases because we know these great times are coming and we prepare for them!
Personally, I feel like I've learned these success principles more thoroughly when I was coming from a place of joy, faith & gratitude than I ever did when I was in a place of fear, struggle and desperation.
When we don't understand these success principles, we usually wait until we hit "our" rock bottom, and then struggle our way through it. We still learn and grow, but sometimes it is a long drawn-out process.
When we understand these success principles, and we are present and choosing to learn and grow, we experience the joy of our experiences. It is easier to do it this way - and a lot more fun! Bad things still happen, but we know the Law of Rhythm so we know the bad times won't last, and that better times are around the corner. Instead of getting weaker, our faith actually increases because we know these great times are coming and we prepare for them!
Personally, I feel like I've learned these success principles more thoroughly when I was coming from a place of joy, faith & gratitude than I ever did when I was in a place of fear, struggle and desperation.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Ego vs. Love
If you are like me, you have probably noticed that sometimes these principles work really well, and sometimes they don't seem to work as well! When I first started learning these principles, this really frustrated me because I know these principles work!
Then I realized that it makes a huge difference if my motive is based in ego (impressing others, proving to myself I can do it, worrying about what others think of me, doubting that I can really do it, etc) or in love (wanting to help others, being connected to God, knowing that with God all things are possible, being grateful for all I have).
It's basically another way of looking at competitive vs. creative. Sometimes the ego is pretty subtle. I have thought some of my motives were noble, but when I really stopped and evaluated I realized I was too concerned about what others thought or I was too worried to truly be coming from a place of love...
Then I realized that it makes a huge difference if my motive is based in ego (impressing others, proving to myself I can do it, worrying about what others think of me, doubting that I can really do it, etc) or in love (wanting to help others, being connected to God, knowing that with God all things are possible, being grateful for all I have).
It's basically another way of looking at competitive vs. creative. Sometimes the ego is pretty subtle. I have thought some of my motives were noble, but when I really stopped and evaluated I realized I was too concerned about what others thought or I was too worried to truly be coming from a place of love...
Monday, October 12, 2009
Becoming
Several months ago I heard someone talking on the Oprah show. She was talking about making a list of all the qualities you want in a future companion, and how helpful it could be. (Even if you are married, you could take these same principles and apply them in other areas of your life.)
I always smile when people talk about these lists, because I made a list like that several years ago. I listed 67 qualities I wanted in my future husband. I marked the qualities that were essential with an "E" and I marked the ones that would be nice with a "W" (for wants).
But, this is the important thing I did that no one mentions, and I believe this is the reason it works for some people and not others! It makes me crazy that the "experts" leave out this all-important step: When I finished writing the list, I looked at it and said, "Now I need to become this person." And I went to work becoming the very person I described in my list!
When I met my husband, I knew on my first date that I could marry him. I was 26 years old, and had never felt that before - I was a skeptic, and definitely not a believer in "love at first sight". So I was really surprised when I came home from that first date and knew with a certainty that I could marry him. Now I realize that I was in vibration with the person I had described and immediately recognized it (for those of you who are religious, I recognize that the Spirit bore witness to me that night, but I also believe that it did because I had prepared myself to receive the answer). I lost the list long before I met my husband, but my husband definitely has all the qualities I remember being on the list (the wants as well as the essentials).
In "As a Man Thinketh" James Allen said: "Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are."
There is a big difference between wanting a million dollars and becoming a millionaire. The wanting is just idle dreaming; the becoming requires inspired, consistent action towards a goal/vision (which, of course, requires the goal/vision to begin with). Applying it to my personal example above, there is a big difference between wanting a great partner, and defining what a great partner is and working to become a great partner yourself!
I always smile when people talk about these lists, because I made a list like that several years ago. I listed 67 qualities I wanted in my future husband. I marked the qualities that were essential with an "E" and I marked the ones that would be nice with a "W" (for wants).
But, this is the important thing I did that no one mentions, and I believe this is the reason it works for some people and not others! It makes me crazy that the "experts" leave out this all-important step: When I finished writing the list, I looked at it and said, "Now I need to become this person." And I went to work becoming the very person I described in my list!
When I met my husband, I knew on my first date that I could marry him. I was 26 years old, and had never felt that before - I was a skeptic, and definitely not a believer in "love at first sight". So I was really surprised when I came home from that first date and knew with a certainty that I could marry him. Now I realize that I was in vibration with the person I had described and immediately recognized it (for those of you who are religious, I recognize that the Spirit bore witness to me that night, but I also believe that it did because I had prepared myself to receive the answer). I lost the list long before I met my husband, but my husband definitely has all the qualities I remember being on the list (the wants as well as the essentials).
In "As a Man Thinketh" James Allen said: "Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are."
There is a big difference between wanting a million dollars and becoming a millionaire. The wanting is just idle dreaming; the becoming requires inspired, consistent action towards a goal/vision (which, of course, requires the goal/vision to begin with). Applying it to my personal example above, there is a big difference between wanting a great partner, and defining what a great partner is and working to become a great partner yourself!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
The Vacuum Law
The Vacuum Law of Prosperity states: "Nature Abhors a Vacuum." If you create a vacuum, then nature will fill it.
I have always wanted a grand piano. When we were moving from Arizona back to Texas, I realized that as long as I kept moving that piano around, I would never get my grand piano. I decided it was time to create a vacuum. So we gave away our piano and returned to Texas piano-less.
I had the perfect spot picked out in my living room for my grand piano. I made the mistake of "filling the space" with two chairs because I didn't like having an empty space there. At Christmastime we moved those chairs to put the Christmas tree in that spot. When we took the tree down, I started putting the chairs back in that spot and then it occurred to me that I was filling the vacuum with those chairs instead of a grand piano.
Meanwhile, I picked out the exact grand piano I wanted and put a picture of it on my vision board. So I had a great picture in my head of what my grand piano would look like. Every time I would pass that empty spot in my living room I would pause and picture my grand piano there - I would feel the gratitude for the grand piano swelling inside me. I would feel the gratitude as if the piano had already been delivered!
We received some unexpected income that covered the cost of the grand piano. The day before Easter my grand piano was delivered, and it looked exactly the way I had pictured it in my mind!
I had to create the vacuum, and I had to be sure that nothing else filled that vacuum so I could consciously create what I wanted to fill that vacuum. If you don’t consciously create something to fill the vacuum, and if you don’t put a lot of belief behind it, then nature will fill the vacuum with something else.
We can also create vacuums with our emotions. We can choose to no longer experience a negative emotion. But if we don’t replace it with its positive counterpart, then the negative emotion will quickly return. Try replacing anger with love, forgiveness, peace, calm and mercy. Try replacing fear with trust, reassurance, confidence, and courage. Try replacing doubt with belief and reassurance. Try filling up with lots of gratitude so there isn’t any room left for negative emotions.
I have always wanted a grand piano. When we were moving from Arizona back to Texas, I realized that as long as I kept moving that piano around, I would never get my grand piano. I decided it was time to create a vacuum. So we gave away our piano and returned to Texas piano-less.
I had the perfect spot picked out in my living room for my grand piano. I made the mistake of "filling the space" with two chairs because I didn't like having an empty space there. At Christmastime we moved those chairs to put the Christmas tree in that spot. When we took the tree down, I started putting the chairs back in that spot and then it occurred to me that I was filling the vacuum with those chairs instead of a grand piano.
Meanwhile, I picked out the exact grand piano I wanted and put a picture of it on my vision board. So I had a great picture in my head of what my grand piano would look like. Every time I would pass that empty spot in my living room I would pause and picture my grand piano there - I would feel the gratitude for the grand piano swelling inside me. I would feel the gratitude as if the piano had already been delivered!
We received some unexpected income that covered the cost of the grand piano. The day before Easter my grand piano was delivered, and it looked exactly the way I had pictured it in my mind!
I had to create the vacuum, and I had to be sure that nothing else filled that vacuum so I could consciously create what I wanted to fill that vacuum. If you don’t consciously create something to fill the vacuum, and if you don’t put a lot of belief behind it, then nature will fill the vacuum with something else.
We can also create vacuums with our emotions. We can choose to no longer experience a negative emotion. But if we don’t replace it with its positive counterpart, then the negative emotion will quickly return. Try replacing anger with love, forgiveness, peace, calm and mercy. Try replacing fear with trust, reassurance, confidence, and courage. Try replacing doubt with belief and reassurance. Try filling up with lots of gratitude so there isn’t any room left for negative emotions.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Law of Gender and Gestation
The law of gender states that in all of creation there is male and female in every kind (for life to perpetuate there must be one to plant the seed, and one to grow and nourish the seed).
The law of gestation states that every seed has a gestation or incubation period. Ideas are spiritual seeds and will move into physical form.
When we want to create a dream, we need the male (to plant the seed) and the female (to nourish the seed), and we need to allow our dream to mature and gestate. A seed that is not planted cannot grow, and a seed that is not nourished will wither and die. A seed needs to stay in the ground for a period of time while it gathers all the nutrients it needs to become a healthy, fruit-bearing plant.
A seed planted in good ground will grow faster and stronger than a seed planted in bad ground. There are two things in our control that determine if the ground we plant our seed in is good or not: the greatness of our intensity (how badly do we really want this) and the degree of faith we have (how great is our belief level).
Once the seed is planted in good ground, we need to make sure it is nourished properly so it can grow and become what it was meant to be. To keep nourishing our seed (our dream), we need sunlight and water.
The sunlight is our passion and enthusiasm. Remember, the greater our intensity and enthusiasm, the faster our idea seed will grow and bear fruit. Passion and enthusiasm give light to our dream and keep it growing in a healthy, positive way. We need to beware of clouds that eclipse the sunshine. These clouds are most often recognized as doubt, fear, worry, frustration, stress and anxiety. If our seeds are unable to get sunshine, they will wither and die.
We also need to water our seed daily so it will keep growing. The water is the consistent, daily, empowering actions we take that will keep our dreams growing. There is a Chinese Proverb that says, “The person who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” The best way to water a plant is consistent watering. It takes faith to keep taking consistent action, even when the plant cannot be seen yet.
If we were leaving to go on a vacation, we wouldn’t feed our plant extra water and then expect it to survive for a few weeks without water. Just like a plant needs to be consistently fed water or it will die, we need to be constantly taking consistent action towards our dream, or our dream will die. Massive actions followed by periods of inactivity will not sustain any worthy dream.
When we combine a worthy dream (a seed planted in premium soil) with passion and enthusiasm (sunlight) and consistent, daily, empowering, faith-sustaining actions (water), we will find a dream that grows and increases and becomes bigger and stronger than we ever imagined!
When our oldest son, Zack, was 4-1/2 years old we had been trying for several years to have another child, with no success. We had several foster children, but for various reasons none of them stayed in our home very long. It seemed like we were asking and asking (by this time not really believing we would receive -- all the evidence was definitely against us) and still there was no baby.
Zack kept asking us when we were going to have another baby. We finally told him he would have to ask God; we had done all we knew to do. Zack began asking God with an intensity that we had been lacking. He absolutely believed that God would give him a baby brother. We couldn't say a blessing on the food without asking God for our baby; Zack would make us say the prayer over if we forgot to mention his baby brother.
Within two months, we were contacted by a birth mother who had chosen us to raise her baby; the next month we held our sweet baby boy in our arms. We learned from our young son what it really meant to ask in faith, believing we would receive.
The law of gestation states that every seed has a gestation or incubation period. Ideas are spiritual seeds and will move into physical form.
When we want to create a dream, we need the male (to plant the seed) and the female (to nourish the seed), and we need to allow our dream to mature and gestate. A seed that is not planted cannot grow, and a seed that is not nourished will wither and die. A seed needs to stay in the ground for a period of time while it gathers all the nutrients it needs to become a healthy, fruit-bearing plant.
A seed planted in good ground will grow faster and stronger than a seed planted in bad ground. There are two things in our control that determine if the ground we plant our seed in is good or not: the greatness of our intensity (how badly do we really want this) and the degree of faith we have (how great is our belief level).
Once the seed is planted in good ground, we need to make sure it is nourished properly so it can grow and become what it was meant to be. To keep nourishing our seed (our dream), we need sunlight and water.
The sunlight is our passion and enthusiasm. Remember, the greater our intensity and enthusiasm, the faster our idea seed will grow and bear fruit. Passion and enthusiasm give light to our dream and keep it growing in a healthy, positive way. We need to beware of clouds that eclipse the sunshine. These clouds are most often recognized as doubt, fear, worry, frustration, stress and anxiety. If our seeds are unable to get sunshine, they will wither and die.
We also need to water our seed daily so it will keep growing. The water is the consistent, daily, empowering actions we take that will keep our dreams growing. There is a Chinese Proverb that says, “The person who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” The best way to water a plant is consistent watering. It takes faith to keep taking consistent action, even when the plant cannot be seen yet.
If we were leaving to go on a vacation, we wouldn’t feed our plant extra water and then expect it to survive for a few weeks without water. Just like a plant needs to be consistently fed water or it will die, we need to be constantly taking consistent action towards our dream, or our dream will die. Massive actions followed by periods of inactivity will not sustain any worthy dream.
When we combine a worthy dream (a seed planted in premium soil) with passion and enthusiasm (sunlight) and consistent, daily, empowering, faith-sustaining actions (water), we will find a dream that grows and increases and becomes bigger and stronger than we ever imagined!
When our oldest son, Zack, was 4-1/2 years old we had been trying for several years to have another child, with no success. We had several foster children, but for various reasons none of them stayed in our home very long. It seemed like we were asking and asking (by this time not really believing we would receive -- all the evidence was definitely against us) and still there was no baby.
Zack kept asking us when we were going to have another baby. We finally told him he would have to ask God; we had done all we knew to do. Zack began asking God with an intensity that we had been lacking. He absolutely believed that God would give him a baby brother. We couldn't say a blessing on the food without asking God for our baby; Zack would make us say the prayer over if we forgot to mention his baby brother.
Within two months, we were contacted by a birth mother who had chosen us to raise her baby; the next month we held our sweet baby boy in our arms. We learned from our young son what it really meant to ask in faith, believing we would receive.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Law of Cause and Effect
The law of cause and effect states that every cause has an effect, and every effect has a cause. Nothing happens by chance. Whatever you send into the Universe comes back to you.
Treat others with kindness and respect, and others will treat you with more kindness and respect. Never worry about what you are going to get, just concentrate on what you can give. When you plant the cause (in this case, treating others with kindness and respect), the effect will naturally follow (others treating you with kindness and respect).
Do you need more kindness in your life? Then plant seeds of kindness everywhere you go, and kindness will flow back to you.
Do you need more time in your life? Then give freely of your time through serving and volunteering, and more time will flow back to you.
Do you need more money? Then tithe your current money and give money to those who are less fortunate than you, and money will flow back to you!
Do you need better relationships? Then become a better friend and a better partner!
Several years ago I made a list of all the qualities I wanted in my future husband. I listed everything I could think of, and I ended up with sixty-seven qualities I wanted in my future husband. I marked the qualities that were essential with an "E" and I marked the ones that were non-essential with a "W" (for wants).
But then I did something really important that I have never heard any of the “experts” mention when they talk about making these lists. I believe this is the reason it works for some people and not others. When I finished writing the list, I looked at it and said, "Now I need to become this person." And I went to work becoming the very person I described in my list!
When I met my husband, I knew on my first date that I could marry him. I was 26 years old, and had never felt that before - I was a skeptic, and definitely not a believer in "love at first sight." So I was really surprised when I came home from that first date and knew with a certainty that I could marry him. Now I realize that I was in vibration with the person I had described and immediately recognized it. I lost my list long before I met my husband, but my husband definitely has all the qualities I remember being on the list (the wants as well as the essentials).
In "As a Man Thinketh" James Allen said: "Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are."
There is a big difference between wanting a million dollars and becoming a millionaire. The wanting is just idle dreaming; the becoming requires inspired, consistent action towards a goal/vision (which, of course, requires the goal/vision to begin with). Applying it to my personal example above, there is a big difference between wanting a great partner, and defining what a great partner is and working to become a great partner yourself!
Because you reap what you sow, be sure you are planting good seeds. Make sure that what you are seeking isn’t anchored in ego (wanting more than another person, wanting someone to do something for you, wanting something in return… wanting, wanting, wanting). Be sure that the seeds you plant are worthy of you. If you plant seeds of wanting, you will find yourself in a constant state of lack. If you plant seeds of value and service to others, you will always find value flowing back to you!
Treat others with kindness and respect, and others will treat you with more kindness and respect. Never worry about what you are going to get, just concentrate on what you can give. When you plant the cause (in this case, treating others with kindness and respect), the effect will naturally follow (others treating you with kindness and respect).
Do you need more kindness in your life? Then plant seeds of kindness everywhere you go, and kindness will flow back to you.
Do you need more time in your life? Then give freely of your time through serving and volunteering, and more time will flow back to you.
Do you need more money? Then tithe your current money and give money to those who are less fortunate than you, and money will flow back to you!
Do you need better relationships? Then become a better friend and a better partner!
Several years ago I made a list of all the qualities I wanted in my future husband. I listed everything I could think of, and I ended up with sixty-seven qualities I wanted in my future husband. I marked the qualities that were essential with an "E" and I marked the ones that were non-essential with a "W" (for wants).
But then I did something really important that I have never heard any of the “experts” mention when they talk about making these lists. I believe this is the reason it works for some people and not others. When I finished writing the list, I looked at it and said, "Now I need to become this person." And I went to work becoming the very person I described in my list!
When I met my husband, I knew on my first date that I could marry him. I was 26 years old, and had never felt that before - I was a skeptic, and definitely not a believer in "love at first sight." So I was really surprised when I came home from that first date and knew with a certainty that I could marry him. Now I realize that I was in vibration with the person I had described and immediately recognized it. I lost my list long before I met my husband, but my husband definitely has all the qualities I remember being on the list (the wants as well as the essentials).
In "As a Man Thinketh" James Allen said: "Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are."
There is a big difference between wanting a million dollars and becoming a millionaire. The wanting is just idle dreaming; the becoming requires inspired, consistent action towards a goal/vision (which, of course, requires the goal/vision to begin with). Applying it to my personal example above, there is a big difference between wanting a great partner, and defining what a great partner is and working to become a great partner yourself!
Because you reap what you sow, be sure you are planting good seeds. Make sure that what you are seeking isn’t anchored in ego (wanting more than another person, wanting someone to do something for you, wanting something in return… wanting, wanting, wanting). Be sure that the seeds you plant are worthy of you. If you plant seeds of wanting, you will find yourself in a constant state of lack. If you plant seeds of value and service to others, you will always find value flowing back to you!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Law of Rhythm
The Law of Rhythm states that nature’s movements are cyclical. There is repetition in everything.
When things are not going well for you and you are on a down swing, do not feel bad. Know the swing will change and things will get better. There are good times coming. As we think of the good times that are coming, our faith increases as we prepare for the good times ahead!
On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed and the United States entered into The Great Depression. Times were worse than most Americans would have ever imagined. And now, many years later the descendants of those very people who struggled so much financially during the depression enjoy more wealth and prosperity than anyone in 1929 could have ever imagined. The United States is now in a recession. What a great opportunity to exercise and increase our faith as we prepare for the great times ahead!
A couple of years ago my husband and I really wanted to attend a seminar on the Science of Getting Rich, taught by Leslie Householder, that we knew would be life-changing for us. We had recently spent a lot of money getting both cars fixed, as well as a few other unexpected expenses which left our savings account fairly depleted. Financially, we were lower than we had been in a long time.
Knowing this seminar would be life-changing for us, we went forward in faith believing the money would come for us to attend the seminar. We signed up and payed for the seminar, fully expecting the payment to come from somewhere. When my husband did our tax return, there was a transaction missing from his earlier estimates which resulted in us getting a tax refund for the amount of the seminar cost!
As a direct result of attending the seminar, we decided to move back to Texas. Within two months my husband had two job offers for 20% more than he was currently making.
If I knew then what I know now, I never would have hesitated to pay that seminar fee! Now when we are at a financial low, we expect more money to come. The best part is that what used to be our financial highs are now our financial lows!
We want to be sure we don’t use the Law of Rhythm against us. When we are experiencing financial success, we definitely should not be expecting the lows to come. Instead, we should progress forward so that our current financial highs will become our future financial lows.
Right after we had our first baby, I quit my job to stay home. We were living as frugally as possible, and we were still spending more than my husband’s income. We were at our all-time financial low, and we just wanted to break even (that would be our new high). As we progressed, we started breaking even (our old high, but our new low), and now we wanted a little extra money (our new high). Once we had some extra money (our new low), we wanted to make enough money to cover some of our wants as well as our needs (our new high). And so the process continues to evolve; we set a goal for a new high and when we reach it, the high becomes our new low and we look forward to a new high. We should always be grateful for what we have, but at the same time we should always be progressing forward, setting and reaching new and higher goals.
We can learn and grow through struggle, or we can learn and grow through joy. When we don’t understand the universal laws, we usually wait until we hit our rock bottom and then we struggle our way through it. We still learn and grow, but it can be a painful and long, drawn-out process full of fear, struggle and desperation.
When we are conscious of the laws and living them, bad things still happen. Cars still break down, and there are still unexpected medical expenses. But when we know and understand the Law of Rhythm, we know the bad times won’t last and that better times are around the corner! That very expectation fills us with joy, faith, and gratitude and actually helps to speed up the process and help the better times come faster!
When things are not going well for you and you are on a down swing, do not feel bad. Know the swing will change and things will get better. There are good times coming. As we think of the good times that are coming, our faith increases as we prepare for the good times ahead!
On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed and the United States entered into The Great Depression. Times were worse than most Americans would have ever imagined. And now, many years later the descendants of those very people who struggled so much financially during the depression enjoy more wealth and prosperity than anyone in 1929 could have ever imagined. The United States is now in a recession. What a great opportunity to exercise and increase our faith as we prepare for the great times ahead!
A couple of years ago my husband and I really wanted to attend a seminar on the Science of Getting Rich, taught by Leslie Householder, that we knew would be life-changing for us. We had recently spent a lot of money getting both cars fixed, as well as a few other unexpected expenses which left our savings account fairly depleted. Financially, we were lower than we had been in a long time.
Knowing this seminar would be life-changing for us, we went forward in faith believing the money would come for us to attend the seminar. We signed up and payed for the seminar, fully expecting the payment to come from somewhere. When my husband did our tax return, there was a transaction missing from his earlier estimates which resulted in us getting a tax refund for the amount of the seminar cost!
As a direct result of attending the seminar, we decided to move back to Texas. Within two months my husband had two job offers for 20% more than he was currently making.
If I knew then what I know now, I never would have hesitated to pay that seminar fee! Now when we are at a financial low, we expect more money to come. The best part is that what used to be our financial highs are now our financial lows!
We want to be sure we don’t use the Law of Rhythm against us. When we are experiencing financial success, we definitely should not be expecting the lows to come. Instead, we should progress forward so that our current financial highs will become our future financial lows.
Right after we had our first baby, I quit my job to stay home. We were living as frugally as possible, and we were still spending more than my husband’s income. We were at our all-time financial low, and we just wanted to break even (that would be our new high). As we progressed, we started breaking even (our old high, but our new low), and now we wanted a little extra money (our new high). Once we had some extra money (our new low), we wanted to make enough money to cover some of our wants as well as our needs (our new high). And so the process continues to evolve; we set a goal for a new high and when we reach it, the high becomes our new low and we look forward to a new high. We should always be grateful for what we have, but at the same time we should always be progressing forward, setting and reaching new and higher goals.
We can learn and grow through struggle, or we can learn and grow through joy. When we don’t understand the universal laws, we usually wait until we hit our rock bottom and then we struggle our way through it. We still learn and grow, but it can be a painful and long, drawn-out process full of fear, struggle and desperation.
When we are conscious of the laws and living them, bad things still happen. Cars still break down, and there are still unexpected medical expenses. But when we know and understand the Law of Rhythm, we know the bad times won’t last and that better times are around the corner! That very expectation fills us with joy, faith, and gratitude and actually helps to speed up the process and help the better times come faster!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Law of Polarity
The law of polarity states that everything of consequence has an opposite.
Life is just as good and joyful as it is bad and bitter. If something is bad, it is also good. If something is really, really bad, then it is also really, really good. This law is one of my favorites because it gives us hope when life seems to be really, really, really bad.
In March 2007 we learned that my mother had Stage 4 terminal breast cancer. She had aged 30 years in about 3 months’ time. All my grandparents lived to be at least 80 years old, and my grandfather is still alive at age 96. So it was a complete shock for my entire family to watch helplessly as my mother’s health quickly deteriorated from the cancer.
This was the first time I consciously put the Law of Polarity to the test. I felt like my mother’s death was something that was really, really, really, really bad and so I wanted to experience all the really, really, really, really good things that could come out of it. Her death was an amazing experience for me. Even though I cried more tears than I would have thought humanly possible, I was surrounded by a peaceful assurance that “All is well!” I received so many tender mercies that I started keeping a journal so I could keep track of them all.
We had three weeks from the time we knew my mother was dying until she was physically gone. As I recorded my thoughts and feelings the last few weeks of my mother’s life, I focused on the tender mercies I received from God.
A tender mercy is a personal and timely message of comfort and reassurance accompanied by God’s love. It is not a random occurrence, but a loving reminder from a loving God that all is well and happening for a higher purpose. Tender mercies are simple, sweet and constant in our lives if we are looking for them.
As I focused on the tender mercies of the Lord, they came more frequently and in greater ways than I could have imagined. Experiencing the sadness of my mother’s death was inevitable; experiencing the greatness of her death was a conscious choice I made.
Some of the tender mercies were too personal to share. I have recorded them and I treasure those constant assurances that “All is well!” I live 1300 miles away from my mother, so those final three weeks were a huge tender mercy for me. I had time to arrange my affairs with my family and get on a plane and visit my mother. After I arrived home, I was able to drive back with my entire family so that my husband and my children could say goodbye to her, also.
My mother loved music; she was an incredible pianist and organist, and her entire life revolved around music. Two weeks before her death, we put her in the wheelchair and brought her into the dining room/recreation room of the rest home. We played the piano and sang for her (and for anyone who stayed after dinner to hear the singing). It was definitely like being in heaven. She had blessed our lives with music for so many years, and now we were able to return that blessing to her.
My mother was able to return to her home for the final two weeks of her life. We set up a hospital bed in her living room where she had a beautiful view of the mountains, and where she could be next to her grand piano. Many former piano students came and played the piano for my mother. I personally played the piano for my mother as much as possible because she enjoyed it and seemed to be more relaxed when she heard her piano being played. One of the last gifts my mother left me was helping me rediscover my love for music.
The Sunday after her death we attended the congregation where my mother had attended the last 17 years of her life. It was a blessing to be surrounded by so many people who loved my mother and my family and had offered us so much love and support in the preceding weeks. The closing hymn was about pressing on and having courage, and I could feel my mother reminding me that in the end we will all be victorious.
A week after I returned home from my mother’s funeral I found a letter she had written to me in 1991. It was written in her own hand, and it was filled with so many kind things she wrote about me. It was like having her next to me saying the very things I wanted to hear her say. Another tender mercy.
I would love to have my mother back again, but I am so grateful for all the things I learned from her death. I am grateful that out of something so difficult and sad, I was able to discover so much love and joy.
Life is just as good and joyful as it is bad and bitter. If something is bad, it is also good. If something is really, really bad, then it is also really, really good. This law is one of my favorites because it gives us hope when life seems to be really, really, really bad.
In March 2007 we learned that my mother had Stage 4 terminal breast cancer. She had aged 30 years in about 3 months’ time. All my grandparents lived to be at least 80 years old, and my grandfather is still alive at age 96. So it was a complete shock for my entire family to watch helplessly as my mother’s health quickly deteriorated from the cancer.
This was the first time I consciously put the Law of Polarity to the test. I felt like my mother’s death was something that was really, really, really, really bad and so I wanted to experience all the really, really, really, really good things that could come out of it. Her death was an amazing experience for me. Even though I cried more tears than I would have thought humanly possible, I was surrounded by a peaceful assurance that “All is well!” I received so many tender mercies that I started keeping a journal so I could keep track of them all.
We had three weeks from the time we knew my mother was dying until she was physically gone. As I recorded my thoughts and feelings the last few weeks of my mother’s life, I focused on the tender mercies I received from God.
A tender mercy is a personal and timely message of comfort and reassurance accompanied by God’s love. It is not a random occurrence, but a loving reminder from a loving God that all is well and happening for a higher purpose. Tender mercies are simple, sweet and constant in our lives if we are looking for them.
As I focused on the tender mercies of the Lord, they came more frequently and in greater ways than I could have imagined. Experiencing the sadness of my mother’s death was inevitable; experiencing the greatness of her death was a conscious choice I made.
Some of the tender mercies were too personal to share. I have recorded them and I treasure those constant assurances that “All is well!” I live 1300 miles away from my mother, so those final three weeks were a huge tender mercy for me. I had time to arrange my affairs with my family and get on a plane and visit my mother. After I arrived home, I was able to drive back with my entire family so that my husband and my children could say goodbye to her, also.
My mother loved music; she was an incredible pianist and organist, and her entire life revolved around music. Two weeks before her death, we put her in the wheelchair and brought her into the dining room/recreation room of the rest home. We played the piano and sang for her (and for anyone who stayed after dinner to hear the singing). It was definitely like being in heaven. She had blessed our lives with music for so many years, and now we were able to return that blessing to her.
My mother was able to return to her home for the final two weeks of her life. We set up a hospital bed in her living room where she had a beautiful view of the mountains, and where she could be next to her grand piano. Many former piano students came and played the piano for my mother. I personally played the piano for my mother as much as possible because she enjoyed it and seemed to be more relaxed when she heard her piano being played. One of the last gifts my mother left me was helping me rediscover my love for music.
The Sunday after her death we attended the congregation where my mother had attended the last 17 years of her life. It was a blessing to be surrounded by so many people who loved my mother and my family and had offered us so much love and support in the preceding weeks. The closing hymn was about pressing on and having courage, and I could feel my mother reminding me that in the end we will all be victorious.
A week after I returned home from my mother’s funeral I found a letter she had written to me in 1991. It was written in her own hand, and it was filled with so many kind things she wrote about me. It was like having her next to me saying the very things I wanted to hear her say. Another tender mercy.
I would love to have my mother back again, but I am so grateful for all the things I learned from her death. I am grateful that out of something so difficult and sad, I was able to discover so much love and joy.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Law of Vibration
The law of vibration states that not only is everything in a state of vibration, but that vibration is a medium for transferring signals. Everything vibrates, nothing rests.
Physics teaches us that everything is made up of molecules that are in a continual state of motion, or vibration. The faster the vibration, the more fluid a substance is. Because our thoughts are made of matter, they are also constantly in a state of vibration.
Conscious awareness of vibration is called feeling. Choosing good thoughts and feelings raises your vibration and helps you attract the things you want into your life.
Shame, guilt, blame, anger, and hate are examples of low vibrations. You can recognize when you are in a low vibration because you feel bad. Joy, love, peace and gratitude are examples of high vibrations. You can recognize when you are in a high vibration because you feel great!
One of the most sure ways to change from a low vibration to a high vibration is through deep and profound gratitude.
I have a friend who has been a mentor to me for years. She is someone who has succeeded in every area of her life. I have watched her go through difficult circumstances and come out on top every time. I wanted to learn her secret so I visited her and asked her a lot of questions. She kept answering, “It’s all about gratitude. It’s all about gratitude.” That seemed to be her answer for everything. I kept thinking about that one phrase “It’s all about gratitude” after I left her house and for several weeks after. I knew that if that really was the answer, and I wasn’t experiencing all the things I wanted to experience, then I was lacking in my understanding and application of gratitude.
Shortly after meeting with my friend, I was able to test my new understanding of gratitude. Right as we put our Arizona home on the market, the real estate bubble started bursting. Homes were still being built at an incredible pace, and there were a lot more homes on the market than there were buyers. I tried visualizing the right buyer for our home, I wrote vision statements, I hung pictures of the house with a sold sign – anything I could think of to activate the law of attraction and bring the buyer quickly. No buyer was coming.
I was trying to be grateful, but in truth I was stressed out and frustrated. I kept seeing how many homes were on the market, and how home prices seemed to be falling weekly, and it was stressing me out (stress and frustration are low vibrations). Meanwhile we had moved back to Dallas, Texas. We were in our new home and I knew my husband’s company would pay our Arizona mortgage for six months. As the six month period was coming to a close I tried as hard as I could to feel as much gratitude as possible.
At the end of the six months our prayers were answered and his company extended the benefit so we had a little more time for the house to sell before we would have to make double house payments. I was so incredibly grateful that for a solid week I did everything with complete gratitude. I did not experience any stress or frustration -- just complete gratitude. At the end of that week, our realtor called and told us we had an offer on our house. We closed less than a month later.
From that experience I learned the difference between being grateful and living my life in complete gratitude. While I thought I was being grateful in the past, in truth I was dissatisfied and inclined to complain when I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. Once I experienced that “gratitude zone” I knew that was how I always wanted to live my life.
Without finding a place of complete gratitude, would our Arizona house have sold? Of course… eventually and with a lot of stress.
Do I still get stressed, frustrated, critical, or dissatisfied? Of course! I’m still learning. But now when I find myself out of the “gratitude zone,” I start journaling gratitude right away. It really helps me to write the things I am profoundly grateful for. I keep writing until I can feel myself back in the peaceful “gratitude zone.” You can also use meditation or relaxation to get back to the gratitude zone -- find what works for you and do it as often as you need to. When you get accustomed to the “gratitude zone,” you won’t ever want to leave it.
Physics teaches us that everything is made up of molecules that are in a continual state of motion, or vibration. The faster the vibration, the more fluid a substance is. Because our thoughts are made of matter, they are also constantly in a state of vibration.
Conscious awareness of vibration is called feeling. Choosing good thoughts and feelings raises your vibration and helps you attract the things you want into your life.
Shame, guilt, blame, anger, and hate are examples of low vibrations. You can recognize when you are in a low vibration because you feel bad. Joy, love, peace and gratitude are examples of high vibrations. You can recognize when you are in a high vibration because you feel great!
One of the most sure ways to change from a low vibration to a high vibration is through deep and profound gratitude.
I have a friend who has been a mentor to me for years. She is someone who has succeeded in every area of her life. I have watched her go through difficult circumstances and come out on top every time. I wanted to learn her secret so I visited her and asked her a lot of questions. She kept answering, “It’s all about gratitude. It’s all about gratitude.” That seemed to be her answer for everything. I kept thinking about that one phrase “It’s all about gratitude” after I left her house and for several weeks after. I knew that if that really was the answer, and I wasn’t experiencing all the things I wanted to experience, then I was lacking in my understanding and application of gratitude.
Shortly after meeting with my friend, I was able to test my new understanding of gratitude. Right as we put our Arizona home on the market, the real estate bubble started bursting. Homes were still being built at an incredible pace, and there were a lot more homes on the market than there were buyers. I tried visualizing the right buyer for our home, I wrote vision statements, I hung pictures of the house with a sold sign – anything I could think of to activate the law of attraction and bring the buyer quickly. No buyer was coming.
I was trying to be grateful, but in truth I was stressed out and frustrated. I kept seeing how many homes were on the market, and how home prices seemed to be falling weekly, and it was stressing me out (stress and frustration are low vibrations). Meanwhile we had moved back to Dallas, Texas. We were in our new home and I knew my husband’s company would pay our Arizona mortgage for six months. As the six month period was coming to a close I tried as hard as I could to feel as much gratitude as possible.
At the end of the six months our prayers were answered and his company extended the benefit so we had a little more time for the house to sell before we would have to make double house payments. I was so incredibly grateful that for a solid week I did everything with complete gratitude. I did not experience any stress or frustration -- just complete gratitude. At the end of that week, our realtor called and told us we had an offer on our house. We closed less than a month later.
From that experience I learned the difference between being grateful and living my life in complete gratitude. While I thought I was being grateful in the past, in truth I was dissatisfied and inclined to complain when I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. Once I experienced that “gratitude zone” I knew that was how I always wanted to live my life.
Without finding a place of complete gratitude, would our Arizona house have sold? Of course… eventually and with a lot of stress.
Do I still get stressed, frustrated, critical, or dissatisfied? Of course! I’m still learning. But now when I find myself out of the “gratitude zone,” I start journaling gratitude right away. It really helps me to write the things I am profoundly grateful for. I keep writing until I can feel myself back in the peaceful “gratitude zone.” You can also use meditation or relaxation to get back to the gratitude zone -- find what works for you and do it as often as you need to. When you get accustomed to the “gratitude zone,” you won’t ever want to leave it.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Law of Relativity
The law of relativity states that nothing we experience is fundamentally good or bad. Nothing is good or bad until you compare it to something else.
When we compare what we have to someone else who has more, then we will always fall short. However, when we compare what we have to someone who has less, we will recognize how blessed we are.
Did you know that half the people in the world -- nearly 3 billion people -- live on less than $2/day? Did you know that if you make $20,000 per year in the United States, you are in the top 12% of the world’s wealthy? If you make $50,000 or more per year, you are in the top 1%!
I grew up the 4th of 9 children. We lived in a 2800 square foot house. I always had food to eat and clothes to wear, but I wasn’t wearing designer clothes. I always shared a bedroom with two or three sisters. It was a big bedroom and all of us had comfortable beds to sleep in, but all my school friends had their own bedroom. Compared to my friends at school, it seemed we were poor.
When I was 21 years old, I served as a missionary for my church in Ecuador (in South America) for 18 months. I had no idea how rich we were until I saw how people lived in other countries. I remember visiting a family that had 6 children, and they lived in a two-room shack. They cooked in the living room over a fire pit, and they had two beds (that looked very uncomfortable) in the other room where all 8 of them slept. Most families didn’t even dream of owning a car, much less a nice one that was big enough to transport the whole family.
I returned from my mission amazed at how rich we were! We had a family vehicle big enough to transport our entire family, we had comfortable beds to sleep in, we had carpet throughout our house, we had a bathroom with indoor plumbing and hot water. I could take a hot bath in the privacy of my own home! In fact, we had more than one bathtub in the house!
We had electricity! Did you know that there are 1.6 billion people in the world who live without electricity?
You don’t need to get a huge promotion at work or bring home a bigger paycheck to feel rich! You are already rich! Stop comparing yourself to the 1% who are wealthier than you and feeling sorry for yourself, and be grateful that you are one of the wealthy!
You can always find someone who is more clever, more talented, prettier, richer, or smarter than you are. But you can also always find people who are in need of your talents, your knowledge, your compassion, and your unique abilities. Never hold back your unique talents and abilities because you know someone who has more than of it than you do. Instead be grateful that you have the perfect amount of cleverness, talent, beauty, wealth, and knowledge to fulfill your life’s purpose. Look at those who could benefit from your unique talents and abilities and help them out! Start living a life of wealth today!
When we compare what we have to someone else who has more, then we will always fall short. However, when we compare what we have to someone who has less, we will recognize how blessed we are.
Did you know that half the people in the world -- nearly 3 billion people -- live on less than $2/day? Did you know that if you make $20,000 per year in the United States, you are in the top 12% of the world’s wealthy? If you make $50,000 or more per year, you are in the top 1%!
I grew up the 4th of 9 children. We lived in a 2800 square foot house. I always had food to eat and clothes to wear, but I wasn’t wearing designer clothes. I always shared a bedroom with two or three sisters. It was a big bedroom and all of us had comfortable beds to sleep in, but all my school friends had their own bedroom. Compared to my friends at school, it seemed we were poor.
When I was 21 years old, I served as a missionary for my church in Ecuador (in South America) for 18 months. I had no idea how rich we were until I saw how people lived in other countries. I remember visiting a family that had 6 children, and they lived in a two-room shack. They cooked in the living room over a fire pit, and they had two beds (that looked very uncomfortable) in the other room where all 8 of them slept. Most families didn’t even dream of owning a car, much less a nice one that was big enough to transport the whole family.
I returned from my mission amazed at how rich we were! We had a family vehicle big enough to transport our entire family, we had comfortable beds to sleep in, we had carpet throughout our house, we had a bathroom with indoor plumbing and hot water. I could take a hot bath in the privacy of my own home! In fact, we had more than one bathtub in the house!
We had electricity! Did you know that there are 1.6 billion people in the world who live without electricity?
You don’t need to get a huge promotion at work or bring home a bigger paycheck to feel rich! You are already rich! Stop comparing yourself to the 1% who are wealthier than you and feeling sorry for yourself, and be grateful that you are one of the wealthy!
You can always find someone who is more clever, more talented, prettier, richer, or smarter than you are. But you can also always find people who are in need of your talents, your knowledge, your compassion, and your unique abilities. Never hold back your unique talents and abilities because you know someone who has more than of it than you do. Instead be grateful that you have the perfect amount of cleverness, talent, beauty, wealth, and knowledge to fulfill your life’s purpose. Look at those who could benefit from your unique talents and abilities and help them out! Start living a life of wealth today!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Belief and Gratitude
Before we go on to the next law of success, I want to spend a little more time on belief and gratitude -- these two things can make all the difference in your success! Belief and gratitude speed up the creation process; doubt and fear reverse the creation process.
Belief.
To speed up the creation process, we need to increase the level of belief in our dream, getting rid of all doubt and fear. It helps to have a huge goal that drives and excites us (we will talk about how important that excitement is in a later post)! But when it comes to taking inspired action steps towards accomplishing that goal, it works better to break it up into small, believable steps.
Stephen R. Covey put it this way: "...there is no shortcut. If I am at day two (to use the analogy of the six days of creation) and desire to move to day six, I must go through days three, four, and five. If I pretend to be at day six in order to impress others, eventually I will be found out... I must move through each of the intervening steps. If I try to push too hard or to go too fast in order to shortcut the process, I may... drop back to day one." (The Spiritual Roots of Human Relations, p.14-15)
Your dream should be so big that you have no idea how you will ever accomplish it! Your goals, on the other hand, should be broken down into believable steps, each step building on the previous step.
For example, your dream may be to be a millionaire. Maybe you've never made more than $40,000 per year in your life. The thought of $1,000,000 totally excites you, but you have no idea how to get $1,000,000 (or you would already have it). If your goal is to make $1,000,000 it will be totally frustrating because you don't know how to do it. But you could probably think of ways to increase your income from $40,000 per year to $50,000 per year. Once you are on track to do that, then you can probably find ways to increase to $75,000 per year. Then $100,00 per year. Then once you have seen success in making these leaps, you can start taking bigger leaps! These leaps don't have to take a year -- for some people each of these steps may take a couple of weeks, and for others they may take at least a year.
Always ask open-ended questions while you are going through this process. Using the example above, let's suppose you have never made more than $40,000 per year, and you would like to increase that to $50,000 per year. If you ask a yes/no question like: "Is it possible for me to make $50,000 per year?" then you will go into an analytical mode and you will calculate that you have never made more than $40,000 per year. Your conclusion will be that "No," you can't make $50,000 per year.
Try asking a question like this instead: "How can I make $50,000 per year?" or "What can I do do increase my income by $10,000 per year?" Instead of going into analytical mode, this type of question will take you into creation mode where you start creating solutions and ways to accomplish your goal!
Gratitude.
Gratitude works with belief to speed up the creation process. I have unsuccessfully tried keeping gratitude journals in the past. Then I heard someone speak about a journal they kept where every day they recorded how God's hand had blessed them that day. I started doing this, and it completely transformed my life! I found that acknowledging God's hand in my life every day increased my awareness of how rich and blessed my life already was. This new awareness and knowledge automatically increased the amount of gratitude I was feeling!
Gratitude is a very high vibration (we will talk about the Law of Vibration in a later post), and when we are in a state of gratitude we automatically attract great things to us! When the right teachers and situations are finding us, we are able to more quickly and easily accomplish our dreams!
Belief.
To speed up the creation process, we need to increase the level of belief in our dream, getting rid of all doubt and fear. It helps to have a huge goal that drives and excites us (we will talk about how important that excitement is in a later post)! But when it comes to taking inspired action steps towards accomplishing that goal, it works better to break it up into small, believable steps.
Stephen R. Covey put it this way: "...there is no shortcut. If I am at day two (to use the analogy of the six days of creation) and desire to move to day six, I must go through days three, four, and five. If I pretend to be at day six in order to impress others, eventually I will be found out... I must move through each of the intervening steps. If I try to push too hard or to go too fast in order to shortcut the process, I may... drop back to day one." (The Spiritual Roots of Human Relations, p.14-15)
Your dream should be so big that you have no idea how you will ever accomplish it! Your goals, on the other hand, should be broken down into believable steps, each step building on the previous step.
For example, your dream may be to be a millionaire. Maybe you've never made more than $40,000 per year in your life. The thought of $1,000,000 totally excites you, but you have no idea how to get $1,000,000 (or you would already have it). If your goal is to make $1,000,000 it will be totally frustrating because you don't know how to do it. But you could probably think of ways to increase your income from $40,000 per year to $50,000 per year. Once you are on track to do that, then you can probably find ways to increase to $75,000 per year. Then $100,00 per year. Then once you have seen success in making these leaps, you can start taking bigger leaps! These leaps don't have to take a year -- for some people each of these steps may take a couple of weeks, and for others they may take at least a year.
Always ask open-ended questions while you are going through this process. Using the example above, let's suppose you have never made more than $40,000 per year, and you would like to increase that to $50,000 per year. If you ask a yes/no question like: "Is it possible for me to make $50,000 per year?" then you will go into an analytical mode and you will calculate that you have never made more than $40,000 per year. Your conclusion will be that "No," you can't make $50,000 per year.
Try asking a question like this instead: "How can I make $50,000 per year?" or "What can I do do increase my income by $10,000 per year?" Instead of going into analytical mode, this type of question will take you into creation mode where you start creating solutions and ways to accomplish your goal!
Gratitude.
Gratitude works with belief to speed up the creation process. I have unsuccessfully tried keeping gratitude journals in the past. Then I heard someone speak about a journal they kept where every day they recorded how God's hand had blessed them that day. I started doing this, and it completely transformed my life! I found that acknowledging God's hand in my life every day increased my awareness of how rich and blessed my life already was. This new awareness and knowledge automatically increased the amount of gratitude I was feeling!
Gratitude is a very high vibration (we will talk about the Law of Vibration in a later post), and when we are in a state of gratitude we automatically attract great things to us! When the right teachers and situations are finding us, we are able to more quickly and easily accomplish our dreams!
Law of Perpetual Transmutation
The law of perpetual transmutation states that everything is either coming into physical form or going out of it. Everything is created spiritually before being manifested in the physical realm. We create spiritually when we exercise our faith and can effectively visualize our ideas, thoughts, and dreams.
Many of us have intense fears of lack of money, lack of health, and/or lack of healthy relationships. By focusing on our fear of lack, we are unconsciously creating the very thing we fear. We need to make a choice to believe in our dreams, and we need to remove all fear of lack.
Matthew 21:22 says, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” We start the creation process when we ask God for something, believing we will receive it. At the very moment that we doubt or fear, we literally reverse the creation process.
Many people say, “But I’ve asked and asked, and I would like to receive, but what I’m asking for just isn’t coming.” I compare this to being hungry and ordering a pizza -- then being afraid the pizza may not come in time, or you may not have the money for it, or you may not like it after all, and so you call and cancel the order. But then you decide you’re so hungry you don’t care when it comes, how much it costs, or whether or not you like it -- you are hungry and you really want pizza. So you call and order the pizza again. And then the same fears set in -- what if it doesn’t come in time, what if you can’t pay for it, what if you won’t like it after waiting so long for it -- and you cancel the order again. You repeat this cycle 50 times.
Later that night you’re hungry and frustrated and you say to yourself, “I am so hungry! I ordered 50 pizzas and not one of them was delivered! Why not?”
We do the same thing in our lives. We ask God for something, but then with our doubts and fears we cancel the order. And then we wonder why God didn’t give us what we asked for.
Remember... Through our belief and gratitude we start bringing our dreams into the physical realm; through our doubts and fears we cancel the order and bring our dream back out of the physical realm.
Many of us have intense fears of lack of money, lack of health, and/or lack of healthy relationships. By focusing on our fear of lack, we are unconsciously creating the very thing we fear. We need to make a choice to believe in our dreams, and we need to remove all fear of lack.
Matthew 21:22 says, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” We start the creation process when we ask God for something, believing we will receive it. At the very moment that we doubt or fear, we literally reverse the creation process.
Many people say, “But I’ve asked and asked, and I would like to receive, but what I’m asking for just isn’t coming.” I compare this to being hungry and ordering a pizza -- then being afraid the pizza may not come in time, or you may not have the money for it, or you may not like it after all, and so you call and cancel the order. But then you decide you’re so hungry you don’t care when it comes, how much it costs, or whether or not you like it -- you are hungry and you really want pizza. So you call and order the pizza again. And then the same fears set in -- what if it doesn’t come in time, what if you can’t pay for it, what if you won’t like it after waiting so long for it -- and you cancel the order again. You repeat this cycle 50 times.
Later that night you’re hungry and frustrated and you say to yourself, “I am so hungry! I ordered 50 pizzas and not one of them was delivered! Why not?”
We do the same thing in our lives. We ask God for something, but then with our doubts and fears we cancel the order. And then we wonder why God didn’t give us what we asked for.
Remember... Through our belief and gratitude we start bringing our dreams into the physical realm; through our doubts and fears we cancel the order and bring our dream back out of the physical realm.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Laws of Success
There is a lot of talk right now about "the state of the economy." Peace of mind is eluding a lot of people, stress rates are climbing, and there is a lot of fear and anxiety about the future. It feels like everything is out of our control, and many people are feeling helpless right now.
Viktor Frankl said: "Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
As we become more aware of universal laws and principles, we will become more aware of the choices that are still ours. For example, we can choose to feel fear or we can choose to feel gratitude and trust that God is a perfect and generous supplier. I fully believe that no matter how high any prices skyrocket, God will always provide me with more than enough money to meet the rising costs. In fact, God's rate of increase is way higher than the rate of inflation.
I will talk more about these laws in greater detail in later posts. This first post is just an overview so you can see how all these laws and principles work together.
Law of Perpetual Transmutation - Think thoughts of gratitude and prosperity, and great things will come to you.
Law of Relativity - There are people in other countries who can't even afford shelter or food; they don't even dream about owning a house or a car -- they are just hoping for enough food to stay alive.
Law of Vibration - If you are in a state of gratitude, joy, love, and peace (no fear, doubt or worry), then you will attract more prosperity than you will ever need! (Conversely, doubt, fear & worry will attract more lack and scarcity.)
Law of Polarity - As bad as the economy is right now, you will probably learn your greatest lessons and receive your greatest motivation to prosper. (There were more millionaires created during the Depression than at any other time).
Law of Rhythm - Things may be in a down swing now, but there is always an up swing. The sooner you experience this, and the higher the up swing will actually be, depends on how much gratitude you feel (and how completely you can obliterate fear, doubt, worry, anger, anxiety, etc).
Law of Cause and Effect - Focus on what you can give, not what you will get - plant the seeds of prosperity and nourish them, and you can only reap prosperity - give what you can to charity and create a flow of prosperity that will come back to you tenfold (or hundredfold or thousandfold...).
Law of Gender - You are a co-creator; choose to create more prosperity than you will ever need; don't let your seed be strangled by doubt, fear and worry.
Vacuum Law of Prosperity - Nature abhors a vacuum. Is the economy turning your wallet into a vacuum? Be of good cheer! Nature abhors a vacuum, and must find a way to fill your wallet back to overflowing!
There is a huge collective fear right now about the economy. A simple, but very powerful and effective, antidote for the fear is to feel gratitude to God for all his goodness and for being such a great provider, and to stop nurturing doubt, fear, and worry.
Viktor Frankl said: "Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
As we become more aware of universal laws and principles, we will become more aware of the choices that are still ours. For example, we can choose to feel fear or we can choose to feel gratitude and trust that God is a perfect and generous supplier. I fully believe that no matter how high any prices skyrocket, God will always provide me with more than enough money to meet the rising costs. In fact, God's rate of increase is way higher than the rate of inflation.
I will talk more about these laws in greater detail in later posts. This first post is just an overview so you can see how all these laws and principles work together.
Law of Perpetual Transmutation - Think thoughts of gratitude and prosperity, and great things will come to you.
Law of Relativity - There are people in other countries who can't even afford shelter or food; they don't even dream about owning a house or a car -- they are just hoping for enough food to stay alive.
Law of Vibration - If you are in a state of gratitude, joy, love, and peace (no fear, doubt or worry), then you will attract more prosperity than you will ever need! (Conversely, doubt, fear & worry will attract more lack and scarcity.)
Law of Polarity - As bad as the economy is right now, you will probably learn your greatest lessons and receive your greatest motivation to prosper. (There were more millionaires created during the Depression than at any other time).
Law of Rhythm - Things may be in a down swing now, but there is always an up swing. The sooner you experience this, and the higher the up swing will actually be, depends on how much gratitude you feel (and how completely you can obliterate fear, doubt, worry, anger, anxiety, etc).
Law of Cause and Effect - Focus on what you can give, not what you will get - plant the seeds of prosperity and nourish them, and you can only reap prosperity - give what you can to charity and create a flow of prosperity that will come back to you tenfold (or hundredfold or thousandfold...).
Law of Gender - You are a co-creator; choose to create more prosperity than you will ever need; don't let your seed be strangled by doubt, fear and worry.
Vacuum Law of Prosperity - Nature abhors a vacuum. Is the economy turning your wallet into a vacuum? Be of good cheer! Nature abhors a vacuum, and must find a way to fill your wallet back to overflowing!
There is a huge collective fear right now about the economy. A simple, but very powerful and effective, antidote for the fear is to feel gratitude to God for all his goodness and for being such a great provider, and to stop nurturing doubt, fear, and worry.
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