Law of Attraction and Manifesting Your Desires

BE GREAT!

I recently received an email from a busy attorney that said simply, “Lynnea, help! I need abundance! Contact me.” Hmmm. What’s wrong with this picture? He’s busy, but he doesn’t feel like he has abundance in his life. How often do you feel that way? I believe that most of us yearn to feel “filled up” and overflowing with the greatness that life has to offer. If you feel this way, I have a question for you: What would greatness in yourself, your life, and your business, look like?

In order to achieve greatness, and be truly satisfied with yourself and your life, it’s important to cultivate abundance thinking.

You see, we can manifest abundance in our lives. “How?”, you ask. Well, it’s simple, because it’s already within us and around us. But, it’s difficult, because it means doing some work on ourselves. Below are 10 ways to begin creating abundance in your life.

Creating Abundance

Be grateful for what you have; all of it. Can you see? Can you read? Can you hear? Are there people who love you? Do your legs work? Do you have someplace to sleep tonight? There are myriad things for which we can be grateful; and we need to BE grateful before we can be entrusted with more.

Acknowledge abundance; be open to it as it occurs every day in little ways. Did someone give you free tickets to something, or treat you to lunch? That’s abundance. Did you receive an “atta-boy” or a compliment? Did you find a penny on the ground? That’s abundance. Look for it, be attuned to it in your life.

Practice being happy for what others have. There’s no shortage of success, love, money, possessions. Just because someone else has something doesn’t mean there’s less for you.

Be generous. Coming from a “scarcity mentality” only creates scarcity. Give others your praise, help others succeed by sharing your knowledge, your network, your caring, your time, talents, and treasures.

Cultivate a positive environment. Norman Vincent Peale said, “Change your thoughts and you change your world”. Thoughts are fed by everything around us: what we listen to, read, and watch; and by the people we hang out with.. You have the right to create an environment of abundance thinkers, books, tapes, pictures, words, and thoughts. Do it.

Get rid of what you don’t need. Holding onto “stuff” we don’t need feeds our fear of scarcity. Open up space in your physical, mental, and emotional environments for good stuff to flow in.

Help others less fortunate. Personally reach out to those who have less than you do…those who can’t see, read, hear, or walk, who have nowhere to sleep tonight. This helps put things in a bigger perspective, it expands your experience, it expands your world; it expands your gratitude.

Be gentle with yourself and others. Choose to assume the best– that you, and others, are doing the best they can, even when they’re not. Forgive yourself for what you don’t have, for what you haven’t done, and move on to the good stuff waiting for you. Being stuck in regret and guilt wastes your energy and talents. Be grateful for the lesson learned, and get over the rest.

Get your personal needs met. We each have individual, personal needs. These are not options. They are as necessary to us as water or air. They keep us emotionally and spiritually alive. If a need is not being met, a void exists within us, and we’ll look for things to fill the void. We may end up grasping for many things, feeling that we live in a world of scarcity. There are many assessments to help define your unique set of personal needs (if you are interested in using one of these, contact me). Once you know what you need to be and feel your best, you can start creating ways to have these needs met. The voids will disappear.

Daily affirm that you are a worthy and deserving person, who brings unique gifts and value to the world; and that the things you want are flowing to you. Every day, focus on what you want (NOT on what you don’t have!) Visualize it, plan for it, see it in Technicolor®, feel it, talk to it, make it come alive for you. Rev up your passion for it, and in time, you’ll joyfully experience “your cup running over”.

There truly is an abundance of all we want and need. Believe it, manifest it, be fully open to receive it. Because life’s too short to live it half-way!

Copyright 2006, Lynnea Hagen and abundancecoaching.net

Tags: abundance, gratitude, manifest, money, Norman Vincent Peale, possessions, scarcity mentality

Much has been written about forgiveness. Everywhere you turn people are saying you have to forgive, yet few people likely understand the process of true forgiving. For true healing, forgiveness is essential. The same holds true for the idea of compassion. Yet I have learned that going from anger straight to compassion does not bring about true forgiveness. It only creates a sense of pseudo forgiveness. Many people try to go from hurt or anger straight to compassion.

It most often fails unless they fully understand the deeper process. In most cases the shortcut backfires or they have only repressed their anger. While you maintain an air of forgiveness, you may find yourself easily triggered when speaking of the original event, or you find yourself reacting emotionally when the issue is raised.

I have found that the following steps bring about lasting forgiveness when implemented and practiced on a daily basis. I’ve had many things to forgive, so I’ve had practice. I’ve noticed that it is easy to fall back into a trap of non-forgiveness and resentment unless you make it a daily habit to forgive. Why forgive? You forgive so that you can stop harming yourself through resentment and begin to move into a state of happiness and gratitude.

Stage 1- Admit You Are Angry!

Many of us will echo the thoughts “What? I’m not supposed to get angry! I’ve done all this healing work!” I’ve learned that it is harmful to get angry but it is more harmful to be angry and not admit it! The way to check if you are angry is to observe your inner dialogue about how you are relating to yourself and others. Are you finding yourself being negative, critical or frustrated? Do you find yourself being impatient with people and critical of how things are done? Are you constantly blaming others for your troubles, wishing that others would change? If so, then it is likely you are angry. Try to recognize what you are angry about. It may not be the little things, but something that happened months ago. Look back in time to what might have triggered your anger and where your expression has been blocked. Bitterness is anger with no outlet to be heard or feeling that you can not change anything. It is a form of helplessness. Try to discover what you are bitter about. Make a list of resentments. Don’t hold back or edit your thoughts. Being honest with yourself is the first step in healing anger.

Stage 2- Acknowledge the Loss and Consequences

In order to fully forgive, you need to look at the consequences of the event. By consequences, I do not mean just emotional pain. Look at the past and the present, and honestly note any changes. Were you physically injured? Were you emotionally hurt? Did you suffer financial loss? What other types of losses occurred? Was there harm to other relationships? To achieve lasting forgiveness it is important to acknowledge all the losses, otherwise forgiveness will have to be revisited. When listing the losses and consequences, try to look objectively at the incident without investing in the emotions around the losses at this time.

Stage 3 - Submit to a Feeling of Vulnerability

The next stage in forgiveness is to open your self up to change and dissonance. You can not spread butter when it is hard and cold. Forgiveness does not come easily when your ideas, thoughts of revenge or justice are hardened. You must retreat and re-examine your approach. Just like a pound of butter, if you want to forgive and heal, you need to let your ideas thaw and be molded into a new perspective, combined with other ideas and views. You need to admit that to harbor anger and resentments violates the laws of kindness and compassion both for yourself and other people. You must realize that in not forgiving, you are now betraying the person at whom you are angry. This is not an easy step. It can be painful to realize that it is you who needs to change, and that it is you who has the poison of anger and resentment. It is easy to build up a wall of justification around your thoughts, actions and feelings regarding the harm done to you. In order to heal and forgive, you need to break through the wall and tear it down completely!

This stage of forgiveness also requires you look at whether there was any responsibility on your part. In some cases there was none, in some cases, you may have taken action which contributed to the decision. In this case, it may be hard for you to admit that you caused part of your own suffering as it is easier to blame others than to take any responsibility. This stage requires an honest, fearless, kind and moral inventory of your own actions and behavior. Sometimes you may not like what you find, but facing your shadow can be one of the most powerful healing experiences. See if you can find some common ground.

Stage 4 – Stop Punishing

One of the common behaviors of people is to try to punish those who have harmed us. Most studies have shown that punishment rarely teaches anything other than to resent the person doing the punishing! Some of the ways you may punish are by withholding companionship, giving someone the silent treatment, or even giving compliments but then taking it back with an insult. You may try to go further with legal action, or you may try to damage things that the other person prizes. Another method of punishment is gossiping about the other person. In order to truly forgive, you need to give up the expectation that the other person will be punished. You can ask that the other person make amends for their harm, but if they refuse or are unable to make amends, then releasing them from the idea of punishment frees you from lingering resentment.

There is great wisdom in the following Buddhist teaching – “Should one person ignorantly do wrong, and another ignorantly becomes angry with him, who would be at fault? And who would be without fault?” It is far better to try to forgive, and reintegrate your friends back into community than to ostracize and alienate them through punishment. Try to practice compassion, work at developing a deeper understanding of how and why people behave. It seems that we prefer a simple explanation of things, yet you need to understand that human beings and the relationships between each other are complex. Understanding the ways of the world and the people in the world requires wisdom and self control. Use the opportunity to forgive as a means of growth!

Stage 5 – Identify Some Good in the Other Person

This step, finding some good in the other person is probably the most crucial step in bringing about lasting forgiveness. It can also be the hardest depending on the severity of the event you are trying to forgive.

According to Francis Bacon, the key to forgiveness is in “not expecting the other to change, to give love, to be kind and develop the ability to see that in everyone else’s eyes and heart there is some good.” In forgiving, you try not to think of yourself as being good and the other person bad. You can find it easier to forgive if you can understand that the other person has difficulties too, or was harmed in the past.

If you do not practice this step, then forgiveness will be futile because it will be done with a sense of contempt for the other person. If you can not find good in the other person, then at least pray for them. A wonderful technique for developing your vision of good in another is to imagine a seed of goodness in their heart, and in prayer imagine that both you and God are watering it to make it grow stronger. Better yet is to image that each person already has this great flower of goodness in them already. Admit that it has been obscured from your view because of your anger, resentment and justifications. Learn to look for the good. At first, like developing any skill, it is challenging. You will become better at it with practice!

Stage 6 – Develop Genuine Neutrality

Hopefully in the process of forgiveness you will come to resolve any negative emotions and thoughts about yourself and the other person or organization. To do so requires that you do not expect or demand any payment or restitution after forgiveness. You must assume that there is no debt owed to you. Mother Theresa once said “it is between God and myself, it was never between me and them anyway.” This must be practiced daily. It is easy to slip into anger and resentment if you do not cultivate a practice of neutrality. Depending on the severity of the event, you may choose to not have any further contact with the person, but if you meet them by chance, you want to have a sense of neutrality and a sense of calmness instead of avoidance.

Stage 7 – Stay in the Present

“Bury the hatchet” is a phrase you may have heard many times. There is wisdom to this phrase if you understand its original meaning. The phrase comes from spiritual traditions of North American Indians who would put all weapons out of site while smoking a peace pipe. For your own forgiveness work, you must keep the original wound out of sight, or out of present mind. It is necessary to acknowledge what happened, to not forget it, but also not drag it up again as a fresh wound. Resurrecting the event and bringing it up again with the person who harmed you will cause you to feel the associated feelings again. Balance your memory of the event with your memory of the forgiveness work you have done. Practice loving those you don’t feel warmth towards.

All of your forgiveness work can be undone, and the resentment rekindled if you begin to dwell on the event again. If you begin to rerun your mind’s movie of the harm, then you may find yourself in an angry and hurt state again. It is the nature of your mind to ruminate, and therefore you must develop self-discipline and remind yourself that you have completed forgiveness work around this issue. Thank your mind for the intrusive thought, and send it off into the far reaches of the universe! Refuse to bring the past into the present again, as it will re-trigger you back into hurt and anger. Continually rise above the injury! Practice compassion and unconditional love towards all people!

The Article Above is An Excerpt from
The Feeling Soul - A Roadmap to Healing and Living
By Mark Linden O’Meara
Available at Amazon.com

© Mark Linden O’Meara lives in Vancouver, where he loves to sing, write and teach.

Tags: anger, compassion, gratitude, inner dialogue, negative emotions, state of happiness, true forgiveness

A few years ago I wrote a prayer that’s been circulating through the Internet for five plus years. I called it “The Prosperity Prayer,” and I’ve received countless notes and letters from all over the globe about its effectiveness. One thing everyone likes is the instant payoff — when you read it to yourself, you’ll feel better right away!

The Prosperity Prayer

Dear God -

I surrender my financial affairs and concerns about money to your Divine care and love.

I ask that you remove my worries, anxieties and fears about money, and replace them with faith.

I know and trust that my debts will be paid and money will flow into my life.

I have only to look to nature to see proof of the abundance you provide.

I release all negative thoughts about money, and know that prosperity is my true state.

I commit to being grateful for all that I now have in my life.

I learn to manage my finances wisely, seeking help where needed.

And finally, I ask you to help me to understand my purpose in life and to act on that purpose with courage and strength. I know that prosperity will come, in part, by doing work I love. Please help me use my skills and knowledge to be of service in the world. Thank you God. Amen

There is a great deal of research that indicates if you want to create a new paradigm in your life, repeat that “new thing” every day for thirty days. My suggestion for working with the Prosperity Prayer is that you say it at least once a day for a month. Say it quietly to yourself or out loud. Write it down on a slip of paper so you can read it when you begin to feel old worries about money arise.

Following is a more detailed explanation about the philosophy behind the prayer.

Dear God -

I believe that God is part of us, flows through us and animates the world surrounding us. We are programmed to receive God’s wisdom. Do you have to believe in God for this to work? Not really. Simply know that your words are heard and expect an answer.

I surrender my financial affairs and concerns about money to your Divine care and love.

Surrender is a difficult concept for many of us to grasp. At first, it sounds as if I might be suggesting you simply “give up” in defeat or to “let go” and pretend that your financial concerns do not matter. Neither is true. The Wisdom that controls the universe has created the human body and all its miraculous intricacies. This same wisdom knows how to bring prosperity into your life.

I ask that you remove my worries, anxieties and fears about money and replace them with faith.

Many of us labor under the illusion that if we worry enough about money, we’ll ward off debt. Nothing could be further from the truth. Worry, anxiety and fear create more worry, anxiety and fear. They don’t create more money. I’d like to suggest you go on a 30-day worry-free diet. Become aware when you have fear-based and anxious thoughts. Remember the prayer and stop the worry.

I know and trust that my debts will be paid and money will flow into my life.

Here’s a secret I’ve discovered in working with thousands of clients over twenty-plus years: there is tremendous power in images held in the mind. Those images (and the emotions they produce) begin to create the reality my clients experience in their lives. When you think about money, what pictures pop into your mind? Maxed out credit cards? Bag ladies? Overdue mortgage notices?

If any of the above sounds familiar, I’d like you to resolve to change these pictures in your mind. I’m asking you to accept much of this prayer philosophy on faith, but trust me when I tell you that those visualizations have a negative effect on your financial and emotional health.

I have only to look to nature to see proof of the abundance you provide.

Abundance is our natural state. We disallow this state through our fear and worry. We cut ourselves off from its flow.

When you begin to worry that there isn’t enough to go around or that God only doles out a limited supply of material to a deserving few, look around you. Take a deep breath and let in all of the abundance. Breathe the air (no limitations on that, right?). Look at your immediate environment. What do you see? Depending on the season and where you live, you’ll see leaves on the trees, snow on the ground, sand on the beach, grass on the lawns. Do you think God planned this amazing world and forgot to include the means for you to accomplish your purpose in life and to live your dreams?

I release all negative thoughts about money, and know that prosperity is my true state.

Your inner thoughts — what you say to yourself — make a big difference in your ability or inability to attract material wealth. When you consistently focus on negative thoughts you can count on attracting negativity into your life.

I commit to being grateful for all that I now have in my life.

There are two quotes that I absolutely love that relate to the issue of gratitude. The first is from Meister Eckhart, “If the only prayer you say in your life is ‘Thank you,’ that would suffice.” The second quote is from the famous writer, Anonymous, who said, “If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can’t buy.”

I learn to manage my finances wisely, seeking help where needed. It’s been said that “God helps those who help themselves.” This is especially true in the area of finances. In my work with clients, I’ve seen a clear correlation between how well they manage their money and their ability to attract more. If this is difficult for you, ask for help.

Please help me use my skills to be of service in the world. You have a purpose in life. It is the thing about which you are excited, the thing you’d love to do if only you had a few million dollars and didn’t have to worry about money. When you are enthusiastic about something in your life, God is giving you a clue about the path to follow. The root of the word “enthusiasm” is from the Greek, “entheos.” It literally means, “God within.”

Thank you, God.

I know you are there to help me and I am grateful. Amen

Tags: abundance, God, gratitude, material wealth, money, negative thoughts, prayer, prosperity, purpose in life