Law of Attraction and Manifesting Your Desires

An old friend, Michael, wrote recently. He said he envied my life here in Bali, that he wished he had the courage to live similarly.

He wrote: I worry about finances, health insurance and all that crap. I wish I could free my mind of such things. Could I make ends meet?

Now, some of you reading this have taken the step that he’s afraid to take. You’ve broken out of some conditioning just to live – whether for a moment, a month or forever – outside of the culture in which you grew up.

And it’s all relative. For some, living in a different culture is easy, no challenge, doesn’t require courage. For others it’s huge.

Michael, like many people, has dug himself an early grave and he’s in it. Not buried. There’s still light. He could climb out anytime.

“I worry about finances and health insurance.”

He bought the package. Insurance companies make a fortune off the same fear that he’s living with. And let’s not be fooled, health care, real care, real health, is not their primary concern.

Regardless, there’s no benefit in demonizing the insurance companies. They’re simply doing what they do. Yet Michael is living his life two feet below the surface of the earth.

Of course it’s ‘normal’ to worry about such things. Lots of people do it. Yet what’s ‘normal’ is no better a barometer to what’s healthy or helpful than getting financial tips from a poor person. Worry is making him sick and poor.

I wish I could free my mind of all that crap, he writes.

‘Bullsh&*%t,’ I respond. If he wanted to free his mind he would. As the saying goes ‘try is a lie.’

A couple of examples: “I wish I could have a great job that’s creatively satisfying, lucrative and stress-free.” Some reading this will agree: ‘I do wish that.’ Others, those who have this already, know that it’s not a matter of wishing it – though of course we must vision it first – it’s a matter of creating it. Possible or impossible?

A more obvious example: ‘I wish I could pick up that glass of coconut water.’ A clear example? It really is like Yoda said: “there is no try. There’s only do and don’t do.” If it’s not obvious yet, try it out – try to pick up the nearest object to you. Don’t pick it up, just try.

I’m not saying that it’s always easy, or happens instantly (though it could). Someone might have to work hard to create his or her dream job. It might take them years. The point is not the time, the point is the possibility. Anything is possible. Realizing that we can do whatever we want instantly brings us out of early graves.

Creating what we want is as easy as changing our beliefs. We can do that in an instant. Yet for many of us, it takes courage and power, it takes some momentum, to break out of the constraint of our inheritance, our conditioning.

Of course I understand Michael’s worries. Most everyone has feared there isn’t enough money, even people who’ve had plenty of money their whole life (especially them). That’s the thing. It’s so universally accepted that there isn’t enough money, everyone’s highly susceptible to believing it.

It comes down to a fear that we won’t be secure. Here’s a news flash: WE’RE NOT SECURE. We never will be. There’s no such thing as security. Life is insecure. No matter what we do to protect ourselves, to guarantee our future, we’re vulnerable to change. A tsunami, an earthquake, a stock market crash.

Here’s a good news flash: there’s no security, and there’s nothing to fear. Isn’t it true? Doesn’t something always work out?

Here’s what Helen Keller said about it:

Security is mostly a superstition.
It does not exist in nature
Nor do children as a whole experience it.
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run
Than outright exposure.
Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
To keep our faces toward change and
Behave like free spirits in the presence of fate
Is strength undefeatable.

Michael wrote that he appreciated my response to him, that it was like a ‘summer breeze.’

Now what will he do with it. Snooze?

Whether he climbs up to create the life he wants or not, it’s a reminder for us. Is there something in our lives that we lie to ourselves about and say is impossible? Are we living below our potential (below the ground)?

Alarm bells are ringing. Sometimes it’s a summer breeze and sometimes it’s an earthen tremble. Either brings the question what do we wish to create. The answer is up to us.

Tags: fear, helen keller, real health, stress, worry

Have you ever had something happen in your life that, at first glance, looked like a terrible misfortune but looking back you see that it was actually a valuable experience, which taught you something you needed to know? Sometimes, events that look difficult at the moment turn out to give us inspiration or new direction and focus.

A fable that I read many years ago sums up my point perfectly:
A farmer had a horse but one day, the horse ran away and so the farmer and his son had to plow their fields themselves. Their neighbors said, “Oh, what bad luck that your horse ran away!” But the farmer replied, “Bad luck, good luck, who knows?”

The next week, the horse returned to the farm, bringing a herd of wild horses with him. “What wonderful luck!” cried the neighbors, but the farmer responded, “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?”
Then, the farmer’s son was thrown as he tried to ride one of the wild horses, and he broke his leg. “Ah, such bad luck,” sympathized the neighbors. Once again, the farmer responded, “Bad luck, good luck, who knows?”

A short time later, the ruler of the country recruited all young men to join his army for battle. The son, with his broken leg, was left at home. “What good luck that your son was not forced into battle!” celebrated the neighbors. And the farmer remarked, “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?”

In my own life, as a teenager and into my early twenties, I got into drugs and alcohol and ended up broke, literally homeless, and in trouble with the law. I had no hopes, dreams or sense of direction in my life. I was as lost as anyone can be, at a crossroads, and in tremendous pain. I felt that there had to be something better than this. So I decided to choose something better for myself.

(Notice that I did not know what to choose, but I knew what I did not want, which was my first step.)
I had to stop drinking and drugging, get a job, and look for a way out, which wasn’t easy for a 22-year old. Boy, did I feel sorry for myself.

Looking back nearly 30 years later, what seemed like the end of the world was actually the beginning of a new world, which I might never have found had I not crashed and burned at such a young age. At 48 years old, I now live a life I never could have even imagined when I was 22.

Finding Opportunities within Challenges

This morning, I was talking with a dear friend who has just been diagnosed with cancer for the third time. She shared with me that both previous times she underwent diagnosis and treatment for cancer, she learned incredible lessons along the way. While she would not wish this on herself or for anyone, she can recognize the gifts her journey has brought to her.
She went on to say that after the shock of the news that the cancer had reoccurred, she had a realization.

While she doesn’t know if this third episode will be “her time” or not, realized that, either way, she needs to address some unfinished business with two of her children. While she would ordinarily prefer to avoid this issue, she now feels she must deal with it. Through her terrible news, once again, comes the urgency and courage to face her toughest issues head on. She has decided to be honest with her children and share what she knows in her heart needs to be said.

Successful people share with me, over and over, similar stories about some perceived terrible event like a divorce or illness or loss that changed the entire course of their lives dramatically. Yet that change may also have brought them to a place that is indescribably better than they could ever have imagined. Had those supposedly terrible experiences not happened, they might not have found the resolve to make other changes happen along the way.

I am not suggesting that there are no such things as tragedies or losses. What I am saying is that loss and pain can be just one aspect of a difficult experience; positives can result from making meaningful experiences out of our challenges. For example, one mother who lost her child to a drunk driver formed Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), an organization that has saved many lives. Helen Keller used a lack of sight or hearing to teach the rest of us important lessons about living. Nelson Mandela spent half his life in prison trying to bring peace to South Africa yet emerged from his prison cell to lead his country as its first post-apartheid president.

The next time you perceive something as really bad, try also to look for the gifts in disguise. It’s all in the way you look at it.

Tags: bad luck, dreams, good luck, helen keller, Nelson Mandela, peace, Steve Kennedy, success

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
-Helen Keller

The power of your Faith is effective only when you are willing to risk whatever the situation demands of you and in whatever you attempt to do. Whether it’s freedom from illness, finding material wealth, and experiencing life itself, without a certain amount of risk, your faith is inactive. You are not testing its secret power.

Whenever you are really clear about something you wish to do and know why you wish it to happen, you must then put all of the power of your faith behind your actions to make it happen. Any action you attempt to do must come from your strongest desire and purpose.

How do discoverers, scientists, inventors of new products, and so-called geniuses perfect their achievements? By trusting in a faith that is active, they use it to achieve their dreams. Any new discovery or achievement is the result of faith in action; the secret power that comes from within. It is available to you and everyone who accesses it and uses it.

You may fail to realize your dreams when you separate mental power from personal action. To keep your thoughts and actions strong, you only need to keep focusing on your faith and make sure your emotions are in sync with your dreams. Think about what you like to happen rather then what you don’t wish to happen. This is easy: pay close attention to the way you feel. Your feelings will always take you to where your thoughts are focused.

Get in the habit of making your thinking strong enough so that your attention is on things you desire and on what feels right for you. The opportunity that comes from these clear thoughts will lead you to the necessary action that takes you in the direction you need to go. When your faith is strong enough, you can relax and let it take over. You will create and attract all that is miraculous in your life.

Develop and practice your faith by focusing on a safe, successful outcome for anything you attempt to do. Recognize what your limits are and what may be beyond your reach. If you are thinking about developing a new business, a new product, service, or idea seek help with the areas you lack knowledge and/or skill to do. A strong, passionate belief in your worthiness to succeed is the secret power of faith that will make it happen.

Look until you find that secret power within you. Then after each successful achievement your faith gets stronger. Each achievement inspires you to look for more ways to succeed. You are better prepared to take greater risks. And when you find your secret power you will discover your true self. This gives you the opportunity and motivation to make use of every experience in your life.

So, when you build that better mousetrap, write the next bestseller, or invent the next internet software program, the world will beat a path to your door, recognize you no matter who you are. You will collect the rewards for declaring your faith. Go, do and be full of the power of your faith.

Tags: belief, dreams, emotions, faith, faith in action, feelings, helen keller, material wealth