i am more regular now in sticking to my daily 4am meditation commitment schedule (God first!) and i can even do a one-hour meditation session now without "effort" (being conscious that it's been an hour!).
how far i've come and grown in these "experiment" huh? to think that when i started Magical Mind, i was just intent on testing out manifesting principles i've learned...
and the most important thing i've learned is that the process actually brings you closer to your spiritual core and to your Higher Self/God/the Universe, and that somewhere, somehow along the way, you actually are not so keen on manifesting material intentions anymore than you are in actually living out spiritual values in your own life.
but the funny thing is, when you focus on the higher Spiritual concerns now, your heart's desires are actually brought to you in your life!
imagine-- i am at peace now with my self and with others, my relationships with family, friends, colleagues and even strangers are healthy, my writing has taken off (with national awards and going international now to boot), my children are thriving wonderfully and so am i, and i have a truly beautiful and special relationship now with a wonderful man whom i am also able to intimately share my spirit (not just my mind, heart and body) and spiritual journey with!
i can now truly understand what is meant by that Bible saying: "seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness... and all these things will be added unto you."
these days, i am just focused now on always being Clear-- getting clear and staying clear in spite of Life's happenings, demands, stresses-- so that i become a clearer channel for God's Grace, Love, Wisdom, Peace, Health and Abundance to flow through, to work through.
and i am finding out that it should be constant work too -- vigilance and feeding yourself with the conditions necessary to make that kind of Clarity sustainable -- or else, you lose it. that's why i'm doing my meditations daily and regularly now, in addition to eating and living healthily, feeding my mind and body only good, affirming stuff and staying away from negative/trashy/BS reading material, films, music, the tv, newspapers, negative gossipy/blaming/complaining people and surroundings as much as i can.
it's also a lesson in supreme openness and Trust -- trust in God/the Universe, trust in things working out for the best, trust in other people, trust in your self that you can handle whatever comes -- as i try to live it out daily, and i'm finding my self more open, "softer" but so much stronger now so to speak, and less attached to outcomes (succeed/fail) but more focused on the process (just living in the present moments moment by moment and aligning my self with the Flow of Life).
the interesting thing i'm discovering, though, is how i even handle schedules has changed 180 degrees now. there's the outer schedule of my life's To Dos, and there's the inner, ticking schedule of my Real Life, and i see them and live them out differently now. i used to think my To Dos were the paramount thing, with my Real Life to be fitted into it somehow. now i live my Real Life as it happens, with my To Dos to be fitted into it instead. with To Dos left undone, i figure they were not meant to be done today given the priority of Real Life, so i just move them to another day. it's so much less stressful, at the very least.
Life is so much more real, at the very best, though. i am more present to my self and to people and to experiences as they happen, and i respond more authentically and naturally and instinctively with the truth of my mind and heart at each moment. i am less "mental" and calculating in the way i approach situations and i am finding out that all those mental, calculating stuff is just so much baggage, that there is really nothing to be afraid of -- in people and in Life!
this week, particularly, the message that has been strongly and frequently coming out in my meditations is this (yes, i write them down in my journal now as they come, so i can go back to them again and again as well as "document my process" : > )--
The only task you do today is to keep contrary thoughts away. I will take care of the rest. I will work wonders for you and through you, you'll see. I love you, and I always take care of you. Make it easier by letting go, my child. The only task you do today is to keep contrary thoughts away.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
What It's All About
This is The Universe's Message of the Day for me today. : )
It basically sums up what all this manifesting stuff is all about, and I'd like to share it here--
Land appeared beneath their feet where there had been none, Jeanette, because they dared to step.
Cups that had long been empty began to overflow, as they were finally raised in toast.
And friends were drawn, as if from the ether, when the party shoes went on.
Oh, the magic,
The Universe
It basically sums up what all this manifesting stuff is all about, and I'd like to share it here--
Land appeared beneath their feet where there had been none, Jeanette, because they dared to step.
Cups that had long been empty began to overflow, as they were finally raised in toast.
And friends were drawn, as if from the ether, when the party shoes went on.
Oh, the magic,
The Universe
Friday, April 18, 2008
The 90-second Rule
What first attracted me to this article was the notion of how it could have been for Mama, when she suffered a major stroke and part of her brain (the one holding short-term memory) was destroyed... but as I read on, I became "curiouser and curiouser" even as I learned some new things I've always known... : )
Check out the 90-second Rule, especially, and how our school systems and postmodern society's culture are discriminating and even systematically destroying our brain's right hemispheres.
Please click on the title or "this article" above.
Check out the 90-second Rule, especially, and how our school systems and postmodern society's culture are discriminating and even systematically destroying our brain's right hemispheres.
Please click on the title or "this article" above.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Soul and Body Health
from Belief.net:
A Soulful Surgeon
We talk to a physician about glimpsing God through his patients' souls--and how you can stay spiritually sane in a hospital.
Interview by Valerie Reiss
In 30 years as a Harvard-trained brain surgeon, Dr. Allan Hamilton has not only seen disease and healing--he's also glimpsed the mystical side of medicine. After suffering a devastating back injury while serving in Desert Storm, Dr. Hamilton learned to be a patient. It infused his life with new purpose: While in a body cast, he invented a now widely-used method for treating tumors. As a medical professor at the University of Arizona, he teaches surgeons to avoid fatal mistakes. And he runs an equine-assisted therapy program for cancer patients and survivors at Rancho Bosque outside of Tucson.
Dr. Hamilton's new book is, "The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope." He recently talked to Beliefnet about his most inspiring patients, how to stay positive in medical settings, and the spirituality they didn't teach in medical school.
What inspired you to write about your spiritual experiences as a surgeon?
I felt I had gone far enough in my career that I could say I was totally unprepared for the spiritual challenges that I encountered in taking care of my patients. When people are facing a severe illness or a major surgery, that may be may be one of the most significant opportunities for spiritual transformation that they will encounter.
So as a doctor, if you don't take that into account, you’re missing a big piece of the picture?
I tell residents, if you gave me two patients with identical problems and one of them had family at the bedside with a lot of laughter, plus photos and a quilt from home, and next door was another patient who was alone every time I came by—I’m going to be very nervous about the isolated patient's mental status.
Have you observed that affecting their physical outcome as well?
Well, there are plenty of studies that have shown that depression is associated with decreased immunity. So I want to harness all of the positive emotional energy I can in a patient to get better. If there’s not a lot of energy there, or if it's very negative, that’s going to make the task of getting them through surgery and having a good recovery much more difficult.
In the book you talk a lot about hope. There's one moving story about a patient named Donald.
That was one of the saddest experiences I have ever had as a physician, and probably one of the most insightful. This was a young man I got very close to. He was an avid fisherman. And he had a malignant brain tumor. He did very well with the surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. This was a kid with an irrepressible spirit--it was exactly the kind of shining emotion that you love to see.
And one day he took me aside and looked me square in the eye and said, “When it’s time for me to 'go fishing'--and you know what I mean--tell me.” I gave him my word that I would.
Over several more years there were problems, but we fought them off. But, finally, the tumor was really invading his brain. One morning I said, "I promised you that I would tell you when it was time to go fishing. It is now time.”
He went home, and the next morning his mother called and told me that he had died. You could say he died of his disease. He didn’t. He died because I cut his string of hope. It taught me how powerful that is, and that nobody, no physician, ever has the right to take away somebody’s hope. As well as intentioned as it might have been, I literally just snipped it, and it was a mortal snip.
But you also want to honor a request like that.
Yes, you do. In retrospect, he was saying, “You tell me when you’ve given up hope, and then I’ll give up mine.” If the conversation had been in those words, I would have said, “I’ll never give up hope.”
Can you talk about the patient whose brain had to be shut down so you could repair an aneurysm?
This is a technique that’s used on a handful of difficult cases. They put the patient on a heart pump, then cool down the blood. The heart flutters and stops. There’s no blood flow to the brain, and no electrical activity in the brain. Now you can operate on a very significant blood vessel while no blood is flowing through it.
Once the procedure is finished and you realize you’re within the time limit of 20 minutes or so, everybody breathes a sigh of relief. And then the team gets ready to slowly warm the patient up. Sometimes there’s some banter. One of the nurses said she was getting engaged, and that they had gone to this restaurant, and had gotten the ring at this particular store, etc.
When the patient woke, she reported the entire conversation. While her heart was stopped, while her brain had no activity, she somehow remembered that conversation.
And that is scientifically impossible. If the brain is essentially dead, then how can it make a memory? A case like that shakes you up. You’re getting very close to the Holy Grail: "Is this what we mean by a soul? Is this what we mean by an entity that can exist separate from the physical body and the brain?"
And what do you do with that, personally?
People think of science as rolling back the mystery of God. I look at science as slowly creeping toward the mystery of God.
Here I have an example of consciousness existing outside of the body and any physical parameters that we associate with somebody being conscious. That really changes how I look at what happens when the functions that we associate with life disappear.
How can patients preserve their spirituality in a traditional medical setting?
1) First, hospitals do not like individuality. They’re trying to turn you into a number. That’s the last thing I want. So lose the hospital gown. A gown that opens up in the back with your butt hanging out, and that is how you’re supposed to walk down the hallway to get exercise after surgery is ridiculous. Get your sweats. Get your T-shirt. Get your sneakers and start thinking like an athlete. Start thinking like somebody who’s getting better.
2) If you have your favorite quilt, sleep under that. Surround yourself with things that remind you of the positive influences in your life. I tell patients they have to take responsibility for surrounding themselves with positive energy. If you have a special picture or positive music, bring those in.
3) Create your own healing ceremonies. If prayer is important, use it. Have a family circle. Very often I’ll say, "Let’s circle up and have everybody tell the patient how important that person is to them and how they’re looking forward to them getting better."
4) Hospital food is terrible. They cook everything vital out of it. Have your family make meals and bring them in. Eat food that’s organic and in its natural, potent state, with all the minerals and vitamins.
5) Get out as soon as you can. Hospitals are bad for everybody, but they’re especially bad for people who are sick. They’re toxic. Go home where positive influences are concentrated.
How can patients coach a doctor who is not interested in any of this stuff?
One, you’ve got to have a doctor you feel comfortable with. I’m always amazed that patients are turning their lives over to somebody, and then they go, "I don’t feel comfortable with them."
The second thing is that the patient has the right to say, “Here are some things that are really important to me.” For example, many people want to have specific music played during surgery, and a lot of doctors may pooh-pooh that. I don’t. That’s the patient’s prerogative.
And last but not least, you’ve got to hire a tough guy. You appoint a guardian angel, and their job is to make sure that you are respected as an individual. If you want crystals organized on your bedside table and they’re supposed to stay that way, then you put somebody in charge of saying, “This is very important, and we are going to respect that, and so is the medical staff.”
In 2004 you had your own surgery, how did that change your view of medicine?
One of the most important experiences a physician can have is becoming a serious patient. In this case, I broke my back and had 10 hours of surgery. I lost half my blood volume during the surgery and I wasn’t sure I was going to walk again.
For so long, my identity had been wrapped up in being a surgeon, in trusting my physical strengths. Then all of a sudden, you’re just one of the people in the hallway shuffling along with a cane and you realize that the hospital staff and doctors are not looking at you anymore as a physician.
But patients began to look at me differently too. They’d give me this little secret smile, that said, “We know what we’re going through, don’t we?”
And it really changed my feelings about medical errors. I had a couple [mistakes] happen. Here I am, a surgeon in the hospital, and I still can’t stop a mistake here, a mistake there. If I can’t, how can an ordinary patient? I realized this was something that I'd to dedicate myself to.
You’re still teaching?
Yes, and I spend a lot of time working with surgeons, simulating mistakes, and asking, “How could we do this differently?” I study how jet pilots are trained. The amount of people dying in the United States due to hospital errors is the equivalent of a 747 falling out of the sky every single day, 365 days a year. [Medical error] is becoming the fourth leading cause of death. We would never set foot on a jet if that was happening every single day. And yet, we have no choice.
Is there anything you want to add?
At some point, we are all going to face a severe challenge to our mortality. And that is a very frightening moment, but it is also a moment in which there is tremendous potential to change our lives. I have not met one cancer patient who said, “I wish I could go back and not have cancer." Their values and what they wanted to do with their lives changed.
So, as terrible as a severe illness or major surgery may be, it may be the great opportunity to find your passion, figure out what is important to you, and what you're going to devote yourself to. Ultimately, that’s what we’re all looking for.
A Soulful Surgeon
We talk to a physician about glimpsing God through his patients' souls--and how you can stay spiritually sane in a hospital.
Interview by Valerie Reiss
In 30 years as a Harvard-trained brain surgeon, Dr. Allan Hamilton has not only seen disease and healing--he's also glimpsed the mystical side of medicine. After suffering a devastating back injury while serving in Desert Storm, Dr. Hamilton learned to be a patient. It infused his life with new purpose: While in a body cast, he invented a now widely-used method for treating tumors. As a medical professor at the University of Arizona, he teaches surgeons to avoid fatal mistakes. And he runs an equine-assisted therapy program for cancer patients and survivors at Rancho Bosque outside of Tucson.
Dr. Hamilton's new book is, "The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope." He recently talked to Beliefnet about his most inspiring patients, how to stay positive in medical settings, and the spirituality they didn't teach in medical school.
What inspired you to write about your spiritual experiences as a surgeon?
I felt I had gone far enough in my career that I could say I was totally unprepared for the spiritual challenges that I encountered in taking care of my patients. When people are facing a severe illness or a major surgery, that may be may be one of the most significant opportunities for spiritual transformation that they will encounter.
So as a doctor, if you don't take that into account, you’re missing a big piece of the picture?
I tell residents, if you gave me two patients with identical problems and one of them had family at the bedside with a lot of laughter, plus photos and a quilt from home, and next door was another patient who was alone every time I came by—I’m going to be very nervous about the isolated patient's mental status.
Have you observed that affecting their physical outcome as well?
Well, there are plenty of studies that have shown that depression is associated with decreased immunity. So I want to harness all of the positive emotional energy I can in a patient to get better. If there’s not a lot of energy there, or if it's very negative, that’s going to make the task of getting them through surgery and having a good recovery much more difficult.
In the book you talk a lot about hope. There's one moving story about a patient named Donald.
That was one of the saddest experiences I have ever had as a physician, and probably one of the most insightful. This was a young man I got very close to. He was an avid fisherman. And he had a malignant brain tumor. He did very well with the surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. This was a kid with an irrepressible spirit--it was exactly the kind of shining emotion that you love to see.
And one day he took me aside and looked me square in the eye and said, “When it’s time for me to 'go fishing'--and you know what I mean--tell me.” I gave him my word that I would.
Over several more years there were problems, but we fought them off. But, finally, the tumor was really invading his brain. One morning I said, "I promised you that I would tell you when it was time to go fishing. It is now time.”
He went home, and the next morning his mother called and told me that he had died. You could say he died of his disease. He didn’t. He died because I cut his string of hope. It taught me how powerful that is, and that nobody, no physician, ever has the right to take away somebody’s hope. As well as intentioned as it might have been, I literally just snipped it, and it was a mortal snip.
But you also want to honor a request like that.
Yes, you do. In retrospect, he was saying, “You tell me when you’ve given up hope, and then I’ll give up mine.” If the conversation had been in those words, I would have said, “I’ll never give up hope.”
Can you talk about the patient whose brain had to be shut down so you could repair an aneurysm?
This is a technique that’s used on a handful of difficult cases. They put the patient on a heart pump, then cool down the blood. The heart flutters and stops. There’s no blood flow to the brain, and no electrical activity in the brain. Now you can operate on a very significant blood vessel while no blood is flowing through it.
Once the procedure is finished and you realize you’re within the time limit of 20 minutes or so, everybody breathes a sigh of relief. And then the team gets ready to slowly warm the patient up. Sometimes there’s some banter. One of the nurses said she was getting engaged, and that they had gone to this restaurant, and had gotten the ring at this particular store, etc.
When the patient woke, she reported the entire conversation. While her heart was stopped, while her brain had no activity, she somehow remembered that conversation.
And that is scientifically impossible. If the brain is essentially dead, then how can it make a memory? A case like that shakes you up. You’re getting very close to the Holy Grail: "Is this what we mean by a soul? Is this what we mean by an entity that can exist separate from the physical body and the brain?"
And what do you do with that, personally?
People think of science as rolling back the mystery of God. I look at science as slowly creeping toward the mystery of God.
Here I have an example of consciousness existing outside of the body and any physical parameters that we associate with somebody being conscious. That really changes how I look at what happens when the functions that we associate with life disappear.
How can patients preserve their spirituality in a traditional medical setting?
1) First, hospitals do not like individuality. They’re trying to turn you into a number. That’s the last thing I want. So lose the hospital gown. A gown that opens up in the back with your butt hanging out, and that is how you’re supposed to walk down the hallway to get exercise after surgery is ridiculous. Get your sweats. Get your T-shirt. Get your sneakers and start thinking like an athlete. Start thinking like somebody who’s getting better.
2) If you have your favorite quilt, sleep under that. Surround yourself with things that remind you of the positive influences in your life. I tell patients they have to take responsibility for surrounding themselves with positive energy. If you have a special picture or positive music, bring those in.
3) Create your own healing ceremonies. If prayer is important, use it. Have a family circle. Very often I’ll say, "Let’s circle up and have everybody tell the patient how important that person is to them and how they’re looking forward to them getting better."
4) Hospital food is terrible. They cook everything vital out of it. Have your family make meals and bring them in. Eat food that’s organic and in its natural, potent state, with all the minerals and vitamins.
5) Get out as soon as you can. Hospitals are bad for everybody, but they’re especially bad for people who are sick. They’re toxic. Go home where positive influences are concentrated.
How can patients coach a doctor who is not interested in any of this stuff?
One, you’ve got to have a doctor you feel comfortable with. I’m always amazed that patients are turning their lives over to somebody, and then they go, "I don’t feel comfortable with them."
The second thing is that the patient has the right to say, “Here are some things that are really important to me.” For example, many people want to have specific music played during surgery, and a lot of doctors may pooh-pooh that. I don’t. That’s the patient’s prerogative.
And last but not least, you’ve got to hire a tough guy. You appoint a guardian angel, and their job is to make sure that you are respected as an individual. If you want crystals organized on your bedside table and they’re supposed to stay that way, then you put somebody in charge of saying, “This is very important, and we are going to respect that, and so is the medical staff.”
In 2004 you had your own surgery, how did that change your view of medicine?
One of the most important experiences a physician can have is becoming a serious patient. In this case, I broke my back and had 10 hours of surgery. I lost half my blood volume during the surgery and I wasn’t sure I was going to walk again.
For so long, my identity had been wrapped up in being a surgeon, in trusting my physical strengths. Then all of a sudden, you’re just one of the people in the hallway shuffling along with a cane and you realize that the hospital staff and doctors are not looking at you anymore as a physician.
But patients began to look at me differently too. They’d give me this little secret smile, that said, “We know what we’re going through, don’t we?”
And it really changed my feelings about medical errors. I had a couple [mistakes] happen. Here I am, a surgeon in the hospital, and I still can’t stop a mistake here, a mistake there. If I can’t, how can an ordinary patient? I realized this was something that I'd to dedicate myself to.
You’re still teaching?
Yes, and I spend a lot of time working with surgeons, simulating mistakes, and asking, “How could we do this differently?” I study how jet pilots are trained. The amount of people dying in the United States due to hospital errors is the equivalent of a 747 falling out of the sky every single day, 365 days a year. [Medical error] is becoming the fourth leading cause of death. We would never set foot on a jet if that was happening every single day. And yet, we have no choice.
Is there anything you want to add?
At some point, we are all going to face a severe challenge to our mortality. And that is a very frightening moment, but it is also a moment in which there is tremendous potential to change our lives. I have not met one cancer patient who said, “I wish I could go back and not have cancer." Their values and what they wanted to do with their lives changed.
So, as terrible as a severe illness or major surgery may be, it may be the great opportunity to find your passion, figure out what is important to you, and what you're going to devote yourself to. Ultimately, that’s what we’re all looking for.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Create Your Own Miracles
from Belief.net:
Eight steps to bringing wonderful experiences into your life.
By Michael C. Rann and Elizabeth Rann Arrott
"Are there really miracles?" Yes, of course, there are. All of us have heard of miracles in the form of physical healings that cannot be explained by medical science. There are also miracles when the perfect solution presents itself at just the right time. There are miracles when some action taken by a person puts him or her in just the right place and results in a greater good than ever seemed possible. There are miracles in finding the perfect job, the perfect mate, and/or money when it's most needed.
Miracles happen through natural and normal circumstances, and the "new science" of quantum physics is proving that we are--every one of us--already wired for miracles. The reality is that every one of us can consciously take control and work to create a miracle or miracles in our lives. We are not victims of a random existence in a confusing and possibly hostile world. Life is for us, not against us. Not only is it possible to experience a dramatic healing or find the perfect solution to our problems, but it's also possible to express the dream or desire that we haven't dared pursue up to now and to learn how to bring such wonderful experiences into our lives more often.
To help get you started on the path of creating your own miracle, here are eight simple steps...
Be very clear.
You need to be very clear about the miracle you desire - about the good you want in your world. As you clearly visualize or imagine your miracle, focus only on the end result of what you want, not the means by which it comes about. Let the "how" be up to the Infinite Intelligence that's working for you in response to your thinking.
Expect the best.
We tend to attract that which we love, fear, or steadily expect. So expect the best, even when negative circumstances appear--in fact, especially when they appear. When we expect less than what we want, we get less than what we want. Remind yourself that you do deserve the good you desire. You deserve it by the right of your very existence. Consciously and consistently expect that everything is working to your greatest and highest good.
Let go of fear.
Fear is faith in something negative. Be watchful about your thinking. Your thoughts magnetically attract others like themselves. When you think negatively, your mind will go on a stream-of-consciousness journey into all sorts of related realms of negativity until you consciously stop yourself. All of this will block your miracle. Of course, you can't eliminate every single negative thought for the rest of your life. But all you need is 51% faith and your life will begin to turn in the right direction. When you realize this truth, you will begin to feel empowered, and your faith will become more and more self-generating.
Open your mind to all possibilities.
When we open to a greater flow of Universal Power and Intelligence in our world, we also need to let go of the way we want it. Although miracles always unfold in a very natural manner, they often come through unexpected channels. Whenever we hold tight, mentally or physically, to having things unfold "our way," we run the risk of delaying our good, diminishing it or even blocking it all together. "What" is up to you. "How" is up to Spirit.
See yourself as you want to be.
If you desire health, you need to see yourself healthy and filled with energy and enthusiasm for life. If you desire abundance, you need to see yourself enjoying an abundant lifestyle. And so forth. This does not mean living in a state of denial. On the contrary, you are clear about the facts of your present situation and handle what needs to be handled. But while you are doing all of this, your thinking about where you are headed is focused on what you want, not on what you don't want or where you are today.
Keep the power.
Don't talk about it. Keep your miracle secret. To share it prematurely is to dissipate some of the Power of your idea. Further, a negative or envious person will contribute a certain amount of negative energy, either spoken or unspoken, around your idea. The integrity of the relationship between you and Spirit with respect to the unfoldment of your miracle must not be violated. Wait until it is absolutely necessary to share your idea in order for it to continue unfolding. Even then, share as little as possible with as few people as possible.
Do what needs to be done by you.
Through the Law of Attraction, many good things move into our lives, apparently unbidden. But almost always, there are things that you need to do and choices you need to make. When you are very clear about what it is you want or need, your mind becomes calm and focused. This, in turn, provides a clear channel for the guidance and direction you need in making your choices and decisions about what to do--whether it's choosing the right doctor or taking the right job.
Pray. Pray often. Prayer works.
Prayer is effective whether we're praying for ourselves, praying for others, or being prayed for by others. You don't have to be religious for your prayers to be effective. A few suggestions:
Pray at a time and in a quiet place where you won't be disturbed.
Allow yourself to feel empathy, love, and compassion for yourself or for whomever you are praying.
Pray with a complete expectation that your prayer is being answered and that the desired result is right now in the process of manifestation.
After you pray, "let go and let God." At that point, your job in the creative process is complete. Your continuing work is to guard your thinking. Creatively praying several times a day is a major key to success in obtaining your desires.
Excerpted from 'Shortcut to a Miracle: How to Change Your Consciousness and Transform Your Life,' by Michael C. Rann and Elizabeth Rann Arrott (Jeffers Press). Copyright 2005. Used with permission
Eight steps to bringing wonderful experiences into your life.
By Michael C. Rann and Elizabeth Rann Arrott
"Are there really miracles?" Yes, of course, there are. All of us have heard of miracles in the form of physical healings that cannot be explained by medical science. There are also miracles when the perfect solution presents itself at just the right time. There are miracles when some action taken by a person puts him or her in just the right place and results in a greater good than ever seemed possible. There are miracles in finding the perfect job, the perfect mate, and/or money when it's most needed.
Miracles happen through natural and normal circumstances, and the "new science" of quantum physics is proving that we are--every one of us--already wired for miracles. The reality is that every one of us can consciously take control and work to create a miracle or miracles in our lives. We are not victims of a random existence in a confusing and possibly hostile world. Life is for us, not against us. Not only is it possible to experience a dramatic healing or find the perfect solution to our problems, but it's also possible to express the dream or desire that we haven't dared pursue up to now and to learn how to bring such wonderful experiences into our lives more often.
To help get you started on the path of creating your own miracle, here are eight simple steps...
Be very clear.
You need to be very clear about the miracle you desire - about the good you want in your world. As you clearly visualize or imagine your miracle, focus only on the end result of what you want, not the means by which it comes about. Let the "how" be up to the Infinite Intelligence that's working for you in response to your thinking.
Expect the best.
We tend to attract that which we love, fear, or steadily expect. So expect the best, even when negative circumstances appear--in fact, especially when they appear. When we expect less than what we want, we get less than what we want. Remind yourself that you do deserve the good you desire. You deserve it by the right of your very existence. Consciously and consistently expect that everything is working to your greatest and highest good.
Let go of fear.
Fear is faith in something negative. Be watchful about your thinking. Your thoughts magnetically attract others like themselves. When you think negatively, your mind will go on a stream-of-consciousness journey into all sorts of related realms of negativity until you consciously stop yourself. All of this will block your miracle. Of course, you can't eliminate every single negative thought for the rest of your life. But all you need is 51% faith and your life will begin to turn in the right direction. When you realize this truth, you will begin to feel empowered, and your faith will become more and more self-generating.
Open your mind to all possibilities.
When we open to a greater flow of Universal Power and Intelligence in our world, we also need to let go of the way we want it. Although miracles always unfold in a very natural manner, they often come through unexpected channels. Whenever we hold tight, mentally or physically, to having things unfold "our way," we run the risk of delaying our good, diminishing it or even blocking it all together. "What" is up to you. "How" is up to Spirit.
See yourself as you want to be.
If you desire health, you need to see yourself healthy and filled with energy and enthusiasm for life. If you desire abundance, you need to see yourself enjoying an abundant lifestyle. And so forth. This does not mean living in a state of denial. On the contrary, you are clear about the facts of your present situation and handle what needs to be handled. But while you are doing all of this, your thinking about where you are headed is focused on what you want, not on what you don't want or where you are today.
Keep the power.
Don't talk about it. Keep your miracle secret. To share it prematurely is to dissipate some of the Power of your idea. Further, a negative or envious person will contribute a certain amount of negative energy, either spoken or unspoken, around your idea. The integrity of the relationship between you and Spirit with respect to the unfoldment of your miracle must not be violated. Wait until it is absolutely necessary to share your idea in order for it to continue unfolding. Even then, share as little as possible with as few people as possible.
Do what needs to be done by you.
Through the Law of Attraction, many good things move into our lives, apparently unbidden. But almost always, there are things that you need to do and choices you need to make. When you are very clear about what it is you want or need, your mind becomes calm and focused. This, in turn, provides a clear channel for the guidance and direction you need in making your choices and decisions about what to do--whether it's choosing the right doctor or taking the right job.
Pray. Pray often. Prayer works.
Prayer is effective whether we're praying for ourselves, praying for others, or being prayed for by others. You don't have to be religious for your prayers to be effective. A few suggestions:
Pray at a time and in a quiet place where you won't be disturbed.
Allow yourself to feel empathy, love, and compassion for yourself or for whomever you are praying.
Pray with a complete expectation that your prayer is being answered and that the desired result is right now in the process of manifestation.
After you pray, "let go and let God." At that point, your job in the creative process is complete. Your continuing work is to guard your thinking. Creatively praying several times a day is a major key to success in obtaining your desires.
Excerpted from 'Shortcut to a Miracle: How to Change Your Consciousness and Transform Your Life,' by Michael C. Rann and Elizabeth Rann Arrott (Jeffers Press). Copyright 2005. Used with permission
Monday, February 18, 2008
Undistracted Energy: The Power of Pure Thought and Positive Emotions
from dailyom.com -
If we make no effort at all, our thoughts usually scatter in a vast array of directions. They start and stop and move in surprising ways from one second to the next. If we try to follow our thoughts without controlling them, we will be amazed at how truly inconsistent they are. Yet, if we apply our minds to a specific task, especially one that interests us, they gather together and allow us to focus our attention, creating great power and energy. This is what is known as pure thought, because it is undistracted.
The law of attraction—like attracts like—influences all energy, including our thoughts, and this is what makes pure thought so potent. Our undistracted thoughts create a powerful magnet that draws similar energy into our vibrational field. As a result, the longer we are able to hold positive thoughts in our minds, the more powerful the positive energy around us becomes. We don't need to focus on action and controlling so much when we are surrounded by energy that draws what we want toward us. We can simply respond to the opportunities that naturally come our way. When this is the essence of our experience, we can go with the flow, knowing that we will be okay.
If pure thought is a body, it is our emotions that supply the heart that can really bring it to life. Our thoughts and feelings exist in relation to one another, and they form a feedback loop through which they communicate and empower each other. When we hold a thought in our mind without being distracted, we have achieved pure thought. When we have a positive emotional response to that thought, we enable it to dance and move and breathe itself into existence.
If we make no effort at all, our thoughts usually scatter in a vast array of directions. They start and stop and move in surprising ways from one second to the next. If we try to follow our thoughts without controlling them, we will be amazed at how truly inconsistent they are. Yet, if we apply our minds to a specific task, especially one that interests us, they gather together and allow us to focus our attention, creating great power and energy. This is what is known as pure thought, because it is undistracted.
The law of attraction—like attracts like—influences all energy, including our thoughts, and this is what makes pure thought so potent. Our undistracted thoughts create a powerful magnet that draws similar energy into our vibrational field. As a result, the longer we are able to hold positive thoughts in our minds, the more powerful the positive energy around us becomes. We don't need to focus on action and controlling so much when we are surrounded by energy that draws what we want toward us. We can simply respond to the opportunities that naturally come our way. When this is the essence of our experience, we can go with the flow, knowing that we will be okay.
If pure thought is a body, it is our emotions that supply the heart that can really bring it to life. Our thoughts and feelings exist in relation to one another, and they form a feedback loop through which they communicate and empower each other. When we hold a thought in our mind without being distracted, we have achieved pure thought. When we have a positive emotional response to that thought, we enable it to dance and move and breathe itself into existence.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Getting Your Imagination to Work for You
from the free Beliefnet newsletter i subscribe to--
Getting Your Imagination to Work for You
by Denis Waitley
Highly motivated achievers find the strength of their motivation in the power of their imagination.
One of the wonderful aspects about human imagination is that it can see things not as they are now, but as they can be; it can foretell the future, based upon our beliefs and expectations, in an almost uncanny way; it can draw the colorful mental images that we hope someday to turn into reality.
Imagination is the beginning of creation.
Dr. David McClelland of Harvard University demonstrated this through a series of "projective tests." In these tests, McClelland used photographs or drawings depicting basic scenes. For instance, in one photograph, a man was lying in bed with his eyes closed. His hand was raised and extended over an alarm clock on the table next to the bed. A window in the background was bright with the rays of early morning sunlight. McClelland asked his subjects to either describe the scene or tell a story about the person in the picture. To be sure that the responses were solely a function of motivational levels, the subjects for each test were people of the same sex, age, social background, and level of education.
This was McClelland's hypothesis: Since all motivation comes from internal images, the subjects in the study who demonstrated the highest and most active levels of imaginative power would become the most successful in achieving their personal goals. He called these people "highly motivated achievers."
His experiments confirmed his hypothesis. He found that highly motivated achievers told action-filled, goal-oriented stories about the scenes. People with a lower motivational level generally gave bland, passive descriptions of the images.
For example, after viewing the photo of the man in bed holding out his hand toward the clock, a highly motivated achiever might describe a man who has to wake up early and get back to work on an important project that kept him up late the night before. They would even describe details of the project.
On the other hand, McClelland's less motivated subjects tended toward a passive interpretation of the scene. Many described a sleeping man who is reaching to turn off the alarm because it's Saturday and he doesn't have to go to work.
McClelland was not content to accept the results of the first study at face value. He continued to ask himself the following question: What if individuals don't start off with a vivid imagination, but their professional position demands a vivid imagination? If, in fact, highly motivated achievers developed their imaginative abilities in response to their jobs, it would mean that their imaginative powers might not have played a role in motivating them to their level of extraordinary success.
In other words, how could McClelland be certain that the vivid imagination of these individuals was a cause of success and not a result of it?
He solved the problem by devising a second study that took 14 years to complete. For four years, he gave his projective test to college students. After giving the last projective test, he compiled the results and divided the students into two groups. The first group comprised those who showed the same traits as the highly motivated achievers of his earlier study, and the second group included those who were of average motivation.
McClelland then waited 10 years before he could complete his study, giving the students time to establish careers. He knew that if those with the most vivid imaginations were the same ones who had advanced furthest up the corporate ladder, he would have proof that vivid imaginations played a key role in helping people advance the furthest in life. He would have proof that a vivid, action-oriented imagination was a cause, a prerequisite in maintaining a highly motivated state, not just a result of success.
Ultimately, McClelland's findings confirmed his expectations. The highly motivated achievers, those students who told the most vivid, action-oriented stories in the projective tests, had most often chosen entrepreneurial careers involving a large amount of personal responsibility, initiative, and personal risk. The other students gravitated to non-entrepreneurial fields that required much less personal initiative. From the 14-year study, McClelland concluded that highly motivated achievers find the strength of their motivation in the power of their imagination.
McClelland's research may seem complex, but there's one principle woven throughout all his studies: The more vivid and real the image that motivates you, the stronger the motivation.
As we hold a picture in the hands of our imagination, the enormous power of our minds is set on achieving it. Soon, depending upon the difficulty and complexity of the image, it is ours... it is a reality, whereas before, it was only a picture in our imagination.
Getting Your Imagination to Work for You
by Denis Waitley
Highly motivated achievers find the strength of their motivation in the power of their imagination.
One of the wonderful aspects about human imagination is that it can see things not as they are now, but as they can be; it can foretell the future, based upon our beliefs and expectations, in an almost uncanny way; it can draw the colorful mental images that we hope someday to turn into reality.
Imagination is the beginning of creation.
Dr. David McClelland of Harvard University demonstrated this through a series of "projective tests." In these tests, McClelland used photographs or drawings depicting basic scenes. For instance, in one photograph, a man was lying in bed with his eyes closed. His hand was raised and extended over an alarm clock on the table next to the bed. A window in the background was bright with the rays of early morning sunlight. McClelland asked his subjects to either describe the scene or tell a story about the person in the picture. To be sure that the responses were solely a function of motivational levels, the subjects for each test were people of the same sex, age, social background, and level of education.
This was McClelland's hypothesis: Since all motivation comes from internal images, the subjects in the study who demonstrated the highest and most active levels of imaginative power would become the most successful in achieving their personal goals. He called these people "highly motivated achievers."
His experiments confirmed his hypothesis. He found that highly motivated achievers told action-filled, goal-oriented stories about the scenes. People with a lower motivational level generally gave bland, passive descriptions of the images.
For example, after viewing the photo of the man in bed holding out his hand toward the clock, a highly motivated achiever might describe a man who has to wake up early and get back to work on an important project that kept him up late the night before. They would even describe details of the project.
On the other hand, McClelland's less motivated subjects tended toward a passive interpretation of the scene. Many described a sleeping man who is reaching to turn off the alarm because it's Saturday and he doesn't have to go to work.
McClelland was not content to accept the results of the first study at face value. He continued to ask himself the following question: What if individuals don't start off with a vivid imagination, but their professional position demands a vivid imagination? If, in fact, highly motivated achievers developed their imaginative abilities in response to their jobs, it would mean that their imaginative powers might not have played a role in motivating them to their level of extraordinary success.
In other words, how could McClelland be certain that the vivid imagination of these individuals was a cause of success and not a result of it?
He solved the problem by devising a second study that took 14 years to complete. For four years, he gave his projective test to college students. After giving the last projective test, he compiled the results and divided the students into two groups. The first group comprised those who showed the same traits as the highly motivated achievers of his earlier study, and the second group included those who were of average motivation.
McClelland then waited 10 years before he could complete his study, giving the students time to establish careers. He knew that if those with the most vivid imaginations were the same ones who had advanced furthest up the corporate ladder, he would have proof that vivid imaginations played a key role in helping people advance the furthest in life. He would have proof that a vivid, action-oriented imagination was a cause, a prerequisite in maintaining a highly motivated state, not just a result of success.
Ultimately, McClelland's findings confirmed his expectations. The highly motivated achievers, those students who told the most vivid, action-oriented stories in the projective tests, had most often chosen entrepreneurial careers involving a large amount of personal responsibility, initiative, and personal risk. The other students gravitated to non-entrepreneurial fields that required much less personal initiative. From the 14-year study, McClelland concluded that highly motivated achievers find the strength of their motivation in the power of their imagination.
McClelland's research may seem complex, but there's one principle woven throughout all his studies: The more vivid and real the image that motivates you, the stronger the motivation.
As we hold a picture in the hands of our imagination, the enormous power of our minds is set on achieving it. Soon, depending upon the difficulty and complexity of the image, it is ours... it is a reality, whereas before, it was only a picture in our imagination.
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