The Law of Attraction Is a Tricksy Friend
Most of us have had a friend or two that play little jokes on us and/or tease us a bit? These friends are very useful. They take on the role of the court jester: when we start taking ourselves too seriously, they always seem to be right there to remind us of our humanness and failability.
At times we might wonder if these friends really are friends. But when we look back at those times with perspective, it is clear that their teasing pokes and prods served to move us in a positive direction.
I’m beginning to look at the Law of Attraction as just such a friend. Here’s what I mean.
The hair dresser I’ve been using for over two years has started losing her touch. When I first went to her, she gave a great, fast, convenient and affordable haircut. But in the last few months I have begun to feel like her cuts have not been the same quality. When I go in to get a cut she seems distracted and not as engaged in the process as before and I leave feeling slightly disappointed with the quality of the cut.
So recently, I’ve been considering switching stylists. The problem is that her shop is one block away from my office. I walk by almost everyday. How would I explain to her that I had switched stylists when I inevitably ran into her after getting my haircut somewhere eles? I was struggling with the decision. I wanted good haircuts, but I loved the convenience of her location, her availability, and her price.
So, I decided to give her one more shot. One day, walking back to the office after lunch, I stopped by the shop to see if she had any openings that afternoon.
When I opened the door there was another woman there. When I asked if Carol was there, she said, “No. Carol moved to St. Croix. I bought the shop from her.”
I hadn’t been asking for Carol to move to the Islands. I had been asking for a way out of my relationship with her. The Universe provided a pretty clear way out!
Hopeful Highlights From The 2006 Scientific American 50 Awards
Here’s a quick look, through my personal filter, at a few of the very hopeful 2006 Scientific American 50 award winners for the most important developments in the science world during 2006.
It’s very hopeful to note that Climate Change and Sustainability were big winners in this year’s picks:
Swiss Re, a global reinsurer was awarded business leader of the year for its co-sponsorship (along with the United Nations Development Program) of a major report and documentary highlighting the potential economic impact of global warming.
Al Gore was awarded Policy Leader of the year for his tireless work communicating the truth about climate change. The movie, An Inconvenient Truth, has become the third-highest grossing documentary of all time. You go Al!
In the Trends in Business, Policy and Research, a major section was devoted to advances in alternative fuels and other tools for improving the environmental performance of vehicles. These include new technologies to produce biodiesel from renewable sources (including industrial waste, thereby “closing the loop”) more efficient hybrid engines that work at highway speeds as well as in city driving, and plug-in hybrids.
It was interesting to note how many of the award winners accomplished tasks that were considered unlikely or, in two cases, previously thought to be “impossible.”
Here are some of the no longer impossible feats.
In the new field of Plasmonics – in which light is turned from a three-dimensional wave into a two dimensional one – researchers created a microscope that can see details smaller than the wavelength of the illuminating light – “a feat that physics textbooks used to say was impossible.” This technology has also created an “invisibility cloak” ala Harry Potter. (You can bet the military is throwing big bucks into this technology!)
Here’s another one: “Conventional wisdom specifies that the central nervous system – the brain, spinal cord and eye nerves – cannot heal in adults. This thinking no longer holds.” Researchers have found a molecule that triggers nerve regeneration.
Another hopeful, to me at least, award went to Warren Buffet. Fortune Magazine said he is “breaking the mold of how extremely rich people donate money.” Buffet is giving away 30 Billion (yes that’s with a B) dollars, more than 85% of his wealth. (He’ll still probably be able to retire pretty well with the few Billion he has left!) What an incredible example to others in the “extremely rich” category.
I find it inspiring to hear about these positive developments in the world of science, technology and high finance. As we, individually and collectively, offer the desire for more effective solutions to problems and refine our positive vision of the future, we make it possible for the seemingly impossible to become true.
Keep dreaming. The bigger our dreams and visions, the bigger the breakthroughs will have to be to make them come true.
And our dreams and visions do come true!
Carnival Addendum – Gratitude
Over at Zen chill, Raymond Salas just posted a wonderful entry on The Power Of A Gratitude Journal, including some tips on keeping a gratitude journal. It went up too late for yesterday’s release of the Law of Attraction Carnival. It’s a post well worth checking out.
Law of Attraction Carnival #7: Gratitude
Welcome to the Law of Attraction Carnival # 7. The topic of this edition is Gratitude.
Those of us here in the US, just celebrated our holiday of gratitude, Thanksgiving. Regardless of what you might think about the history and origin of the holiday, the intention of Giving Thanks is extremely powerful. Spending a day focused on gratitude is a wonderful way to experience the many benefits of gratitude.
When you acknowledge, experience and express gratitude for what you already have, you offer a powerfully attractive vibration to the Universe. The Universe hears gratitude as a request for more.
My three-year-old daughter has not yet fallen into the trap of separating gratitude and desire. During one leg of yesterday’s drive from Boise to Boulder, my mother, Joan, was in the back seat playing with Ella. When Joan started playing “this little piggy” with Ella, each time the little piggy went “wee wee wee” all the home, Ella would spontaneously and naturally express her gratitude and joy through giggles and squeals and without any hesitation or resistance, express her desire clearly and firmly with “more,” or “do it again.” Joan, in the role of the Universe, responding to, and experiencing the contagious joy Ella was expressing immediately gave Ella what she wanted.
It seems like a silly example, but this is how the Universe works. Ultimately our Joy is the best expression of gratitude that we have. And, just like a doting grandmother, the Universe loves to see and share in our joy and gratitude. So when we express joy and gratitude the Universe wants to give us more of what we are grateful for. We knew this as children, but unfortunately, as adults, we tend to make things more complicated than they really are.
Here is a very simple cause and effect equation for you (and me) to remember:
Feel more gratitude – manifest more to be grateful for!
It really is that simple.
So let’s begin this carnival with an entry from Christine Kane who affirms the attractive power of gratitude by reminding us that: “Gratitude says, “Yes, I love this!” And then more of this is attracted, because the this is what you’re focusing on.
Read more from Christine in this entry about Why Gratitude Makes You Happier and Wealthier.
At A Better You blog, Patricia says “Grateful people not only count and take joy in their blessings, but they influence others with words and deeds by deliberately displaying their pleasure and appreciation to those who should receive it.” Read more at How To Develop An Attitude Of Gratitude.
Certainly, one day a year is a good place to start! (Better than nothing!) But Deliberate Creators know that nurturing an attitude of gratitude on a daily basis is one of the keys to manifesting intentions. In his entry, Gratitude, Good Times, and Glory Days
at Today is That Day, Aaron Potts reminds us that: “Just “going through the motions” of Gratitude won’t get you very far. However, truly, honestly feeling Gratitude on a heartfelt level at every possible opportunity could literally save your life some day!”
And if you’re wondering how to consciously bring more gratitude into your life Kristin Kopp at Nudges From the Universe, offers a simple, but powerful technique for Using gratitude in the process of Manifesting A Day At A Time.
And Christine Kane has another entry on Gratitude Journals And Why They Work.
I’ll leave you with this incredible image from Doug Alp at My Complete Life, a great reminder of how much there is to grateful for in the world around us.
And in case you have not yet heard about the Gratitude experiment, I encourage you to take a moment to watch the video and consider joining the global experiment. You can watch the Gratitude Movie here.
Thank you – truly – for your presence here and for your desire to experience and express more gratitude.
That’s it for this edition of the Law of Attraction Carnival. If you’d like to view past editions you can find them at the Law of Attraction Carnival Homepage. That’s also where you’ll find information about upcoming editions and submission guidelines.
Fun With Visual Cognition
Ok, this is wild. It takes about 4-minutes, but is well worth it.
Follow these instructions exactly!
Go to: http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/grafs/demos/15.html
You’ll see two “teams,” one with black shirts, one with white shirts. As you watch the video, count how many times the white team passes the ball.
Now, rewind the video and watch it again without counting passes.
Thanksgiving, Family And The Millionaire Mind
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and the corner is right here!
(Ed’s Note: This was supposed to come out on Wednesday, but it was hiding in my drafts folder instead of scheduled for posting. So use your imagination. And I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!)
Tomorrow morning, my wife, daughter and I begin our big Thanksgiving adventure.
We’re flying up to Boise tomorrow morning to spend Thanksgiving with my biological mother, Joan, her mother and brother, his wife, and my brother, Noah. It will be the first time that we have all been together.
From there, Melissa, Ella and I will pile into a car with Joan and Noah for the drive to Boulder for two days of sight-seeing in Noah’s relatively new hometown.
Then Joan and Noah will watch Ella while Melissa and I head down to Denver for three days at T. Harv Ecker’s Millionaire Mind Intensive seminar.
Then, on Monday it’s back to Oakland International.
It’s no coincidence (never is) that I’ll be with Joan and Noah in the days leading up to the Millionaire Mind Intensive. If you haven’t read the book, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, it’s all about understanding and changing your “financial blueprint,” the mostly unconscious thoughts and beliefs that influences your relationship with money.
My financial blueprint is definitely connected to my adoption experience. Over the past few years I’ve noticed an interesting pattern: Whenever Joan (my biological mother) is coming to visit or we are going to visit her, my income takes a major hit in the days and weeks leading to the visit.
I’ve been working on this pattern for a long time. And I’m happy to say that the dip before this trip was not as acute as in the past (nor was my reaction to that dip) but there was still a noticeable decrease in my income.
I’ve heard that this seminar is extremely powerful, and I’m hoping to implement some major blueprint revisions!
From a personal growth perspective, spending a week with Joan and Noah immediately before the Millionaire Mind Seminar is absolutely perfect: If anything is going to activate the parts of my blueprint needing revision it’s time with these two people. And I say that in a very loving way.
So I’m looking forward to a holiday adventure on many levels. I’ll keep you posted as much as I can during the next few days. And, if I don’t have time to get to the juicy details, you can look forward to hearing more after I return.
EzineArticles Does It Right
I love when I see well-executed examples of great customer service. Checking my mail on the way back from lunch I had a totally unexpected surprise. I had received a small package from EzineArticles, one of the best article directories on the web (my opinion!). In it was a coffee mug with “I “Heart” Ezine @rticles” on it. And inside the mug was a half sheet of paper with the following message:
Hi,
Thanks for being an EzineArticles.com Platinum-level author!
You’re receiving this small token of our appreciation for sending in yuor best original articles. One by one, we appreciate all of your articles and expect 2007 to be a great year together as we drive more traffic your way
To Our Continued Success Together!
Do you think this little surprise gift worked? You bet. It reminded me of my enhanced status as a “platinum level” author, and got me motivated to update my articles as well as the fact that I have not updated my articles in over four months!
As I’ve immersed myself in creating content for Evolving Times I have dropped a few other balls. Ezine Articles is not a ball that I want to drop.
My article Surrendering To Freedom: Stepping Into Grace was found on Ezine Articles by the Healing Garden Journal and published in their 125,000 subscriber magazine.
So my hat’s off to you, Christopher Knight and the Ezine Articles Team. You’ve done it right.
Why Bother Posting On Thanksgiving?
Last night as we were packing for our big adventure I mentioned to Melissa that I had scheduled several posts to go out while we’re gone and that I hope to write a few real-time entries while we’re there. She responded, “Do you think anyone’s even going to notice if you miss a few posts around Thanksgiving?” “Probably not.” I replied and went to bed secure in the fact that the vast majority of people here in the states would be focusing more on turkey and stuffing than on personal growth blog entries.
But this morning I awoke with a clear “D’oh!” The readers of this blog are not only from the US. I haven’t really been paying attention to the specific numbers of visitors from other countries, so I just checked my stats to get a better sense. My stats package doesn’t break it down by visitors, only by page views. As of this morning there were about 9200 page views from US computers and almost 3300 page views from computers outside the US. That means more than 30% of the people reading Evolving Times are doing so from outside the US.
And, on this day of giving thanks, here in the states, I truly do offer my deep gratitude to you for your presence here.
It’s interesting for me to notice how easy it was for me to get caught in the US-centric thinking that so permeates this country. I consider myself a fairly progressive, open-minded person, and yet, I did not give a second thought to my immediate acceptance of the fact that no one would be reading blog entries today.
The Internet, in general, and, more specifically, the blogosphere, are major players in the accelerating creation of a global community. When I sit at my desk in Northern California, the words I post are available instantly to anyone in the world – anyone with Internet Access.
With some notable exceptions, the blogosphere is truly a borderless culture. In my opinion, this virtual realm is providing us with a clear taste of where we are heading in the physical world.
We are all one. In more ways than any of us can imagine. And the blogosphere is paving the way to the inevitable borderless global culture that we are collectively co-creating.
So my apologies for all of you readers out there from non-US countries. I will not take you for granted again. I promise.
A Thanksgiving Prayer Of Gratitude
I offer my gratitude for this Earth and for the abundant blessings that spring forth from Its fertile ground
I give thanks for the blessing of this food that feeds, nurtures and sustains me.
I give thanks to all the hands and hearts that have grown and prepared this beautiful food.
I affirm and intend that this food feeds, nurtures and empowers the joy, abundance and well-being that is continually expanding in my life.
If any injury, illness or disease exists now in my body I affirm and intend that this food feeds, nurtures and empowers only the awakening of my natural well-being that will easily and effortlessly replace that dis-ease and re-connect me with my Source.
I affirm and intend that all who desire to share the abundant blessings of Earth and Source in solitude or within community have the opportunity to do so.
And with profound gratitude and appreciation I receive the wonderful gifts of this Thanksgiving meal and day of thanks.
Share Your Gratitude: Expand Your Joy
For those of us here in the US, tomorrow is our day of Thanksgiving. It is our day for offering gratitude and appreciation for the blessings in our lives. It is one of the few American holidays that I would encourage those of you outside of this country to consider joining us in.
In reality, everyday should be a day of Thanksgiving. To be in a state of gratitude is to be aligned with Source. So this day serves to remind us of our natural state, our more fully Source-connected state.
By offering our thanks for and to what the blessings that already exist in our lives, we align ourselves with a powerfully positive attraction force. The Universe loves the vibration of gratitude.
And, no matter how dreadful your life may seem, there is much for which to give thanks.
Buddha said:
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.
I, for one, have much to give thanks for. And I would like to share just a few of the blessings in my life. For in sharing our gratitude it grows and blossoms. Each time we offer gratitude it is like a pebble being dropped into a pond and the ripples expand out into the world in waves of positive energy.
Here, then, are just a few of the things and people in my life for which I have deep appreciation:
Melissa, my beautiful wife who constantly provides me with opportunities to remember my true nature and choose to consciously step more fully into my magnificence.
Ella, my magical daughter who, still connected with Source, has become my best teacher in the ways of attraction and manifestation, abundance and joy.
All of my family, near and far, for supporting me even when they were not quite sure what the heck I was up to. (And still may not be!)
My community of friends here in Northern California who have become my “soul-family” and have supported me in far more ways than I could ever list.
My clients and students who enable me to live and work in alignment with my passion and purpose and who provide one of the main channels through which ever-increasing abundance now flows into my life.
The Earth and her wild places for always remembering me and welcoming me back into her arms no matter how long it has been since I have come to visit.
All of the teachers and mentors, physical, virtual and Universal who have supported me and gently (and sometimes not so gently) pushed me to become an ever-greater expression of my true-self.
And finally, I offer deep appreciation to you, the readers of Evolving Times, for showing up and making this joyous work of writing even more fulfilling. Your willingness to receive these words completes the circle and allows it to continue rolling forward:
For it is in giving that we receive. St. Francis.
And now it’s your turn. What are you grateful for? Thanksgiving is a perfect time for acknowledging those people, things, and events in your life for which you are grateful. Make a list of all the things and people that you appreciate and then choose one or more of the people on your list to share your gratitude with.
Remember that your gratitude, when shared, creates waves of positive energy that expand out into the world far beyond your ability to perceive.
May your Thanksgiving be filled with joy and love, gratitude and abundance. And may the feeling of gratitude embrace and empower you for many days to come.
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