Understanding The Expanding Cycle Of Abundance And Gratitude

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I had a wonderful experience the other day. One of my private coaching clients who is also a regular reader of Evolving Times noticed the donation page on the blog. She asked if I would like to participate in a joint prayer of gratitude with her if she made a donation. It sounded like a very intriguing idea so I told her I would love to.

She got the idea from a Catherine Ponder book. I forget which book, but if you’re interested I can certainly find out from her.

Our coaching is focused on helping her launch a new transformational practice. When she received the payment from her first client, she tithed me $7 or 10% of her fee. Then, after our next coaching session we took a couple of minutes to share the prayer of gratitude from Catherine Ponder’s book.

As the recipient of the tithing, my job was to be fully present in the experience of receiving. I was there to receive the gift as well as to witness, acknowledge and receive her gratitude in giving.

Often when I receive something, whether a gift or payment for my services, I catch myself taking the gift for granted, not stopping to appreciate the gift. Even when I do stop and take time to offer my gratitude, there can be a desire to rush through the experience, to move on to the next task without fully embracing the gift and deepening into the gratefulness.

When gratitude is connected to abundance they both expand. When gratitude is missing, however, the expanding cycle of abundance is broken. My intention is to be someone through whom the cycle of abundance flows and continuously expands.

My receiving muscle is not one that I have paid much attention to: For most of my life, it has been much easier for me to give than to receive. So this shared prayer of gratitude was a very powerful reminder: it required my full presence in that moment of receiving. I had to be present to receive the donation as well as to witness and acknowledge the gratitude embedded in the giving.

During this prayer I could feel the flow of abundance as it moved into me. I could feel the abundance connecting with my gratitude. And I could sense both of them expanding as they flowed back out into the world.

Do you want to be a conduit for the expansion of abundance? If so, the next time you receive a gift, stop and use this technique (with or without the participation of the giver). Acknowledge your gratitude for the gift. Appreciate the giver. And allow abundance to expand as it moves through you.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Abundance, Gratitude, Money 

Carnival Addendum – Gratitude

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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.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Carnival, Gratitude, Law of Attraction, blogs 

Law of Attraction Carnival #7: Gratitude

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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.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Carnival, Deliberate Creation, Gratitude, Joy, Law of Attraction, blogs 

Why Bother Posting On Thanksgiving?

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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.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Gratitude, blogs 

Share Your Gratitude: Expand Your Joy

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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.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Abundance, Gratitude, Law of Attraction 

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