A Change of Attitude

My point in spreading the word about our true Self and the Law of Attraction is to help improve the quality of our lives. This isn’t something that can be done for someone else; as the process is unique for every individual. It involves personal transformation, which–by its very nature–must occur from within. Such change begins with the very thoughts we habitually entertain. While this may seem like hard work, it’s actually good news; for it means that we, not an external force, may govern the quality of our lives. There’s even better news: Such change does not require years; it can occur within minutes.

How can we improve the quality of our lives? Through a change in consciousness. When we change the way we think, we literally changes our lives. For many people, the greatest obstacle in creating a better life is their attachment to negative thought patterns related to painful memories, or deep emotional scars. Their interior dialogue might play similar to this: She did this to me, and I’m never going to forget it! He cheated me in business, and now I’m going to get even by hating him forever! They’ll rue the day they ever messed with me! Such thoughts, unless deliberately changed and reframed, may repeat for a lifetime.

Buddha, who was no slouch in the wisdom department, expressed this so well through the following teaching: Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. Please contemplate this logically with me for a few moments. Does holding anger benefit us in any way? Is any part of our body, mind, or spirit immune to the negative effects of anger, hatred, or revenge? But what, we may ask, is the alternative?

The answer: To change the way we think! And who benefits? All of us. When we figuratively drop the hot coal we’ve been holding the inner transformation begins immediately. Our mind knows, our body knows, and most of all our soul knows. We may drop the hot coal about the person who lied to us; drop the hot coal about the driver who cuts us off in traffic; drop the hot coal about a duplicitous business partner. By doing so, we create a space for the solution, which is love–for ourselves, for others, for all. There’s nothing to be lost, and everything to be gained. Through this practice, we become active, and conscious, participants in creating a better life.

An old expression offers additional wisdom: It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. The logic: Darkness doesn’t disappear by focusing on darkness. Pain doesn’t disappear by focusing on pain. Wrong doesn’t disappear by focusing on wrong. Anger doesn’t disappear by focusing on anger. Our wisest action is to light a candle, which really means to turn away from darkness (our negative emotions) and engage the power of love. It’s in us to give. And when we do, we create the the good life…together.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers” 🙏🏻🧡

Deliberate Living

Frank is having a difficult day. He realizes it immediately upon waking, after tossing and turning all night. He feels physically and emotionally drained. Within a few minutes, his day gets worse when he steps under the shower before noticing that he’s out of soap. Later, at work, he bumps into Jim and Elaine and immediately feels poor when they share details of their recent trip to Fiji. He knows that his trips to Cuba the previous winter pales by comparison. The icing on Frank’s Day occurs when he notices women in the office flirting with Doug, a new employee, who’s young, athletic, and handsome. By his own definition, Frank is old, overweight, and out of shape. Why, Frank asks himself, must life be such a struggle?

What Frank doesn’t realize is that life isn’t out to get him. Life doesn’t have an agenda to bless some and curse others. It’s an impartial force, operating impersonally. Unbeknownst to Frank, his biggest problem is that he’s unaware that the quality of his life is directly related to the nature of his thoughts about his life. On the day that Frank knows with absolute certainty that his life is terrible, the following is happening outside of his awareness:

When Frank was getting out of bed, a man named George, aged sixty-seven, is waking on a city sidewalk grate, after spending the night shivering in the only clothes he owns. While Frank was muttering about a missing bar of soap, a young African girl named Nale, who has never experienced the luxury of a shower, is desperately missing her mother, who died of AIDS the previous day. Regarding Frank’s trip to Cuba, he’s unaware that the average Cuban earns approximately $25.00 per month. And while Frank was belittling his physique, a man named Richard, who’s been in a wheelchair since a car accident, still dreams of the mobility that Frank takes for granted.

The point of relating such different lives isn’t to make us feel better by contemplating the plight of others. I’ve employed contrast to help awaken us to a new way of thinking about our own lives; to experience the immediate benefits that occur when we govern our attitude. In doing so, we become masters in the art of living. Such is not reserved for a privileged few, and we don’t have to trek to a mountaintop to attain our degree. If we’re willing to welcome our own evolution, via lessons in the trenches of life, every down will yield an up; every detour will lead to a more meaningful destination.

There are tremendous benefits when we “stay in the is-ness of life.” Stress, anxiety, and discomfort arise when we resist life; which is just another way of saying “I want life to be other than it is.” Resistance robs us of the inherent beauty in the present moment. A wiser approach is to align, here and now, with the flow of life. When we do, we’re enabled to experience peace without demanding that life change to suit our needs.

Accepting life in the present moment doesn’t mean foregoing our dreams. In fact, when we’re at peace we become an open conduit to intuitive nudges that will help us fulfill them! Once we truly know what we desire, our task is to remain strong in our faith that the way will be revealed. For those who question whether this can actually help us create a better life, my suggestion is to “try it, and see for yourself.” The process of attracting what we desire begins…in the time it takes to change our thoughts.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Affirmations in Life

Louise Hay, founder of Hay House Publishing and author of several Law of Attraction books, is a firm believer in the use of affirmations. By her definition, an affirmation is any statement that we say or think–whether positive or negative. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines affirmation as follows: Something affirmed; a positive assertion. We, too, may benefit from the use of affirmations.

How do we effectively form and use affirmations? It’s easy, really. Our affirmations must always be phrased positively, and always in the present tense. The powerful influence that affirmations have on the subconscious lies in repetition; so it’s to our advantage to use them frequently. They should be stated in a relaxed and positive manner, without stress. We will also benefit by writing them down and referring to them daily. As an example regarding wealth, we might say: Money comes to me easily and frequently, from known and unknown sources. We would not affirm: I am not poor; for doing so would only give focus to lack and poverty.

For those who are new to the concept of affirmations, the previous sentence regarding money may seem ridiculous. You may think: But I am poor! Do you want me to lie to myself? No; I don’t. I do, however, want to encourage you to tell yourself a new truth, to help you create the life that you desire. Understanding a concept of Law of Attraction teachings will help: What we sense in our apparently outer world–through our five senses–is an effect of past thoughts, feelings, and habits. If we continue to focus on effects, the future that we’ll create will look very much the same! But, when we deliberately control what we’re thinking now, we’re dealing with creation at the level of cause. It may help if we imagine this as seeding the garden of our mind with new desires; rather than watering what has already manifested. With patient persistence, and action based on our new way of being in the world, our results will change. They must.

Why, you might ask, must I phrase affirmations in the positive? Because we create most effectively by focusing on what’s desired while letting that which is undesired wither and fall away. Consider this: Don’t think of a pink elephant. What just came to mind? A pink elephant, of course. Although this example may seem nonsensical, it helps us understand the logic involved when you consider affirming “I am not overweight.” In this example, what would have just entered your mind? Being overweight. For someone who desired to be slim or more fit, such an affirmation would obviously be unwise to program into the mind. The same logic holds true for every aspect of our life.

As you incorporate affirmations into your life, you’ll receive intuitive guidance regarding action required to manifest your desires. Such guidance might take the form of the repeated mention of a book; words of advice from a friend or colleague; or a symbolic message that keeps entering your awareness. Whatever the form, you’ll intuitively know whether taking such actions feels right. When this occurs, it’s imperative to follow through by taking a step. Even a little one! Doing so will make all the difference. And it will strengthen your faith to continue taking step…after step…after step.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Deciding Links

For those of us with goals that burn as brightly as our sun, I offer another quote to help us create more of the results we desire. The quote is yet again from Robert Collier, who was an author, authority on the Law of Attraction, and motivational master. It is this: The strength of a chain doesn’t lie in its strongest link; but in its weakest. It’s easy to imagine a chain–pulled taut under great forces–snapping at a weak point. We, too, have such links.

What are our links? Character traits with the potential to hinder or break the outcomes we desire. For the purposes of this article, I’m going to rename them deciding links, which I believe is more appropriate. The three reasons: 1. The term is positive; whereas weak might imply a wrongness about us, which is not the case. 2. A deciding link–in much the same way as a weak link–often determines whether our efforts will be strong enough to meet with success. 3. A deciding link--at least in my opinion–is a trait that we, on some level, have accepted, either consciously or subconsciously. Great achievers do not accept their traits as fated inheritance; instead they decide how they will be in the world, and thereby create their own destiny.

And how may we discover our deciding links? To my knowledge, there is only one way: through honest introspection. If we’re unwilling to look deeply at ourselves, and remain open to change, our positive desires will almost certainly remain lifeless wishes. The process if not for the faint of heart, for it involves deliberate evolution. It involves choosing to look, rather than turning a blind eye; choosing to be courageous, rather than hiding behind our fears. The following is only a partial list of deciding links:

Indecision: Perhaps the most important link. If we lack the ability to decide what we want, we’ll remain unable to move forward deliberately. I’m not suggesting that we should rush the process. Vague feelings of inward discontent often signal that we desire change; it may just be that we yet don’t know what we truly desire. We might remember that not deciding is actually a decision in itself, one that can keep us mired in the same place, wishing for life to get better of its own accord.
Procrastination: When we delay performing tasks that could be done today, we are consciously or subconsciously delaying the achievement of our goals. An attitude of it-can-wait-until-tomorrow often creates the habit of waiting until never.
Pride: If we’re unwilling–due to ego–to ask for help when required, we sabotage our dreams and goals. There are plenty of people who are willing to help, but we must be willing to ask. We do ourselves a great favour by stepping out from the shadow of ego and asking for assistance.
Disorder: The opposite of discipline, disorder greatly limits our degree of success. We might also think of it as lack of focus or will power. When we are disciplined, we’re able to give ourselves a command and follow a task through to completion. Unlike disorder, discipline paves the way toward achievement.
Indolence: A polite term for laziness, indolence literally takes us nowhere. If we’re unwilling to rise up from the couch of our own indolence and reach for our dreams, we would be wise to realize that a mythical servant is not waiting to hand their achievement to us.
Impatience: Achievement takes time, patience, and persistent effort. Unless we’re willing to work and wait–faithful to what we desire–our greatest vision may well remain a distant mirage.

So there we have a few of our deciding links. There are many more. Every person has his or her own; we are all unique. Often we do not wish to accept such links; for we may view them as flaws, or aspects of ourselves that we would prefer to leave in the dark. However, it is when we bring such links into the light that we may change them. The decision to do so, of course, is up to us.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones–released September 8, 2020), press here. May it help you in your spiritual journey. 🙏🙏

“Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

Big Dreams

Robert Collier, who was a successful New Thought author, once wrote: “Big things are only little things put together.” The simplicity of this statement might appear ludicrous, but there’s actually magic behind it.

That short passage is from his famous book entitled The Secret of the Ages. The insight came to him one day when he was watching a sixteen-storey building being constructed. He states that one morning as he stood watching the construction he heard the shrill sound of a whistle and watched as a derrick lowered a platform from great height. When it reached the ground, a workman fastened a chain around the center of a steel beam. The whistle sounded again, and Robert watched as the girder rose to great height where other workers fastened it into place with bolts, adding to the structure.

We can apply this simple point to our goals, which may seem impossibly big and challenging when viewed in their totality. But that’s not how great structures–or great goals–are achieved. They’re accomplished one step at a time; the way that one steel beam added to the tall building that Robert described. The people who accomplish such great feats do so with intense passion and unwavering focus. They also exhibit great patience, but not the type that leads to procrastination. They realize that projects come together in the right fashion in the right time. Doubt–if ever it should knock at the door to their mind–is quickly replaced by a positive focus that enables them to move forward. These great men and women realize that the mind is an excellent servant but a terrible master!

As you’re contemplating your goal, take a look for the proof of this type of thinking. There are many great accomplishments now taking place. Think nano technology; think exploration of space; think computer technology. History is also full of great examples: think Great Wall of China; think Ford; think Marconi; think Wright Brothers; think Bell. What might seem easy from our point of view took Patience, Dedication, and Will. Big things are only little things put together. What one beam will you add–today–to the goal that you’re building? If you know it, do it now.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Think2wice

CONSCIOUSNESS, SPIRITUALITY, & LAW OF ATTRACTION

Tag: Deliberate Creation

A Change of Attitude

Deliberate Living

Affirmations in Life

Deciding Links

Big Dreams

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