You Can't Give a Horse a "DON'T" Command...

Horses do not understand "Don't _______!" commands. Though horses are exceptional animals, they do not understand, comprehend, process, or react appropriately to any command that starts with "Don't...". They just don't.

If you tell a horse "don't run!", chances are, if anything, he will react to the "RUN" part of the command, and start to run. "Don't trot/stand/stop" are ALL likely to have the opposite effect that you may intend them to have, IF they have any effect at all. The horses' brain is not as complex, advanced, and capable of reasoning as the human brain, and consequently, cannot comprehend and deduce what an appropriate opposite may be to a command that they DO know simply because it is preceded by "don't..." or "no..." or "not...".

...And YOUR subconscious is the same way! In fact, the whole Universe is the same way! Both your subconscious and the Universe are very simple, very literal, very reactive, and very incapable of deciphering what you MAY mean when you make commands that are intended to be the negation of what you really DO want!

Imagine that you are a horse, and that you have a very limited vocabulary of commands that you understand and know what to do when you hear them, things like walk, run, trot, cantor, stop, easy, whoa, etc. Now imagine what it would be like if you could slow down the thought process and witness what goes on when someone issues a "don't" command and you hear: "Don't walk!" So you think to yourself...

"Okay - someone just said "don't walk" - I know what "walk" means, but the word "don't" was in front of it, so that must mean that he wants me to do the opposite of "walk"?! Okay, well, hmmm? What is the opposite of walk? "Run" is the opposite of "walk", maybe I should run? Oh dear, "stop" is also the opposite of "walk", so maybe I should do that? Then again, maybe "don't walk" means it is time to stop and eat - that's the opposite of "walk", right??! Wow, actually, now that I think about it, all this talk of walking is really making me want to walk, so I guess I'll just keep that up. That must be right - it's the most logical conclusion! After all, if he wanted me to do something other than "walk" he should have just said so!!!"

You can imagine that this may be the same kind of "thought" process the Universe goes through when we issue a "don't" command - things like "I don't want to be poor", "I don't want to be fat", "I can't get sick", "I'll only date a non-smoker", "NO cancer/drugs/war/violence/poverty/debt", "Don't do that", "Not this again", "I don't like it"... WHAT is the opposite??! What is it that you DO want????!!!

This is the magic question! Most people do not get what they DO want, because:

1. They don't know what they DO want, or
2. They do not clearly and positively articulate it in their own thoughts and words, and expect the Universe to just "figure it out" for them by doing the opposite of what they don't want.

It's that simple.

So, start to get in the habit of phrasing your desires in the positive, and constantly affirming for yourself what you DO want! Here's a few to get you started:

• "Every cell in my body is perfect, whole and complete, and functioning at optimal levels"
• "I love and approve of myself. I am safe"
• "I want to feel good, be happy and joyful, and know that I am loved"
• "I intend to be more and more (rich, slim, sexy, healthy, happy, relaxed, etc.) every day"

Start thinking ONLY in terms of what you DO want to have, do, be, and experience in your life and relationships. As often as possible seek out words to use which describe what you DO want without using the words which contain what you don't want (drug-free, unscathed, nonviolent), and then, keep your eyes peeled here in the next couple of weeks for some lists of positive words for the main areas we are all working on improving.

Most of all - be happy manifesting what you DO want!

You are 100% RIGHT about the State of Your Life!

I was just watching an old episode of Oprah which featured a British psychologist who created a foundation called the "Happiness Project". On the show he was discussing how the Law of Attraction works to give us each one of us the experience of creating our own life circumstances based not so much on how they "really" are, but on how we perceive them to be... I think what he has to say is fascinating:

"We have beliefs about life, and our perceptions gather evidence to PROVE that our beliefs are correct. So an "optimist" believes that good things can come from bad situations... So then the perception now works over time looking for [evidence to demonstrate] "what is the good that can come of this?" ...That's the function of perception - to teach us that we are RIGHT about EVERYTHING! Hence "pessimists" are RIGHT about life, AND "optimists" are RIGHT about life - it's about how YOU perceive it!"

Wow! So now that that has been said, here is an interesting question to get you thinking a little more about your own perceptions...

Rate the following statement on a scale of 1-7 based on how true it is for you right now, with 7 as absolutely true, and 1 as not true at all:

"If I could live my life over to this point, i would change almost nothing."

Think about that. Really think about it. If you could live your life over and change anything you had complete control over, what would you change? Bear in mind that you cannot get all magical now and live your life over changing what influence other people had, or change situations which were not under your control - it doesn't count to say "if I could live my life over I would make my dad be at home more when I was a kid" or "I would have a better relationship with my mother and help her not to be addicted to pain medication" or "I would have a spouse who didn't cheat on me". As debilitating and challenging as those examples are, they are not within the sole control of the person wishing it had been different. I am ONLY talking about experience, situations or choices that you have made along the way, which were (for the most part at least) exclusively within your control... What would YOU change about the way YOU have lived your life thus far?

When you really think about it, is there really that much? All of your choices up until now are what have made you who you are right now! Anything that you are grateful for in your life right now is, in part, because of the cumulative effects of ALL your past choices - do you really want to take those things out of your life? Talk about perceptions! Take a look at your life from the perspective of what you have learned, and who you have become, and the people who bring joy to your life now, and try to see how past "mistakes" have contributed.

It's really amazing to realize that nothing needs to change for me to be happy about who I am... Try it. I think you'll agree.

LOVE of SELF is the KEY to Attraction

Did anyone see the Oprah Winfrey show from last week on the subject of "Raising Happier Kids"? I sure did, and, though I do not have kids yet, boy am I ever glad I watched! On it, Martha Beck (...One of my heroes - Author of Expecting Adam and How to Find Your Own North Star) was talking about how children learn to love themselves by watching how their parents love themSELVES - not by how the parent loves the child - how the parent loves him or her SELF!!! Wow!

"The ONE thing you can do to teach your children to be happy is to love your OWN life! And then, love for others comes as a natural out pouring after that. If you raise kids and you only love THEM, and NOT YOURSELF, then they grow up to be people who cannot love themselves! ...They don't treat themselves the way YOU treat THEM, they treat themselves the way YOU treat YOU!"

-Martha Beck

Because our children (and everyone else, for that matter) are reflections for and of us, and they are constantly patterning what they see us do (to ourselves), if you demonstrate that you only love them (but not really yourself), then they cannot learn to love themselves (or you, very well), because they've watched you not love yourself!

...And it works this same way for everything! EVERYTHING! Not only the way our children, family, friends, co-workers, and all other people "love" us... But, this same idea also applies to how the UNIVERSE loves us! That is the essence of WHY the Law of Attraction works at different rates (and for different things - positive and negative) for different people!

We HAVE to learn to LOVE ourselves! ...It's the key to everything!!!

If the Universe sees and experiences US loving OURSELVES more and more, then, by the Law of Attraction, the Universe has NO choice BUT to love us more and more - give us even more to LOVE to love about Life and ourselves! It is LAW. ...And, in taking the "action" of actively loving ourselves more, we are effectively living the Law of Allowing as well - opening ourselves up to receive more and more because we are focused on LOVE!

Start RIGHT NOW! Think about something, anything, you love about yourself. Now think of another. And another... Think about it as much and as often as you can! Go to bed tonight thinking about it - try to get yourself to drift off to sleep while you are listing items you love about YOURSELF in your mind's eye... I guarantee that if you do, tomorrow will be a better day. I'm not quite sure HOW it will be, but I guarantee you it WILL be! It may even be a miracle - just like YOU!

God has ONLY 3 possible answers...

There are only 3 possible answers from the Universe for anything we want to create:

1. Yes.
2. Yes, but not right now.
3. I have something even better in mind for you.
   

Notice that "no" is not an option. There is NO "no" in the Universe!

The Universe is a big "YES" machine... The answer is "YES" to anything and everything you intend to create! It may not be right this minute, or it may in fact be leading you to something even better (as yet unknown) in store for you, so it may not seem like that sometimes, but...

The answer is effectively "YES"!

...So keep dreaming, keep imagining, keep visualizing, keep creating!!! What IS in your mind IS what you are creating! The answer is "YES!!" (...or EVEN BETTER!)