The economy is GREAT!

…Great for fine-tuning my awareness of what I am creating for MYSELF that is!

The other night I was thinking about the economy: The "deplorable" value of the US dollar on the world market, the US National debt and the thousands of dollars each and every one of us in the United States is paying in interest to service that debt – thinking about it all got me SO discouraged, SO down, and SO angry!!! I should have known that I was on the wrong track right there, but, I had been in a conversation in which I was trying to prove to someone else [NOTE TO SELF: trying to prove anything to anybody is the opposite of alignment on the subject (for future reference!)] But, I was trying to prove that there is a problem in our country! The person I was speaking with is a dogmatic “all taxes are bad taxes” kind of political thinker, and I was trying to convince him of how “bad” it’s getting out there – foreclosures, credit-card debt, gas prices, food costs, jobs, uuuuhhhg… I was deeply entrenched in the (false) belief that the situation is dire, and that was ALL I could see! I was so “spitting-nails” angry that I excused myself from the conversation and gave myself a time-out to try to re-focus my thoughts…

WHOA, Nellie!!! What am I doing to myself here???!

After a little while I remembered (NEWSFLASH) that our thoughts create our own reality, and asked myself:

• “What am I creating here?”
• “What reality am I creating for myself by marinating in these kind of doomsday thoughts?”
• “What am I creating for myself by trying to PROVE this point?”
• “Why am I arguing FOR limitations that I don't even suffer too badly from?”
• “What kind of situation is all this emotionally-charged worrying scripting for me?”

Then, after a long pause, miraculously, a little light started to peek through: “Who are the people who are NOT worrying about the current economic situation???!”

…They are the people who are NOT using their mental energy to focus on the problem, or the “bad” state of things, or how awful it could get – that’s who! And, if that is true, then who have I been being? Or, even better, who do I want to START being now?

What was my anger telling me about the truth of the situation (as I was focusing on it) for me?? Bad feelings tell us that we have discord within ourselves – discord between what we are thinking about, or how we are perceiving ourselves vs. what our own Inner Being / Highest-Self / Soul knows to be true about us. …Discord between what we are currently imagining and what is actually waiting for us in our own “vibrational escrow” – our future reality (IF we ALLOW ourselves to line-up with it!)

My anger was NOT *because of* the situation / condition of "the economy" (no matter how seductively disguised to SEEM that way it was), my anger was because I was using my creative brain energy to focus my thoughts on something that is NOT TRUE according to my Inner Being/Source Energy! ...My anger was because my OWN vibrational escrow is holding a reality for ME that is not touched, damaged, or harmed in any way by those conditions - they may affect other people dreadfully (if those people are creating/perpetuating that for themselves,) but, for me, my own reality must be "above all that", because when I was looking at the "bad economy reality” my own emotional guidance system was telling me to turn my focus away from it!

It was hard to do, because the "state of the economy" is such a hot-button for me, I gravitate to it like a crack-addict looking for a fix. That, and photo-enforcement traffic signal cameras are two subjects I can’t seem to get myself a slippery enough soap-box for – I get up there and it is damn hard to pull me back down! And, to make matters even worse, trying to "not think" about it is like trying to pull your finger out of an electrical socket - the electricity that is doing the damage is the very thing holding your finger in connection with it! Trying to "not think" about it *IS* thinking about it, therefore, an impossible task!

So, instead, perhaps I should focus on what IS true for me? Or, at least, what do I WANT to be true for me on the subject of the economy? It is in answering that question that I started to allow my own abundance to begin to flicker in my imagination again…

I tried to "look at" the situation from the other side - not the side of the "poor people who are so adversely affected by the economy" with whom I was identifying with so strongly mere moments before, but from the side of the "prosperous people who have plenty, who are living an abundant reality, and who aren't terribly affected by the economy"... BOTH exist. BOTH are living their lives and creating their OWN realities despite what is going on for "the others"!! BUT **I** was the one who was choosing to identify with the "poor, oppressed segment of society" (while I was in that conversation) - I was the one who was observing their plight and offering my thoughts of "something should be done", "this isn't right", etc. - beating the drum of a troubled economy - which only perpetuates that kind of pattern for ME! (Maybe not in the same way, but it certainly wasn't manifesting a pattern of abundance and joy (at least not that night!))

Admitting to myself that there did indeed exist people who were so prosperous and abundant in their creation of their life reality, that the state of the economy didn't affect them too harshly felt really good to me, so I thought about it more... "Those people" (of whom I must be one in vibrational escrow, because thinking about it feels good) don't see a "problem" with the economy, and are therefore creating/attracting a reality that supports that belief! For "they" who have an abundance of dollars for their own desired lifestyle, the current economy might be an annoyance at worst, an opportunity at least, and a stroke of good luck for whatever it is that they are up to! "They" are using the economy right now, as it IS, to THRIVE! "They" are doing really well, and quite possibly, finding opportunities to do even better financially than they did last year, or the year before that! There are even people who are becoming more and more prosperous WHILE creating win-win situations for EVERYBODY involved with them! ...The already abundant Universe is giving them even more of what they desire - that is the reality they are creating with their focus. They don't see a problem with the economy, because, to them, it literally isn't there! Just like when Abraham (the teachings of Abraham-Hicks) says that the world doesn't need to be fixed, and the Polar Bears don't need to be saved, and there is plenty of everything for everybody - as soon as we each align ourselves with that knowing - then it is true for us too! ...I want me some of THAT!!!

...The Law of Attraction brings to our experience EXACTLY what we focus our attention on!

I had been the one "creating" a troubled economy because I was the one choosing to focus my thoughts on it and identify with it!!! As soon as I choose anew, and focus my thoughts on what my own Inner Being knows to be true for ME, both now, and in my own future, then, there won't be a troubled economy for ME anymore!!! ...And that is the ONLY reality I CAN create - the one for ME! And, it is only when it doesn't exist for me anymore that I can *really* help anyone else to know that it doesn't have to exist for them anymore!!!

(...I certainly wasn't adding value by creating more "poor and oppressed" conditions! As we have all heard before, “one can’t get sick enough to heal anyone else’s disease!”)

I create MY OWN reality, so, *I* am the one who has to discipline myself to look at the world through the lens of Source Energy and abundance, or, at least the lens of how I desire to live MY life. ...Then, I just have to trust that all the rest will fall into place perfectly in it's own time. So what IS the reality I can now create based on my shift of focus?

• Now I have again begun to be more conscious about NOT watching the news when stories of doom and gloom come on...
• When I do catch myself in a conversation where those topics come up, or I notice them for some reason, I use it as a trigger to say to myself: "That is NOT my reality - MY reality is that ALL is well, MY reality is that my opportunities are coming to me BECAUSE of the conditions right now, MY reality is rich, and prosperous, and full and fun, MY reality is thriving in ALL conditions!"
• When I see examples of people, or companies, or products flourishing in this market, I say "THAT's for ME!"
• When I have ideas for products or services or collaborations, I think "WOW! Look! It's another possible channel through which the abundant Universe might be bringing me fabulous success!"
• If I hear of someone else's success, windfall, or income improvement, I know even more strongly that mine is on the way - the simple awareness of the "desired reality" in someone else tells me that my own vibration is attracting THAT reality, so I rejoice! (For them, AND for me!)

Through the simple shift of focus as to which experience I am choosing to identify with, I can turn the "they" who are prosperous in the above example into a "WE"! And, finally, get back on track with the real work of looking for ALL the ways that my "desired reality" is true for me NOW... How MY economy IS great!!! ...I *DO* have money coming in, I *AM* able to pay the bills that are due today (using the legitimate resources available to me) , I *DO* have tons of ideas that could really be something awesome, I *AM* able to do exactly what I love doing for work, and I am really happy doing it, I *DO* see many opportunities that I really can do if I choose...

When I am looking ONLY for what I WANT to see (be it economic conditions, income, health, love, family, etc.) and looking for ways to see it as already true now (even a little bit) the Law of Attraction MUST bring my attention to more of THAT! And, when I am experiencing peace, and prosperity, and love in my heart - the economy IS great!! ...And so it is. It is Law.

There is NO such thing as "losing" weight...

I was just watching the television show "I Can Make You Thin" on TLC for the first time tonight, and though it is a fantastic show with great NLP techniques, good common sense, and principles that are right in line with the Law of Attraction, I cannot help but be reminded that there really is no such thing as "losing" weight!

The only thing that really exists is pure Source Energy, Love, and perfect Health/Wellness, and weight is merely a matter of our vibration, and whether we align with that or not.

So many people, most in fact, think of themselves as deficient or not-yet-perfect until they "lose that last 15 pounds", and/or make their primary focus of every day to "lose weight". However, unfortunately, the Law of Attraction draws to us that which we focus upon, so, if we are focusing on "weight", THAT is the experience which will EXPAND in our lives! The Universe does not draw a distinction between "losing" weight or "gaining" weight - the Universe only responds to the SUBJECT of our attention, and in this example, it is the "weight" itself, so you get more! (If you want to know more about why the Universe doesn't "know what you mean" when you envision yourself as "losing weight", see my 06/25/07 post on "Don't" commands and negations.)

But, back to the point - you cannot "deactivate" a thought, and you cannot "lose" a thought made manifest. This is the basic premise behind why there is no such thing as "losing weight". Weight is a repeated thought made manifest. You have heard this analogy before, but if someone said to you "don't think of a remote control", or "don't imagine a purple elephant", or "don't tell me what your least favorite feature about yourself is", you cannot help, at least for a split second, to think that thought. And, when you think that thought, you are sending the emotional response that comes with it out into the Universe as a command - not necessarily a very powerful one, but a command nonetheless. It is those commands, particularly the ones with a strong emotional component (a turbo-boost of added energy for stronger broadcast), repeated continuously, on a vibratory level that make up the reality of the life you experience as you!

"When you stand in resistance and shout NO! at something, you are actually saying yes to it by your focus of attention. It becomes an active vibrational component in your life... Instead resolve to talk more about what you DO want and less about what you don't want."

-Esther Hicks channeling Abraham

So, now what to do instead you wonder??!! ...Start to learn to look at the truth of the matter:

• YOU are beautiful! YOU are perfect, precious, whole and complete!
• YOU are a divine being - Source Energy made manifest!
• YOU are magnificent!
• Your body is a vehicle for YOU (who you REALLY ARE) to experience life and learn to deliberately focus on the reality YOU intend to live!
• YOU are the essence of Love, health and wellness!
• YOU are extraordinary!
• YOU are pure ENERGY!
• YOU are a Creator!

Think about that... Do you believe it? It's positively true. Your work is not to diet, your work is to train yourself to believe the truth of who YOU really are! Your work is to re-focus your attention from what you dislike about yourself onto what you LIKE about yourself and what you LIKE about your body. Your work is to learn to worship your body - ALL of it - exactly AS IT IS right now... ONLY that work will transform your thoughts which will then transform your reality, but, more importantly, you will begin to love yourself and feel good NOW, and that is ALL that really matters!

So, no matter which philosophy you subscribe to on your action journey of sculpting the ideal physical figure for you, be sure to add the vibratory component of loving yourself a little more each day... Look in the mirror and find one body part to LOVE, then another, then another. Think of yourself as your perfect size and feel how good it feels to be YOU in that physical body - take the time to imagine it as already done without reducing yourself to a goal of a number. And, most importantly, remind yourself of the TRUTH of who YOU REALLY ARE as often as you possibly can - 100 times or more every day - because then, you will finally know...

YOU ALREADY ARE PERFECT!!!!!!

Make your VISION your NEW story!

Your thoughts create your reality. ...CREATE your reality! So, start speaking the thoughts that are the reality you WANT to be creating!!! Let me explain...

At a recent Abraham-Hicks "Art of Allowing" workshop in Los Angeles (02/03/08) there was a gentleman who got up to speak about his work, and not being able to make a lot of money at it - that being "fettered by money" was his "Achilles heel".... Abraham said, whoa, whoa there, you have to tell a DIFFERENT STORY! The gist of the wisdom was that in order to make money, or achieve anything at all, you have to start telling the story about it in a way that feels good NOW! They went on to say (and I am paraphrasing from memory here) that you cannot expect to keep telling people "I am a ________, but I don't make any money at it" and expect to make money at it! You have to tell the story that is in accordance (in alignment) with the way you WANT it to be. This is not to say that you can make 'pie-in-the-sky' claims that even you don't believe, but that sharing your vision of what is in the PROCESS of becoming is much more powerful than explaining what has been thus far - your "story" (...especially if the story of what has been thus far is NOT exactly what you want)!!

Think of the exuberance of a little kid who has his sights set on getting a new bike for his birthday - you can just hear him telling the world and anyone else who will listen "I'm going to get a new red bike! And it's going to be red, and it has two big wheels, and I can ride it all by myself, and I can go anywhere I want to go, and it's going to be red, and I can ride it really fast and it has cool handle grips, and it's going to be red..." and on and on it goes! Now Abraham would say that the new red bike is in the boy's "Vibrational Escrow" and that it is his excitement, enthusiasm, exuberance, and good-feeling vibration when he tells the "story" of him and his bike that IS the "Art of Allowing" the bike into manifestation. Another way to say it is that the new red bike already exists in the boy's VISION of his own future, and his reality is that it IS on his way to him now. It is his telling of the STORY of the bike coming that is having the effect of allowing it to actually become a reality in his world - it doesn't matter through what channels it actually comes (maybe his grandmother bought it for him, maybe he saved his allowance or earned money doing odd jobs for folks, maybe he won a contest) but it was his own excitement over the idea that what he wanted was a new red bike that gave everyone around him the idea and the potential to fulfill his wish!

Each one of us can do the same thing! And it really is as simple as taking some aspect of our own vision for ourselves (with dreams fulfilled) and making it the story we are telling NOW!

When somebody asks me what I am working on these days, rather than re-iterating again (for the gazillionth time) that things are kinda slow, I can tell them about MY "new red bike" that is alive and well in my vibrational escrow account, and I can say:

"Things are going great - I have clients that I am working with one-on-one, I am making a big difference in people's lives, I am LOVING what I am doing, and I am really excited about how natural it feels for me, I feel like I am actually creating more JOY in the world with the connections I am making both with and for clients and friends alike, my blog is really exciting to me, I am working on some book ideas and even toying with a TV show idea! I love how easy it is for me to communicate to others that they CAN achieve their dreams, that they CAN do it, and I love being the person they turn to when they need a "pick-me-up" because they KNOW that I believe in them! And, I keep having awesome new ideas for services that I think people will really like! My work is poised to bring in a lot of money for me, and it is starting to bloom - it is really neat to be watching it all become something so cool!"

This is all true - it is taken right out of what I "know" about my future and what it will look like when my current dreams are fulfilled - my VISION for myself. There is absolutely NO obligation to re-state any aspect of my "story" that is not as I would like it to be right now. There is NO "truth-in-lending" full-story disclosure police that will come down and haunt my vision... In fact, it is the very insistence to keep repeating the aspects of our stories that we do not like that IS what is haunting us - by making it so our vision cannot manifest itself - because we keep saying it can't!!! (Remember the gentleman above who kept affirming that he doesn't make any money and was wondering why he didn't make any money!) Sound's pretty simple when you think of it that way, doesn't it!!!???

So take a look into your VISION for yourself, for your life, for your work - what will it look like when some of your nearest and dearest dreams are fulfilled? What are your reasons for wanting those goals fulfilled? How does it make you feel? How will you feel when that vision is exactly what you are actually doing?

Now incorporate some aspects of what you see for yourself in your vision (in your own vibrational escrow account) into the story you tell about yourself/your work NOW... Take out any mention of what is not currently to your liking, or, transform it into an aspect that is "becoming" what you want it to be. Develop a "story" about yourself that makes YOU FEEL GOOD when you tell it to someone who asks how you are or what you are up to! ...Even if it is just for yourself - make your VISION your NEW story and see how much faster YOUR new "red bike" starts to show up in your life!

And, if you are up to the challenge, dash off an e-mail to me right now and tell me your NEW story for yourself! What is in YOUR vision for yourself? I know that THAT is who you REALLY are! I believe in YOU - I would LOVE to be the first to hear the REAL story of what you are up to now!!!! Send your NEW story to Andrea@theWANTshop.com

The Secret: "Original" vs. "Extended" edition

Many people have been confused lately about the two different versions of The Secret DVD that are floating around out there in circulation now...

Well, I have the answer! I took it upon myself to get the skinny on the facts and bring them to you!

Sometime late last year, the producers of The Secret re-edited the film to replace scenes that were originally done by Esther Hicks (The Teachings of Abraham / Abraham-Hicks) with scenes featuring other teachers from the film. This new version is the only version currently available when purchasing the DVD or streaming from the web site devoted to the film, and it is classified as "the extended edition" when purchased through other vendors (including the Applied Inspiration resources page.)

The "Original" edition of The Secret is the one that we are most familiar with, and it includes large portions which feature and/or are narrated by Esther Hicks, including many of the basic principles of the Law of Attraction as explained in The Teachings of Abraham. This version is still available, but only in the secondary market (used) and, considering it is no longer being released, it comes at a price. If you do want to purchase the original version of the film (or check the best going rate) you may also do that from the Applied Inspiration resources page. It is the The Secret icon with no image available, and Esther Hicks listed as the primary author.

And, just to clear up the last bit of confusion, the "extended" edition is not really extended - it is just different. It is the exact same length as the original edition, and has the same ideas/images/information, it is just that some of the wording, phraseology, explanations, and narration has been changed.

UPDATE: The newer edition of The Secret is actually 1 1/2 minutes longer than the original edition. I have gone through it to try to summarize the points throughout where the differences occur, but they are numerous, and a significant portion of the narration has been changed.

The long and the short of it is this: If you DO ever have a chance to see the original edition, I highly, highly recommend it!

Also, so you'll know it if you do get lucky enough to come across the original edition - you can tell which is which by looking at the box as well as the disc:

• The original edition is © and ™ 2006 PRIME TIME PRODUCTIONS
• The version without Esther Hicks / Abraham is © and ™ 2006 TS Productions LLC, and, it has the words "extended edition" underneath the "The Secret" logo on the back of the case, just above the language options/Dolby Digital logos as well as on the disc itself
  

Nothing is more important than that I FEEL GOOD!

"Nothing is more important than that I feel good!"

This is a quote you have no doubt heard if you have listened to any of the Abraham-Hicks recordings or been to any of their events. But, even if you have not, it is an excellent quote to commit to memory and say often!

In terms of the Law of Attraction, there is NOTHING that is more important than FEELING GOOD!!!

In a nutshell, there are four reasons for this:
1) The deeper longing underneath almost every goal, wish, dream, desire or wanting is usually happiness, joy, fulfillment, satisfaction, wellness, peace - to feel better than you did before - to FEEL GOOD!
2) What you think about expands... When you feel good you are simultaneously attracting more of what your inner self (true self, higher wisdom, heart of hearts) wants for yourself! Even if you are not feeling good "because" you are making progress on whichever goal is foremost in your mind - just feeling good is making ALL of YOUR wishes and desires manifest more quickly for you! This is a part of the Law of Allowing - when you FEEL GOOD you are ALLOWING your desires to manifest FOR you!
3) Even if you do not know why you may not be feeling that hot, simply stating the desire "I want to feel good! Nothing is more important than that I feel good!" will begin to bring your attention to that which can make you feel better and better, and begin to raise your vibration.
4) Feeling good JUST FEELS GOOD!!!

So, go out there and FEEL GOOD today! Look for reasons to FEEL GOOD! Try to find things to FEEL GOOD about, and more GOOD will find you! (And, best of all, when you are FEELING GOOD, the particular good that you like best of all is the GOOD you are attracting more of!

FEEL GOOD and prosper!