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.

How much JOY can $600 buy??!

$600 can buy ME lots and lots and LOTS of JOY!
...What about you?????

There is an exercise described in the Abraham-Hicks book "Ask and It IS Given" called the $100 process, and it is a process by which you go to the bank and get a fresh, crisp, lovely $100 bill (my "best friend Ben" as I like to call them!) and you carry it around in your pocket, or wallet, or anywhere you will see it all the time, and remember that you have $100 that you could spend if you wished. Emphasis on the word "could"! The $100 bill is used as a reminder to KNOW that as you come across things or experiences that cost $100 (thereabout) and would give you JOY, or that you would love, or that would bring with them a sense of satisfaction, you COULD buy that exquisite little something if you chose to do so. Now if you were to actually spend it on the first thing you saw, it would only work once. The real point is to spend it over and over and over again in your mind, each time taking a moment to luxuriate in the feelings of satisfaction and happiness and playful fun while imagining yourself buying/using that item for yourself, and then to do it again, and again, and again. The process is supposed to build up a sense of prosperity in your subconscious while you luxuriate in the ABILITY to buy anything you want (for $100) if you were to choose to actually do so.

However, for me, the process didn't quite work out that way. It seems I could never quite trick myself into thinking that I REALLY could use that hard-earned $100 bill on something frivolous if I wanted to - not when I was using the credit card to buy groceries, and the simple act of withdrawing that $100 bill from the bank left my checking account teetering not far above! Abraham stresses that it doesn't work if you use an I.O.U. in place of the $100, because your brain is too smart to be fooled into believing that the I.O.U. is really good for anything (and stores certainly won't take them...) Well, for me, the $100 bill might as well have been an I.O.U., because my brain STILL didn't think that I could really afford to use it "just" for joy when I really needed it for rent!

But then my friend, musician Kim Jones, told me about a twist she has put on the idea of the $100 process, and that is to MENTALLY SPEND your "economic stimulus check" before you get it!!!!! It is brilliant! It is even BETTER than the $100 process because:

1. It's $600 dollars!!!!
2. It's YOURS!
3. It REALLY is coming to you (...whether or not your politics allow you to believe it should be or not)!!
4. It's not here yet, so all you CAN do with it is mentally spend it until it arrives!
5. And, BEST of all, according to our "illustrious" president, the PURPOSE of the refund is to SPEND it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The president has actually said (...let me find the quote here, hmmm, don't want to waste energy on that, so I'll paraphrase what I THINK he has actually said) that the checks are intended to encourage people to use them on purchases in stores, to stimulate the economy!!! Woo-hoo, don't worry about rent, your mortgage, power, home heating oil, credit card bills, gas, food, or other necessities of basic living - Go spend your $600 in stores to buy STUFF!!!!! But, as ridiculous as that is, we can ALL still use it to our own benefit in ATTRACTING more prosperity with it BEFORE we spend it on what we really need ( rent, the mortgage, power, home heating oil, credit card bills, gas, food, etc. )!!!!!!! THAT is the REAL woo-hoooooooooooo!!!!!

It REALLY is brilliant from a Law of Attraction and Law of Allowing perspective (though I doubt that was the original motivation for the plan) because we really CAN use it as an exponentially more powerful $100 process, and spend time mentally focusing on and thinking about ALL THE FUN we could have with $600 to spend on ANYTHING!!!! Because what we focus on ALWAYS expands and draws the subject of our focus into our experience, we can magnetise literally thousands of $ into our reality by using the time in between now and May (when the checks are expected to start arriving) to focus as much and as often as possible on the JOY we could buy with that $600!!!!

The ONLY key is that it MUST be something that brings you JOY - you must feel excited and eager, and happy when you think of spending the $600 (at least while you are mentally doing it prior to actually receiving the check). It's not FUN to spend money on rent, or bills, or even socking it away in a savings account - so the only limitation on mentally spending the $600 is that you are limited to FUN mental spending!!!

...I could get massages every week for two months! ...I could buy a used jacuzzi or hot-tub, or even better, I could combine my $600 with my husband's and buy a NEW one (Ahhhhh, can't you just feel that soothing warm water caressing the skin!) ...I could buy a mini-vacation! ...I could buy some awesome new clothes that make me feel hot! ...I could hire someone to clean my house for me for almost 5 months (every other week, but hey, I'll take it!!!) ...Oh yeah, the new iPhone - now we're talkin'! ...I could treat my husband and I to spectacular restaurants, nibbling on gourmet edibles, every week for a month - savoring every bite! Yummmmmmmmm.

...And those are just a few that I thought up quickly for the purpose of illustration!

Send me some of yours at: Andrea@theWANTshop.com, and I will post them (with or without names) so we can ALL benefit from JOYOUSLY spending millions worth of prosperity and wealth, $600 at a time!

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

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

MY world...

My work is based on the idea that MY thoughts create what I experience to be MY reality - in other words, MY thoughts create MY world... I want to share MY world with you:

• MY world is one of abundance for ALL - there is plenty of clean air to breathe, healthy delicious food to eat, and nourishing, life-giving, pure water to drink - plenty...
• In MY reality, all people are learning to live together in harmony, in love, in peace, in kindness, and in mutual respect. In MY world, people are generous of spirit with one another and lift one another up with a smile, a word, a deed, and the knowledge of our inter-connectedness that surpasses all but the thread of love that weaves us...
• In MY world everyone is doing work they LOVE to do - that inspires them, fulfills them, satisfies them, sustains them, and utilizes the unique gifts that we were each put here to use...
• MY world has MORE than enough of everything for everybody who wants it - when something is temporarily in short supply, something NEW will be invented or a new process will take it's place to fill the need...
• In MY reality each of us is living a life of JOY and beauty and love - sure, there may be moments of frustration or challenge, but only so long as it takes to forge new ideas of where to grow from here, to identify what new channel of satisfaction and fulfillment can be created from the new information I am living (and loving) today...
• In MY world there is plenty of gas, homes, wheat, banks, oil, space, land, water, bandwidth, time, money, and resources to fill every need, and, when one of these (or something else) seems to be in short supply, it only means that something EVEN BETTER is on it's way...
• MY reality is such that every cell in my body is perfect, whole, and complete and functioning at optimal levels - I am feeling better and better ALL the time - I am of pure, perfect health and wholeness, and MY world is sustaining me perfectly...
• MY reality is so incredibly rich and abundant and free - in MY world, money is as simple as the energy flow of love and the more I am consciously and consistently sending the energy of love out from me, money is flowing right back in to me. In MY world, this is how it works for everybody - the energy of love is endless and thus, the flow of money is endless...
• In MY world, I am surrounded only by people and situations that are in harmony with my intentions...
• In MY reality I KNOW that there are thousands of examples of "good news" stories for every tragedy I accidentally hear about from a television broadcast - in MY world the media corporations don't televise the good news because there are SO MANY examples and instances that they simply don't have time...
• ALL of my relationships are harmonious in MY world - I am happy and contented and peaceful in my interactions with friends, family, and all the people I come into contact with on a daily basis. My closest relationships are satisfying, fulfilling, loving, joyful, communicative, and enriching - I am in a glorious loving relationship with MY OWN true self, and all others flow harmoniously from there...
  
• In MY world everything I become aware of can be turned around to benefit me, inspire me, teach me, help me to refine the ideas I have about what I want to experience next, and assist me in learning to love more...
• In MY world we are all living EXACTLY the lives we truly want to be living, and if it isn't quite there yet, it just means that it is still on the way and I have MUCH to be excited about!!
  

...And MY world can be YOUR world too!

It is my plan to meditate on this vision of MY world for a moment each morning - to paint the picture of MY reality so firmly in my mind that what I experience can be no other way for me! Law of Attraction tells us that we manifest what we focus upon, and I choose to manifest MY version of reality! I am overcome with gratitude and appreciation that each and every one of us has the freedom to create their own vision in exactly the same way - we can choose to focus on the world the way the TV news would have it be, or we can choose to see it in a more loving and gentle light. It is my belief that as we choose it, so to we experience it - it is an individual choice. YOUR world IS what YOU choose it to be!

As for me, I intend to ONLY see examples of what reflects MY chosen reality back to me!

And so it is.

Get a New Money Mantra!

When the author of "Eat-Pray-Love" was on Oprah, she mentioned the importance of "getting a new mantra"...

And I was just thinking - when one affirms in their head/thoughts of "I need more money" or "I need money for _________ " that is effectively an affirmation or a mantra that has the effect of attracting more things/situations to NEED more money FOR!

...No matter how true the statement "I need more money" may be right now, it is probably best NOT to be constantly affirming that state with our thoughts (which is what repeatedly thinking the thought does to us internally), and rather, switch the thought to something more to the point of what the money is really wanted FOR. Something like: "I am excited about the ability to pay for my daughters private school tuition because x, y, and z." or "I am thrilled about the idea that it always works out for me, so I know that good fortune is turning up to insure my needs are met", or "the health of my family is always my first priority, and I feel peace when I remind myself that there is always a way for us to obtain the best care", or "even if I don't know the solution yet - I do know that it will come to me!", etc.

Some thought that isn't lying to yourself, but also isn't simply re-affirming a "need" that isn't yet fulfilled.

It is said that if one is having a frustrating day, that one should NOT ask for more patience, because that affirmation attracts more challenges with which to strengthen ones patience. It is better to ask for the END-STATE that is desired rather than the means by which we THINK it is to be achieved - in other words, using the above example, in a frustrating situation, ask for more joy, more peace, more appreciation, more love, more contentment, more relief - that way you will be attracting situations which have the effect of generating joy, peace, relief - by the most efficient means - rather than trying to figure HOW to do it ourselves!

So, when you catch the thought "I need money" floating through your head, try to use it as a signal to switch your thought to the REAL end-state you'd like to achieving (health, security, confidence, peace) in using that money. Using money is great - needing it is not. (...and it is not necessarily the only way either - grace comes in many forms!)

Complaints Create Reality...

Truth be told, of course all thoughts create reality! ...But, unfortunately, complaining almost always creates that reality faster, more distinctly, and more powerfully than quietly focusing on desires and wishes does! ...then, it creates even more complaints.

The reason for this is threefold:

1) Complaints are usually issued with powerful emotion, intensity, palpable feelings attached and a great deal of vivid mental imagery. That emotional energy is the fuel for thoughts which are manifested based on how intensely they are envisioned.
2) Complaints are usually repeated to oneself over, and over, and over - strengthening with every iteration. And then, making it even more tangible, complaints are often said aloud to others and to the Universe - thus soliciting further strength in the form of agreement from others, or the "arguing & defending" cycle of interaction which roots the thoughts ever more deeply (by forcing us to hold onto our "position" in the matter).
3) Complaints enhance an existing mental picture of "reality" - a decision about how "reality" IS that must be manifested through the Law of Attraction: That which is likened unto itself is drawn. In other words - you get what you focus on, and complaining is a powerful force of focus!

So, what to do about it???!!

The answer is simple (but not necessarily easy): STOP!

Stop and ask yourself: "What DO I want?"

As soon as you catch yourself complaining (or even indulging in someone else's complaints), simply stop. Try to imagine what experience you would like instead - both in the moment and with regard to the situation or relationship being complained about, and assert THAT instead!

You catch yourself hearing, speaking, thinking or saying something like: "this sucks - I just got laid off, I don't have any more money coming in, I can't afford anything I want anymore, and those jerks at work don't even know what they are doing - they are going to regret this!" STOP! What would you like instead???? Simply beginning to identify and verbalize what you would like instead will begin to put you on the road toward it! Just asking yourself what you would like instead can neutralize the venom of the complaining - YOU have the power!

YOU HAVE THE POWER! YOU! You are a powerful creator, you are a divine and glorious soul who is continuously creating and manifesting the experience you are living just by focusing your attention on it!

Try to keep coming back around to thinking about the experience you would like to have:

"I would like to feel good, and happy, and peaceful, and secure"
"I would like to have a job that I enjoy"
"I would like to feel calm while I am driving, even if there is traffic"
"I would like to be laughing rather than feeling like I want to break something"
"I want to feel fabulous, sexy, svelte, and hot in my clothes"
"I want to KNOW there is enough money for everything I need"
"I want to see evidence and examples of that being true"
"I want to be around happy people"
"I want to feel appreciated at work"
"I want to feel relief"

Identifying what IS wanted is the first step toward having it (and, it is the hardest part!) For many of us, the only thing that is holding us back from the life of our dreams is simply deciding WHAT that IS! So go ahead - next time you catch yourself proclaiming statements about something you DON'T want, try turning it around and take a stab at asserting what you would like instead. You will have just completed the most important part of a positive manifestation (...and, you can always change your mind again later!)

Why doesn't "The Secret" work for me?

Larry King did another show with some of the folks from The Secret a couple of weeks ago, this one specifically on The Secret (3/8/07). The first two broadcasts were entitled "Beyond the Power of Positive Thinking", but all the shows explored the ideas presented in The Secret surrounding the Law of Attraction and answered questions about how to use it in one's life. (If you did not catch one or more of the shows, you can watch any or all of these episodes online for free at JamesRay.com, or you can purchase a DVD of the CNN broadcasts from Voxant for personal use.)

Although the shows were provocative, informative, and quite thorough, there is one question that seemed to come up in various forms, again and again, without ever being fully answered, and that is: Why isn't The Secret working for me?

The truth is that there are many, many reasons why it might not be working even if your are actively applying the principles. It could be conditioning, bad habits, the presence of unconscious beliefs that are working against you, competing intentions, the influence of naysayers around you, a negative environment, a lack of action, or a lack of right action, timing, the lure of the safe comfort zone, tuning out your intuition, disbelief, or not believing long enough, or simply not being clear enough about what it is you really want... But I believe that a big reason why it may not be working is the tendency we all have to inadvertently be focusing on NOT having it rather than truly focusing on having what we want!

This is a very subtle but essential point. Allow me to try to explain:

• When you think of money, what is the very first thought that pops into your head?

...Is it your credit card balance, the bills that are due, or the car repair you can't afford? Or is it the absolute utter joy you feel at the piles and piles of cash you have lined-up in your bedroom closet?

• When you think of your body, what is the very first image in the mirror of your mind?

...Is it that you need to lose 10 pounds, the cellulite and the love-handles, or the chronic back ache and tension headache you are feeling these days? Or is it how very HOT you KNOW you look today and how great it felt to smile sweetly at ALL the compliments you've received?

• When you think of love and relationships...

You get the point.

The experts on the show, including Lisa Nichols and James Ray talk about the necessity of applying action steps when you are struck with an intuition or insight, and that IS absolutely true! Action IS necessary, however, action steps taken in the wrong direction (in answer to the thoughts about the LACK of what you want) will most likely serve to bring you more of that lack - more of what you don't want!

Take a good look at what you want to manifest for yourself, and WHY... Now, when the ideas that come forward seem to illustrate images of not yet having what you want, begin to turn them around, one by one: What does the opposite of what you don't want look like? What is the opposite of "in debt" and what does it look like? What would 180 degrees from "overweight and in pain" feel like? What are some antonyms for "looking for love"? Begin a practice of being vigilant with regard to the images you are creating for your future!

Make sure you are truly picturing and imagining HAVING what you DO want - *NOT* NOT having what you DON'T.

What are you focusing on?

No, REALLY, what are you focusing on??!

Try this little exercise: Think of a couple of areas in your life in which you have goals and/or ideally you wish some improvements were made… Perhaps your job, the state of your home (I mean its organizational appearance as opposed to the area of the country you live in – but either, if a problem, will do), maybe how much fun & recreation you are getting these days, your health, your social life/personal relationships, money, money, money, finances, money…

Now, for each one of those areas that you’d like to improve a bit, what is the FIRST image that pops to mind when you think of it?

Be really honest here – it is a matter of life and death to your true desires! ...WHY does that aspect of life need improving?

If you are like most people, myself included, the chances are that the VERY FIRST image that comes to mind when you think of those areas (on the subjects that need some improvement) is what is wrong with them, or, what you DO NOT have.

• When I think of my house, the FIRST thought that comes to mind is that it is a mess…
• When I think of money, my mind instantly races to the bills that need to be paid…
• When I think of my body/health, I can just feel the little roll over the top of my jeans and my sore back…

…And I am not alone! I have many a friend, who, when asked about his or her love life, will almost instantaneously reply that there isn’t one before I have even finished the question!

THAT is what you are focusing on! (And, THAT is what you are creating more of!)

The Law of Attraction states that like attracts like, and that what we think about expands. If you have seen The Secret, you have heard the expression that "where attention goes, energy flows". Well, those pictures, images and feelings that flash across your mind when you think of a subject ARE where YOUR ATTENTION is going! …THAT is what you are focusing on, and, consequently, it is what you are getting more of in your life. Bummer.

The antidote is to start to form pictures in your mind of what you DO WANT in those life areas… Each time you catch yourself snapping to the depression inducing woes of what is wrong, say to yourself: “That is not my reality! My reality is ______” and form a vision of what it might look like if it already WAS they way you DO WANT it to be!

• Envision what your house would look like if it were neat and organized…
• Picture your “accounts payable” box as empty and a lovely sum on your bank statement…
• Imagine what it would feel like for your clothes to be loose, and to be totally healthy…
• Compose an image in your mind of being with that special someone and filled with joy…

It’s easier said than done, I know. But it has GOT to be better than spending the kind of time I have been spending picturing (focusing on) exactly what I don’t want and expecting the opposite of that to suddenly just appear!

...I'll let you know when my house is clean.

Money is a by-product, not a goal...

What if money were just a by-product of doing what you love?

What if the ONLY way to get money was to BE DOING what you loved, and the more you loved it, the more money you got??!

What if that REALLY is how it works? What would YOU do? How would you "spend" your time?

I say that is EXACTLY how it really works!!!

Ask people what they want, and most of them will say "more money". ...They want it to pay bills, buy more stuff, take a trip, get a new car, to quit that stinkin' job, whatever.

But, in actual fact, money is not what they REALLY want - the money is just a means to an end. What they REALLY want is what they believe the money will do for them (or free them from...) What they REALLY want is the security of knowing that the bills are all paid and there is more where that came from, the ease or entertainment that the latest gadget can bring, the relaxation of time away from worry, better health, more joy, fun, warmth, comfort, beauty, freedom, or even just permission to live the life they have always wanted! (...and usually a combination of all of the above!)

The trick is that THAT is EXACTLY how money is manifested - by focusing on that which you want the money FOR!!!

Then, DO THAT thing!! Think about what the money would do for you (or allow you to do) and DO THAT!!! Take any action you can toward that thing as your goal rather than waiting for the money before you do it, do something, ANYTHING! Start doing anything you can to go in the direction of what the REAL goal is NOW!

What do I want a whole heap of money for? To pay-back any money I owe to anyone, to landscape the little tiny patch of soil I call my front yard, to hire a professional organizer to help me clean, to take some time off to write a book... How can I start doing these things, or at least take steps toward having the experience I want for my life right now? I bet you can think of many possible steps I could take! ..I can pay-back just one person, I can plant one plant a week, I can clean out one drawer, I can write for 15 minutes a day - and that is just a few things! If I were to do any of these regularly, I would eventually have what I wanted even without extra money. But my REAL message here is that as soon as you START taking action to make the experiences you seek a reality, you are simultaneously manifesting the money at the same time! When you are "spending" your time doing something you value, and taking action toward your goal, or doing something you love - you ARE attracting more money!

The truth is you are not poor - you have everything you need right now! You just need to start to take action based on the BELIEF that you do...

What if the ONLY way to get money was to BE DOING what you loved, and the more you loved it, the more money you got??!

What would you be doing?

As best you can - start doing THAT now.