Self help and meditation

Do You Have a Bad Attitude Towards Money?

2009-03-11T01:45:00.007-04:00

WEALTH AND PROSPERITY

"Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think."
~ Ayn Rand

Six Thoughts that Program Prosperity

In the last two posts, I talked about how old, engrained beliefs can sabotage fulfillment of our dreams. While we consciously take the attitude that we can have the thing we want, if we doubt that on the subconscious level, the deeper level of our mind will subvert those good intentions and bring us more of the same-old. Wealth creation is one area where this is particularly true, probably because most of us have been programmed to have self-defeating beliefs about money.

What is old programming really? It's a conscious attitude we've held long enough, recited to ourselves often enough, or felt deeply enough, that our subconscious mind has accepted it as true. When this happens, attitude becomes belief. It isn't enough that we want and consciously think we can have more money. We have to get past the surface attitude down to that level of engrained belief, and stir things up down there.

How to Do It

That means, really looking at our engrained beliefs about money. We must see what's been unhealthy in our thinking, perceive the illogic in the old belief, and replace it with abundance-embracing convictions. Take some time to do this, to sit by yourself and contemplate your old beliefs about wealth. Write down the negative thoughts you've been taught to believe in one column, leaving lots of space after each. Then think over each old belief, and in the second column, write down all the reasons next to each one why you now know that old thought isn't true.

When you do this, having new ideas about wealth to work from will be helpful, so we dedicate this week's newsletter to giving you some. Use the ideas below - only the ones that make sense to you - to explain things to the Doubting Thomas within. After you've worked through your old wealth-belief list, write down your current wealth beliefs on a new sheet of paper, and tear up the old beliefs. Next, refresh your affirmations.

Refresh Your Affirmations

After your belief housecleaning, write fresh wealth affirmations to replace any tired ones that haven't been working well for you. The new ones will be stronger and weightier with your subconscious, because you'll have written them after giving your programmed beliefs a listen.

Do you like being told what to do when you haven't been listened to? Neither does your subconscious. Make it a friend by explaining to yourself what's really true about money. When you're in one piece on the subject, in conscious and subconscious agreement, prosperity will become a reality (not just a word on your bathroom mirror).

Read your new affirmations to yourself when you wake up in the morning, before you fall asleep at night, and also whenever negative thoughts about prosperity creep in. Always read the list with real attention. Each time you do this you will remind your subconscious of the things you explained to it, and further fine-tune it to match your desires.

Mull Over This

Here are some ideas to contemplate during your mental "spring housecleaning" session. Use those that you resonate with, and add any ideas of your own:

You may have a resistance to the words like "wealthy" and "rich." Perhaps they suggest to you things like excess and selfishness. There's nothing wrong with feeling you don't want to be one of the spoiled rich, living higher than the rest of mankind while others suffer in poverty. If that's what "wealth" implies to you, toss out that word in favor of a concept of well-being that's more in accord with your personal values. Many people find words like "abundance," "prosperity," "plenty" better describe what they want in their lives. If that's the case with you, your subconscious will better support your dreams if you word your intentions and affirmations with those more acceptable, less splintery, words.
"Money is the root of all evil." How often have we heard that expression? But is it really true? First of all, the actual quote is, "Love of money is the root of all evil," and the person saying it was talking about an addictive relationship to money, not money itself. Money itself is no more evil than any other material thing. Money can do great good or great evil. It's all in how it is used. How would you use more money if you had it? Ask yourself if that would be evil or good. Would you be less dependent on others? Would the people in your life benefit? Would strangers benefit? If your answer to those is yes, how exactly would your having more money be evil, or contribute to evil?
If the economy's got you down, and you're worried if it might "get worse," consider that even in the Great Depression, there was only a 25% unemployment rate. That means 3 out of 4 people were still working in the worst of economic times! We hear all the negative stuff about that era but rarely hear that part of it. Nor do we often hear the stories of many now-departed old-timers about how those years were the best of their lives. People were brought together during the Depression. They learned to be more neighborly and supportive. They grew more self-reliant and resourceful. They discovered that real abundance is not the number of dollars you have, because dollars can become worthless. They came to value more substantial concepts of wealth, like gardens and the ability to grow them, owning your home outright, and living without debt. In an economic downturn, people are prompted to think about what economic security really means, and this can prompt restructuring of spending, earning, and living habits to one's advantage.
In any economy - booming, recessed, or depressed - people must produce and trade to live. As long as people are producing and trading, there is work, even if you have to create it. Identify the trades, services and industries that people will patronize in a slower economy, knowing that there will always be work in those sectors, and that you can find a place within them if you need to. Your current job is not a permanent fixture that you are glued to for life, and you don't die if your job does. Jobs are coats we put on and take off. Ask yourself if the coat you're wearing right now is right for the weather.
Maybe you find it hard to really deeply believe you could ever have the dollar amount you list as a goal. But dollars aren't true wealth. Wealth is the things dollars buy. In themselves, dollars are pretty substantial. In Germany's Great Depression, dollars had so little value people papered their living rooms with them. Dollars are unstable, with values that fluctuate with the stock market. So if it's dollars you want, stop feeling they are priceless and mysteriously unattainable. Consider how banks make money. They literally create it, by typing numbers on a sheet of paper when people come in for a loan. For banks, making money is as simple as typing. If that's the only difference between poverty and wealth - a few typed numbers on a piece of paper - how impossible is it really for anyone to shift from one state to the other? Imagine your bank account statement with the numbers you want to see there. How hard is it for the universe to take 1,000 and add two or three zeros?
Feeling undeserving is another old programmed belief that keeps many of us from enjoying the abundance we desire. Really look at this one. Why are you undeserving? Okay, so you've done some bad things you regret. Everyone has. Does that mean everyone should live in poverty? Would the world be better if everyone was poor? The fact is, we all are better citizens, better neighbors and more agreeable family members when we aren't struggling over our ability to make a living. Being poor benefits nobody. To the extent you are poor, you are dependent. Better to be strong in ourselves financially, if only for the good of the people we then don't have to lean on. Money isn't something we should have only because we deserve it. It's something we should have so we can hold up our own end of things and do good in the world. Don't we all deserve that?

Ask yourself what your old attitudes have been about money. Write them down as you think of them. Then really look at those old beliefs and ask yourself if they are true. As you rewrite your list and revise your inmost feelings about plenty, your openness to abundance will grow. When emotionally it feels as natural and good to you as the other good things in your life, abundance will be part of your everyday experience.

Next Week

Next week: visualization images and other strategies for money creation through the mind! Have fun reprogramming your wealth beliefs this week, and in the next newsletter, we'll send you some ripe seeds to drop into the plowed field of your subconscious, seeds that will grow prosperity.

Wishing every one of you unlimited abundance and happiness,
Richie. (Global Secrets)
Top Photo Courtesy of TW Collins.

How to Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind

2009-03-09T21:36:00.002-04:00

THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

"Once the subconscious mind accepts an idea, it begins to execute it. The conscious and subconscious are not two minds. They are merely two phases of activity within one mind."
~ Dr. Joseph Murphy

Self-Doubt - Like an Onion

Last week I talked about the importance of reprogramming your subconscious mind in order to successfully work the Law of Attraction. Old, deep-seated beliefs about how life works, and about your own potential, must be replaced with more truthful beliefs, the kind that support success.

There are a number of strategies a person can employ for doing this. All of them entail the conscious mind (the choosing part of us) impressing our desires and attitudes on subconscious mind (the receptive and creative part of us). To do that, the conscious mind must not only sow the seeds of new thoughts into the subconscious; it must also weed out any doubts that spring up based on old, deeply-held beliefs.

One strategy, I mentioned, is to have a little talk with ourselves when negative thoughts pop up about our ability to achieve our dreams. Sometimes this little talk involves really thinking through and resolving the subconscious objection the negative back-talk has brought to our awareness.

There may be layers to the onion: today you may find one doubt spring up, you think it through and get rid of it, then tomorrow a different doubt starts nagging you. This indicates you’ve reached a deeper level of subconscious resistance, and that’s a very good thing.

Patiently work through the new doubt and get in once piece about your desire again. This back-and-forth process of desiring and objecting will continue between the conscious and subconscious until you are in agreement with yourself about what’s possible and what’s good for you. At that point, both levels of your mind will work together to manifest your dream – no inner resistance.

You may also experience another scenario: you’re certain you’ve resolved the doubt, but the old thought pattern springs up again and again as negative mind chatter. In this case, the muttering doesn’t come from deep-seated hidden beliefs but from simple habit. When this occurs, you’ll know it, because you won’t feel an emotional tug, when the backtalk comes, that maybe the doubt is right. The mental chatter will just seem annoying.

When this happens, get conscious of the chatter, and replace it with a positive affirmation that directly corrects the negative thought. Repeat the new thought several times, with conscious focus, and get back to the business of your day. In time you’ll develop the new habit of thinking the positive thought rather than the negative one. But remember, this only works if you’ve first addressed the deep-seated emotional beliefs that caused that negative thought originally. If you don’t tend to that part of the process, it’s like trying to paste something new onto a dirty surface: the new addition just won’t stick.

Also, if you aren’t doing it already, make sure that when you fall asleep at night you drift into dreamland imagining your wishes coming true. This is another way of reprogramming the subconscious with your new intentions. The subconscious is most open and alert at the “twilight” junction between waking and sleeping (when you drift off at night and when you first stir to conscious awareness in the morning).

Use these times to communicate your vision to your powerful deeper mind. It responds to images, so imagine vividly. Pretend you’re experiencing your dream coming true. Any sights, sounds, smells, tactile images or emotions you conjure up will imprint themselves on your subconscious and start the inner machinery moving toward fulfillment of your dream.

It’s impossible in a newsletter to explain all the details of reprogramming the subconscious, but these are basic tools to get you started. To really get some traction, read Joseph Murphy’s book, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, or check out one of the other products we’re featuring this week – they’re all about working with your subconscious. In the following article, we give you some specifics about this little book, and tell you why we found it so transformative.

Murphy’s Book: Reprogramming Specifics, with Stories

If you never read another book, you’ve got to read this one. In The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, Dr. Joseph Murphy tells how he healed himself of a cancerous sarcoma by reprogramming his deeply held beliefs, and shares all his strategies in detail. This book is not just inspiring, it is full of practical ideas, for how to get your subconscious to accept and manifest your desires.

Joseph Murphy was one of the renowned teachers of the “New Thought” movement of the early 20th Century. That movement taught the Law of Attraction in the language of our grandparents and great-grandparents. This read is like listening to a wise old person tell you the most important secrets for living a successful life. It’s packed with true stories of Dr. Murphy’s clients and students. One of the most helpful features is the prayers and long affirmations the book includes, and the more-than-a-dozen strategies for self-reprogramming.

The “Your Right to Be Rich” chapter addresses old subconscious objections we have to our own wealth, helping a person think through these and remove them. Other chapters address topics like how to use your subconscious mind to remove fear, to develop better relationships, and to overcome illness.

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind is available in hardcover and in paperback. If you want to be a more successful creator, and don’t know why your dreams aren’t all manifesting yet, you can’t afford not to buy this book.

Wishing much success and abundance,

Richie. (Global Secrets)

Photo above courtesy of Darwin Bell.

My Monday Morning Inspiration from The Secret

2009-03-08T20:03:00.006-04:00

Inspiration

If you are feeling a bit negative or uninspired on a Monday morning, here is a short video that might help, it never fails to to put shivers down the back of my spine.

I actually posted the video in an article I wrote last year about the Secret Sequel, but I love the clip so much I reckon it's worth of putting up again. It will give you a great start to the day.

Press play, sit back and turn up the music...Planet Earth Forever.

Is This Mistake Sabotaging Your Manifesting?

2009-02-26T19:04:00.004-05:00

We received the following e-mail last week from a questioning reader:

"You make it sound so simple. You have your dream, feel grateful for all that happens, etc. After a long while of feeling low because I couldn't make anything positive happen, I changed my attitude 180 degrees and felt great. I wrote down my goals, and when those didn't appear I wrote down a new set with a business plan to show how I was to progress things.

Reprogramming the Subconscious Mind Image Courtesy of Financial Aid Podcast

"Then – nothing. Not a whimper. But I tore my ligaments while skiing and I am still recovering after 8 weeks. I lost clients I could ill afford to lose. I then got the worst flu I’d had in 30 years. My husband blew up the car and we don't have the money for a new one.

"All the time it seems that whatever I dream of, whatever I try, fails. I look at myself in my current predicament and do believe that fortunes will change, but to write a story about a woman whose fortunes changed overnight because her attitude changes, I’m sorry but I don't think so. Believe you me, I have tried.

"I have never been afraid of hard work. I don't actually complain to anyone. I try techniques to change round my moods to embrace another set of thought patterns, but I am truly stuck.

"So if you have any suggestions I would be grateful. Perhaps it is because I don't have the money to buy your products, which I don't, but it would be nice for someone to make sense of this."

F.

First of all, we have been there, too. Maybe it’s a stage of manifestation that lots of us have to go through – “the awkward, acne-teenage phase” of personal development. A person gets the theory fine of how The Secret works, but applying it in real life turns out to be quite another story.

But attitudes are not changed in a day. If you have been thinking negatively about yourself, your life, or your future, the choice to stop those attitudes is only the first step. Just taking it makes you feel great, as our reader experienced. She felt she’d made a 180-degree turn. Then nothing changed in her life. But she didn’t allow herself to whimper. (Notice how negative judgments have already crept into her thinking on a subtle level: “Nothing’s happening. I need results faster. Maybe the Law of Attraction doesn’t work. Maybe I can’t work it. But I mustn’t whimper. I must think positive.”)

Then something bad happens, a skiing injury, and this confirms her fear that maybe nothing works. By now she has already slid far down the hill from feeling fantastic and believing in herself to great self-doubt. She’s still trying not to whimper, but in her heart she is full of hopelessness. More bad things happen, and this convinces her she is a failure and has no control over her life.

It’s Not Just About Not Complaining

What happened is that old, engrained beliefs and programming prevailed over the wonderful new attitude. Doubtful thoughts started emerging, but the reader pushed them down instead of addressing them and working her way through them. She thought if she just didn’t complain, that meant she had a manifesting, results-producing attitude. In fact she was burying part of herself, and that’s what sabotaged her. Now she’s lost faith in herself, saying “It seems whatever I dream of, whatever I try, fails.” So what’s manifesting in her life? That deeply held belief.

The friend we wrote about in our story last week did not suddenly turn her life around with the attitude change we reported. She had been working on taking charge of her life for some time. She would do well for a few weeks or months then slide into another bout of bad things happening. It was when she saw that every slide in fortune was preceded by an unconscious slide in attitude that our friend was able to really notice and route out her habit of dropping back into old thinking. Her success didn’t happen overnight. It happened through applying the Law of Attraction as she understood it, practicing it step by step, and learning through her own experience.

Addressing Old Beliefs

Before we reach the stage of complete personal empowerment, we have to encounter our old beliefs that stand in the way of living it. These are attitudes we harbor, often subconsciously, about our own worth and abilities, about how the world works, about “money being the root of all evil,” etc. Whenever we try to reach for something better, these old attitudes announce themselves in the form of doubtful thoughts. But this is a good thing! Such thoughts are calling cards from our subconscious, telling us about buried programming we didn’t know we had.

When it asserts itself, listen to it. Find a quiet corner and five or ten minutes to deal with the doubt. Let your negative mind-chatter tell you what you really are feeling on the subconscious level – that powerful level of mind that determines what happens in your life. Once you can identify the old belief you’re holding, contemplate it, then ask yourself why you know this former belief to not be true, the reasons why you know it to be false. Don’t grab at some superficial answer. Really ask yourself how your new understanding and life experience cause you on the conscious level to no longer hold that old belief.

Reprogramming the Subconscious

Then explain to your subconscious why that old belief isn’t true, and what is true for you now. Just have a little, sincere talk with yourself, at the time the doubt springs up. Your subconscious is active and aware in such moments and will hear what you tell it. That starts to reprogram your innermost self with your new, empowering beliefs. The subconscious attitude starts to be revised.

Every time you do this, the subconscious mind starts to align more with your current conscious beliefs, and your conscious control of your life becomes greater. You no longer are running on autopilot, victim to old programming that runs unnoticed beneath your conscious awareness and sabotages your success and happiness. Cognitive psychology is a new branch of therapy that applies this very principle. It suggests becoming aware of your negative thoughts, evaluating their truth, then re-stating the thoughts to yourself in a more truthful form.

Getting Yourself in One Piece

In our reader’s case, she might take “Whatever I dream of, whatever I try, fails,” consciously consider the validity of that a few moments, then turn it into a more truthful statement like: “In the past, some of what I tried and dreampt of didn’t turn out as I expected. But I’m learning how to accomplish my dreams, and now my success is growing.”

This is a message the subconscious will recognize as reasonable and be willing to accept. Because you’ve adopted the new belief that there is a Law of Attraction and you can have anything you put your mind to, you have jolted your subconscious to attention – so much so that doubtful, defeatist thoughts are springing up. This is your subconscious saying, “Hey, this doesn’t compute. Which do you want me to take as true: that we’re broke or that we’re abundant?” That’s when you explain to it that in the past, poverty was an experience, but that now good things are here and greater things are coming to you.

The Worst Kind of Poverty

Keep holding up the lantern of your dream, and the things you need to make it real will follow the light until they arrive safely on your doorstep. While you wait for them to show up, don’t be upset when your subconscious shows you a negative attitude. Be grateful for its revealing the infected old beliefs you need to clean out, because if it didn’t do that, those hidden attitudes would completely sabotage your dreams.

One last reference to our reader and her letter. We believe she was correct in thinking success may be harder for her because that she’s never taken a course or really studied the subject. Yes, it costs some money, typically, to really learn to apply The Law of Attraction. But to tell ourselves, “I can’t afford it” is to accept old negative thinking rather than addressing it, questioning it, and turning it into an attitude that’s healthier and more realistic. If we can’t afford to invest a little money in our own happiness, if we don’t think we’re worth some dollars being spent on learning how to achieve our own dreams, then we are poor in the very worst sense of the word. “I can’t afford it” is only an attitude, and it’s only true if we keep on letting it be.

For more information and products that can help you reprogram your subconscious mind go to http://www.the-secret-dvd.net/News/tss/20095.html

Richie (Global Secrets)

The Secret Book Sequel may not be far away.

2009-02-25T06:14:00.005-05:00

Update February 2009

After rumors that started way back in early 2007 about a follow up book and movie to The Secret, we recently heard the news from one of the major suppliers that Rhonda Byrnes’ sequel to the Secret Book is not far away.

April 2009 has been mentioned for the release date, although apparently a title has not yet been decided.

According to the Los Angeles Times blogsite, The Secret is nearing it’s 100^th week on the L.A. Times bestseller list, and both the book and DVD have reached over $300 Million in sales since its release in 2006.

Now ….. I’m not sure how long it takes to print a heap of books; but I’m guessing they will be looking at a pretty big print run for the first release considering the success of the Secret Book and DVD so far.

So I guess they’d better get a wriggle on and choose a name so that they can start printing if it’s going to be released in April.

Hey…It’s all rumors anyway, and personally, I will believe it when I see it. Let’s hope its sooner rather than later, I can’t wait to see what the next installment is about.

P.S. The other news that we heard was that the follow up DVD will be released in Sept/Oct; but that’s ages away from now, so I will let you know more when I hear something concrete.

Richie (Global Secrets)

To stay informed, make sure you are on our mailing list, or keep checking the Secret Sequel page on our website.

Does Your Attitude Suck? How to Feel Grateful Again.

2009-02-19T19:41:00.004-05:00

GRATITUDE

"If you count all your assets, you always show a profit." ~ Robert Quillen

Does Your Attitude Suck? How to Feel Grateful Again

In last week’s newsletter we talked about “gratitude attitude” – what some call “gladness attitude.” We looked at how our thoughts shape reality, and why that’s worth being glad about.

This week let’s talk about slumps: what to do when you lose your gladness and slip into complaint mode. How does that affect your life and how can you get back to feeling good and positive again?

Photo: " What wrong with my attidude?" (Photo courtesy of rudezombie)

A Cool True Story

Just as gladness attracts to us things of similar vibration, feeling irritated or put out attracts to us negative things. Sometimes the results can be dramatic.

Some years ago, a normally upbeat friend of ours lost her job and fell into a mindset of worry. Though Kara worked unusually hard at finding a new position, no employers were interested. Her fear sabotaged every interview and job application. She couldn’t even get a kid’s job delivering newspapers.

Soon other bad things happened: she got a speeding ticket, developed the cold of her life, and her boyfriend broke up with her. Our friend was really angry – it all seemed so unfair.

One day in a phone call, as Kara narrated her long list of disasters to a friend, the other woman’s cell phone kept bleeping out. Kara’s friend would drive out of the dead zone, phone again, they’d chat a minute, Kara would start complaining, and the phone would go dead again. Kara was so eager to rail about her undeserved experiences, and this just seemed the last straw.

This happened 12 or 13 times, when it occurred to Kara that the moment she started complaining, that’s when they would lose the cell connection. Then it hit her: her own attitude was causing the trouble – not just on the telephone microwaves, but in her life. She had let dramas overtake her faith in herself and the universe. The more she moaned, the more awful her world became.

As soon as Kara stopped reciting her woes, the phone conversation continued without further interruption. That day Kara decided to stop whenever she noticed herself complaining, even if she was only complaining in her mind. Instead she told herself one good thing was about to happen to her. (Right then she felt too low to believe in more than one).

Two days later, Kara received a generous surprise check in the mail from a concerned friend. It was the first nice thing that had happened to her in months.
Imagine a Change in Fortune

Kara saw that her own attitude slump was causing all her problems. She began imagining feeling glad and being relieved of her troubles. Within a couple of days, she felt cheerful, and within a couple of weeks, her “luck” had completely reversed. She went into business for herself and became successful. As an entrepreneur, she was much happier than on her old job. Her new boyfriend was quite an improvement, too.

In the years since, our friend has never fallen into a major downward spiral again. When negative thoughts start to creep in, she remembers that experience, and the power of expecting good (maintaining a gladness attitude) in creating the life she wants for herself.

If you are in an emotional slump, begin to just imagine feeling better. Imagine one nice thing – a surprise – happening to you. When something annoying occurs, tell yourself the pattern you’re in is about to reverse. When you go to bed at night, fall asleep on the thought that something wonderful is in the works. You’ll see an abrupt change in fortune, because your mind is a creator in this universe. What you imagine and expect will come to you!

Jack Canfield’s “Dream Big Collection” – Helping You Stay Glad

We recommend a special product to you this week, something to help maintain your gratitude attitude. Keeping an upbeat focus is so important, since sliding into negativity delays our manifestations. The product is Jack Canfield’s “Dream Big” collection, a set of tools designed to keep you positive.

First in the kit is his book, “Key to Living the Law of Attraction,” which lays out all the mechanics for assuming authorship of your own life. It’s important to review this information regularly, as we are prone to forget it.

You’ll also get a Gratitude Journal, a beautiful book to record in each day just what you have to be glad about. This makes staying glad easier. You’ll also receive a Vision Book, with all the Accessories needed to make an inspiring visual tool that keeps your goals and manifesting on track. This is a story board, deluxe version. Look at your beautiful vision book every night before bed, and drift off to dreamland designing and creating your future.

Visit www.dreambigcollection.com. for more about this cool package by Jack Canfield, co-author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books and one of the renowned teachers on “The Secret” DVD. Any purchase you make helps fund our effort to bring you inspiration and knowledge through this newsletter.

Wishing you a week of gratitude and gladness,

Richie (Global Secrets International)

How to have an Attitude of Gratitude.

2009-02-12T19:26:00.005-05:00

Attitude of Gratitude When Things Go Wrong? How to Be Upbeat, Not Phony

We hear a lot in "The Secret" circles about the importance of a "gratitude attitude," but how can we feel grateful when bad things happen? Isn't it phony to pretend you're grateful when things are actually going wrong? And how exactly does gratitude make things better?

What Gratitude Attitude Isn't

A gratitude attitude doesn't mean living in an emotional monotone, where your response to every situation is "I'm so grateful." Nor does it mean acceptance and submission, telling yourself the situation is just as it should be when in fact you know it's atrocious. Speaking up or taking action is important when something is wrong. Is it possible then to be realistic and grateful both, when bad things happen?

It is, because the bad stuff isn't what we're grateful for. We're grateful for the good that is somewhere in there with it. By looking for the good parts in any situation, we find the hope and motivation to work through the nasty stuff and make things right again.

Pollyanna Had It Down

A few decades back, the child star Haley Mills made a wonderful movie called "Pollyanna." She played a charming girl who always saw the cup as half full. No matter how bleak a situation, Pollyanna saw the bright side. This endeared her to everyone, because having her around made their own viewpoints more positive and cheerful.

Pollyanna didn't pretend everything was fine when it wasn't. She cared when people were hurt and things weren't right. But she helped people to a different way of seeing that made lemonade out of lemons.

In one delightful scene, the servants are miserable because it's Sunday. They're required to sit around being prim all day and not allowed to have fun. They challenge Pollyanna to find something to be glad for in that. The little girl's response, after some thinking: "Well, you could be glad because it's seven whole days before it's Sunday again!"

Grat-At: Knowing Your Own Power

That's the gentle focus shift that a gratitude attitude brings (you may like to call it a "gladness attitude"). It means looking for what's good in something and being glad for that part. It's knowing that no matter how bad something appears, your possibilities and resources are endless.

Being grateful means knowing that underneath our physical form, we are consciousness, and that consciousness is power. Consciousness (thought) structures the universe. As long as our inner nature is what thoughts are made of, we can touch the world with our thoughts and change it.

Quantum Physics Weighs In

Quantum physics demonstrates this to be fact. It says that at the deepest level of creation, matter responds to thought. Simply by expecting a light particle to go through Slit A in a screen rather than through Slit B, scientists are able to make a photon go through that slit. Holding an intention and expecting it to manifest is how we create or change things through our mind. No matter how bleak a situation, shouldn't we always be grateful for that?

We can alter anything. That ability of choice, of making things happen according to our desire, is one of the best things about living. Perhaps this capacity of human consciousness deserves our gratitude more than anything else. Once we know how to create reality, we never have to be victims again.

Responses on Gratitude

Congratulations to the winner of our "gratitude" drawing, Gwendoline from Australia! Gwendoline will receive the Dream Big Collection by Jack Canfield as her gift. Want more inspiration? Read all the wonderful entries by our newsletter readers describing what they are grateful for in their lives. "I am so grateful for..."

46 Ways to Bring about What we Think about...Gratitude.

2009-02-02T23:40:00.009-05:00

Famous Inspirational Gratitude Quotes.

Image Courtesy of Dave77495

Whilst writing a newsletter about Gratitude the other day for our subscribers, I put together some of my favorite gratitude quotes.

Here are 46 of the best. Feel free to add your own in the comments section.

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?” William A. Ward

Here's a few of the best Inspirational Quotes of Gratitude from the movie The Secret.

“Whatever we think about and thank about we bring about” Dr John F Demartini

“Gratitude is absolutely the way to bring more into your life” Marci Shimoff

There are dozen's of quotes from the classic, Secret inspired Wallace D Wattles book 'The Science of Getting Rich.'

“The more gratefully we fix our minds on the Supreme when good things come to us, the more good things we will receive, and the more rapidly they will come; and the reason simply is that the mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come” Wallace D Wattles

More Gratitude Quotes

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all” William Faulkner

“If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily” Gerald Good

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul” Henry Ward Beecher

“Gratitude is the heart's memory “ Jean Baptiste Massieu

“The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving” H.U. Westermayer

“Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live” Jackie Windspear

“Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone” G.B. Stern

“It’s been such a powerful exercise, every morning to get up and say thank you, every morning …… what am I grateful for …… and I’m not just thinking about them …… I’m feeling the feelings of gratitude” James Arthur Ray

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice” Meister Eckhart

“When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?” G.K. Chesterton

“If you count all your assets, you always show a profit” Robert Quillen

“As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world” Adabella Radici

“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink” G.K. Chesterton

“For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder” G.K. Chesterton

“Praise the bridge that carried you over” George Colman

“If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get” Frank A. Clark

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has” Epictetus

“Gratitude is the least of the virtues, but ingratitude is the worst of vices.” Thomas Fuller “Gratitude is the best attitude” Author Unknown

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures” Thornton Wilder

“There is not a more pleasing exercise of the mind than gratitude. It is accompanied with such an inward satisfaction that the duty is sufficiently rewarded by the performance” Joseph Addison

“I feel a very unusual sensation - if it is not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude” Benjamin Disraeli

“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings” Eric Hoffer

“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart” Henry Clay

“Who does not thank for little will not thank for much” Estonian Proverb

“Power takes as ingratitude the writhing of its victims” Rabindranath Tagore

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melodie Beattie

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” Cynthia Ozick

“Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors” François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them” John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“Grow flowers of gratitude in the soil of prayer” Verbena Woods

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted” Aldous Huxley

“When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them” Chinese Proverb

“Thanks are justly due for boons unbought” Ovid

“In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican” H.L. Mencken

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it” William Arthur Ward

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” Marcel Proust

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Cicero

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.” Denis Waitley

“Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.” Margaret Cousins

We have also received hundreds of "What I am grateful for" comments from our newsletter readers which we will put together into a PDF for you to see. There are a lot of thankful people out there. I will make the PDF available to you as soon as it's done.

I have also made it into a web page on our other self help website. Go to Gratitude Quotes and Inspirational Quotes of Gratitude.

Feel free to add your own favourite gratitude quote below.
Enjoy!
Richie (Global Secrets)

The Secret Teachers Gathering: Major Upcoming Event.

2009-01-19T23:07:00.005-05:00

"For the first time in history, the planet's leading transformation experts and best-selling success authors have gathered to deliver a message and program of epic proportions..."

TheMasters are Gathering

I just received the information that The Teachers from The Secret and many other top transformation experts and best selling authors have gathered for a once in a lifetime event...

THE MASTERS GATHERING

Here are some of the experts that will share their knowledge with you:

T.Harv Eker

Jack Canfield

Bob Proctor

Joe Vitale

John Demartini

Bob Doyle

David Wolfe

Loral Langemeier

Dr. Ben Jonson

John Assaraf

Hale Dwoskin

Bill Harris

Marci Shimoff

Janet Atwood

Mary Morrissey

And More

They are about to release exclusive videos from some of the experts, and it will happen very soon!

Make sure to be the first one to watch and be notified when it happens, you don't want to miss this.

www.the-secret-dvd.net/recommend/MastersGathering

I will make sure to keep you updated about this event.

Richie. (Global Secrets)

Newsflash: Official Secret Sequel ‘The Secret Daily Teachings’ release due December.

2008-11-02T22:29:00.005-05:00

The Secret Daily Teachings
For more info go to www.the-secret-dvd.net

Update 19th November, 2008
We have learn t more about the new 'Secret' product release since I originally wrote this post and it seems that it is not the actual 'sequel' Secret book, it is more like a book/calender.
We have pre-ordered a copy and will write a review as soon as we receive it.
Richie (Global Secrets)

Finally, the release of the Official Secret Sequel has been announced.

No, It’s not:

Beyond The Secret
The Compass
The Opus or
Pass it on
Life in Perpetual Beta
Awakening or
The Meta Secret

or any other so called ‘Sequel to The Secret’, this time it is The Official Sequel to The Secret written by Rhonda Byrne herself.

It will be called ‘The Secret Daily Teachings’ and will 'expand your knowledge of The Law of Attraction far beyond what you can imagine' (According to Publishers Weekly)

At 736 pages long, it is substantially larger than The Secret original book which is just under 200 pages, and includes ‘365 brand new insights that build on The Secret’s powerful truths’ and promises ‘more joy, abundance and blessings…every single day of the year.’

As you could guess, it will apparently continue where The Secret left off and takes you to the next steps in living The Secret.

750,000 copies are being printed and Amazon are taking back-orders before Christmas and will be shipping on the 9th December, 2008.

If you are after The Secret Daily Teachings to fill a Christmas stocking go to Amazon quick smart as I think they will sell very quickly as soon as the word starts getting around.

To keep fully updated about ‘The Secret Daily Teachings’ by Rhonda Byrne go to www.the-secret-dvd.net and subscribe to our newsletter.
There will be a lot more information posted on that site as soon as we know more.

Good luck in getting your early copy - The Secret Daily Teachings’ by Rhonda Byrne.
Oh by the way, there is also a Spanish Version.

Richie. (Global Secrets)

Kids Success: Using Your Child’s Imagination to be Successful

2008-10-31T00:49:00.005-04:00

Following on with our theme on Goal Setting, Children and The Law of Attraction, here is an area where you as an adult may indeed learn from your own kids.

Visualization is a tool that many of the world’s top athletes use with great success, so why not show your kids how to use this method to achieve their own goals?

And as you begin teaching them how to visualize, you will probably be completely blown away by how good they are at it, and more than likely, you will end up learning from them.

Keep reading to find out how your child’s imagination could be the key to their success in life.
(Image Creative Commons Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ )

If you are excited about the Law of Attraction and how consciously applying it betters your life, you’ve probably wondered if this is something you could teach to your child. What is the right age for kids to learn this principle, and the wonderful practice of visualization?

A child can be taught to visualize as early as age 4 or 5, and the Law of Attraction can be understood by some kids at that age while others will better comprehend it at age 7 or 8. Intellectually understanding how the law works takes a certain level of cognitive development, but intuitive understanding it is possible at a much earlier age. This is why a very young child can visualize, and be practicing the Law of Attraction with great success, long before they can pronounce the term or explain it in words.

And of course, explaining it isn’t as important as living it. Visualization, the key strategy at the heart of LOA, is a skill that kids take to like ducks to water. In fact, learning to visualize is much easier for children than for most adults. That’s because visualization operates on the principle of imagining, and children imagine all day long. It’s a skill they are born with, and one they tend to forget as they grow up. That’s why it’s important to teach them the power of visualization while they are young enough to imagine spontaneously.

If you teach them that skill early, they become established in it and confident of their ability to make their wishes come true years before the world tries to talk them out of the importance of imagining. Having experience with the creative power of their mind through visualization, they will be resilient to influences that tell them imagining is frivolous.

If you aren’t confident of your own ability to explain the concept of Law of Attraction and to guide your child through the steps of visualizing, get a good children’s book on the subject and give it to your child. Review it yourself first, so you can answer basic questions as your child works through the process.

Don’t think you have to be an expert with all the answers before you can share what you know about visualization with your little one. You can learn together, mastering the fine points and sharing your successes. Because of your child’s natural ability to imagine, you may very well find that much of the time your child is teaching you.

The important thing is to make a start, to make a commitment to convey this most important knowledge that empowers your child to create her life and reality through her own conscious choice. It is one of the greatest gifts you can give your child, and it will bless her life forever.

You will find all this and much more info in our new program -

“Go for Your Goals – for Kids”

Five Reasons Why Success Plans Often Fail

2008-10-20T00:03:00.003-04:00

Goal Setting: How to Tweak Your Strategies for Better Results

Are you a positive, goal-oriented person who would like a bit more success with your goal-setting strategies? Here are five ways success plans sometimes fall short, and how you can tweak your own plan for better results.

1) Vaguely defined goals and/or strategies If you want to get to New York from Chicago, you could probably get there by climbing in the car and simply starting to drive, but you’ll get there faster and more comfortably if you plan the trip, have daily destinations along the way, and bring a roadmap with you. It isn’t enough to make something your goal. You have to define the steps that will get you there.

So often we set goals like “I will lose 25 pounds,” then can’t understand why we put on 5 instead. We do better if we plan the steps, such as lose 2 pounds a week, exercise at the gym twice a week, and have a daily intake of so many calories. These steps are our strategies. Having a goal without clearly defined strategies is like driving around the Midwest countryside hoping you’ll stumble upon New York.

Solution: Break your goal down into the practical steps or strategies you must take to reach it. Write these strategies out in clearly defined, measurable terms. Rather than “I won’t work late as much,” write “On Tuesdays and Thursdays until June 1st, I will leave the office by 5:10 p.m.”

2) A reluctant commitment With or without strategies, if you don’t want a goal enough to commit to doing what it takes to achieve it, chances are you’ll drop out before you reach your target. Motivation is extremely important. Think about the times you’ve wanted something with every fiber of your being. Didn’t you find it easy to stick to your goal plan and didn’t you achieve your desired outcome?

Solution: Pick goals you’re strongly committed to. If you really don’t want to start that workout regimen yet, don’t create a goal program for it. Doing so before you’re ready will only lead to failure, which will make it yet harder to get started with the regimen, because you’ll have your added guilt to contend with. If you know you ought to do something, and find yourself resisting, ask your subconscious mind to reveal to you the attitude that prevents your moving forward. Then look at that thought.

3) Forgetting to make it fun When goal setting programs are too arduous, we balk at implementing them. Doing the work required to reach a goal isn’t typically easy, so making the process as enjoyable as possible is part of achieving success. Intrinsic motivation goes a long way in helping, but rewards and celebrations for milestones are needed, too. Having a reward to look forward to keeps us going when the goal looks far off, or when our commitment flags due to physical and emotional fluctuations.

Solution: Make fun a major consideration of your goal-setting program. If you know you need to exercise five times a week to reach a weight goal, for instance, you’ll have a better chance of sticking with your weight loss plan if your strategies involve exercise activities you find fun instead of the kind you abhor. Structure rewards and celebrations for milestones of progress right into your goal plan. The boost to your enthusiasm that celebrating gives will get you over your rough spots. Rewards need to be planned and specific, so you can look forward to them as self-promises. It’s the looking forward that is motivating.

4) Neglecting to track your progress As you move toward a goal, it’s important to track your daily or weekly progress (for longer goals, your monthly or yearly progress as well). This keeps us accountable so we don’t “cheat” and lie to ourselves. It also provides motivation, as we see a visual record of our progress. Without motivation and positive reinforcement, it’s easier to give up on goals than to keep working toward them.

Solution: Make a chart that measures your progress. Post it inside your closet door, on the wall of your bedroom, or inside your personal planner. Record all the times you perform the strategies you’ve committed to at the time you resolved to perform them. If you find you’re repeatedly failing to do a strategy, take a look at it to see why. If the strategy needs tweaking to be workable, just tweak it. It’s natural for strategies to need adjustment as you move toward your goal.

5) Expecting too much of strategizing Unlike visualizing, which can be applied to any goal, strategizing is only appropriate for some goals. In visualizing, a person can ask the universe to create most anything, but strategizing only works for some things. When we goal-set for targets we have no material control over, strategizing becomes interfering or manipulation, and we set ourselves up for disappointment and resistance.

Solution: If you’re having trouble moving toward a goal, rather than berating yourself, consider whether the goal or strategies could be at fault. Is this goal something you really want and that’s good for you to have? Is it also good for other people, or are there those who don’t want you to succeed? Are your strategies effective in moving you toward your goal or did you conceive them before you had knowledge of what is really needed to reach this target? Getting down on yourself makes no sense if the reason you’re not having more success has to do with answers to these questions. Adjust your goal or strategies to be realistic, and you’ll be back on the path of progress and enjoyment.

Goal setting is a skill, and like any skill it takes practice to be done smoothly. Learn from your experiences in goal setting so far, and adapt your efforts to your growing understanding.

And pat yourself on the back for your tenacity! Those who stick around long enough to learn a thing become the experts. That’s going to be you.

If you'd like more information about Goal Setting there are a number of articles and tools on one of my other websites - www.4lifeselfhelp.com

Download our free Goal Setting Ebook - '7 Pointers to Goal Setting Success'

Why Your Kids need to Learn Goal Setting

2008-10-15T22:20:00.004-04:00

Good parenting is a task fraught with responsibilities. In between all the bustle, we sometimes come up for air long enough to ask ourselves, “Just what do I need to be teaching my child?” Because of course it isn’t enough to cook, clean and chauffeur. We need to pass on values and skills that will help our kids lives happy and successful lives, both now and as adults.

One of the skills that children need to learn somewhere along the road of life is goal setting: how to turn a vague desire into a committed ambition and how to then take action that will achieve their dream. Imagine if you had this kind of success training as a young person, how different your life would be today. So many adults meander through life, wishing for this thing and that, never understanding the principles that turn a wish into a goal that then can be achieved and experienced. Without the skill of goal setting, so many things we could have had slip right through our fingers.

That’s why kids need to learn how to set a goal, how to create strategies to reach it, how to make a commitment to their dream, the importance of rewarding themselves along the way, and how to track their own progress. When kids learn these techniques as steps toward achieving something they genuinely want to work for, they not only attain the object they desired but they learn the skills of success in the process. They then carry those skills in their experience bank, to be drawn on next time they want to achieve anything.

Success, for kids or adults, is not a random occurrence. It is had by applying principles that successful people have used as their own personal guiding stars down through the ages. Children need success tools as greatly as any coping tools we can teach them. Learning how to goal-set can make the difference between a random life for children in their adult years versus a focused and fulfilled one.

25 Fun things to do with your kids. (That are free or cost very little)

2008-10-09T21:31:00.002-04:00

Do you spend enough time Playing with your Child?

Many people’s lifestyles are so hectic that they seem to either run out of time, or forget how to connect with their children. Here is a reminder of how important it really is to play with your child, and some fantastic, fun and simple activities you can do together.

In these busy times, when parents and children have schedules packed to the max, family closeness can fall by the wayside. Most of us have to make an effort to guarantee that work, school, sports, and chores don’t swallow up the very relationships that make those things important.

When is the last time you played or goofed around with your child? Can you remember back that far? Many parents can’t. Life has made us so serious, so focused, that we’ve lost the joy of the simple things, and play was one of the first to go.

But as any child instinctively knows, play is essential to life. It brightens the heart and lightens the spirit. For kids, who live closer than we do to nature, play is as spontaneous as breathing. Sadly, most grown-ups have lost that skill. Our children can be our refresher course.

Playing with your child brings you back to the present, reminds you of what matters, and slows you down long enough to smell the roses. It also connects you emotionally with your child, rebuilding the closeness that the fast-paced, boring routines of life are all too quick to strip away.

Playing together is even more important for your child than it is for you, because she needs to feel close to you to feel loved and happy. If you’ve neglected time together for long enough, it may appear that your child isn’t interested in your attentions. She may even tell you as much. But that’s just bluster, hiding the fear that you will disappoint her again if she lets herself wish for time alone with you. If you initiate playing together, and do it at frequent intervals, even the most aloof pre-teen will start to look forward to it and, in time, throw herself into the fun.

What kind of playing should you do? Pay attention to the activities your child engages in: his idea of enjoyment. If these things seem boring to you, try hanging out nearby, observing as he does them, with words that express your curiosity. You just may find you actually develop a genuine interest. If your child is a couch potato, take up your perch on the couch beside him, but after you’re allowed “in,” initiate some play that might be more pleasant than TV.

Think back to what you did as a child that was memorable, especially activities you did with your parents that stay with you still. Think about things that are free or cost little, that involve experiencing life together. Start a list of ideas as they come, and add any of the following that you resonate with:

Here is my list of 25 Fun things to do with your kids. (That are free or cost very little)

• Raking stacks of autumn leaves, then jumping or rolling in them
• Taking a hike through the forest preserve
• Skating at the roller rink together
• Walking the dog, taking turns with the rope
• Reading comics or joke books together (or books of poetry or stories)
• Making cookies, pizza or a cake
• Building a fort out of snow or chairs and blankets
• Playing hide and seek, hide the thimble, cards or board games
• Lying on a blanket looking up at the stars
• Sitting in front of the wood stove in a dark room, telling stories
• Making shadow figures on the wall with your hands and a flashlight
• Having a treasure hunt
• Roasting marshmallows over a fire
• Watching a parade
• Going to the aquarium, zoo or museum
• Making and flying kites together
• Building something
• Making a scrapbook
• Making up a silly poem or song
• Watching a movie, with popcorn and no interruptions
• Playing a memory game, like “I’m going to Grandma’s house, and in my suitcase I’m going to pack …”
• Getting up early to watch the sunrise from a hill
• Playing games of pretend
• Going somewhere special, like the beach
• Having a pancake picnic in the snow

Playing together is different than finding entertaining activities for your child. Play involves you, while entertainment excuses you from the picture. If you find yourself saying, “But my schedule is too busy for any of the things on that list,” consider whether your schedule needs some pruning. After all, who’s going to remember in 20 years if you stay late at work or not next Tuesday? But will your child ever forget the Tuesday you ride the rollercoaster together?

Closeness with a child cannot be taken for granted. Like any other relationship, it will slip away unless it’s made a priority. Nothing builds trust and bonding with a child like sharing a moment of silliness and laughter. Come together for light-hearted play, and you just may find your child opens up about serious subjects. The relaxed atmosphere of play helps us let our guard down and reveal more of ourselves.

When you play together, let your child feel like the most important person in your world. Give him your undivided attention: no cell phones, no interruptions, no slipping into your own private thoughts. Be present – body, mind and spirit. Then let yourself do whatever comes naturally, with the abandon you felt when you yourself were a child. Your instincts will be your guide.

Growing closer through play is easy. It just takes dedicated moments, given on a fairly regular basis, so your child begins to count on having time with you.

Let your child re-teach you the wonderful secrets of play. You both will feel more secure and peaceful – and a whole lot happier, as the reason you do it all for, starts to come back to you.

Visualization: How to Tweak It for Better Results

2008-10-06T21:22:00.000-04:00

Have you tried practicing visualization and applying the Law of Attraction but with less than stellar results?
Don’t be discouraged, because you are not alone. While the principles are simple, the practice of visualization is a skill, and like most skills, it sometimes takes a little study and “tweaking” until you get it.

Neville Goddard (or just “Neville” as he preferred to be called) was a 20th Century teacher of visualization who wrote an outstanding primer on the subject called The Law and the Promise. It’s an excellent place to start your study of effective visualization.

Neville taught that the biggest mistake people make when they visualize is failing to imagine from the perspective of the wish fulfilled. Instead they imagine from the perspective of their longing. For example, if you want a gold necklace, it does no good to imagine it sitting in the store window. You need to imagine wearing it on your neck. Imagining the object as something apart from you, as something you don’t already have, keeps the object forever in your future!

When you imagine your wish, do so as if it already has come true in your life. Close your eyes and let yourself feel all the joy and sensations you expect to feel when your dream actually manifests. Imagining in this way, says Neville, builds a bridge between ourselves and the object of desire. You could call it a wormhole in time, a channel through which the object can travel to reach us.

Until your desire manifests, imagine on it daily from a dreamy, drowsy state. The most effective times to visualize are when drifting off to sleep or in the twilight state as you are waking up. That’s because the Subconscious is most alert when the conscious mind is least active. Visualizing is dropping a wish into the Subconscious, which then goes to work to make the wish come true in the world.

Don’t put deadlines on your dream, or decide the means and schemes through which it will manifest. Leave the universe free to work out those details. Fall asleep happily on your wish every night, and in time it will manifest in your life.

Sometimes deep-held attitudes (such as low self-esteem, the belief that money is evil, or the belief that a certain illness can’t be cured) can temporarily block our ability to manifest a desire. If you’re visualizing something when you go to sleep at night, feeling excited about your dream, then find yourself during the day thinking, “What am I doing? This can never happen,” you’re victim of a subconscious blocking attitude.

When that doubting thought arises, slip away to somewhere quiet and ask your subconscious mind to tell you precisely why it feels that way. If you listen, it will reveal to you (then or as the day progresses) the long-held, subconscious belief that holds your current attitude of lack in place. Listen to the objection, consider its merit, then explain to your Subconscious why this old belief is not true (or is no longer true). Then re-state your wish as an affirmation, repeating it three times with focus (aloud is best). After that, resume your daily routine.

If doubtful mind-chatter starts up again, get quiet once more and ask why. Another layer of the onion of doubt will surface. Patiently consider the objection, and explain to yourself why it no longer holds, just as you did before. Keep doing this until all the objections are cleared and you can be in one piece about your goal. This will dissolve any personal blocks in the path of your desire coming true. When your conscious and subconscious minds align in the belief that a wish is good and attainable, no doubtful mind-chatter is left to stop the wheels of creation from delivering your dream to your door.

The universe is a magical place, and mind is the magician. Learn to visualize skillfully, and nothing will stop you from actualizing any golden imagined thing you intend to make real.

You Are an Artist

2008-10-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

Whether you realize it or not, guess what? You're an artist.

Really. I know that may sound unbelievable; especially if you consider yourself to be un-artistic, or perhaps, you may even resent or dislike anything "artsy." However, regardless of your preferences, the fact remains that, yes, you are an artist.

And more so, you life itself is the painting, or sculpture, or whatever form of art you'd like to conjure up here. Your very being is an expression of art; and, naturally, what you do in the world -- how you engage the world, how you relate to other people, how you appreciate your very self -- are just ways that you continue with your artistic creation.

So from now on, don't look at your life as merely "something to be lived." View it as a form of ART that is, at every moment, an expression of how you are creating it.

Let Forms Pass

2008-09-29T10:40:00.000-04:00

One of the hardest things in life is to accept that "all that rises, passes away."

We want to cling to what we identify with; to our roles in society, to the people that we meet. We want things to stay permanent; but this is an impossible demand placed upon reality.

Reality is all about change -- and as such, there is no permanency. Even the most permanent structures are destined to crumble in a matter of time. This earth, in fact, will end when our sun goes into supernova. Sure, that's not going to happen for a really, really long time and who knows, by then this species may have invented ways to go to other planets. But even this earth, and all of its unmovable things -- mountains, structures, whatever -- will pass away.

Let forms pass, and realize that despite it all there is in fact one form that cannot pass, because it does not come into being: it is your witness.

That alone is real.

Who Are You?

2008-09-25T10:38:00.000-04:00

In our lives, we strive to find the answers to all kinds of questions: what we should do, who we should get into a relationship with, what job to get, and so on.

However, prior to all of these questions is the most fundamental question of all: WHO ARE YOU?

Unless and until you identify who you are, then whatever you decide to do (or decide not to do) will be, in essence, an educated guess -- one that is often not very educated at all.

Meditation is the doorway into WHO YOU ARE.

What is Meditation?

2008-09-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

Many people try to explain meditation, only to arrive at the basic awareness that meditation cannot be explained in words.

This is because, as we've discussed on this blog before, words are dualistic; that is the very fundamental foundation of words. Words have to be dualistic; they cannot be otherwise. You cannot have a word that doesn't, somewhere, have an oppositional reference point.

It's as if someone came up to you and said "don't touch that fire, it's hot." Now, you must have an understanding, however vague or precise, of cold before you can make sense of this word "hot." Otherwise, how could it mean anything?

What if, instead, that same person came up to you and said "don't touch that fire, it's Feploioj."

What the heck does that mean!?

You don't know (neither do I). We don't know what that word means because it has no opposite; it is not dual.

Meditation, however, is the unification of duals; it is singular. And that's why it can't be explained in words.

On a superficial level, we can refer to it as "relaxing" -- but even that's not it.

Meditation is the pre-thought state of your being.

What Do You Think About?

2008-09-18T10:28:00.000-04:00

"We become what we think about all day long". - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph wasn't trying to sell us anything when he offered that sage advice, and so it simply emits more credibility!

Life is an experience of perception. That is why 10 people can, on an external level, "experience" the same thing but have 10 dramatically different interpretations.

This doesn't mean that there is no reality; it simply means that we filter our reality in ways that conform to our inner paterns.

In your life, what are your patterns -- where are your filters?

LIfe is Little Things

2008-09-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

We tend to view life as this gigantic concept; this multi-layered, complex movie that lasts for many years (we hope).

However, if you really stop and look at life right now, you'll notice something rather odd: it's made up of very little things.

Indeed, even the most significant of actions -- performing neurosurgery or driving a race car at blazingly fast speeds -- is really made up of little steps.

And furthermore, ongoing research concludes -- again and again -- that there is no such thing as multi-tasking. Human beings cannot do more than one thing at once. It's simply not how we're built.

What are the little things in your life? Are your little things making you spiritually nourished or taking you the other direction?

How Do You Raise Happy Kids?

2008-09-11T00:45:00.007-04:00

Following this months 'Book of the Month' theme, here is a recent article written by Winsome Coutts with some tips for raising happy kids.

How Do You Raise Happy Kids?

By Winsome Coutts

As a grandmother and self-help writer, I’m often asked by readers, “How do you raise happy kids?” This is a question near and dear to every loving parent’s heart. No matter what we teach them, if we haven’t taught them how to be happy, or can’t parent in a way that makes them feel happy, it’s rather all for naught, isn’t it? So it’s a very pertinent question.

I’ve been blessed with having two happy children and two happy grandchildren. I applied certain principles in raising my kids, and see my son and daughter-in-law apply the same in raising their adorable daughters, Klara and Stina. In this article, I’ll share two tips I’ve learned along the way.

The first is the importance of modeling happiness. You can’t give something you don’t have. How can you teach kids happiness if you don’t have it yourself? Some parents think loving their family means living only for them, driving them everywhere, cleaning up after them, and putting their kids’ needs and desires way ahead of their own. Parenting shouldn’t turn us into a short-order restaurant or a cleaning or taxi service. It does for some parents. That teaches kids a bad lesson.

A child who perceives his parent as a servant, someone whose life has meaning only through catering to his whims, learns to be selfish. He comes to believe others exist to do his bidding. I have a friend who was raised like that, and she tells me when she grew up, she kept having the strange feeling, “Where are all the servants?” Being catered to was such an ingrained part of her childhood that adjusting to adulthood was difficult for her, because “the servants” were missing.

Kids who are raised this way tend to feel the world owes them a living. So breaking out of the “doormat” mode, if you’re in one, is pretty central to giving your kid a chance at a smooth transition to happy adulthood.

When you take care of yourself, make time for yourself, and do things that make you happy, your child learns those behaviors from you. If she sees you going for your dreams and making decisions based on your inner truth, she learns that doing those things is good. On the other hand, if you model dropping everything to fulfill her latest dictate, she learns that parenting means self-denial and victimization. She may then become a self-effacing parent herself or go the other extreme and forego parenting entirely because it looks like such a sacrifice.

So to raise happy kids, be good to yourself. Treat yourself with respect and dignity the same as you treat your child. Don’t allow disrespect toward you any more than you’d allow someone to be rude to your kids. Make time for your creative desires and dreams. Plan in some scheduled personal time each week (or day), and make sure that you take it.

Let your kids see you’re doing this, and tell them the reason: “Mommy needs to have some fun, too,” or “Moms need time every day to relax.” This shows your child that you value yourself, and that personal time is important to everyone’s happiness.

The second tip I’ve learned for raising happy kids is the tremendous value of focused attention. The best form this can take is uninterrupted, one-on-one personal time with your child. Think back to your own childhood and some of your happiest memories. Chances are they include that hike you took with Dad, or the time you and Mom went to the restaurant for a dessert.

When we set aside an hour or two to be with our child, away from distractions and interruptions, we tell him he is important and loved. Giving focused attention is much more powerful than the diffused attention kids get while we cook dinner, drive them somewhere, or break up conversations to take calls on our cell phone.

Children thrive on loving, focused, personal attention the way plants thrive on sunshine. Structure in some focused attention every day, even if it’s only for five or ten minutes. Look at your child when he talks to you, so he knows you’re completely with him. In love, it’s the subtle things that count.

Giving focused attention teaches self-worth: your child knows she’s valuable because you value her, enough to carve out time for you and her, uninterrupted by the world, for those moments. That spells love, and when she knows you love her, by your actions not your words, that brings security and heart fulfillment, essential foundations of happiness.

In this busy world where parents work two jobs and where kids’ social calendars can rival those of debutants, it isn’t easy to make time to take care of yourself and uninterrupted time for you and your child. But for happiness, nothing could be more important. Think about your schedule, what is nonessential that you can cut out, or wasted moments that you can eliminate. Use that harvested time to be good to you and your kid. Your child’s happiness, and yours, depend on it.

Book of the month

If you have children, or know someone who has kids, it is well worth checking out Winsome's recent book release about The Secret and Goal Setting for Kids .

Where's Your Space?

2008-09-10T00:01:00.000-04:00

Eckhart Tolle offers a wonderful and very easy, convenient and private "tool" to help you recognize and possibly adjust your internal state. He simply says, throughout the day, ask yourself a very simple, basic question:

Where is your space?

By this, Tolle doesn't mean where is your physical space. He means where is your inner space. And with that question, you're compelled to identify whether you, in fact, have any space.

Many times throughout the day, particularly if your life is filled with drama and conflict (whether you are the "cause" of it or not), you'll identify, in answering this question, that you have no space. That the inner you, and the reacting you, are merged; there is no distance between them.

When you identify with an emotion -- which is what violence is -- you lose the space between your real being, and some mind-identified form.

So ask yourself throughout the day:

where is my space?

And if you can't find it, then take an internal step back until you find it.

Joy is Infectuous -- so is Misery

2008-09-08T00:01:00.000-04:00

We're all familiar with the concept of an "infectuous disease."

But did you know that emotions are also infectuous? They are! When you're miserable and nourishing your negative state (or, as Eckhart Tolle would put it, "feeding your pain body"), you are also sending out those vibrations to those around you.

Similarly, when you're open and accepting, you're doing the same.

For the Law of Attraction to really work in your life, you must attract the right kind of energy and also emit the right kind of energy.

What kind of energy are you attracing?

Using Your Power

2008-09-04T10:12:00.000-04:00

We've looked at power in many different ways in this blog; but because it's such an important topic, it deserves many new looks -- so let's do one of those here.

In your life, you have a great deal of power; much, much more than you probably think. You don't need money, status or political anything in order to have power.

Everytime you engage another person -- whoever they are and whoever you are -- you are entering a power zone.

This is where you internally decide how to engage the other person. Will you do so politely? Will you do so openly? Will you avoid or refuse to react to the other person's misuse of their power? For example, perhaps someone has been rude to you -- or something negative like that.

You STILL have your power. Will you misuse it the way that they are?

Don't let other people choose how you use your power; because you are answerable, in the final sense, to yourself; not to the other person.

Use your power very wisely.