Today, my inbox received several messages marked Mail Delivery Failed. These are emails I'd allegedly sent, but that bounced when they reached the sender. The sender's addresses claimed to be originating from the mentalmanifestation.com domain.
I PROMISE you, I did not send these. They are SPAM.
I'm the only one authorized to administer this site. There are no other authors or admins. How they are able to use my domain to mask the true origin is beyond me.
But if you arrived here because someone claiming this as their address sent you an ad for v1@grA or some such nonsense, allow me to apologize sincerely. It was not me, and I'm looking into ways to prevent this from continuing or happening again.
This blog, albeit oft ignored, is STILL devoted to the exploration of all things mystical, magical, and metaphysical. Peace out.
And if you're a spammer/scammer, THINK TWICE before using my domain—what you send out... returns to you tenfold. Including spam.
Also, if you sent a manifestation request via Unifestation, and no one responded, MY SINCERE APOLOGIES. My blog email is supposed to forward to my main email address. For some reason, it stopped doing that, and as a result, I missed out on four years' worth of intention requests. So I do apologize sincerely.
Computers. They're supposed to make life easier...
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
What It Feels Like to Shift
Ever have an epiphany, and it feels like an exclamation point? Like
Surprise. That's not what The Shift feels like.
When The Shift hit me yesterday, I was seated at my desk in my cubicle at my temp assignment, counting pages and feeding the scanner. I was halfway tuned out, mulling over something random, partially paying attention to the chatter in the back of my brain when all of a sudden I just froze. My body just stopped mid-count.
Utter clarity and certainty, enough to literally freeze my body AND my mental chatter. (I seriously could not move for a moment, and I lost count, too.)
!!!
Surprise. That's not what The Shift feels like.
When you Shift, it feels more like a period (in the UK, it would be a "full stop"). It's not even a thought, per se. It's like a curtain is pulled back, an understanding drops into place, and then you feel like
.
When The Shift hit me yesterday, I was seated at my desk in my cubicle at my temp assignment, counting pages and feeding the scanner. I was halfway tuned out, mulling over something random, partially paying attention to the chatter in the back of my brain when all of a sudden I just froze. My body just stopped mid-count.
Time stood still.
Every fiber of my being was on high alert, and I was as fully "present" as one can be while incarnate.
My internal focus zoomed in on a point of blazing clarity. It wasn't even a fully-formed verbal thought, it was more like an idea. A "knowing". The past ten years of my life flashed by in hindsight and I just... understood.
I've been living under the belief that: I've been abandoned by the Universe, I'm being ignored, my requests are falling on deaf ears, maybe I haven't suffered enough yet or proven myself somehow, or maybe I'm just missing some integral aspect in this attraction process stuff because I can manifest gutter repair guys out of thin air, but I can't seem to manifest more important stuff. Maybe it works for others, but not me. Maybe I can't do it the way the gurus do.
In that moment of brilliant clarity, that all fell away and I SAW.
I saw, and I understood exactly HOW the Universe HAS been supporting me, fully and completely, the whole time—I just didn't see it for what it was or recognize it as such because it didn't take the form I thought it would or should. It didn't look "big" enough to be Universal Support.
Silly me.
Within the space of a heartbeat, all of that transpired, and the
curtain pulled back, the understanding dropped neatly into place, and
then I felt like
.
Utter clarity and certainty, enough to literally freeze my body AND my mental chatter. (I seriously could not move for a moment, and I lost count, too.)
Shift happened.
Funny, I'd always expected I'd be overjoyed when this occurred (if it ever did). The truth?
Quite the opposite, LOL! I had a minor mental breakdown (within the privacy of my own brain, after all I was at work) because I really felt like I'd had ten years' time where I was perfectly set up (though I didn't recognize it being that way) to explore the exact opportunity I'd asked for mere days before being liberated from the permanent workforce (May 24, 2002), and I blew it, and now my circumstances no longer permit me to do what I wanted to do and oh, had I just realized what I had when it was in my hands, I wouldn't have wasted it... it was a hard few hours until I got home, bruised internally from kicking myself mentally.
When I finished work and arrived home, I was able to explore the idea that had dropped into my brainspace, and I discovered I was wrong. I have not blown it. Oh, I for sure blew the previous opportunities, yes; but I blew a series of them, and each time, the Universe sent me a revised version. I blew that, then got another one... the important point here is not that I successively blew several opportunities that I didn't recognize having, but that in each instance, the Universe kindly offered up a revised version. Every. Single. Time.
This entire time, the Universe has been patiently waiting for me to "get it", to see the opportunity and rise to it, and when I miss it, it just hands me another chance. No judgment, no conditions, no expectations. It just says "ooops, missed it, here, try another". And it will CONTINUE to do so, because that is the function of the Universe.
Realizing that made me understand that it IS all right, that a new opportunity will arrive shortly, that I can never really "blow it". I just need to open myself up to recognizing the opportunities and support when they arrive, in whatever form they take.
I need not fear, I need not doubt; I never needed to. The support is there; the Universe is at the ready, just waiting for me to put in the request. And it has answered. I just wasn't asking the right questions or something, or asking for "enough" of what I need or want. I let my limits dictate my requests, and I got exactly what my limits asked for.
I also realized that commitment plays a big role. The Universe responds when I have fully committed to an outcome—good or bad—and when I get wishy-washy and change my commitment, it changes with me. This is why my manifestations have not happened, or have happened half-way.
It's all based on the quality of my commitment to my outcome.
And it's all based on not just the thought/visualization, but on the FEELING I have about the outcome. So if I'm debating on which direction to go, and I'm worried that I might choose the wrong path, then what I'll get is... the feeling that I chose the wrong path, no matter which path I choose.
It is vital that I make sure I have the right FEELING in place first—then it matters not what outcome I actually choose, because regardless, it will manifest in a way that matches the feeling I have when I set the intention.
~~~
How glorious is it that I know I can never go back to thinking the way I used to about the Universe and the support it provides? I will never be limited like that again. I reached the tipping point, I made The Shift, and I'm excited to see what wonderful things I can attract into my life from now on.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
YOUR Side of the Fence
A dear friend of mine is having issues with the neighbors. Without going into too many details, let's leave it at this: boyfriend moved back in, the property is in a horrendous state of disarray, and the pool is in such bad shape the neighbor kids beg to use my friend's pool. The neighbor's house is in a state of postponed foreclosure and this is in an extremely nice area. To top it off, the neighbors have a penchant for loud music, ATVs, and other irritating, obnoxious, peace-shattering activities.
My friend is beside herself. She'd been hoping that once the woman (the owner of the home) lost the house to foreclosure, newer nicer neighbors would move in and life would improve all around. Finding out there is a chance the woman will keep the house after all has almost sent my friend over the edge.
She emailed that it has activated her weekend warrior side. It's almost as if she needs to go overboard to improve her own residence, to ward off the negative vibes emitting from next door.
I smiled, because that is exactly what she's doing. I sent her a long email applauding her efforts. By focusing on improving her own surroundings, she turned her attention away from the chaos next door and how she decided to allow it to affect her.
Now, she's focused on her life, and what she wants in her life. She has, in effect, reaffirmed her commitment to beautifying her world for herself and her family and maintaining it. She's focusing on enjoying the rewards of the life they've worked so hard to build for themselves. She's aimed an armload of positive vibes into her own surroundings, effectively building a vibrational force field around her property that will negate or at least downplay the effects of the vibes from next door.
It also sends a powerful message to the Universe about what she truly wants to create in her life.
I told her, "focus on what's on your side of the fence, and the other side of the fence will take care of itself". Eventually, the negativity won't be able to stand such close proximity to overwhelming positivity and the neighbors will self-destruct on their own (or, even better, begin their own self-improvement project).
It will take patience on my friend's part, but she's like me—committed to this crazy self-improvement thing—and I'm looking forward to the day she emails to tell me the neighbors are gone, and the new neighbors moving in this weekend are a joy to be around.
My friend is beside herself. She'd been hoping that once the woman (the owner of the home) lost the house to foreclosure, newer nicer neighbors would move in and life would improve all around. Finding out there is a chance the woman will keep the house after all has almost sent my friend over the edge.
She emailed that it has activated her weekend warrior side. It's almost as if she needs to go overboard to improve her own residence, to ward off the negative vibes emitting from next door.
I smiled, because that is exactly what she's doing. I sent her a long email applauding her efforts. By focusing on improving her own surroundings, she turned her attention away from the chaos next door and how she decided to allow it to affect her.
Now, she's focused on her life, and what she wants in her life. She has, in effect, reaffirmed her commitment to beautifying her world for herself and her family and maintaining it. She's focusing on enjoying the rewards of the life they've worked so hard to build for themselves. She's aimed an armload of positive vibes into her own surroundings, effectively building a vibrational force field around her property that will negate or at least downplay the effects of the vibes from next door.
It also sends a powerful message to the Universe about what she truly wants to create in her life.
I told her, "focus on what's on your side of the fence, and the other side of the fence will take care of itself". Eventually, the negativity won't be able to stand such close proximity to overwhelming positivity and the neighbors will self-destruct on their own (or, even better, begin their own self-improvement project).
It will take patience on my friend's part, but she's like me—committed to this crazy self-improvement thing—and I'm looking forward to the day she emails to tell me the neighbors are gone, and the new neighbors moving in this weekend are a joy to be around.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Are You Celebrating Future Abundance, or Poverty?
I'm a regular recipient of Carol Look's Attracting Abundance Newsletter and a recent mailing ("Celebrate Your Future Abundance") caught my attention in a big way. (To subscribe, visit http://www.attractingabundance.com/)
Carol wrote:
In this instance, "fantasy" refers to the image inside our minds, the vision we hold, as opposed to "reality", which is what we believe we are actually experiencing right now. The energetic vibrations of the image we visualize (fantasy) of whatever it is we desire is just as real as the energetic vibrations of the "reality" we see in front of us.
Well. That got me thinking. I realized that this applies to negative vibrations and visualizations as well as positive ones. Whatever image we hold within our minds carries a vibration. It would follow, naturally, that:
If this doesn't cause you to stand up and take notice of your thought processes, nothing will.
Carol encourages us to:
Doesn't this feel better than the idea of building your poverty by practicing how it will feel when you are suffering your future poverty in your present time? But wait—
OH.
I believe I've just had a major BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious). You, too?
Carol wrote:
The fantasy of abundance is as real vibrationally
as the reality of abundance.
In this instance, "fantasy" refers to the image inside our minds, the vision we hold, as opposed to "reality", which is what we believe we are actually experiencing right now. The energetic vibrations of the image we visualize (fantasy) of whatever it is we desire is just as real as the energetic vibrations of the "reality" we see in front of us.
Well. That got me thinking. I realized that this applies to negative vibrations and visualizations as well as positive ones. Whatever image we hold within our minds carries a vibration. It would follow, naturally, that:
The fantasy of poverty is also as real vibrationally
as the reality of poverty.
If this doesn't cause you to stand up and take notice of your thought processes, nothing will.
Carol encourages us to:
Build [your] abundance by practicing how it will feel when you are enjoying your future abundance in your present time.
Doesn't this feel better than the idea of building your poverty by practicing how it will feel when you are suffering your future poverty in your present time? But wait—
Isn't that exactly what you're doing when you're worrying (about money, health, gas prices, the economy, etc.)?
OH.
I believe I've just had a major BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious). You, too?
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Apply Your Oxygen First
It's time to apply the oxygen mask to my own face before assisting others.
That's right, 2011 is the year that JB of MM comes first. The year JB moves from the bottom of the list to the top of the list, the head of the line.
No more putting everyone else ahead of me. I've done this for decades, and it has to stop.
Does this sound as if it goes against the "give to receive" basis of the Law of Attraction (or the Bible)? Does it sound as if JB has suddenly become a selfish monster?
No. The truth is, there is a point at which one gives too much of themselves to where it becomes detrimental. There is validity in the phrase used by the flight attendants when they instruct you to apply the oxygen mask to yourself first, before assisting others. If you have no oxygen, you are soon rendered ineffective (because you are unconscious or dead).
Let's face it—dead men tell no tales, nor do they help others survive the flight. It's understood that the one who grabs the mask the fastest is best-equipped to assist those who are slower, infirm, too young, or too terrified to grab a mask for themselves. It is imperative that the strongest help the weakest, but they must practice self-preservation in order to do so.
I've been reflecting on a lot this past year, and I find it interesting to note that the people with the strongest negative reaction to my idea of putting myself first have always been the ones for whom I have done the most: the ones who asked more of me than anybody else, the ones who in many respects took advantage, the ones who demanded their needs be met even when it harmed me in the process. These are the people most likely to snort in disgust and call you selfish, self-centered, spoiled, and claim that you don't deserve anything more because you already got yours (even as they are enjoying rewards beyond compare while you're struggling to make ends meet).
Ironically, the ones who support the Me First mandate are the people that have not required my help, that may have even helped me on occasion, and that I've generously offered to help many a time whether they took me up on it or not.
People are mirrors; sometimes they mirror back what they believe about themselves.
But they also sometimes mirror back what we believe about ourselves. Discerning the difference takes practice and careful self-analysis.
Remember also that the Universe mirrors whatever energy we put out there.
With that in mind, please take a moment and think carefully about the concept of mirroring.
When you stand in front of a mirror, it reflects back to you what you show it.
Try this exercise. Imagine that you have a friend, Fred, with you. Fred's job is to agree wholeheartedly with you, and then parrot back whatever you say exactly as you said it. This means the pronouns remain the same; he doesn't flip it and substitute "you" for "I", for example.
Look at Fred and say, "I come first this year."
What does Fred say in return?
(Did you just say, "Yes, YOU come first this year"?) Uh-huh. I thought so.
Well, that's not what I said he'd do, is it? I said he would agree (Yes) and repeat back to you EXACTLY what you said, without changing a single word.
The correct response from Fred, according to what you said, is, "Yes. I come first this year."
OK. Now you're thinking, what is this, the Three Stooges? Who's on first? No, what's on second?
"No, my friend," you say, frustrated. "YOU don't come first, I come first. Get it right."
"Right," says Fred, "I come first."
"No, Fred... I come first, I am at the top of the list, I, meaning me, JB—oh crap, I GIVE UP!!!"
(Fred says, "Yes, I give up!!!")
THIS is a correctly mirrored conversation. Make note of this, because this is also how the Universe functions. The Universe in this example is represented by your agreeable, doofus of a friend.
What you really meant was that YOU come first. Again, tricky. If you say "you come first", it might yield bizarre results. Who in this instance is the focus of "you"? You meaning the person in the mirror? You meaning the Universe? Do you really want the Universe to misinterpret and potentially put itself before you? Wait. This is getting a little too confusing.
The best way to handle this is to specify exactly who comes first, by your given name, nickname, or other identifying moniker.
Now. Try the exercise again, substituting your name for the words in the brackets.
"OK, my friend," you say, "this year, [JB at MM] comes first. [JB at MM] gets helped first before anyone else does, then [JB at MM] can help others."
Your ever helpful parrot of a friend replies: "Yes indeedie, this year, [JB at MM] comes first. [JB at MM] gets helped first before anyone else does, then [JB at MM] can help others."
Now everyone is in agreement about exactly who comes first. There is no confusion, there is no potential for error—unless of course there is another [Your Name] in your social circle, but I believe if you hold a firm vision of your own face in your mind as you identify it as being [Whomever You Are], the loophole will close securely.
I hope this post has helped clarify one of the stickier points of the Law of Attraction, which is how to phrase intentions in a way that closes the bigger loopholes that cause mis-manifestations. Your homework is to think about this and see how it might have applied to previous manifestations.
Happy New Year, and may all of our best dreams come true!
That's right, 2011 is the year that JB of MM comes first. The year JB moves from the bottom of the list to the top of the list, the head of the line.
No more putting everyone else ahead of me. I've done this for decades, and it has to stop.
Does this sound as if it goes against the "give to receive" basis of the Law of Attraction (or the Bible)? Does it sound as if JB has suddenly become a selfish monster?
No. The truth is, there is a point at which one gives too much of themselves to where it becomes detrimental. There is validity in the phrase used by the flight attendants when they instruct you to apply the oxygen mask to yourself first, before assisting others. If you have no oxygen, you are soon rendered ineffective (because you are unconscious or dead).
Let's face it—dead men tell no tales, nor do they help others survive the flight. It's understood that the one who grabs the mask the fastest is best-equipped to assist those who are slower, infirm, too young, or too terrified to grab a mask for themselves. It is imperative that the strongest help the weakest, but they must practice self-preservation in order to do so.
I've been reflecting on a lot this past year, and I find it interesting to note that the people with the strongest negative reaction to my idea of putting myself first have always been the ones for whom I have done the most: the ones who asked more of me than anybody else, the ones who in many respects took advantage, the ones who demanded their needs be met even when it harmed me in the process. These are the people most likely to snort in disgust and call you selfish, self-centered, spoiled, and claim that you don't deserve anything more because you already got yours (even as they are enjoying rewards beyond compare while you're struggling to make ends meet).
Ironically, the ones who support the Me First mandate are the people that have not required my help, that may have even helped me on occasion, and that I've generously offered to help many a time whether they took me up on it or not.
People are mirrors; sometimes they mirror back what they believe about themselves.
But they also sometimes mirror back what we believe about ourselves. Discerning the difference takes practice and careful self-analysis.
Remember also that the Universe mirrors whatever energy we put out there.
With that in mind, please take a moment and think carefully about the concept of mirroring.
When you stand in front of a mirror, it reflects back to you what you show it.
Try this exercise. Imagine that you have a friend, Fred, with you. Fred's job is to agree wholeheartedly with you, and then parrot back whatever you say exactly as you said it. This means the pronouns remain the same; he doesn't flip it and substitute "you" for "I", for example.
Look at Fred and say, "I come first this year."
What does Fred say in return?
(Did you just say, "Yes, YOU come first this year"?) Uh-huh. I thought so.
Well, that's not what I said he'd do, is it? I said he would agree (Yes) and repeat back to you EXACTLY what you said, without changing a single word.
The correct response from Fred, according to what you said, is, "Yes. I come first this year."
OK. Now you're thinking, what is this, the Three Stooges? Who's on first? No, what's on second?
"No, my friend," you say, frustrated. "YOU don't come first, I come first. Get it right."
"Right," says Fred, "I come first."
"No, Fred... I come first, I am at the top of the list, I, meaning me, JB—oh crap, I GIVE UP!!!"
(Fred says, "Yes, I give up!!!")
THIS is a correctly mirrored conversation. Make note of this, because this is also how the Universe functions. The Universe in this example is represented by your agreeable, doofus of a friend.
What you really meant was that YOU come first. Again, tricky. If you say "you come first", it might yield bizarre results. Who in this instance is the focus of "you"? You meaning the person in the mirror? You meaning the Universe? Do you really want the Universe to misinterpret and potentially put itself before you? Wait. This is getting a little too confusing.
The best way to handle this is to specify exactly who comes first, by your given name, nickname, or other identifying moniker.
Now. Try the exercise again, substituting your name for the words in the brackets.
"OK, my friend," you say, "this year, [JB at MM] comes first. [JB at MM] gets helped first before anyone else does, then [JB at MM] can help others."
Your ever helpful parrot of a friend replies: "Yes indeedie, this year, [JB at MM] comes first. [JB at MM] gets helped first before anyone else does, then [JB at MM] can help others."
Now everyone is in agreement about exactly who comes first. There is no confusion, there is no potential for error—unless of course there is another [Your Name] in your social circle, but I believe if you hold a firm vision of your own face in your mind as you identify it as being [Whomever You Are], the loophole will close securely.
I hope this post has helped clarify one of the stickier points of the Law of Attraction, which is how to phrase intentions in a way that closes the bigger loopholes that cause mis-manifestations. Your homework is to think about this and see how it might have applied to previous manifestations.
Happy New Year, and may all of our best dreams come true!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Please Stand By
It's 1970-something. As happened every so often in the early days of color analog TV, the station I'd been watching lost its broadcast capabilities for the moment and went off the air. Technicolor bars appeared in place of the cartoons I'd been watching, followed by a high-pitched "oooooo" signaling the disruption. The words flashed on the screen,
EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. PLEASE STAND BY.
I immediately stood up and took up my position next to the TV.
My Mother, in the next room ironing Dad's shirts, looked up from her work and asked me what I was doing.
"I'm standing by, like it said."
She uttered a single snort of laughter, her face registering resignation and acceptance as it would many times throughout my childhood, and said, "Oh honey. Don't be silly. That's not what it meant."
I was confused. "Well that's what it SAYS. It says 'stand by', so I'm standing by. What else could it mean?"
She set the iron on its edge, both hands on the ironing surface, smoothing out the shirt. "What do you think it means? It doesn't mean 'go stand by the television', it means 'they're having problems, please wait while they fix it'. The obvious thing."
It certainly wasn't obvious to me. What was obvious to me was that when someone said "please stand by", they meant "go and stand by whatever it is that needs to be stood by until otherwise notified".
To think it meant otherwise was to infer my own meaning and interpretation into it. In my youth, still only a few years into this life experience disconnected from the cosmic energy from which I came, interpretation had not yet been learned. I took things literally. I understood the words to mean exactly what the words themselves meant, in the most basic, obvious, literal way.
It wasn't until much later in life that I learned that words can have multiple meanings, in some cases far different from their original intent. It was even later that I learned the effect this can have on one's life.
The human brain is a primitive construct. Its basic function is to regulate the body's systems so that we stay alive. It reacts and responds to positive and negative stimuli in order to protect its human and sustain life. It's known as the amygdala, also known as the "lizard brain". It operates in isolation from our thinking brain (our intelligence or intellect) and runs on auto-pilot.
The human brain, and the Universe, are incapable of making inferences. The human brain and the energies of the Universe function in the same way as my childhood mind did. They do not infer, they do not read meaning into words. They interpret them verbatim. As written. As spoken. Never mind your intention.
To the Universe, to the unlearned lizard brain, it would make perfect sense to go stand by the TV when the TV asked you to. Because that is what the words SAID.
It is not until we develop intellect and intelligence, which are separate from the base functioning of the human brain, that we learn to infer and assign alternate meanings and begin to read into and decide for ourselves what we think the person's words really meant.
Hence our planet is full of rampant miscommunication. Hence we always get what we ask for, but rarely do we get what we really want, really meant to get, or get it in the way we wanted it.
Because the brain that uses our thoughts to direct our actions does not infer. It hears the words we think and say, and it "goes and stands by until further notice". Because the Universe, which gathers the energies of our words and thoughts and manifests it into physical matter, does not infer. It hears the words we think and say, and it "goes and stands by until further notice", too.
So when life is going haywire, you set a perfectly reasonable intention for a better outcome. You craft it very carefully, using all you've learned from NLP and knowing what words are more beneficial. You avoid shooting yourself in the foot by sending out the negative opposite of what you really want ("I am a nonsmoker" is the intention; the negative opposite is "I don't want to smoke anymore"). You stay focused on it, you hold it in your mind, you meditate, and so on.
And nothing seems to happen. Life is stagnant, as usual. And then you begin to feel that little niggling doubt poking at the corner of your mind. You grow a bit uncertain. You wonder if it's ever going to really happen.
"NO!" you cry out. "I set my intention and that's what I'm sticking to". You reaffirm. You feel stronger. And life goes on.
And once again, the worry and doubt gradually increase, turning into panic and hesitation and then fear.
Out of desperation to get yourself back on the affirmation track, you cry out to the Universe in a plea for mercy. "Please! God! Universe! Buddha! Whomever You are!!! I can't stand it anymore. Please help me." And then you utter the words that deal the final blow to your intention. Words, so innocuous, so innocent, they couldn't possibly have a negative effect on your desires.
You call out and demand that the situation turns around right now.
And then, much to your horror, within a few days, things do turn around.
For the worse. Instead of getting better, they're falling apart. Which of course sends you into paroxysms of panic, because you feel like the person who is carrying a precariously balanced overload of stuff who just felt one little bauble slip, and you know it's only moments before you lose control of the whole thing and everything goes flying everywhere.
And you cannot for the life of you figure out what you did to so drastically derail your carefully crafted intention.
I can tell you. You told it to "please stand by". You didn't mean for it to actually stand by; you meant for it to hang out and wait while we fix this. But you didn't SAY "please hang out and wait while we fix this". You said, in effect, "please stand by".
I see you're confused.
You said, "Turn it [this situation] around."
Well, what's wrong with that? you ask.
Everything, if your initial intention was well-set, and you were doing a fine job of staying on track with it and keeping it focused. Because despite appearances to the contrary, your outcome—the manifestation of the actual result you desire—was already on its way to you. Things were already reorganizing themselves to align with your intention, like the players gathering and taking places before the curtain rises. The orchestra was tuning up, the singers warming up, the last-minute stand-ins were going over their lines one last time in preparation for the curtain call. And the curtain master had his hands wrapped around the heavy cables, watching for the signal to pull and reveal the tableau.
But you blew it.
You said,
TURN.
IT.
AROUND.
So, to use another metaphor, your ship, which was about to dock at port, applied the brakes, shut off the engines, and began the long slow process of turning around. So it could head in the opposite direction. "Sorry sailors. I know we just spotted land after months at sea, but I guess we won't be discovering the New World. We've been called back to Spain."
I'm sure you get it now. Your intention was happily on its way to manifestation, but you panicked and you told it to turn around. You didn't MEAN to tell it to go away. You just couldn't see that it WAS on its way, that it was almost here.
In fact, that worry and doubt you felt? Perhaps it could have been the excitement of knowing It was mere moments from arrival. Like the anticipation in the days before Christmas. But you misinterpreted it, assigned it a new meaning (fear), and sent out a counter intention to turn it around.
It's fine to infer and interpret with other intelligent beings in human form. But to our knowledge, nobody else has what we consider to be true "reasoning" capabilities. Horses, cats, dogs, crickets—they only understand what we tell them, to some extent. No. Sit. Lay down. Quiet. They don't understand that "stop barking" means "be quiet". They don't understand that "no, don't climb the curtains" means "stay down". They interpret short verbatim sentences, if they understand the words at all and aren't just responding to the tone of voice and our body language. So does our lizard brain and the Universe.
When you SAY, "turn it around", it turns around. Regardless of the direction, good or bad, in which it was headed before you issued your edict.
So watch what you say, think, complain about and ask for. Because you will get it. Verbatim. Word are vital. Use them wisely.
And now I must finish my NaNoWriMo submission (9,889 words to go before tomorrow night's deadline), so please stand by while I go do that.
EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. PLEASE STAND BY.
I immediately stood up and took up my position next to the TV.
My Mother, in the next room ironing Dad's shirts, looked up from her work and asked me what I was doing.
"I'm standing by, like it said."
She uttered a single snort of laughter, her face registering resignation and acceptance as it would many times throughout my childhood, and said, "Oh honey. Don't be silly. That's not what it meant."
I was confused. "Well that's what it SAYS. It says 'stand by', so I'm standing by. What else could it mean?"
She set the iron on its edge, both hands on the ironing surface, smoothing out the shirt. "What do you think it means? It doesn't mean 'go stand by the television', it means 'they're having problems, please wait while they fix it'. The obvious thing."
It certainly wasn't obvious to me. What was obvious to me was that when someone said "please stand by", they meant "go and stand by whatever it is that needs to be stood by until otherwise notified".
To think it meant otherwise was to infer my own meaning and interpretation into it. In my youth, still only a few years into this life experience disconnected from the cosmic energy from which I came, interpretation had not yet been learned. I took things literally. I understood the words to mean exactly what the words themselves meant, in the most basic, obvious, literal way.
It wasn't until much later in life that I learned that words can have multiple meanings, in some cases far different from their original intent. It was even later that I learned the effect this can have on one's life.
The human brain is a primitive construct. Its basic function is to regulate the body's systems so that we stay alive. It reacts and responds to positive and negative stimuli in order to protect its human and sustain life. It's known as the amygdala, also known as the "lizard brain". It operates in isolation from our thinking brain (our intelligence or intellect) and runs on auto-pilot.
The human brain, and the Universe, are incapable of making inferences. The human brain and the energies of the Universe function in the same way as my childhood mind did. They do not infer, they do not read meaning into words. They interpret them verbatim. As written. As spoken. Never mind your intention.
To the Universe, to the unlearned lizard brain, it would make perfect sense to go stand by the TV when the TV asked you to. Because that is what the words SAID.
It is not until we develop intellect and intelligence, which are separate from the base functioning of the human brain, that we learn to infer and assign alternate meanings and begin to read into and decide for ourselves what we think the person's words really meant.
Hence our planet is full of rampant miscommunication. Hence we always get what we ask for, but rarely do we get what we really want, really meant to get, or get it in the way we wanted it.
Because the brain that uses our thoughts to direct our actions does not infer. It hears the words we think and say, and it "goes and stands by until further notice". Because the Universe, which gathers the energies of our words and thoughts and manifests it into physical matter, does not infer. It hears the words we think and say, and it "goes and stands by until further notice", too.
So when life is going haywire, you set a perfectly reasonable intention for a better outcome. You craft it very carefully, using all you've learned from NLP and knowing what words are more beneficial. You avoid shooting yourself in the foot by sending out the negative opposite of what you really want ("I am a nonsmoker" is the intention; the negative opposite is "I don't want to smoke anymore"). You stay focused on it, you hold it in your mind, you meditate, and so on.
And nothing seems to happen. Life is stagnant, as usual. And then you begin to feel that little niggling doubt poking at the corner of your mind. You grow a bit uncertain. You wonder if it's ever going to really happen.
"NO!" you cry out. "I set my intention and that's what I'm sticking to". You reaffirm. You feel stronger. And life goes on.
And once again, the worry and doubt gradually increase, turning into panic and hesitation and then fear.
Out of desperation to get yourself back on the affirmation track, you cry out to the Universe in a plea for mercy. "Please! God! Universe! Buddha! Whomever You are!!! I can't stand it anymore. Please help me." And then you utter the words that deal the final blow to your intention. Words, so innocuous, so innocent, they couldn't possibly have a negative effect on your desires.
You call out and demand that the situation turns around right now.
And then, much to your horror, within a few days, things do turn around.
For the worse. Instead of getting better, they're falling apart. Which of course sends you into paroxysms of panic, because you feel like the person who is carrying a precariously balanced overload of stuff who just felt one little bauble slip, and you know it's only moments before you lose control of the whole thing and everything goes flying everywhere.
And you cannot for the life of you figure out what you did to so drastically derail your carefully crafted intention.
I can tell you. You told it to "please stand by". You didn't mean for it to actually stand by; you meant for it to hang out and wait while we fix this. But you didn't SAY "please hang out and wait while we fix this". You said, in effect, "please stand by".
I see you're confused.
You said, "Turn it [this situation] around."
Well, what's wrong with that? you ask.
Everything, if your initial intention was well-set, and you were doing a fine job of staying on track with it and keeping it focused. Because despite appearances to the contrary, your outcome—the manifestation of the actual result you desire—was already on its way to you. Things were already reorganizing themselves to align with your intention, like the players gathering and taking places before the curtain rises. The orchestra was tuning up, the singers warming up, the last-minute stand-ins were going over their lines one last time in preparation for the curtain call. And the curtain master had his hands wrapped around the heavy cables, watching for the signal to pull and reveal the tableau.
But you blew it.
You said,
TURN.
IT.
AROUND.
So, to use another metaphor, your ship, which was about to dock at port, applied the brakes, shut off the engines, and began the long slow process of turning around. So it could head in the opposite direction. "Sorry sailors. I know we just spotted land after months at sea, but I guess we won't be discovering the New World. We've been called back to Spain."
I'm sure you get it now. Your intention was happily on its way to manifestation, but you panicked and you told it to turn around. You didn't MEAN to tell it to go away. You just couldn't see that it WAS on its way, that it was almost here.
In fact, that worry and doubt you felt? Perhaps it could have been the excitement of knowing It was mere moments from arrival. Like the anticipation in the days before Christmas. But you misinterpreted it, assigned it a new meaning (fear), and sent out a counter intention to turn it around.
It's fine to infer and interpret with other intelligent beings in human form. But to our knowledge, nobody else has what we consider to be true "reasoning" capabilities. Horses, cats, dogs, crickets—they only understand what we tell them, to some extent. No. Sit. Lay down. Quiet. They don't understand that "stop barking" means "be quiet". They don't understand that "no, don't climb the curtains" means "stay down". They interpret short verbatim sentences, if they understand the words at all and aren't just responding to the tone of voice and our body language. So does our lizard brain and the Universe.
When you SAY, "turn it around", it turns around. Regardless of the direction, good or bad, in which it was headed before you issued your edict.
So watch what you say, think, complain about and ask for. Because you will get it. Verbatim. Word are vital. Use them wisely.
And now I must finish my NaNoWriMo submission (9,889 words to go before tomorrow night's deadline), so please stand by while I go do that.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Joe Vitale Discusses the Need Zone
I like to read the blogs of other LOA masters. One in particular is Joe Vitale ("The Attractor Factor", "Zero Limits", appeared in "The Secret"), aka Mr. Fire. Today, he discussed the concept of The Need Zone, something I hadn't yet heard about.
It threw me for a loop. It had my mind grappling to understand the concept, just as Joe said had happened to him when he first heard about it. The idea that one would attract what they need by upping your need for it? Please. I agree with Joe—that's not what one wants to hear when they are already in dire financial straits. As the song says, "I'm already there!"
Besides, isn't needing something counter-intuitive to getting it? Need equals desperation. Need equals lack, and focusing on need/lack only attracts more need/lack. Right?
According to Joe's post, which I encourage you to pop over and read lest I become redundant here, it's possible to attract the resources needed when you stretch yourself into the need.
I thought about it. Then I remembered a time when I first had my horse, and despite a beautiful beginning, within a few months we'd had a major parting of ways on a trail ride and it became very apparent that I hadn't a clue how to read or communicate with my horse. I had no idea how to predict what he may or may not do, never mind what to do about it, and that created fear.
I needed someone to teach me how to understand horses, fully and completely, and I needed it NOW. It seemed impossible. Nobody at my barn seemed all that savvy; I didn't know any horsemen other than Dad and he was beyond the age where he could show me. I was on my own and lost.
Then I found a training program that said it would teach me exactly what I needed to know. I bought it... and it worked. Far better than skeptical me had anticipated.
There were more memories of similar incidents where needs were met once I determined I needed them. But I still didn't quite get it.
Then I smacked myself. I just had one this week. While I have some money in the bank, my pocket money was running low. Pocket money, in my book, is the extra cash I make for small jobs that I don't put in the checking account—I get paid in cash, and use that for little things like going out to dinner, buying milk and lotto tickets, entertainment. That way I avoid draining the checking account paying for incidentals. I had a stray thought that I needed to get more pocket money.
The temp agency called last week to let me know that one of the part-time positions I've occasionally taken was starting back up again. The job is doing phone surveys. Not terrible, but not great pay.
But I've put off calling to commit because I have serious reservations about going back. It is VERY hard on the voice. Nine weeks of calling people and wrestling them into doing 200-question surveys left me hoarse. As a vocalist, I knew I was on the road to nodes and permanent vocal damage despite using my voice properly and caring for it. In addition, it's loud in the room, hard to hear, and I'd turned up the volume to the max. I've noticed the hearing loss in that ear has become a tad more pronounced in certain note ranges. Not good. After my last stint with them, I'd decided I was done with phone surveys, and had already made up my mind that I wasn't going back ever.
I was very surprised by the call. I'd been intending for a completely different type of work. Why was THIS making a re-appearance?
Oh.
DUH.
Because I'd asked for it.
I'd declared a need for more pocket money. And that job is the easiest way to snag some. I inadvertently put myself directly into the Need Zone for pocket money. I didn't have to stretch very far to have the resources walk up and meet me (if I wanted to take them).
So... perhaps I need to restate my need. Think bigger, so I attract bigger. Instead of needing pocket money, my need should be more expansive.
If I'm understanding this correctly, then theoretically, were I to say, "OK, I AM going to graduate school, and the money for tuition and living expenses is coming from somewhere (stipend or not)" and really put my foot down... then it would happen?
Meaning, I might not win the lottery just because I declare I need money. Where is the REASON? Just to have the money?
If I declared I was winning the lottery and had a very good reason for it then stretched into the reason while awaiting the outcome, would that put me into the Need Zone and finally attract that win?
If I declared that the vacant home I still have IS sold, and I have a very good reason for attracting a buyer out of thin air (no matter what, despite the economy/housing market), then stretch into the reason for the sale while awaiting his or her arrival, does that put me into the Need Zone?
Maybe the trick is to have a very good REASON for needing the money or resource—then declare it, then stretch into it by performing the steps toward the goal (registering to take the GRE, preparing essays and portfolios—conscious, concrete efforts), and expect the money/resource to arrive.
Or declare your intent to start a business, and have a REASON for the partner to show up. And so on.
I think this is what Joe is talking about. Who knows? Maybe he'll come by and read this and tell me if I'm on the right track. I could sure use the added insights!
It threw me for a loop. It had my mind grappling to understand the concept, just as Joe said had happened to him when he first heard about it. The idea that one would attract what they need by upping your need for it? Please. I agree with Joe—that's not what one wants to hear when they are already in dire financial straits. As the song says, "I'm already there!"
Besides, isn't needing something counter-intuitive to getting it? Need equals desperation. Need equals lack, and focusing on need/lack only attracts more need/lack. Right?
According to Joe's post, which I encourage you to pop over and read lest I become redundant here, it's possible to attract the resources needed when you stretch yourself into the need.
I thought about it. Then I remembered a time when I first had my horse, and despite a beautiful beginning, within a few months we'd had a major parting of ways on a trail ride and it became very apparent that I hadn't a clue how to read or communicate with my horse. I had no idea how to predict what he may or may not do, never mind what to do about it, and that created fear.
I needed someone to teach me how to understand horses, fully and completely, and I needed it NOW. It seemed impossible. Nobody at my barn seemed all that savvy; I didn't know any horsemen other than Dad and he was beyond the age where he could show me. I was on my own and lost.
Then I found a training program that said it would teach me exactly what I needed to know. I bought it... and it worked. Far better than skeptical me had anticipated.
There were more memories of similar incidents where needs were met once I determined I needed them. But I still didn't quite get it.
Then I smacked myself. I just had one this week. While I have some money in the bank, my pocket money was running low. Pocket money, in my book, is the extra cash I make for small jobs that I don't put in the checking account—I get paid in cash, and use that for little things like going out to dinner, buying milk and lotto tickets, entertainment. That way I avoid draining the checking account paying for incidentals. I had a stray thought that I needed to get more pocket money.
The temp agency called last week to let me know that one of the part-time positions I've occasionally taken was starting back up again. The job is doing phone surveys. Not terrible, but not great pay.
But I've put off calling to commit because I have serious reservations about going back. It is VERY hard on the voice. Nine weeks of calling people and wrestling them into doing 200-question surveys left me hoarse. As a vocalist, I knew I was on the road to nodes and permanent vocal damage despite using my voice properly and caring for it. In addition, it's loud in the room, hard to hear, and I'd turned up the volume to the max. I've noticed the hearing loss in that ear has become a tad more pronounced in certain note ranges. Not good. After my last stint with them, I'd decided I was done with phone surveys, and had already made up my mind that I wasn't going back ever.
I was very surprised by the call. I'd been intending for a completely different type of work. Why was THIS making a re-appearance?
Oh.
DUH.
Because I'd asked for it.
I'd declared a need for more pocket money. And that job is the easiest way to snag some. I inadvertently put myself directly into the Need Zone for pocket money. I didn't have to stretch very far to have the resources walk up and meet me (if I wanted to take them).
So... perhaps I need to restate my need. Think bigger, so I attract bigger. Instead of needing pocket money, my need should be more expansive.
If I'm understanding this correctly, then theoretically, were I to say, "OK, I AM going to graduate school, and the money for tuition and living expenses is coming from somewhere (stipend or not)" and really put my foot down... then it would happen?
Meaning, I might not win the lottery just because I declare I need money. Where is the REASON? Just to have the money?
If I declared I was winning the lottery and had a very good reason for it then stretched into the reason while awaiting the outcome, would that put me into the Need Zone and finally attract that win?
If I declared that the vacant home I still have IS sold, and I have a very good reason for attracting a buyer out of thin air (no matter what, despite the economy/housing market), then stretch into the reason for the sale while awaiting his or her arrival, does that put me into the Need Zone?
Maybe the trick is to have a very good REASON for needing the money or resource—then declare it, then stretch into it by performing the steps toward the goal (registering to take the GRE, preparing essays and portfolios—conscious, concrete efforts), and expect the money/resource to arrive.
Or declare your intent to start a business, and have a REASON for the partner to show up. And so on.
I think this is what Joe is talking about. Who knows? Maybe he'll come by and read this and tell me if I'm on the right track. I could sure use the added insights!
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