Be selfish for a moment and think of something material that you want… something fantastic, something awesome, something wonderful.
Now, double it. Whatever it is you want, think of owning two of them. They’re yours free and clear. Think of the implications their possession would have on your life. What would your neighbors say? Where would you keep them? What colors would you choose, what dimensions, what characteristics?
Okay, you’re about to receive a third one, more than you could possibly use (at the moment), so who would you give it to? How would you tell them? What would their reaction be? Would you be able to help them take ownership? Would you be there to facilitate the transition, if necessary? What would your friends and family say about your generosity? Would you do it again? If so, for whom?
This exercise has now concluded. Drop it from your thinking. Resume enjoying the hereand now, because it’s the only place happiness resides, and every so often, as your mind wanders to thoughts of the above, smile with gratitude.
Choices, choices, choices,
The Universe
I get notes like this one through on email every day and, if nothing else, it always puts a smile on my face even when there seems to be nothing to smile about.
I often feel that I should write more frequently to keep my blog going and that in itself quite often stops me because I never wanted this to be about “having” to write for the sake of it. I just wanted a vehicle where I could write whenever I felt I had something to say that could be of value to whoever chose to read it.
At the same time I have a very busy work schedule at the moment, which means that I spend more time writing my personal journal than this blog. (Call me old fashioned, but I love writing by hand)
The busy work schedule did result in me getting hold of a book on how to basically make work more light hearted and fun, which is desperately needed in the kind of work I do. Lately I have found myself getting more and more serious about the whole thing and also feeling that I am struggling to find the time to get everything done on time.
The book was a reminder on how good and funny things can be. I first got introduced to the principles in the book while training with an Insurance Company in 1999. During the training they showed us a video of a particular fish market in seattle (The World Famous Pike Place Fish Market)
After watching the video, I was pretty much ready to pack my bags, fly to Seattle and go work there. The energy these guys have and put into their day is incredible and inspiring. If a group of fishmongers can have so much fun at work, then surely anybody can!
I finished my training and in time forgot about the whole fish thing, until about 6 weeks ago when I crossed paths with a book that was written by the same people who created the video and it is one of the best reads I have experienced in a long time. A lot of the “Self Help” books can be a bit heavy at times but this one has such a light approach in getting the message across and I found myself laughing a lot.
The book is primarily geared towards creating a better atmosphere at work and that was exactly what i wanted to achieve. However, the first time I read it, I made the assumption that everybody would buy into it just like that!
What I forgot to realise was the fact that I was trying to change everyone else’s attitude and kind of forgot to change my own!!!!!
Before I go any further, let me briefly describe the 4 ingredients:
Play
Make Their Day
Be There
Choose Your Attitude
The second time I read it I decided to just try and live those principles without telling anyone hoping that maybe that way they would at least want to know where the change came from.
The interesting thing is that when I decided to read it with me in mind rather than changing everyone around me things started to change. In the past 3 weeks I have felt yet another positive change in myself.
I decided to do my best to be there for whoever needed my help as well as do whatever I could think of to put a mile on people’s faces and I have to tell you, it feels really good to actually give someone your full attention and it feels good to put a smile on someone else’s face.
The side effect of that is that now I am very behind with my own work but I guess that is nothing more than a learning curve! The main point for me is that no matter how busy you may seem or how bad you think your day is going, take some time and do something for someone else and when you see the gratitude in their eyes it is worth it. More importantly, what started as purely a journey to create a more enjoyable work atmosphere has impacted on how I am in my personal life as well, especially how to choose your attitude in any situation.
If you want to learn more, you can get the book from your local book store or by clicking the links below;
Sometimes I spend time reflecting on where I am in life and try to establish if I have actually accomplished anything at all.
Mostly I do this just to get an idea of whether or not I am actually going in the right direction. Sometimes I do it when I feel the need for approval and sometimes when I feel proud of something I have achieved.
It makes me feel better to, I guess in a way, I compare my state of being now to how it used to be, and pretty much every time I do this I end up feeling better and proud of how far I have actually come. More importantly it shows me that what I am doing is working and it proves to me that my emotional guidance system is working.
Even the way I accomplish tasks at work has completely transformed in the past 12 months and my confidence is at a higher level that I have ever experienced, which proves that I am doing something right. Does it mean that I can lean back and relax now? No I don’t think so, because I believe I have only just scratched the surface. I have only just started to get some understanding and clarity into what I am doing and why I am doing it.
My naive understanding of “The Law of Attraction” or whatever you choose to call it was along the lines of; well, just decide what you want and then the Universe will make sure that you get it, you don’t even have to work out how it’s gonna come about. I quite liked that! It sounded easy to me and I read a book about “Cosmic Ordering” which confirmed to me that you, just in your mind phone up the universal mail order catalogue and order whatever you want and it will be delivered.
Is it really as simple as this? There’s a part of me that think it is but at the same time there are doubts around that, and I guess because out of all the books I have read and all the audio programs I have followed, approximately half of them tell you to simply tell the universe what you want and then forget about it until it arrives and the other half tell you to take daily action. That confused me terribly for a long time and still does sometimes because there is truth in both concepts and I think that ultimately there really is one concept but because of the vast amount of information available around this subject it is sometimes hard to decipher what is of real value.
Let’s look at “The Secret” as an example. I am not sure exactly what Rhonda Byrne’s aim or objective was with that project. If it was to get people to want to learn more about the “Law of Attraction” then she accomplished that really well. If she wanted people to fully understand how it works and how it is applied then I think it left some to be desired, at least form my perspective. I am not trying to discourage anyone from buying or reading the book or watching the DVD because it did have a very positive impact on me. I have not yet seen the Movie, but I read the book 3 times and the one thing that really made sense to me was the pages about gratitude and how to be grateful for all the good things in your life and that alone has changed my life tremendously. What it also did was open other doors for me, in other words it made me search for more information and led me down the path of Jerry & Esther Hicks and the teachings of Abraham, which I will get ino in more detail at another time. It also made me find Klaus Joehle & His Living on Love books which has had a bigger impact on my life than “The Secret”, However, what I really want from all of these self improvement books/courses etc is a simple step by step uide on how to actually do it
Even when you read all these things I guess there are different ways of going about it in the sense that I used to just read and not actually go through the exercises thinking that I would just read through it and then revisit it, but usually the revisiting part never happened.
I was happy to be the observer of people accomplishing wonderful things and I could easily feel happy for them and at the same time wish I could accomplish the things I wanted, but now I realise I was seeing it from a point where I did not believe I could do it.
It is not until I think back on where I was that I realise that I have moved forward and thinking back and reflecting on my life has become a very important thing to do simply because it confirms that what I am doing is right and when I somehow get off the path reflction gently steers me back to path.
You will be better equipped to understand this entry if you’ve read “Living on Love – The Messenger” (earlier post) but if you haven’t by all means read on.
After reading the book I made a decision to try to live it and for the very first time I gave it my all, and I have to tell you that the transformation I have seen in less than a week is truly a miracle.
I have seen only happy and friendly people, whereas before I would encounter my share of complainers, miserable people, and the kind of people you think is there only to make your life a misery.
They have all vanished! I haven’t seen any of them since I started reading the book. Instead I experience people smiling at me in the street, which happened very rarely before. One of the girls in my supermarket, who seemed unhappy most of the time and who very rarely gave you a smile, even though I tried to be nice to her every time, now smiles at me every time and what I found even stranger is the fact that she has started to ask questions about me and my life!
The question is, I suppose, how did that happen so suddenly? Well, the answer, or my answer to that question is that it had already happened but I just wasn’t on that path yet. I know that may seem a little vague and may be difficult to grasp, it was for me up until I read the book, but now it makes perfect sense to me. As far as the instructions in the book are concerned I haven’t yet perfected it nor have I practised it very much, but I decided that while I am learning it, I will try to send love and radiate love to everyone I meet every day in whatever way I can think of and I believe, that is the reason why have seen this massive change in the way people respond to me. I realise that to some this may sound like a lot of work but I can assure you it really is not.
All I have been doing is very simple and easy and it makes me feel wonderful. Whenever I see someone in the street, or I sit in front of one of my clients or whoever I encounter, I simply look at them and, in my mind say “Bless You” or “Peace be with You” or “Have a wonderful day” or pretty much whatever comes to mind, but it’s the way that I feel when I say it; I genuinely mean the words that I say no matter who it is. Now, this can be someone cycling on the pavement (sidewalk if you are in the US) which used to really piss me off before, or it could be someone pushing in, in front of you in a queue, it doesn’t really matter, I will look at them and in my mind say it with the same intensity and feeling that I would with the most beautiful girl in the street. I know it may sound a little far fetched and if that is your belief then that is ok with me.
I think I came across these books at exactly the right time in my life and it has strengthened my faith in everything that I have learned so far as well as my faith in the Universe and my understanding of how it works.
I will wrap this up by saying that I am enjoying a day off work. Have a wonderful day
J
Posted by J 
(US)
Posted by J 
Posted by J 
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