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Everyone’s talking about it. It is the backbone of the Law of Attraction.
It’s a theory that says if you can act like it’s already happening – already in your life, you are already the person you choose to be – you create a better conduit, set up better causes and conditions for it to manifest.
Susan Jeffers explains how it works, in her book Embracing Uncertainty. “If you act-as-if long enough, your mind lets in the possibility that something is so. And, ultimately, you are able to embrace the reality that it is so.”
I’ve recently been introduced to “Ted Talks.” I listened to a brilliant talk by Amy Cuddy called, “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are.” She is an expert on hormones and has done extensive study on body language and how the movement and placement of your body can greatly effect your mood and your life.
She spoke about “Faking it until you make it.” Her theory was that some people feel like a fraud doing this. Her turn of the phrase adds an intention to “Fake it until you Become it.” If you are striving to become something, it is not being a fake. And that is really the heart of Acting as If. Not to fool anyone – least of all yourself – but to practice until you become it.
Many spiritual practices and teachers, including the Buddha, tell us that which we want is always waiting for us to just see it.
The great writer and teacher, Dorothea Brande said, “All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail. That is the talisman, the formula, the command of right about face which turns us from failure to success.”
Even C.S. Lewis had something to say about it. “The rule for us all is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you love your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”
I believe it was Caroline Myss who said that money is a substance that faith attracts. Believing the money will be there, acting as if it is, is a strong indicator that it will be. Why the rich tend to get richer and the poor stay the same.
It all adds up to the Conversations With God teaching about how most people say, “Well if I had this, I could be that and then I could do what I need to do.” But what if we change that up and call it Do Be Have? If we do it first, if we act as if it’s here already, fake it until we make it, we will Become it and then we will have it. It’s not hard to believe that could greatly speed up the manifesting process.
Susan Jeffers wondered what we could accomplish if we acted as if we truly made a difference in this world. Can you imagine?
Like God doesn’t know what I’m up to ~ This all too human tendency of mine to wallow in my suffering, thinking that will keep away more unhappiness.
Everything I know, all I’ve heard, what I believe in my heart, tells me God wants me to be happy.
Who does it serve for me to be miserable, suffering in my own way?
Not me. The Law of Attraction tells me that a positive attitude creates more of the same. While a negative one gives me more suffering.
Not the People around me, surely. Why would they want to keep hearing my sad stories? I’m less able to help them, be there for them, if I’m deep in my own misery.
Not the Earth or the Universe. I put much better, more loving energy out there when I’m happy. And I’m a far more careful steward.
The likelihood is the Happy Life is less dramatic and much better protection from the scary stories I fear.
All I Gotta Do is let go of the negative thoughts and turn up the volume on the happy ones.
All is well.
So I’m reading a new book. Not sure where it came from. A used book store, I’m guessing. It’s called “Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting,” by Lynn Grabhorn. Ms. Grabhorn has a dry wit which keeps the words flowing. However, I’ve only just started the book.
It’s clearly (and with props) based on the work of Jerry and Esther Hicks. The Hicks, I believe, were the very first to bring attention to the masses of the Law of Attraction.
Lynn begins her book by talking about the key factor in this process: Your Feelings. Our thoughts create our feelings, but our emotions are the mechanism for the attraction. What we put out, exude (or our vibration, as Lynn calls it) is what attracts the people and situations to our lives.
Thoughts are where it begins and ends. Once the emotion takes hold, it’s very hard to make it stop. I’ve watched myself on a streak of “bad luck” when my feelings have taken a dive. Awareness is good, but it may well be too late. Thoughts are much easier to control.
Awareness of your emotions can sometimes lead you back to the thought. I’ve been practicing, lately, working on the thoughts to keep them from exploding into emotion. I’m using my Favorite Things. Whenever I’m feeling a little low, or more likely, when something happens that upsets me, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad.
Technically, what happens is that I truly do feel better and cut off the destructive path of the out of control feelings. I am calmer and exude less of that static. This keeps my emotions and the situation from getting out of hand.
It only takes a moment’s awareness and perhaps 30 seconds (maybe as much as a minute if it’s really bad) of thinking over my list: sunny days, soft breezes, a cup of tea, Roger Howarth, Johnny Depp, having all day to write, weekend mornings, a great film, a cool drink of water . . . you need to make your own list so they can get you vibrating at a higher level!
I’m working with a new coach. She has a different tactic. Instead of the usual make-a-plan-take-action-be-accountable, she wants me to feel it. Every day, I’m to spend some time feeling what it will be like when I have accomplished what I want. As if it’s already here.
I have to say, it’s been putting me in a good mood in the here and now. In place of my fussing about traffic or the day’s activities, I’m feeling the qualities I want to bring into my life from the actions I plan to take. Words like Balance and Freedom, Space, and Ease, fill my head and my body as I think about living with this new scenario.
The idea, I believe, is that in spending time thinking about what I want to achieve, I then feel the feelings associated with it and begin to vibrate at that level.
It is what the Law of Attraction is all about. Like attracts like. Rather than be stuck in yearning for what I want and disdain for what I have, I practice wearing the new life. As I harmonize with Balance and Freedom, I sort of put out a call to them. This should increase my satisfaction level when it does manifest. I will be ready for it and know clearly when it arrives by how it feels.
This process also keeps me open to other possibilities for the manifestation. I’ve said this before: If I’m insisting on a flappy paddle gear box, I may miss an even better car. If it doesn’t have to be a Porsche 911 to provide the exciting ride I’m after, I have a lot more options. I can have the feeling of speed and the thrill of the wind in my hair with any number of, perhaps, less pricey cars. If all I really want is to feel abundant and look cool, there are plenty more avenues to feel that without the expense and maintenance of a sports car.
Perhaps, if I spend enough time feeling what I want to feel, I won’t even need to take the actions, as I’ll be where I choose to be.
I want to talk about Love. Yes, I might be a couple weeks early, but Love is a big subject. I’ve been thinking that there are three pillars to the book I’m writing (and to life, as well) :
1. Becoming more aware in the present moment.
2. Expanding capacity to love.
3. Attracting those people and situations which truly support.
These are all linked. When you dabble in the present moment, you see things for what they are. Without all those judgments. This, I believe, expands the capacity for understanding, acceptance and love. Love is a very powerful vehicle of attraction.
We all know people who have a high degree of passion for something or someone. It’s very appealing! Even if you’re not especially interested in the topic or the person. If the other’s enthusiasm is high enough, you will be sucked into the excitement.
I have a friend who is a marvelous artist. She studied at a famous art school, has worked for several prestigious galleries, knows all the right people in the field, and has done as much art as her busy life will allow. I am not much of an art person. I prefer words to pictures, on the whole. But when I go to art events with her, suddenly everything changes. As soon as she infuses her love and passion, I begin to see it through her eyes. What was once boring and uninteresting, comes alive. Now that’s compelling!
Those folks who are always talking about the Law of Attraction, remind us that the key ingredient is passion. How intensely do you want it? Can you see it? Can you feel it? When you can generate the feelings, you send out a homing signal to pull in other frequencies which match yours. I do not believe there is a stronger frequency than love.
Today I want to write about what can happen when your thoughts line up to produce the feelings you want. Not only will that move you to act in certain ways (pre-paved by your choice of thoughts) but, I believe, it also sets up the vortex which the Hicks speak about in putting the Law of Attraction into action.
It is the feelings part which really attracts. Like attracts like. It is the person who feels friendly, who tells himself it is a friendly world, who, in fact, experiences the world as friendly. What I’m pondering today is if this creates synchronicity. Maybe it, at least, opens the way for it.
What I know about synchronicity is that acknowledging it makes it happen more often, keeps it coming. But I wonder: if your thoughts are telling you to look for it (or if you chant “So Hum” to conjure it) and your feeling is one of expectation that things will work synchronistically, will that create a funnel for it to work through you?
It all comes back to the Thought – Feeling – Action connection. I like to say that it’s difficult to control your emotions (especially once they’ve caught fire). But your thoughts are much easier to get a handle on. Even if it’s a long term process of changing them, that shift will make your life work more easily.
Whether or not it will create a synchronistic flow, getting your thoughts and feelings lined up the way you want them is a very empowering thing to do.
I was told that I post too much. So I took a couple of days off. This is actually the start of a new series of exercises from Shakti Gawain’s book, “Living in the Light.” The book itself gives plenty of exposition on the topics at hand, but the exercises at the end of the chapters are only meditations, which are hard to talk about in print. “The Living in the Light Workbook,” however, offers plenty of fun exercises that I will share with you in the coming weeks, on Wednesdays. I did a post on some of the concepts in the book.
In the beginning of the book Shakti talks of how things must fall apart in order to grow anew. That everything we’ve learned is turned inside out. In fact, we learn by making mistakes and trying again. If we live within the Laws of the Universe, work with them instead of trying to make things different than they are, trying to force things, life will be far more vital and empowered.
The “Living in the Light Workbook” begins with an examination of ”The Higher Power Within Us.” The process she uses is similar to “The Secret.” It is based on the principles of the Law of Attraction to create our lives the way we choose. Attracting to us those things that we need to live fully and happily. This is a slightly different way of saying the same thing: That you can open yourself as a channel for this Higher Power to work through you.
Problem is, many of us have come to know that Higher Power as a god of accountability, based on parental love. A god that may not be trusted. This Higher Power, Shakti says, goes by many names such as The Light, The Universe, The Higher Self, God, Spirit, Source, Inner Guidance, Christ Consciousness. Shakti wants us to get to know this Higher Power as we understand It.
The first exercise helps us to get to know this Higher Power as we see it.
A. List 10 qualities of the God you learned about as a child. I only got 8: Big, Watchful, Powerful, Angry, Judging, Strict, Remote, All-Knowing. A bit like Santa Claus, I always thought.
Then, she asks us, is that trustworthy? It’s hard to open yourself fully to something you don’t trust. I have to answer, no. This original God concept isn’t exactly trustworthy. There were certainly ways in which I didn’t trust my parents, even though I loved them and did what they told me to do.
B. How do you see God now? (If it’s changed for you.) 10 qualities came out quickly and easily for me: Loving, Close, Trustworthy, Understanding, Magnanimous, Omnipresent, Accepting, All-Knowing, Light, All-Loving.
C. As in many of these practices, Shakti wants us to ramp that up. Expand your thinking to even more. What kind of Higher Power would be totally trustworthy? I’m pretty happy with my list as it stands.
The second exercise is a series of essay questions:
A. Describe briefly what this power looks or feels like. Does it have a human, animal, or light form, or is it a presence or energy? Is it masculine or feminine in nature, or a combination of the two, or neither?
I would call this a personal thing, but I will choose a male presence. I don’t actually think that God is male or female. He is certainly capable of being either or neither, but some habits remain.
B. What is your relationship with this power? Can you describe how and when you make contact with it? In a physical location? Do you feel it in your body, mind, emotions or spirit, or a combination of two or more of these levels?
Again, very personal answer here. I’ll say that my relationship with this power is close and we meet often, wherever I am. It’s in my mind and my heart.
C. If your relationship to your Higher Power were to grow and expand, what would you desire it to be like?
I’d like to explore this further on my own, but I will say that I would like more consistent contact and to be more open to Its guidance, as Shakti suggests in her examples.
D. Close your eyes and spend a few minutes visualizing that power, presence or being with you now. Imagine yourself having the kind of relationship you’ve always wanted with this force – feel, see, and experience it as real right now.
The third exercise is a meditation to get in touch with the “wise being” inside of you. Shakti says, “You can communicate with it by talking to it silently, making requests or asking questions. Then relax, don’t think too hard, and be open to receiving the answers.”
The final exercise is to do non-dominant writing. If you’re right handed, you’ll use your left hand. Write a question with the hand you usually write with and then relax and let the other hand answer. I have done pages of this. It’s sometimes hard to read back, but you’ll know when you’re doing it that you’ve received some amazing information.
One of my All-Time Favorite books, perhaps the one which touched me on the deepest level, was “Conversations With God” by Neale Donald Walsch. Though I have loved every minute of the entire series, the first book returned God to my heart. I must not have been completely sure about God before it. Or wondered if He’d forgotten me along the way. But this book presented such a loving and approachable God. It explained life in such a clear and specific way. It just felt Right to me. With so many intriguing and beautiful concepts in this book it’s hard to know where to start. This jumped out at me today – the Power of Words.
God says we all co-create our lives with Him. After all, we chose where to live, what work we would do, our partners and friends . . .
In the book, God talks about suffering. He says that what we’re actually doing when we suffer is to “experience something we might see as insufferable.” But the master, God goes on to say, knows the power of the word and so does not speak of it.
This week I had a bit of a meltdown. A lot of things were closing in on me at once. I reached out for help. Instead of giving a litany of what was wrong, I explained, quickly, how I was feeling. My friend was then able to help me to figure out what I needed, remind me to focus on what was working and get me back to what I could control.
God tells us, “We make real that which we pay attention to.” If you are interested in sports cars, your ears will perk up when others are talking about sports cars. You’re likely to search for and read about them, too. You’ll probably watch shows like “Top Gear.” So, if you pay attention to, talk about, wrestle with that which you might experience as insufferable, you bring more of that into your life.
As co-creators, we create on three levels: thought, word and deed. Everything that we can see hear, taste came from someone having a thought, first. They talked about it and then took actions to create it. I happen to believe in the Power of the Word. Perhaps it’s not as evocative or as powerful at creating as deeds can be, but words definitely have impact.
We know through the Law of Attraction that we create faster when there is emotion behind the thought, word and deed. Don’t we hold a lot of strong emotions around the ways we feel we suffer? Why make it any more manifest by using words to talk or write about it? Doesn’t it make sense that will generate more?
I’m not sure why it’s so hard for us. I guess we get a lot of support and attention when we complain. Much more than if we talk of all the wonderful things going on. We are afraid, perhaps, others will turn away, not like us if we’re doing too well. We will no longer be part of the gang. I am far more likely to join in the chorus if I’m talking with people who are stuck in that negative song, singing about what’s wrong instead of what’s right. Someone says, I had a bad day, I immediately start to think about how lousy my day was . . . It’s even harder with Chronic Negative Talkers. These people don’t want to hear how to change the situation. They just want to talk about it. If you are on top of your game, you may be able to distract them for a time, but they will soon return to their chant of what’s bad.
I often find myself thinking if I don’t acknowledge or talk about what’s wrong I won’t see solutions. But I truly believe that the best solutions come from a peaceful, open, loving heart. I want to use my words to evoke only good things. Amen.
“Think about what makes you happy. That’s it.” – Alan Cohen
What a beautiful, elegant and simple statement. All you need to do to be happy is think about what makes you happy.
When you think about what makes you happy, you are putting your energy into it. Every moment spent in that happiness field creates another drop in your happiness bucket. It will continue to build. If you spend 10 minutes today thinking about what makes you happy, and 20 minutes tomorrow, it will accumulate. Soon you will be able to bathe in your happiness!
What is it that keeps us from doing this simple thing? Is it the ego which refuses to believe it can be this simple, this easy, this fun? What? You mean I don’t have to invest thousands of dollars, or jump through hoops or set up any equipment? It’s difficult to grasp that it can be this way. There must be a set of instructions a mile long to be happy. It’s almost uncomfortable if we don’t have to “work for it.”
Just think about it. If your mind is filed with happiness it colors how you see, feel, hear, touch and taste. You‘re more relaxed. Your body feels better. Note the difference in your body when you’re smiling.
Thinking about what makes you happy keeps it front and center of your attention. You begin to notice more and more things that make you happy. If that’s what you’re thinking about, that’s what you’ll see. I’m thinking of buying a new office chair. Everywhere I go, I notice chairs and I’m constantly evaluating them. Because it is up-front in my mind.
Feelings are magnetic. The Law of Attraction’s power comes from our feelings. If you feel happy, you tend to attract happy things in your life. Your vision is slanted that way.
Being happy is contagious. It’s hard to not get happier when you’re around someone who is happy. The Dalai Lama has a happiness that can reach over miles, sometimes through television screens or words in a book. Powerful juju Happiness is.
So, thinking about what makes you happy is good for you, your body and for those that come in contact with your happiness. It’s easy to do. You can do it anywhere, no matter the circumstances. There just isn’t anything else. Everything you do flows out of those droplets of Happiness in your bucket.
The Positive Slant On the Path 