I'm Thankful for...

Wow, not even an hour out of bed this morning and great things happen to me.

First, a very kind and courtious driver allowed me out of a driveway to enter the flow of traffic, eventhough traffic was extremely light and there was absolutly need for the driver to wait. It's a nice thing to experience on the way to work.

Then, returning to the car after buying my Marie Calander's frozen dinner for my lunch, turning on the radio I first hear a line from a Steely Dan song "I.G.Y."

"What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free "

All this and I've been awake for about 40 minutes.

"What a glorious time to be free"

I Am Thankful For...

My kids who want to watch The Secret every night.

They found the story about Gratitude Rocks really interesting. They went out and collected a bunch of rocks, washed them up and went out selling them to people in the neighborhood. It gave me a great thrill to see them excited about the project and working together. I smiled as I watched them try explaining the process of gratitude.

They offered me a selection of rocks for me to choose one. I keep it with me all the time. It makes me smile each time I touch the rock. It triggers my memory of them.

How to Develop Visualization: A Key Component to Goal Attainment and Manifestation

I’m sure we’ve all heard something to the effect that to attain your goals, to manifest your desires to accomplish great things, you need to visualize the object of your desire as already accomplished. Some people can do this easily, some of us put too much pressure on the need to visualize and manifest that this becomes a chore. It is also frustrating when we don’t "see" that which we desire. This article teaches a method to develop and build up your power of visualization, the ability to "see" with your mind. One week of this exercise is an incredible way to start and continue to build this skill.

Items you will need

An 8.5 x 11 inch piece of white construction paper, you remember from school, the thick paper we used to cut out things and glue to other pieces of paper.

A ruler
A soda can (or something round about the size of a soda can
A pen or marker for drawing lines and shapes
Scissors
You’ll also need 4 colors of either crayons, markers, pens something that will color the shape we are about to draw. It’ll be best to use the colors red, blue, green and yellow; however, if you prefer purple, cyan, periwinkle or some other color, feel free to use whatever colors work for you.

Preparation

Cut the white piece of construction paper into four (4) equal pieces.

Then draw on each piece of the four pieces of paper one of the following shapes: circle, square, triangle and a rectangle.

Then using your four coloring markers, pens, whatever, color each shape with a different color. For this exercise, use your preference what shape gets what color.

Now you have four pieces of white construction paper of equal size with a different colored geometrical shape drawn on each of the four pieces. Of course some of you are proficient enough with the computer to draw the images and print them out with your printer. Or, have your kids do this project for you.

There are other ways to accomplish the same end result for this exercise, but for brevity, I’m giving one process to make the cards themselves. You can make them by any process; the idea is to make this easy and simple.

The Visualization Exercise

Now get into a quite place where you can relax and be alone for about 10-15 minutes. You should be in a well lighted, but not too bright of a room.

You will now take one of the four pieces of paper with a colored shape on it and spend about a minute focusing all your vision and attention on that one piece of paper with the colored shape on it. Follow the edge of the shape with your eyes. Notice the contrasting colors of the paper, the line and the colored shape.

Do this for about a minute, then close your eyes and you will see this shape in your mind. Some people will see the image really quickly; some will spend more time practicing this exercise several times.

Now, do this with each of the 3 other pieces of paper and shapes. Look at the piece for about a minute, then close your eyes and view this in your mind for as long as you can.

Rest and repeat a couple of times.

Do this every day for a week. You will notice that your ability to maintain each colored shape will remain in your mind longer and become clearer the more you practice.

This project is purely an exercise in developing your power of visualization. There is no pressure or expectation to manifest a yellow triangle or green rectangle. This way you stay clear and focused on the exercise of developing your mental muscle and leave the expectations of manifestations outside while developing this skill

After your first week, then introduce a picture of one of your desires into the mix of cards. With the idea of this being an introduction and beginners process of manifestation start with a cup of coffee, or a new pair of shoes or a new bicycle.

The idea is to continue building up your visualization and retention of the images of the colored shapes for the second week and introduce real objects of your desire.

A New Approach with Gratitiude

Recently I read an article by Patricia Carrington PhD entitled "Using the 'Future Thanks' Method to Create What You Want." This article shares the idea of being in gratitude as a way of manifesting desires.

Remember in the movie The Secret the woman who cleansed herself of breast cancer by say "thank you for my healing". Joe Vitale wrote about a phrase he learned "Thank you god for all the blessings that I have and all that I am receiving."

This appraoch puts one in the space of accepting that which already is, that which we are grateful for, plus it opens us up to being in the Now with our desires that are manifesting. We are creating the new now.

The first three paragraphs were written yesterday, Saturday May 5, and today I'm finishing this post. Throughout the entire day yesterday, but especially during lunch, I kept saying to myself 'Thank you for all the blessings in my life and the blessings I am receiving." "Thank you for all the good things that are happening to me."

During lunch I went for a walk around the canyon and nature preserve near work. Most of the walk I was drinking in the beauty of the day, soaking in the warm sun and clear sky, the cool breeze and feeling the nature around me. Most of the time I kept saying those phrases and other positive affirmations would surface and I spoke them as well.

Today, the entire day is such an excellent day. Environmentally it may just be because it's San Diego but I see it in a whole different view. It feels so nice to be into the Now, it is a bit of a high. This is great.

Now, I see every day as a totally beautiful day. Windy, overcast or rainy, I see every day as a perfect gift from the Universe to show me the beauty of everything. I love watching the birds fly, the lizards crawl, the clouds float on by, wow, I love living this way.

Thank you for all these wonderful expereinces.

The Value of Being in the Now.

It’s interesting that one can be exposed to and learn many ideas, concepts and processes about personal development, spirituality, Law of Attraction, Power of Intention, etc and the concept doesn’t really click. Today was the day that I was hit with the “ah ha” moment of the concept of being in the Now.

Meditation practices advocate releasing the thoughts that come to your mind. To be in the Now and let go of thoughts about the past or the future. I studied ZaZen meditation with a friend of mine years ago. Like many disciplines I didn’t stay with it. However, during that time when I did sit for a few weeks, during one sitting I felt so “in the now” I think I attained Samadhi. Not that Samadhi is a state to accomplish; it is a state of being. None-the-less, it was a wonderful and joyful experience.

I’ve read numerous personal development books, too many to list here, instructing the reader to see oneself in the state of the goal(s) already attained. One would think this is a future orientation, but for clarification, you are to visualize yourself ALREADY IN POSSESSION of the goal. In the Law of Attraction teachings, we are taught to be in the Now. To see and feel ourselves in the state of being in the NOW, already experiencing the desire we want.

Of course I, like many readers, experienced the overwhelming presence of the Now with the debt, the fears and worry of the future and the weight of the past dragging us back into history. The Now was nothing more than the past or future in the Now filled with worries and anxieties.

The Now

It is here, Now, the Present that I’m finding to be of great benefit. It is Now that I find myself receiving inspired action. This article is being written because I could not sleep, eventhough I felt tired. I was inspired to write this now and in this process of writing, I’m energized.

Today is one of my days off from my technical support position. This morning I dropped the kids off at school and hung-out at a bagel shop until a bookstore opened. I spent the day in the bookstore in reading the book Ask and It is Given. During my time reading, I was struck by the enjoyment of the Now. I was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading. I came to a natural pause and thought how nice it is to spend so much time reading. How nice it is to be in a comfortable chair, in a nice environment and reading a good book. I now see the Now is filled with abundance. I find more to appreciate in the present since this is where it is. The Now is the time and place to BE for gratitude.

The future is the Now that is yet to be and the past is the Now that has been.