The Law that goes bump in the night!

( With all the discord world wide at present, I thought it would be good to revisit a previous post to help remember what we're dealing with here - not the outer conditions, but our attention!)

Many people are enjoying their lives more and more.  Others are not.  Why is this?  There are many variations, but the common theme is attention.  People who give their attention to what they appreciate (in Life) will see more of it and have more of it in their experience.  Others give their attention to what they dislike (in Life) and they see more of it and have more of what they dislike in their experience.

The former, either consciously or not, practice creation - their experience is a result of their thinking.  The latter, either consciously or not, react to a perceived external universe, and thus can only have a better experience if the external world changes.  One is possible.  One is impossible.

The adage "knowledge is power" is true.  The contrary is also true - ignorance is weakness.  Many people are enjoying their lives more and more as they better understand, and practice in their daily life, the Law of Attraction.  Others, ignorant of the Law of Attraction, are still ruled by it.  Their world is a confounding place of capricious forces resulting in constant struggle.

The universal Law of Attraction is the way the Universe manages.  Similar frequencies cluster.  Birds of a feather, flock together.  It is self-evident.  In a curious paradox, the Law demonstrates itself to those people who reject it.  One who thinks "there is no such thing as a law of attraction" is, by Law, going to cluster similar thoughts and manifestations - more evidence that there is no such law.  Like gravity, the Law of Attraction operates whether recognized or not.  It is what it is and it does what it does.  Working with the Law (like gravity) is "going with the flow" or the path of least resistance. 

A popular practice utilizing the Law to create a more satisfying life is the "Complaint Free" concept.  The exercise is to become more aware of complaining - thinking and spoken.  One is often surprised at how much conversation is an exchange of complaints!  Next, the challenge is to stop complaining.  Now why on Earth would anyone do that?  The squeaky wheel gets the grease, right?

Back to worldview.  People complain when they see/experience something they do not like.  In order to feel better, the object/situation has to be removed or eliminated.  Someone or something has to do that.  That will take energy and resources, which the person gives up to get rid of the object of complaint.  Also known as struggle.  Yet what is the result?  More unpleasant conditions/situations are observed, which mean greater effort must be made to make the world pleasant so the observer can feel better about his/her life.  This is a materialistic approach based on the premise that the universe/world is a separate physical structure.  If you understand "people are a result of their environment" then you understand the materialistic approach.  The Law of Attraction will insure that you experience this materialistic approach if that is your intent.

People who spend less mental energy observing what they do not desire to experience and giving attention to what they appreciate in Life will, by Law, have more of what they appreciate in their daily life.  They will feel better and enjoy life more.  It's the same Law, but two different applications.  That's the difference between knowledge and ignorance.  Ignorance isn't stupid, it's the absence of knowledge and one cannot know what one does not know.  Ergo, those that get it, get it.  Those that don't, can't.

 The people who practice complaint-free notice the effects quickly.  They become very sensitive to complaining.  It is an unpleasant experience, one they do not wish to experience, and thus move their attention (and often physical self) away.  This shift in attention often means new friends, changes in relationships - birds of a feather flock together.  A person is not chained to a particular environment or condition.  Note:  The complaining/unhappy person will likely resent the complaint-free person.  Crab-bucket effect.

Releasing old/established relationships/patterns is often described as "following your heart" or dreams.  It is true.  Only you know what is best for you.  There are, of course, quite a number of materialists who know precisely what is good for you and will go to great lengths to "help you."  They believe they will feel better once you act right, so to speak.   You may choose to resist them, thus attracting (creating) more struggle, or you can direct your attention to what you wish to experience (appreciate) and supplant the struggle with desired experience.

 It's not a matter of right or wrong.  As Henry Ford is alleged to have said, "If you believe you can, or if you believe you can't, you're right."  Abe Lincoln is alleged to have remarked that "most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be."  Going back in time, we find similar observations:  "People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them," Epictetus.

"We inhabit a cosmos made real in part by our own observations…our observations influence the universe at the most fundamental levels.”   Physicist John Wheeler (coined the phrase "Black Hole.)  Observation = attention.  Attention = thinking.

Author Eckert Tolle put it nicely: "Complaining is not to be confused with informing someone of a mistake or deficiency so that it can be put right. And to refrain from complaining doesn’t necessarily mean putting up with bad quality of behavior. There is no ego in telling the waiter your soup is cold and needs to be heated up – if you stick to the facts, which are always neutral.

^'How dare you serve me cold soup!'. . . That’s complaining."

The Law of Attraction.  Use it consciously.  It's in play, regardless.

 

 

 

Ready to get Serious in 2019?

No, really.  And serious doesn’t mean lacking frivolity, delight, fun, and joy.  Serious, in this sense, means decision made.  What are your decisions/choices for the new year?  Here’s a check list:

_____This is the year I decide to feel good.  (No “if” and/or “but...”)  I want to feel good.  There are no longer any conditions on my good feeling.

_____This is the year I choose to treat everyone (and I mean everyone) the way I wish to be treated by them.  It doesn’t matter how they respond,  I feel good doing this.

_____This is the year I relax more, create more personal quiet time (to listen to my thoughts, and the thoughts they attract), and find something pleasant in every situation in every moment.  (This isn’t pretend – there is something to appreciate in every moment.)

_____This is the year I will give my attention to the things that I feel good about.  (I’m not going to be conned into feeling lousy by the “news” or unhappy people.)

_____This is the year I will be my best.  (No need to wait until this or that happens in order to feel good, or choose actions that I desire.)

_____This is the year I contribute to the well-being of all by being happy and desiring happiness for everyone (even if they don’t want it.)

_____This is the year I pay attention to my instincts, that inner voice, my higher self, and Jiminy Cricket.

            You get the idea.  It’s impossible to feel good and harbor anger, resentment, jealousy, and such feelings.  If your ability to feel good is mortgaged to another person’s behavior or actions, then you won’t feel good.  You can’t feel good in the company of unhappy people.  Your misery cannot make someone else feel better. 

            Habits, Patterns, and Thoughts That Go Bump in the Night  recognizes thinking as the important activity.  Thinking is important because nothing can occur without a thought.  In the most basic structure, things not thought never come to pass.  The flip side, of course, is all that stuff that comes about as a result of careless (or unawares) thinking.  It’s the difference between living a managed life and one bouncing around the chaos of other peoples thinking, i.e., victim of external forces.

            Any person, anywhere, anytime, prefers to feel good rather than bad.  Good is relative, granted, and the range of  a “good” feeling is vast.  Someone’s “good” feeling may be seeing another suffer.  That’s hardly the same “good” feeling of someone providing assistance to another.  There are degrees of every feeling and experience.  Life is about moving to a better feeling experience.  A mental move to a better feeling experience is not an accident.  It is a choice - a decision, a thought.

 

            Nothing can improve without a thought for improvement.  Some people understand that.  Some don’t.  One of my favorite thinkers, Emmet Fox, noted that People are trying to change outer conditions but leaving their consciousness unchanged, and it cannot be done.  Fox was emphasizing that until consciousness changes it’s not possible for anything else to change.  Consciousness is an awareness of thinking and there are degrees of consciousness as with everything.  The higher degree is characterized by a greater frequency or vibration.  Higher frequencies, in a word, rule over lower frequencies.

            Contemporary with Fox was Charles Fillmore, who summed up the mental process:  If you’re unhappy with your life, change you thinking.  In essence, it’s not possible to “fix” your life until you are able to “change” your thinking.

 

            Yet how do you change thinking?  Simply by giving attention to something else that evokes an improved feeling.  Simple, but because of the ability of people to habituate, not always easy.  Many of us aren’t aware of that we’re thinking, let alone how.  As one wag said, consciousness is a terrible thing to waste.

            This can be the year to get serious about your thinking.  You’ll feel good about it!

That Time of Year!

It’s that wonderful time of the year to become conscious of how much we have to be thankful for.  Thanksgiving is a holiday that everyone can fathom and celebrate.  To give thanks costs nothing and the rewards are dis-proportional.

Thank you.   Two words fraught with meaning.  To say or think “thank you” is to give conscious attention to someone/something that has improved your moment.  How do you feel when someone says to you “thank you!”  How do you feel when you say to someone “thank you!”    It feels good.  And, isn’t feeling good what it’s all about?

Do  you want to feel good?  There are only two answers:  Yes and No.  How do you answer that question?  “Well, George, of course I want to feel good.  But…”  Nope.  Can’t do that.  No buts.  Either you want to feel good or you don’t.  The “but” means that you can only feel good when/if some person or condition permits.  “How can I feel good when so many people are unhappy?”  Or sick, or oppressed, or _____________.   Is there a lingering condition in the back of your mind that you must/should “feel their pain?”  The twisted logic is that by sharing the misery of others you somehow (magically) reduce their suffering.  If that’s true, then contract a terrible disease at once, so someone who is diseased will be healed.  (It doesn’t work that way.)

It’s more likely you can contribute to the well-being of others by being happy.  Like any emotion (or attitude) happy radiates and can be sensed.  You know this – how often has someone with case of the red-ass entered the room and you knew all about it?  And, the opposite.  But, back to Thanksgiving.

Many folk routinely give thanks for their food before they eat.  An interesting study would be a measure of gastro-intestinal disorders between those who appreciate their food and those who can’t/don’t/won’t.

Appreciation and gratitude are “thank yous.”   It takes little effort to appreciate your moment.  The smell of coffee, or popcorn, or flowers.  Someone’s smile.  Music.  Fresh air.  Your car.  Your plants.  There are many things in your moment that serve you well and can be consciously appreciated.  Consciously means thought energy reinforcing the pleasing thing/condition.  The Law of Attraction ensures that as you give your attention (thought) to something, you bring more of it into your experience.

Thank you by thank you, gratitude by gratitude, appreciation by appreciation, the world is transforming.  It is said that the preponderance of grateful/appreciative thinking now outweighs the negative/fearful.  Like compound interest, the better it gets, the better it gets.  And you’re a part of that.  Thanksgiving is a good time for a reminder.

Thank you.

Be Happy! Live Longer!

Like the full moon drawing out luny behavior, somethings are just "known" without ever being "proven."  Happy people live longer is one of those.  You suspect it, if for no other reason than miserable people often desire an escape from torment.  It's the how that stumps folks.  Then again, it might be simple:

"A new study led by a Michigan State University business scholar suggests customer-service workers who fake smile throughout the day worsen their mood and withdraw from work, affecting productivity. But workers who smile as a result of cultivating positive thoughts – such as a tropical vacation or a child’s recital – improve their mood and withdraw less."

The link includes such mischief as "Look on the Bright Side" from Monty Python's Life of Brian.  

Although attributed to Abraham Lincoln (but something for certain Benjamin Franklin would endorse) is that a person is about as happy as he/she makes up their mind to be.  Mortgaging your happiness (or well-being) to someone or something else is a B A D investment.  It never pays off.  Happy, it appears, is not something that is conjured by external events or others.  Happy is a state of Being of appreciation and delight.

I know, I know, those who get it,  get it.  Those who don't, can't.