Nothing is Perfect

Do you get suspicious when someone offers you the perfect investment, opportunity, solution, etc.?

Everything has a limitation or flaw of some kind.

Things don’t have to be perfect, but we need to understand where the flaws are.

When someone offers you the latest personal [...]]]>

 
Nothing is Perfect

Do you get suspicious when someone offers you the perfect investment, opportunity, solution, etc.?

Everything has a limitation or flaw of some kind.

Things don’t have to be perfect, but we need to understand where the flaws are.

When someone offers you the latest personal development method, don’t expect perfection.

And don’t be cynical, and assume that the method is worthless.

Seek to understand where the technique works, and what the limitations are.

There has been a lot of attention given to The Secret (which is all about the Law of Attraction).
Its discussed and promoted as though it’s the perfect answer to everything.

Is it perfect?

The Law of Attraction tells us that we will bring into our lives what we focus on.
Our personal growth is in our own hands.

That means that you and I have to search our hearts, find out what’s important to us, and find the right way to focus on our great desires.

And bring our dreams to life.

Sorry, though, this is not a wishing well, a lottery ticket, or a slot machine.

You have to be prepared to see opportunities that appear, and do the work necessary to leverage those opportunities into the results you want.

Help will come in totally unexpected ways, but it’s only help.
You’re still in the picture.

Some people might think that this is a flaw.

They want the Law of Attraction to be a magic wand.
So they can get what they want with no effort.

I don’t think that manifesting your dreams has to be painful, and burdensome.

But you have to invest both your desire, and your action into your dreams.

When you invest your heart and your action into something, you make it yours.
And this is your life that you’re trying to manifest!

 
Cause, Effect and Control

Ok, here’s a real weakness in the way some people represent the Law of Attraction.

Do you attract everything that comes into your life?
Some people believe that we attract everything, pleasant or unpleasant.

I’m not denying that we sometimes attract the unpleasant through unconscious desires.

We have incredible influence over the direction of our lives.
We have so much more power to shape our lives than we ever imagine.

BUT.
The world is influenced by many people’s desires, which often conflict with one another.

And, I believe, the world is influenced by a higher power beyond any single person’s desires.

With this sea of influences, we will not always be able to manifest our desires.

It’s critical that we don’t underestimate our personal power to affect our lives.
But, do we have to pretend that we can control, or even understand, every event in our lives?

We have this love/hate relationship with the idea of cause and effect.

Sometimes, we believe that we have power over everything that touches us, and that anything that goes wrong is our fault.

Sometimes, we believe that we are completely powerless.

There are many times when the complexity of the world is beyond us.
But we have this drive to explain everything.

When some great, unpredictable event happens we start analyzing it, and talking about the factors that contributed to it.

Understanding some of the factors does not mean that we could have predicted that it would happen, or even, that we can predict a similar future event.

But it’s scary to live in a world where events can come and disrupt our lives.
We want to pretend that everything is predictable and under control.

We want to believe that it’s possible to prevent all the difficulties and danger in our lives.

There’s a fascinating book called The Black Swan, which talks about the ways in which we exaggerate our understanding of cause and effect, and pretend that unpredictable events are predictable.

The author speaks of such events as random.
I don’t believe that the world is random.

But I do believe that the world is unpredictable, and will surprise us again and again, sometimes with difficulties, but often with wonder.

 
One Wish

Sometimes we get lost in wishing only for things, or pleasures, or honors.

And we all wish that the world would change according to our desires.

But the greatest wish of all is the wish to be a different sort of person, with different attitudes and thoughts.

When you wish to be a different person, and achieve that wish, your perception of the world changes.

Even if nothing changes in the world around you, you’ll still be living in a different world.

But the world around you will also change.
When you act differently, you will influence people and the world to change.

Join me in a question and a wish.

Does each of us have the courage and honesty to live and enjoy life as a great journey through unknown territory?

What would the world be like if each of us wished and took action to become that sort of person?

For a while, I’ve thought about including an occasional review on this blog. Recently, someone approached me suggesting that I review Sound Health, Sound Wealth by Dr. Luanne Oakes.

So I checked out her reputation, and looked at recommendations from people like Deepak Chopra, John Gray, and Tony Robbins, and [...]]]> For a while, I’ve thought about including an occasional review on this blog.
Recently, someone approached me suggesting that I review Sound Health, Sound Wealth by Dr. Luanne Oakes.

So I checked out her reputation, and looked at recommendations from people like Deepak Chopra, John Gray, and Tony Robbins, and decided that reviewing this book was a good idea.

As I began to read the book and did some work, I listened to the CD that accompanies the book.

Dr. Oakes produces many products that use sound to relax and heal, but this is the first of those that I’ve experienced.
This CD is beautiful and relaxing, about an hour long.

I listened to it twice, and enjoyed it even more the second time. I came away refreshed and alert.

What is a Review?

One of my beliefs is that there is no such thing as a completely objective review. A good review expresses the personality, talents, and belief system of the reviewer as much as the work under review.

There are many types of reviews.
The most common reviews probably answer one or more of these questions:

• Do I like it?
• What is the subject matter of this book?
• Is it well organized, and easy to understand?
• Does it entertain and/or inform me?
• If it makes promises, does it deliver on those promises?
• Is it worth my time to read this book?

The more objective parts of a review tell me what the subject is, and if the material is clearly presented.

But there are no absolutes in a review.

What’s clear to you may not be clear to me.
We have different experiences, and come to any book with different beliefs, likes, and dislikes.

I may like a certain author’s style, and you may not.
I may like the way an author uses language, and you may not.

For example, Dr. Oakes likes to make up new phrases to describe the ideas that she writes about. There are many authors who do this.

Sometimes familiar words and phrases are burdened with old, limited associations.
New phrases can be a wonderful way to explore an unfamiliar mindset. The unfamiliar terms tell me that I’m walking into the unknown. I take a breath, and prepare to learn something new.

I can’t so easily slip into those very dangerous three words: “I know that.”

Some of my favorite of her terms are future memories, action-based faith, and first and second thoughts and feelings.

Future Memories
If you are familiar with the law of attraction, manifestation, or visualization techniques, then you’ve heard of visualizing a desired future state in full emotional and sensory detail.

But she puts a slightly new spin on it, by also relating to that experience as a future memory.
I love that idea.

Action-based Faith
Action-based faith, asserts that belief in a desired future is expressed through every thought, word, and action. The more that belief is expressed in our thoughts, words, and actions, the more power that belief has to shape our reality.

First and Second Thoughts and Feelings
Dr. Oakes writes that we cannot always find the presence of mind to respond to a situation with the thoughts and feelings that we would like to. Our first thoughts and feelings may flow too quickly.

But, she writes, it is much easier to choose our second thoughts and feelings. We can choose to replace our initial thoughts and feelings with ones that more powerfully represent who we want to be.

Hunting for Ideas

Some people may not like her new language.
I don’t resonate with all of the terms myself.

But, I’m a bit of an idea hunter.
I look for ideas that will shake up my thinking, and enable me to live in a bigger world, and understand more of it.
One powerful idea is often worth more to me than a well constructed, easy to understand discussion of ideas that I’m already familiar with.

And I’ve found many such ideas here.

Certainly the book is well organized, and covers a number of fascinating subjects such as manifestation, beliefs about what is possible, our relationship with time, saying no, welcoming resistance as a sign of change, health, and wealth.

This book may be a bit too ambitious at times, and some of the topics deserve a more lengthy treatment.

Conclusion
Above I discussed some questions that book reviews typically answer.
There are two more questions that I want to add to that list.
These are the questions that I personally want to see answered in a review, and they are the ones that I’ve focused on in this review:

• Is there something new in this book?
• Does it introduce ideas that enable me to think about my world and myself in new ways?

The answer to these questions, for me, is a resounding yes.

(Dr Oakes’ book is available in the usual places such as amazon.com, and her website is Sound Health, Sound Wealth.)

Creativity If you’re an artist, writer, sculptor, musician, photographer you might think of imagination as a place. A place deep inside where you search for something new. Somehow yours, and yet not yours.

In Greek Mythology, the sources of inspiration were creatures called Muses. The [...]]]> What do you think of when someone says the word “imagination”?

Creativity
If you’re an artist, writer, sculptor, musician, photographer you might think of imagination as a place.
A place deep inside where you search for something new.
Somehow yours, and yet not yours.

In Greek Mythology, the sources of inspiration were creatures called Muses.
The source of inspiration was personified as something external, because the experience of creation has a feeling of discovery, of otherness, and sometimes compulsion associated with it.

This is the use of imagination to reach deeply into a hidden place in us.
Some call it the unconscious, and imagination is its doorway.

When we create using the imagination, we reach out/in to a place in ourselves that is both distant and familiar. If we have the courage, we reach for a dark door and open it, unsure of what will come through the door.

When we walk toward that door, we often go with a question, idea, or theme that will bind and filter what we let come out of the unconscious.

Simulation
Many people look at imagination as a simulator, a machine where we can try on the future, and see how it fits.

Sometimes we use this simulator as a pleasant toy to enjoy the feelings that arise from a fantasy we imagine.

Other times, we use imagination to simulate a future that you desire with all your heart. In that case, the imagined future is far more than a fantasy to enjoy. It’s a reality that speaks to you. It calls to you.  

Many people use the power of imagination for Personal Development. (See my articles on The Law of Attraction)

Here’s another more powerful way to think of imagination as a simulator:
Imagine that there is a future you who is more accomplished, more free, more powerful, and more true to your dreams than you are.
Like a loving friend, brother, or parent, he calls to you to join him in an extraordinary future. This is not a fantasy. You are calling to yourself. Can you listen and reach out into the future?

Imagination as simulation can be used for a pleasant fantasy, or as a time machine where you listen to the call of the future. Will I be honest enough with myself to see the difference, and will I act on that knowledge?

People write about it all the time.

Energy is:

Not enough action.

Some people find their passion, ask for it, move toward abundance, imagine their desired future, practice gratitude… but don’t take action.

Many writers on the Law of Attraction emphasize how the universe knows better than you [...]]]> What is the biggest mistake that people make when trying to utilize The Law of Attraction?

Not enough action.

Some people find their passion, ask for it, move toward abundance, imagine their desired future, practice gratitude…
but don’t take action.

Many writers on the Law of Attraction emphasize how the universe knows better than you how to bring your desires to life.
These writers tell you to focus on the “what” and let the universe figure out the when, how, etc.

There are a couple of problems with this.

1. If I don’t take action, I’m telling myself (or the universe) that it’s not that important.
2. We learn not only by listening, reading, and thinking. We learn by doing.
   As we learn more about ourselves, we change and refine our passions

Let’s consider the idea that we spend too much time focused on the how, when, and where.

When I try to create my future, I start by clarifying what the essence of my passion is.

Then, I translate that into specific details about what I want, and why I want it, so I can focus my imagination on those details.
I also consider the how, when, where, and who.

Then I make plans. (see Mark Joyner’s free Simpleology course to more effectively manage your life)
Those plans inevitably deal with a world of details.

But here’s the critical point.

I have to be aware that I’m not creating my future in a laboratory or desert away from the world.
My future will be built within the world, among people.

The many details of manifesting my passion will be as complex as the world.

So…I have to be a good listener.
I have to keep listening for what I can learn from the world around me, and use that knowledge to refine the details of my passions.

I have to listen for opportunities. There will be situations and possibilities that have never occured to me. Some will be so different from anything I’ve thought of, that someone might think that I’ve changed my goals entirely.

Nope.
But I have to be open to letting the details of my actions change and transform.

It’s tough to plan, take action, and listen for opportunities.
But that’s the recipe for successful action that leverages the Law of Attraction

Emotions are the fuel which ignites our entire being, and turns it toward the passionate goals that we’re pursuring.

The more powerful the emotions you experience in relation to your goals, the more completely you will be focused on bringing those goals to [...]]]> Why is gratitude one of the keys to The Law of Attraction?

Emotions are the fuel which ignites our entire being, and turns it toward the passionate goals that we’re pursuring.

The more powerful the emotions you experience in relation to your goals, the more completely you will be focused on bringing those goals to life.

Ok. But why gratitude in particular? There are many emotions we can experience in relation to a goal?

The Law of Attraction is about focusing your entire self toward a goal, without hesitation, blame, or diversions.

Genuine gratitude reflects my complete acceptance of the value of something to me.

When you accept that something is of real value to you, you stop resisting it.

When you accept something completely, it becomes fully real in your “world”:

• It can fully influence your present and future world
• It can be fully utilized by you as a tool

We live in a fantasy world.

Pretty odd statement from someone who has been talking about the power of imagination to create your future.

What I mean is this:
To the extent that we don’t fully accept the value of the things in our life, those things don’t become fully real, fully useful and powerful.

They remain shadows.

Learn to feel gratitude for the things in your life.
Learn to make the useful things already in your life real and valuable.

Make your current life more “real”, and you will find it a 100 times easier to make your imagined future life real.

Feel the real value of your future being, actions, and possessions. Feel the gratitude that naturally comes when you’re fully in touch with value.

Exercise: Practice the feeling of gratitude for your present using a gratitude journal, finding a few new things every day to be grateful for.

There’s a good description of it at a Squidoo lens on gratitude.

In some explanations of LOA, gratitude is the first step.

It really occurs at multiple places in the process.

My placement of it as step 5 reflects the need to feel grateful for the future life that you’re imagining in Step 4.

OK. After writing in a gratitude journal for several days about your present life, start making two entries in the journal each day. One for items you are grateful for in your current life. The second entry will be about items that you imagine feeling grateful for in your future life.

Next: Law of Attraction, Step 6: Plan, Take Action, and Listen for Something Better

But it’s like using a supercomputer as a hammer. Imagination is an extraordinary capability that we all have which allows us to simulate the future.

Imagine a dark stadium or arena, pitch black. Then suddenly all the lights are turned on to reveal a place full of activity. That’s the feeling of making a connection to abundance. It makes you [...]]]> Like anyone, I want to free myself from limitation. I want to live in a world of possibility and abundance.

Imagine a dark stadium or arena, pitch black.
Then suddenly all the lights are turned on to reveal a place full of activity.
That’s the feeling of making a connection to abundance.
It makes you come alive.

But I resist it.
Sadly, I prevent myself from making a powerful, electric connection with my desires.
I say “I don’t deserve it.”

It’s time to let go of this excuse.
“Yes, its just an excuse.
There’s a voice in me that says: I’m not perfect. I don’t deserve such abundance.”

You do. Our world is full of abundance, full of infinite possibility. That is our natural state.

We’ve been trained for so long to look at the finite aspects of the world and what’s wrong with it.
It’s hard to let go of those habits and see the abundance.

You may look at what you’ve done with your life and feel empty because you’ve failed in some way and let others down.

Where does it say that it’s your job to punish yourself until you become perfect?

When you punish yourself by denying abundance, you cut yourself off from who you could be, and the life you could be living, and the extraordinary things that you can do for yourself and others!

Do you or I deserve abundance?
The word “deserve” is misleading.

Abundance isn’t about deserving or earning anything. The Law of Attraction is focused on the idea that like attracts/resonates/communicates with/draws energy from like.

If you act in ways that make your inner life (feeling and thoughts) abundant, then your outer life will be abundant. Your radio pulls in a particular station because that’s its nature, not because it deserved it or earned it.

“I don’t deserve it” is a subtle form of blame. I’m saying that it’s my fault that I don’t have abundance, that I don’t reach my goals, and live my passions.

Blaming yourself is a close cousin of blaming others.

It’s easy to blame others or your circumstances for something you don’t like about your life.

You and I have different experiences, different talents, different challenges. You may have suffered at the hands of people who have mistreated you, or hurt you.

If I blame anyone or anything for my situation, I give up my power to choose and act. Whatever the situation, whatever the challenges, you can be a spectator in life or a player.

Next: Law of Attraction, Step 4: Living in the Future – the Power of Imagination

Most of us ask for what we want with half a heart (if that), full of hesitation, and disbelief. We almost always [...]]]> What does it mean to ask for what you want?
It means to make an emotional connection to your desires.
Make them matter. Give them meaning. Feel them. Make a commitment to them.

Most of us ask for what we want with half a heart (if that), full of hesitation, and disbelief.
We almost always hedge our bets. We say to ourselves “I don’t really want that”, so when it fails to show up, we can say “No problem. I didn’t really want it anyway.”

How rarely do we turn all of ourselves toward a desire, willing to take a risk.

Yes, there is a small risk.
If I deeply connect with a certain desire, I could be disappointed.
Even with all the power of The Law of Attraction, sometimes what we want won’t come to us when we expect it to, or how we expect it to, or where.

Or maybe, there’s something better for us that’s coming.

We might be disappointed, but great joy and disappointment come together.
Risk and reward come together.

Better to be fully alive, tasting all that life has to offer, than living half a life.
How sad that I’m the one who hides from my greatness, and blocks it from being born!

There’s something else we have to say about real questions, about asking for our future.
When we think of the LOA, we think about creating an outer reality by shaping an inner one.
LOA writings often speak of a single unified reality.

We might fall into the trap of pretending that there’s no reality except what I’m aware of and what I want.
Asking acknowledges that what you know, and think, and desire, and are aware of is only a part of the picture. Asking says that I’m reaching beyond my limitations, my understanding, and my experience to the greater world that I’m not yet aware of.

There is a living, rich, unfathomably great reality beyond me.

And it’s waiting to meet me.
I’m reaching out beyond myself. I’m acknowledging that there are other realities possible for me.

I’m extending my mind and heart.
I’m opening up to possibility.

And I want answers!

Next: Law of Attraction, Step 3: From Blame to Abundance