We Can't Whine Our Way to Happiness

We’ve heard it before. Most if not all of us have done it before. What is “it”? It’s whining for what we want. Fill in the blank anyway you choose: I wanna new job. I wanna new boyfriend. I wanna a new/young/slimmer body. Whine, whine, whine! (Be sure to look pathetic while you’re whining – it’s almost required for the full, desperate effect.)

There’s nothing wrong with wanting more out of our lives and embracing change to have it happen. All of those desires above, or ones you might have come up with yourself, are worthwhile goals. The reason whining doesn’t work to affect change in a lasting way is that whining comes from the despair of a victim. To truly have the lives we desire we must come from place of empowerment and confidence.

This requires faith on our part. It also demands that our prayer work is one of acceptance and not petitioning. Madisyn Taylor put it well in her recent article, “As You Believe.” In it she states, “When we ask the universe for something, the unspoken message is that what we want does not exist, and the universe accepts this as truth.”

Understanding that what we are seeking is already ours in Truth is first step to manifesting the change we pursue. Simple, but not always easy. It’s not easy to feel abundant and prosperous if our checking account is overdrawn, our wallet empty and bills are multiplying on our desk. This is where faith and responsibility become our friends.

We must have the faith that our current situation is not the way must live in perpetuity. If our faith is lacking then it’s time to call a trusted spiritual partner or guide to “borrow” some of their faith. By allowing another person to know the Truth about us, to have faith in our potential, we usually find that our burden is lighter.

Taking full responsibility allows us to move out of blame and acting like victim. I firmly accept that I have been completely responsible for every event in my life. In many cases, if not most, the situation was caused by negative or self-deprecating subconscious thoughts I failed to rein in. I must admit that at the time I didn’t necessarily recognize my personal responsibility, but in retrospect I know it to be so.

Empowering ourselves and taking responsibility for the lives we see before us and the body we see in the mirror is a key to freedom. It releases us from the shackles of negative thinking and undesirable results. Join me this week to affirm your faith and achieving your desires through personal responsibility for the outcome.

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness,

Terry

Being Successful Isn't Hard

It’s funny how “stuff” from growing up can still be echoing in our minds far into adulthood. I was taught by my father that we’d never have enough money and that there would always be more bills than money. Sometimes our family couldn’t get ends to meet, but at least if the ends waved at each other in passing we felt like we’d accomplished something.

Perhaps you were taught that you had to work hard to make a living. You may also believe that being successful requires a lot of hard word, i.e. long, arduous hours; sacrificing all personal time; never taking vacations; maybe stepping on more than a few people; or, knocking them off the next rung of the ladder.

On the other hand, you may have adopted the “fake it until you make it” stance or preach that if you just believe you are successful you will be. That creates a VERY wide gulf between the “work hard to make a living” folks and the blissful dears who are still waiting for their dreams to come true without doing anything about it.

What we believe IS what occurs in our life. Not immediately, thankfully, .e.g. “I wish I was dead!” That’s a great example of the difference between what we say and what we believe. If we had the concrete beliefs of Jesus of Nazareth, Paramahansa Yogananda and other people we consider masters we, too, would have a lot more of what we want in our lives a whole lot quicker.

A common belief is that being a success is hard. It isn’t. I’m not saying there isn’t work involved, because there most certainly is. We just have to redefine our thoughts around the work that usually accompanies success. The word “work” comes from the same root as does the word worship. Do you find your spiritual practice work? I certainly hope not! So what if your work was an act of worship? If you had the same confidence in your success as you do in God, Spirit, Divine Love or whatever you call your Higher Power? Hmmmmm……things that make you go, Hmmmmm.

Do you realize how many people out there are trying to sell you their technique to get ahead in the world, to be a success and make a lot of money? Some are marketing valid and proven techniques, some are selling snake oil, but all are bent on convincing you that they have worked their fingers to the bone to create a system to make it easy for you to be just like them, and all for a mere two, three or more thousand dollars of training after training after training. Maybe you can even become a certified trainer in their method to teach others how to channel money back to them. I find that dizzying.

In the words of Mike Dooley, the “folks who meet with life success and then tell the world it was due to their hard work, … almost NEVER work harder than others. They don't even work smarter than others. They simply leveraged the magic by thinking, speaking, and acting in line with what they wanted.” How about this week we all think about leveraging our efforts through doing just that:  thinking, speaking and acting in line with what we want.

Just one thing:  YOU have to figure out what you want. Oh-oh…there’s another one of those “Hmmmm” moments.

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness,

Terry