Tag Archive for: Ego

Self-Love and New Thought = Awakening Alchemy

What is the tie-in between self-love and “new thought”?

We now know what self-love is all about, so perhaps we better define “new thought” a bit more.

Self-Talk & Creativity - Awakening Alchemy New thought was a philosophy that began in the early mid-nineteenth century that postulated the idea of “healthy mindedness” as well as a healthy body. It was a spiritual movement with its roots in metaphysical beliefs. It grew out of existing Christian beliefs, especially those of a Calvinist origin. New thought’s basic premise was; “that anything that exists in the mind and could be expressed through words had the ability to transcend the physical and be realized through individual thoughts and intuition.”

Many philosophers and thinkers of the time latched onto “new thought” as expressing their belief in the universality of humanity and whilst still accepting a higher power, they attributed that higher power to the Universe rather than some arbitrary human construct, such as God, Yaweh, Allah, or whatever it might be.

Perhaps, for most of us today, “new thought” only came to the forefront of our consciousness in 2006 with the world-wide streaming of Rhonda Byrne’s movie and later book, “The Secret”. It was at this time the idea of the Law of Attraction and New Thought actually swept across the world. Rhonda would be the first to admit that her movie was espousing nothing new, but rather sharing the “secret” that she had discovered from reading a one-hundred-year-old book by Wallace Wattles, titled, The Science of Getting Rich. So, although Rhonda’s epiphany may have seemed startling, exciting, and new to a whole new generation of adherents, the basic principles that made up the new thought philosophy had been around and discussed for many years.

Joseph Campbell:          

New Thought Author Joseph Campbell - Awakening Alchemy One adherent to the new thought philosophy was Joseph Campbell. An American author and editor who lived from 1904 to 1987, Joseph Campbell is best known for his works on comparative mythologies across the world. He examined the universal functions and impacts of myths in various cultures and mythical figures across a wide range of different literature from all over the world.

For me, however, it was his pronouncements and quotes that have the greatest effect and inspiration. We talked last week about the greatest way to love yourself is to find your true path in life – that which you were gifted; those unique and special talents that we’ve been talking about. Joseph Campbell’s simple quote, for me, sums up perfectly what we need to do, as individuals, if we are to achieve the self-realization, self-actualization and self-love that we both seek and deserve.

“Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors where there were only walls.”

Joseph Campbell

Such a simple phrase – “follow your bliss” but one that is guaranteed to put you where you (a) want to be and (b) where you belong.

Follow Your Bliss:

What is bliss?

Follow Your Bliss - Awakening Alchemy Bliss is a concept that almost defies description. It is vast, boundless, immeasurable AND it is a totally different state, for every single person and that is the key. Bliss must be personally experienced to understand what it is for YOU. Bliss exists on an entirely different dimension to simple happiness – it is so much more than that. It is a state where the sense of ego slips away and a feeling of total connectedness takes over. When you are in a state of bliss there is no sense of “me”, separate from the rest of creation – there is just joy and peace.

Perhaps the best definition I’ve heard of bliss is doing something where time, the environment, and everything around you fades away into the background and only the thing you are currently focused on matters anymore. This is the way I feel when I’m writing these blogs, or my novels, so, for me, a state of bliss is attained when I am writing. For everyone it will be different and you need to focus on what gives you bliss and then find a way to relate that to today’s environment and a way to “follow your bliss” that also rewards you financially for doing so. Remember what Richard Branson said about not doing what he did for the money, but for the fun and the challenge. But that when he had fun, invariably the money followed.

If there is one guaranteed way to achieve the self-love and satisfaction that we all seek, that is it.

If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.”

Joseph Campbell

Simply put, if you do things that you are passionate about, you’ll feel more alive and doors will open for you.

New Thought and Self-Talk:

Be Kind to Yourself - Awakening Alchemy We’ve talked a lot in the last few blogs about the importance to our well-being of our own self-talk. Regardless of the reasons for us having a low opinion of ourselves, so many of us do and we are continually berating ourselves for not measuring up to either our or others opinions or expectations of us. When we denounce ourselves, we are doing serious harm to our self-esteem and self-worth.

This is particularly cogent when we look at new thought beliefs. One of the core beliefs of this new thought philosophy is expressed in the concept that; “thoughts are things”. One of the best known of the new thought authors is Napoleon Hill and perhaps his most famous quote was:

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”

You Have to Love Yourself - Awakening Alchemy I’m sure that will right now be resonating with readers of this blog. What an inspirational quote – if we act and think positively, with respect to self-love and self-talk, we can create whatever we desire and need. If thoughts are things and we can achieve whatever we conceive and believe in, if we don’t believe in ourselves, we will create exactly what we believe in and constantly tell ourselves – that we are hopeless, we are a failure, we can’t do anything right, or what’s the point in even trying if we’re just going to mess it up?

That, in a nutshell is why positive self-talk and believing in ourselves and our unique abilities is so important. If we don’t – we are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy through the Law of Attraction. Remember the mirror exercise from recent blogs. We really need to practice that – we need to be able to look in the mirror and say; “I am an awesome human being, I can achieve anything I set my mind to, I am capable, I am special, I am unique, I am… (fill in the blank).

Give Yourself Praise - Awakening Alchemy There are so many people in this world today who are quick to try to bring you down, to scoff at your achievements and to belittle you or even withhold applause or praise. Congratulations, and celebrations are so important – always look for things to appreciate in yourself and give yourself a big pat on the back and a high five whenever you make constructive progress or take positive action. Self-love is also about moving away from lower [on an energetic sphere] feelings / emotions such as shame – guilt – anger – judgement and so on, and raising your vibration, instead.

We hope you’ll review this series from time to time and deploy some of the tips on a regular basis. It is your duty to yourself to remind yourself that you are better than all of that, that you are special and unique, that you are wonderful. If you don’t believe it, how can you expect anyone else to believe it?

I hope you have realized over these last four blogs why self-love, self-care, self-awareness is so important to us, as human beings and what we can do to ensure that we do love ourselves properly and look after ourselves so that we are able to utilize those special and unique talents that make us who we are. I want to leave you today, with a special quote that neatly sums up everything we’ve been discussing over these last four weeks.

“You can’t hate yourself happy. You can’t criticize yourself thin. You can’t shame yourself worthy. Real change begins with self-love and self-care.”

– Jessica Ortner

If you enjoyed this Blog and would like to read more spiritual and metaphysical issues plus lots more besides, please do join our website and you will receive a notice whenever a new blog is posted, as well as special promotions and the opportunity to win prizes. We will never spam you, though. You can join here:

If you liked what you read here, please do check out our previous blogs. The last four can be found here:

You may also wish to avail yourself of our fantastic FREE report: 3 Proven Ways to Pull More Prosperity to You in 30 Days. You can grab your copy of this here:

Finally, today, please do pop on over to the section of my website that highlights my Visionary Fiction “whodunit” mystery, Spirit of Prophecy, which incorporates many of the ideas and philosophies discussed in my blog into a fast-paced, fictional, thriller. I know you’ll enjoy it. You can find that here:

 

Mystery, Magic and Supernatural; Spirit of Prophecy - Awakening Alchemy

Till Next Time I’m Sending: Peace and Light

 

Impediments to Self-Love - Awakening Alchemy

This week I want to specifically look at some of those things that invariably get in the way of looking after ourselves and giving ourselves the love and respect we deserve as the incredible human beings we are.

The biggest impediment to self-love is YOU!

Right, that’s probably the shortest blog I’ve ever written, but seriously we really are often our own worst enemies when it comes to looking after ourselves properly. We go out of our way to sabotage ourselves and in this blog, I’ll be pointing out some of the crazy things we do and justify, to doing to ourselves, that damages our self-esteem, our confidence and our ability to be the absolute best we can be – and as I keep telling you, the absolute best you can be is incredible, breath-taking, and amazing.

Environment:

From the very first time you became aware of yourself, there has always been someone telling you what to do and how to do it – how to fit in and become a productive member of society. These instructions start with your parents, then move onto your teachers, your peers, your mentors, your colleagues, your friends, and ultimately society, in general, though the laws, rules and regulations.

What lessons do your parents drill into you from the very beginning:

  • Don’t hit
  • Learn to share
  • Give your brother/sister a hug
  • Say please and thank you
  • Respect and follow your elders etc. etc.

Time Out in the Corner Sucks - Awaiting Alchemy Now, these are all great lessons to learn but, what do they teach you about loving yourself and caring for yourself. Do they tell you to hug yourself? Do they tell you to be kind to yourself? Let’s be honest, the only time our parents allowed us to interact with ourselves was when they placed us in “time out” for being naughty and then self-love was far from our minds. Invariably we were fuming about losing, our play time and our toys, for a while which seemed like an age.

Our Head:   

Our inner voice is critical in denying us the love and respect we should be giving ourselves. Some people call it an inner voice, but I prefer the term, “ego”. [I have a section on the website, called “Inner Voice”check it out, here: – it’s full of tips on how to develop your Intuition.] The way I see the ego is this maniacal, little critter who lives inside our head. Its sole purpose in being, is to prevent us from being hurt. The easiest way to ensure that we never get hurt is to never allow us to do anything different – to never change. The Ego hates change – change is scary, dangerous and requires risk, everything the ego dislikes.

The Maniacal Creatue in our Head - Awakening Alchemy This is why, let’s say you see some new activity, sport, idea that you think would be brilliant, your ego immediately kicks into gear and reminds you just how “ordinary” you really are. The ego says things like: “sure, that looks like fun but remember the last time you tried something new… well, that was an abject failure wasn’t it?” It constantly seeks to remind us that we aren’t good enough and we genuinely think it is us that is saying it – it’s not.

 

“The ego, however, is not who you really are. The ego is your self-image, it is your social mask, it is the role you are playing. Your social mask thrives on approval. It wants control, and it is sustained by power because it lives in fear.”

Ram Dass

As if the rampant ego was not enough to cope with, we also have this lifetime (however old you might be at the time) of other people’s hurtful comments, opinions and suggestions about us that are slopping around in our gray matter reminding us that we are nothing special at all. Many of these opinions come from people we trust, people we believe in and they can easily be adopted as our own beliefs. Once they do become our own beliefs, and usually they are ones to your own detriment and unhappiness, it is incredibly easy to let them rule your decision making and never do things that are positive for your own physical and mental wellbeing.

How often have comments from others held us back from achieving the things we want to achieve? For example, when you make a decision to improve your physical health, get fitter, or diet – how often do those hurtful comments come back to haunt you? “Oh, you never manage to stick to those diets”; “The last time you bought a gym membership, how many times did you go? Twice was it?”; or the absolute classic – “Darling, I love you just the way you are, there’s no need to change for me.”

The point being, of course, that you aren’t changing anything for anyone else – you’re doing this for YOU but somehow, between your ego’s constant barrage of negative talk and everyone else’s well-meaning comments it’s very easy to accept the idea that there simply is no point in trying.

Our Motivations and Expectations:

Your Approval's Not Required - Awakening Alchemy Why is it that we are invariably our own harshest critics? We have this tendency to do things or take particular directions for all the wrong reasons; either we’re striving for something we’re not quite ready to achieve yet, or we’re seeking the approval of others. Often when we make a decision to improve our lives (self-love), we’re not motivated by what we want but rather by impressing others or from a sense of guilt (in the example of being overweight for instance). When our motivation is not driven by what we want, it is a lot easier to give up and add that to the impressive list of failures the ego will bring out to bombard you with next time you make a positive decision about yourself.

Instead of looking at guilt or others for your motivation look inward and ask yourself – “what do I really want?” Have a conversation with your “future self”. Ask him or her what it is they want and where they want to be, in one, five, ten-year’s-time. Your future self wants the best for you, and you want the best for your future self, so work it out between you. If you are striving to achieve something that YOU want, your chances of success are so much greater. Use your future self to make decisions based on love and care for you, instead of acting out of fear and guilt.

Six Simple Impediments to Self-Love:

  1. Putting other’s needs ahead of yours: Be it your boss, your partner, your children, your social network, everyone wants your time, your commitment and your emotional involvement.
  2. Letting the Negative Rule: You need to be thinking positively way more often. As soon as we allow negativity into our heads, the ego jumps with glee because it’s something he can use to sabotage your best intentions. Being grateful, as much as possible, is the best way to keep negativity at bay.
  3. Allowing fear to control you: Fear is useful, it keeps us alert and on edge, ready for anything but it is so easy to let the fear take over and destroy your hopes, dreams and desires, consigning you to the couch and to your regrets.
  4. It's A Spiritual Thing - Awakening Alchemy Not eating properly: Comfort foods are a temporary fix at best. Eating a well-balanced, healthy diet keeps you good not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well.
  5. Not making time for yourself: You have to give yourself time to relax, to heal, to simply chill out. That’s why meditation is such a cool way to go – it does that perfectly. Read my blog on meditation which was recently featured in the incredibly popular magazine, “Mom’s Favorite Reads”, here:
  6. Forgetting that “today” is not all there is: It’s really easy to get stuck in the miasma of day-to-day life and forget that tomorrow is coming – a new day full of, as yet, unrealized possibilities. One of my favorite sayings when I feel stuck, overwhelmed and unable to think beyond the current problem, is; “this too shall pass”. Trust me, it will.

Next week, I’ll go into more depth, with some practical steps on how to achieve self-love, but I hope today I’ve given you some idea of the sort of things you need to be watching out for as you continue this journey of self-discovery, self-awareness, and self-love.

I’ll finish today with a quote from one of the people whose pronouncements have always been a great motivator for me; the late, lamented, Maya Angelou:

“We have to confront ourselves.  Do we like what we see in the mirror?  And, according to our light, according to our understanding, according to our courage, we will have to say yea or nay – and rise!”

 Dr. Maya Angelou

Look at Yourself and Love Yourself - Awakening Alchemy  Next week, I’ll be looking at some practical ways to break down these barriers that keep you from self-love and as always, I’ll be reminding you to LOVE YOURSELF because you absolutely deserve it – you are a unique and beautiful human being.

If you enjoyed this Blog and would like to read more spiritual and metaphysical issues plus lots more besides, please do join our website and you will receive a notice whenever a new blog is posted, as well as special promotions and the opportunity to win prizes. We will never spam you, though. You can join here:

If you liked what you read here, please do check out our previous blogs. The last four can be found here:

You may also wish to avail yourself of our fantastic FREE report: 3 Proven Ways to Pull More Prosperity to You in 30 Days. You can grab your copy of this here:

Finally, today, please do pop on over to the section of my website that highlights my Visionary Fiction “whodunit” mystery, Spirit of Prophecy, which incorporates many of the ideas and philosophies discussed in my blog into a fast-paced, fictional, thriller. I know you’ll enjoy it. You can find that here:

Mix All the Ingredients Well - Awakening Alchemy

Till Next Time I’m Sending: Peace and Light

To fully understand fear and the crippling effect it can have on us, we first need to understand that there are two very different types of fear that we as human beings experience.

The first type of fear is that which is known as “physiological fear”. Now physiological fear is built into our genes – it is an evolutionary trait that has helped allow humanity to rise to the top of the evolutionary pyramid. Physiological fear is what alerts us to potentially life-threatening scenarios, that we can choose to ignore (and some people certainly do choose to) at our peril. What defines physiological fear is the need to react physically to it. Literally speaking physiological fear is the difference between life and death. There are some fairly obvious examples here: The fear of heights is one. A long history of people dying when they fell from high places e.g. cliff edges, has ensured that an automatic fear of heights is well ingrained in our DNA. You would not readily walk along a thin girder suspended 100 feet above the ground because your subconscious automatically knows this is not likely to be good for your long-term survival. Similarly, when you are confronted by an angry animal predator, physiological fear requires a physical action to flee and remove you from the danger you face, freeze, or, if all else fails, to stand and fight for your life.

Although some people do make a conscious decision to embrace the physiological fear and overcome it, for example mountain climbers, big wave surfers, skydivers et al, in general terms it is fair to say that physiological fear is good for us and warns us of potentially dangerous situations that we may choose, or not, to avoid. Physiological fear is a good thing – it helps to keep us alive.           

What is not such a great thing however is psychological fear. Psychological fear is not born in our DNA, but is born within our own active imagination, or as Andy Shaw likes to call it – that little monster in our head, called our ego”. Psychological fear is the most crippling and limiting aspect of our psyche. It stops us from reaching our potential in life and most importantly of all it limits the happiness and joy we can experience. In some unfortunate people psychological fear can be so great and so overpowering that it literally drives that person to a complete standstill. 

We’ve all read and heard of people who are so crippled by fear that they cannot even leave their own houses (agoraphobia), others who have a pathological fear of water (aquaphobia) and those too frightened of heights to even climb a set of stairs (acrophobia), but those with phobias this extreme are best assisted in overcoming them with professional psychological counselling and treatment.

For most of us the fears that cripple us are just simple psychological fears that we have allowed to become the ruling paradigms in our lives. These are fears that have been drilled into us over the years by the people we have most trusted to guide us in our lives; our parents, our siblings, our teachers, our friends, our work colleagues and indeed society in general. We have, like good and faithful dogs, been exceedingly well trained. The problem is that these fears have become so ingrained in our subconscious that they can stop us from doing things we WANT to do and even beneficial stuff, to grow as individuals and experience the awesome life that we were born to live. So, what are these fears that hold us back from achieving our greatness?                

Perhaps one of the biggest fears that prevents us from achieving our true potential is: THE FEAR OF FAILURE. How often have you thought of a great idea or considered trying a new activity, or a new hobby, even a new career and then been paralyzed by that overwhelming fear of failure? You come up with the idea – you think that’s awesome – yeah! I can do that and then what happens? 

That insane little critter in your head (your ego) starts chattering back to you:

  • “Just who do you think you are?”
  • “What makes you think you can do that?”
  • “You tried something like that before, remember? God, what a disaster that was!”
  • “No, you stick to your knitting – you do what you can do”
  • “Don’t you dare have the temerity to try something new – you know you’re a loser, you’re bound to fail.”
  • “Best you just go and have a beer eh and forget all about it?”

But why are we so afraid of failure? Failure is the first step on the road to success. It doesn’t matter which successful person you interview, you will always find that there is failure written in their story. In fact, many successful people literally “celebrate” their failures. Here, I particularly like the comment of Robert T Kiyosaki (Author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad); “Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure, also avoid success.”

If you are to be the greatest you that you can possibly be – you need to overcome this fear of failure. Whatever it is you want to do – you first of all need to make a start, and from then on the key is persistence. Don’t be off-put by the ego that keeps telling you, you will fail! There is an old truism – “if you don’t run the race; you can never be the winner!”

And even if you don’t succeed initially; then you will have at least gained two wonderful things:

1/ You will have the immense satisfaction of having tried something you have always wanted to try. You will have given it your absolute best and you will have grown as a person. None of these things is to be dismissed lightly, they are all part of the building blocks of success; and


2/ You will have so much more experience than you had before. The mistakes you made this particular time will serve you well in your future projects. I guarantee you, you won’t make those same mistakes again. As Heston Blumenthal said; “I learned more from my one failed restaurant than from all the successful one’s put together.” 

So don’t let the fear of failure cripple you and consign you to living a life too ordinary. You were born to excel – you were born to be great. Just take that first step down the path that you long to venture along and embrace any failures as part of the process of growing your greatness.     

What other fears hold us back from achieving our true potential in life?

A big one for many people is the fear of ridicule – of what other people will say about them and what they are doing. In this new, highly connected world it seems that for many people “appearing” good to others is their definition of their success or happiness. Why is this so? Success and happiness start and end with love – the love of one person – YOU FOR YOURSELF! Truly, what does it matter what others think of you?

The biggest problem I encounter is that instead of people loving themselves for who they are – a unique individual with talents and gifts to express – they indulge in fruitless and debilitating episodes of low self-worth and burnt out self-esteem, and then have to seek validation for themselves, from others.

If we truly love ourselves and embrace our own uniqueness with passion, then why should we need validation from anyone else? “To thine own self be true.” If we are going to spend our lives seeking acceptance/approval from others and seeking their plaudits then we will waste so many opportunities to experience the joys of life that make us happy and can fill us with bliss. Fear of what others may think or say is extremely limiting and can paralyze us from action.

YOU deserve better than that! You deserve to fulfil your own dreams and desires, not someone else’s perception of who you should be, or what you should do. Take control of your thoughts and actions, your own destiny and live for you – forget about what others have to say. The time they spend trying to drag other’s down and limit other’s potential is wasting their own opportunities to grow and experience everything that this amazing life has to offer. Don’t fall into the trap of pandering to their small-minded needs. Go out there and be the best you can be; doing the things you want to do. Dream Big and Aim High, feel the fear and do it anyway.  

The final fear I want to cover today is also a biggie for many people – the fear of the unknown; what the future might hold.

First and foremost, you need to understand that the unknown is somewhere out there, in the future. The only thing you can do to control the future is what you do TODAY – here and now.

If you focus your mind on all the potential problems and pitfalls that the future may hold for you – that is exactly what your future WILL hold. You will actually attract to yourself the very things you want to avoid.

You need to accept that you live in the PRESENT, not the past or the future and whatever you think about and do NOW, will be what your future, manifests in your life. Acceptance is key, you can’t change what has happened, but the thing you can manage is your reaction. Deep down we also need to re-program our beliefs, to say to ourselves – okay, this is tough, but what’s the lesson here for me? Then let it go, sometimes things only become clear with the passage of time, but chances are there something way better waiting for you just around the corner. So, have faith, believe in yourself and that the realization of your dreams awaits.

At any given point in time we are exactly where we are meant to be; doing exactly what we are meant to be doing; with the people we are meant to be doing it with. Don’t let the fear of the future cripple your ambitions. Embrace the present – be the person you want to be today, and tomorrow will take care of itself.      

I want to end today with a quote from one of my favourite authors, in fact the woman probably recognized as the one person who introduced the “Law of Attraction” to the masses – Rhonda Byrne. She says in her book The Power; “You were meant to have an amazing life – you were not born to struggle… what then would be the point of your life?”

I couldn’t agree more. We all have within us the potential to achieve greatness, whether it be just within ourselves, within our families, within our community or indeed within the world. We are not limited by anything except our own choices and our own fears.

 

TIME TO NOTCH UP INTO THE FEARLESS GEAR THEN!

 

You may wish to visit some of our previous blogs. The last four are listed below: 

Karma – More Than You Thought? 

Attitude Upgrade – Part 2

Attitude Upgrade – Part 1 

Karma – It’s Gonna Get Ya! 

 

Spirit of Prophecy - Audio Book

Be sure to pop on over to my fiction section of this website where you can check out my amazing novel; Spirit of Prophecy, which explores, in a fictional narrative, many of the topics I cover in my blogs. If you love “whodunits”, or you’re crazy about horses, or you just like a paranormal twist in your novels, Spirit of Prophecy is just the book for you. http://bit.ly/2LeRJ84

As discussed in my earlier post about Karma, the law of Karma is grounded firmly in Newton’s law of cause and effect: for every action there is a reaction. However, whether you totally realise this or not, when you reincarnated and came here to Earth you enrolled in a sort of spiritual classroom. There are lessons to be learned, exams to be passed before you can advance up the grades, and if you fail, then guess what you get held back a year for a re-sit. Everything that shows up in your life here on Earth is part of that education and learning process, however, unlike certain Buddhist concepts we are not supposed to inescapably suffer. Yes, life is/can be tough, but the suffering is all relative. Karmic debts are intended to be paid gracefully, without bitterness or resentment. Take responsibility. Firstly accept, then forgive and finally atone.

Just to be clear, it is our personal responsibility to clear our karma, in so far as tempting as it may appear, there are no magic mantra’s which enable us to delegate this responsibility. Where some modern religious groups imply that if you ‘say the words: “I accept the Lord Jesus as my saviour and ask for forgiveness.’’ That somehow absolves you, it does not and it’s a sort of spiritual laziness and playing hooky with your homework. We are supposed to seek the truth, our own truth which comes from learning our own lessons and atoning our mistakes.

There are many people and indeed animals with whom we enter into karmic contracts. Some people disagree about animals having souls and re-incarnating, but I have had experience of two of my horses re-incarnating and indeed this is the central premise of my metaphysical crime novel Spirit of Prophecy. I hold back on judgement as to whether or not animals can reincarnate as humans and visa versa as I really can’t comment on that. What I can say though is that all animals feel pain, want love, compassion and dogs, for instance, epitomise a consistency of unconditional love that is difficult for us humans to achieve, even the devout and those of us on a spiritual path seeking awakening and enlightenment.  My daughters are both vegan and have recently converted me [Watch out for my VEGAN WITCH blog posts] but actually the guy who really convinced me was Earthling Ed, check out some of his talks on YOUTUBE or maybe check out his restaurant Unity Diner in North London, UK. Ed is so persuasively reasonable when he points out that all animals feel pain, and whilst dog lovers around the world are mortified by the dog slaughter and consumption in Seoul, that is their choice and custom. Pigs are more intelligent than dogs, they are killed for consumption out of sight and suddenly materialise on the diner’s plate. How is that okay then? I came lately to the logical conclusion that it is not.

With regards to how to balance your karma, energy work, [e.g. Akashic Record level] and clearing [ [e.g. Ancestral] can be awesome but as with the Jesus analogy above, we need to park it and then go along for the ride and fully participate. Negativity and blocks accumulate at a number of different levels:

  1. At the ancestral/family lineage level, [and that’s proven to pass down in our DNA by way of cellular memories.]
  2. At the past lives level.
  3. At the Inner Child level which also benefits from release and forgiveness work.
  4. At the current day EGO level – yes, we have to watch out so that instead of clearing the above, we don’t go accumulating new karma to keep us endlessly on the treadmill, right?

Remember everything is ENERGY, so go benefit from any energy work eg Reki, shamanic healing that you feel resonates with you. [If you’d like my personal recommendations for Akashic Record and Ancestral clearing work, feel free to drop me an email.]

Back to you more actively balancing your karma, which needs to be done in conjunction with positive and beneficial energy practices. When something severely negative happens to you, realise that you inflicted the same kind of pain/trauma on another [most likely the same person] in a previous existence, or you wouldn’t be on the receiving end now. You may protest your totally astonishment and innocence and try to blame/shame the other person. Work through your anger/grief/pain – release it, that’s usual, get it out of your system – whatever it takes but just don’t dwell on it. Instead without bitterness or resentment towards the other person – let it go – step up to a new level of sincere and genuine acceptance that you set this into motion yourself in a previous life. You probably won’t recall the circumstances, but often on reflection we see patterns, recurring themes which just keep repeating themselves. Admit your mistake, don’t try to hide – it will always catch up with you in the end and often with a big rebound effect. Better grasp the nettle rather than sweep things under the carpet to fester, I feel. After all that chip on your shoulder will simply weigh you down. We can’t stop all problems checking in, but we can stop them from over-staying their welcome.

 

You may wish to check out our previous blogs on this and similar topics. The last four blogs are listed below: 

Attitude Upgrade Part 2

Attitude Upgrade Part 1 

Karma It’s Gonna Get Ya! 

An Attitude of Gratitude

Many of the issues I discuss in these blogs are also covered in a fictional narrative in my exciting, murder/mystery, Spirit of Prophecy. Do be sure to pop over to another part of my website and take a look. If you love horses, I know you’ll adore Spirit of Prophecy. Come take a look: http://bit.ly/2LeRJ84

Carrying on from yesterday’s post about aligning your attitude with your dreams, I’d like to give you some practical steps on how you might achieve this.

There are as many ways of beginning this journey in search of your dreams, as there are “self-help” gurus out there offering to help you on your journey. On that I’ll discuss in more detail but for now I just say: always listen to your intuition, trust your heart- your-gut- your own inner voice: no one knows your truth better than you.

Now I’ll just share with you the simple method I use, which does get results if repeated regularly- it takes 30 days to create a new habit after all. I thank and credit Andy Shaw of “Creating a Bug-Free Mind,” and Janet Attwood [The Passion Test] and Marci Shimoff [your Year of Miracles] for the essence of this system, because they taught it to me:

1/ Get very clear in your own mind what it is you want: [INTENTION]

What are the 3 specific intentions that you want to appear? What time frame are you aiming for, 6 months or a year? Get yourself an inspiring journal and write your intentions down. There is something decidedly effective about expressing your thoughts on paper.

2/ Live your dream inside of your head; make it a reality for you. Or if you’re more of a visual sort then create a VISION BOARD – remember to think big. [ATTENTION]

This really is the fun part of the whole process. It involves using your imagination to really feel, create and experience your dreams come true. Create a mini-video where you’re the star, and the producer too and feel how amazing your life is. Notice who you are with, the sights, sounds, wonderful smells and so on. Each morning when you first awaken or last thing at night before you go to sleep [depending on your preferred bio-realm] RUN your video with a grin on your face and within, and then say your intentions silently, or out loud – as you prefer. For example:

*I am fully loved and supported, and;

*I give and receive love and compassion in abundance.

*I am magnetizing financial freedom and plentitude and have more than enough so I can contribute to assist others.

*I am connecting with and expressing my passions with vibrance, vitality and infinite vision.

The focusing on the present, ‘I am…’ anchors your intention in the NOW, and no matter what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow, that’s what counts. Then aim to notice what synchronicities show up during the day – how you are moving forwards, where things are becoming less stuck and how are you moving into alignment with your aims? Jot down your observations in your journal along with the date and your feelings/thoughts at the time.

It’s not just enough to dream it, to experience it inside our minds, we also have to actually do some work and move forward in order to bring our reality into the world. Again, it is important not to look in too much detail at the HOW will I achieve my goal.

Generally, its about avoiding extremes- those who simply nurture positive fantasies of the future sunny uplands, sitting on their butt, without taking action tend to flounder. Whereas those with some defined goals for the future tend to fare well, especially when coupled with a measure of pragmatic realism and resilience.

3/ Relax, breathe and believe that it’s already here: [NO TENSION]

Just focus on one thing that will bring you closer to where you want to be. Rhonda Byrne has a very good quote that describes this perfectly. “You can only EVER take one step at a time, so that’s all you actually need to do – take the next step.”

Above all give it time and be ready to receive. Release resistance and the urge to try control outcomes, just be open and trusting.


The beauty of following this system is; you don’t know exactly how you will succeed, but the Universe does, and it will lead you gently down the right path to success. 

I really hope this simple system of making your dreams into a reality gives you some inspiration to try it in your own lives. Remember; “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, either way you are right!” GIVE IT A GO AND FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!       

Before I finish today, I’d just like to give you some quick and simple tips on ways to change your attitude from the negative to the positive:

1/ At some point each day, ideally as part of your morning routine/ritual spend 5 minutes listing in your head all things you can be and indeed aim to be grateful for. As with your intentions, jot them down in your journal later on.

2/ Read, listen to and watch less news. In fact, why not do what I did and have a total media ban for a month. You’ll be amazed at how much the negative news has been subtly impacting on your attitude and thoughts.

3/ When you are walking somewhere, smile at people, for absolutely no reason other than you want to share your good mood and attitude.

4/ We live in a world of duality – for every negative circumstance, there is ALWAYS a positive opportunity. Look for the positive in everything and just don’t focus on the negative.

5/ Pay absolutely no mind to anything anyone says about you or does to you. Their opinions cannot hurt you – only your reaction can. Just turn away and be happy and proud of who you really are.

6/ Get into the habit of performing small “random acts of kindness” every single day. They make the recipients day and they also make you feel absolutely awesome. It can be something as simple as standing for a lady or an elderly person on the train or the bus; holding a door open for somebody; or giving a few pesos to an elderly or disabled beggar. It doesn’t matter really because once it becomes an ingrained habit for you, the benefits will surely be seen in your attitude, your thoughts and your actions.

7/ Don’t listen to or spread gossip. Gossip really only hurts one person – YOU! You never know the full story of anyone’s life, so don’t judge them and certainly don’t start or pass on rumors or gossip about them. There is only one person in this world you can control and that is you.

There are many other little tips, but that’s a good start, and I’m sure you can come up with many more. In fact, please feel free to leave a comment on this blog, with your ideas and tips. I’m always excited to get new ideas.  

 

 

 

 

You may wish to check out the previous blogs on this and similar topics. The last four blogs are listed below: 

Attitude Upgrade Part 1

Karma It’s Gonna Get Ya! 

An Attitude of Gratitude

Three-Day-Eventing – A Horse’s Pentathlon – What’s That All About, Then? 

Do take a look at my debut novel: Spirit of Prophecy. You will find many of the topics that I cover in these blogs intricately woven into a wonderful “whodunit” mystery tale. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/2LeRJ84

 

Spirit of Prophecy - Audio Book

  Following on from the post about Gratitude:

‘Each one of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.’

                                                Albert Schweitzer

 

 

Today, we will look at the role that attitude plays in both improving your own life and the lives of those that you surround yourself with; your loved ones, your friends, your work colleagues and everyone else that you interact with on a daily basis.

Your thoughts and actions are like ripples on a pond, spreading out, influencing and affecting everyone around you. Most important though your attitude affects YOU. It affects how you feel, how you think and how you act. If you want to succeed at anything you need to ensure your attitude is spot on. Henry Ford said it best, when he said; “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, then either way you are right!” If you truly want to achieve something, especially something beyond your normal comfort zone, if you think you can do it; you’re well on the way to success, but if you start off the whole process with a list of reasons why you can’t achieve your goal – then guess what? You won’t! ATTITUDE IS PARAMOUNT!

The key to success is belief coupled with resilience. If life throws you off track – which it will on occasions- then you can develop the mind-set that says; Ok, so now I get back up, dust myself off, see what the lesson is for me in this, and then I course correct.’ Most of us desperately want to believe in ourselves, but we allow that incessant little critter inside our head (our ego) to convince us that we are just simply not good enough to do it. You know what I’m talking about – you come up with an idea, something you really want to try, and pretty soon that little voice inside your head gives you 101 reasons why you can’t do it – you’re too old, you’re not smart enough, you don’t have enough resources, you don’t know enough about it…and so on and so on, ad infinitum. What your ego is trying to do is protect you from the pain of failure, retain the status quo, and keep you as it sees it, in the familiar ‘safety zone’ of the known.

The status quo is simple, it’s comfortable, it’s easy, so your ego tries its very best to keep you in check at every opportunity and remind you of your perceived shortcomings in order to ‘protect you.’ What we need to understand is that our ego is NOT us – it is not the real you, it is merely a construct or collection of pre-programmed ideas, concepts and belief patterns that were drilled into us from our very earliest days, and often these have negative connotations and are limiting. You may remember your parents, your teachers or your friends saying things like; “Oh rich people are just lucky, or even worse, all rich people must be crooks; you need to find a stable career, something to support your family; leaders are born, not made – some of us are just meant to be followers; only the really smart people can succeed in life; or perhaps the worst of all, you just have to accept your lot in life, there’s nothing you can do about it” As we grow up if we accept these things as being gospel then we limit our opportunities and life accordingly. Sometimes just singing to the same old tune keeps you stuck and contracted instead of being open to change and resonating with awesome new possibilities.

 You have infinite power inside you to change anything in your life and in your circumstances – life does not have to happen to you; you can make life happen for you, and it all begins with your attitude.

I love this quote from Rhonda Byrne’s book “The Hero”; “It isn’t necessary to have big dreams, but if you don’t have big dreams; big dreams can’t come true.” One of the first things that happens when we begin to get “ground down” by life is that we lose the inspiration and ability to dream. Without dreams we are just mere shells of the amazing, awesome human beings that we were meant to be. Dreams, aspirations, visions and goals and expressing our gifts are what make us unique in this world.

Everyone can benefit from big, wild, seemingly impossible dreams – it’s what gives us a sense of purpose, of fulfillment, and of wonder. If you reach for the stars, even if you don’t always make it, you’ll surely come closer to heaven. We need to remind ourselves that this is OUR life; not our parent’s life, not our bosses’ life, not our children’s life, not even our spouses’ life – but it is OUR life and its up to us to work toward making our dreams come true, for our own sake and for the planet.

The main key to achieving your dreams, is to actually start out on the road to achieving them –THE WHAT OR THE WHERE, not in trying to figure out in great detail how to get there. Whether you believe it is The Law of Attraction, the Power of the Universe, Karma, or just plain good luck doesn’t actually matter; the reality is that when you are following your dreams and approaching life with the right attitude; the people, the circumstances and the opportunities WILL appear in your life and will show you the way.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow and catch Part 2 of this enthralling article on how to upgrade your attitude. I’ll have some amazingly practical steps to impart to you on just how you can make your attitude align with your dreams. You won’t want to miss that.

You may want to check out our previous blogs. Listed below: 

An Attitude of Gratitude

Three-Day-Eventing: A Horse’s Pentathlon? What’s That All About, Then? 

Money and Your Wallet – A Love Story More Tragic Than Twilight

Wealth Mentor/Best Selling Author – Jill Hughes

In the meantime why not take a look at my debut novel: Spirit of Prophecy. You will find many of the topics that I cover in these blogs intricately woven into a wonderful “whodunit” mystery tale. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/2LeRJ84

Spirit of Prophecy - Audio Book