(Written in November, 2004)
I’ve been handed a bit of spiritual wealth, and I don’t want to just sit on it. I want to share. In the wake of disappointing world events, life goals and dreams that still have not yet taken shape, and other uncertainties and longing…I want to offer this hope. However, this sort of spirituality may not be your thing—so in the words of one of my favorite 12-Step sayings, just “take what you like and leave the rest.”
First of all, I suppose one has to accept (or keep an open mind to) the fact that all living beings “vibrate” at certain levels. Think about how you feel when you’re very depressed and low…do you ever notice how the energy around you is almost cold? And when you’re experiencing lots of joy and feeling on top of the world—it’s warm and buzzing and seems to radiate all around you?
According to some people, when a person is in a state of negativity, pessimism, anger, hopelessness and depression, they vibrate at such low levels that it blocks desirable things from coming into their life. Some people also believe that energy follows intention, so wherever one places their thoughts—that is where energy flows in his or her life. For example, “I’ll never be able to afford…” keeps you poor. “It’s no use…there are no good men/women left...” either keeps you alone, or with a mate who is not good for you. “Guess I’m gonna be stuck with this [insert ailment] all my life…” keeps you suffering from that particular ailment.
Belief is a powerful thing. You’ve heard of self-fulfilling prophecies, right?
Zen awareness principles encourage us to practice staying in the moment, and not project into the future with troublesome “what if’s.” I’ve heard it said that 97% of what you worry about never happens, and is beyond your control anyway, so why waste that energy? But we do it. It’s sometimes difficult NOT to do it.
So as long as we’re projecting—how about projecting something really good? Contemplate how it feels when you can afford something. When you’re making a huge bank deposit, or actually giving away excess to some charitable cause…hook up to that feeling of joy and satisfaction and prosperity. Notice how it feels when you picture yourself walking through your new, beautiful house that you’ve always dreamed about. If you’re still looking for the right mate to accompany you on your life journey…just get in tune with how it feels to come home to someone you love, to curl up with them at night, to walk hand in hand…and when they look at you, think of how it feels to see your love reflected in their eyes...tap into those feelings and just be with them for a few minutes. If someone were watching you do this from across the room, I’m certain they would see you start to glow.
It’s because when you hook up to feelings such as joy, bliss, abundance, and peace, you vibrate at extremely high levels…and a cosmic door opens wide as you tell the universe, “Hell yes! I accept this into my life…bring it!”
Let me offer some real-life examples of mass-negativity being contagious. If people in a workplace start thinking, “Oh God, it’s winter…and flu season. I just know I’m gonna get sick,” watch how fast people start coming down with colds and flu. Belief—and especially mass belief…is a powerful thing. This is why I was really worried when people started emailing floods of negative, hopeless and dire thoughts, opinions, and articles after the election. I don’t mean to get all Pollyanna on you—but if everyone believes it will all be hell….well…
Why not contemplate a world where things are happening the way you want them to happen. Belief is half the battle…if we can envision it, if we can feel how it feels, then it will make getting out and making it happen that much easier. But I honestly believe the shift in consciousness is necessary first. Away from the negative and despairing.
It’s a matter of re-training our thought patterns. If we tend to give up easily, in an Eeyore-like fashion, then we will stay in an Eeyore mode. If we constantly focus on what’s wrong with things, things will always seem broken.
A word of caution:
Try to avoid getting swept up in waves of mass negativity, whether it be news reports, people standing around bitching about something, or political emails telling you “this is what’s going to happen if so-and-so...” As far as we know, no one has the market of truth cornered, and not even the best psychics can predict everything. Create your OWN reality…a reality of hope. Things are not always as bad as they seem, and you have the power to say so…kind of like the scene in The Matrix when Keanu Reeves holds up his hand to the bullets flying at him and simply says, “No.” Sometimes it’s interesting to be in the midst of an afore-mentioned gripe session, and throw in a couple of positive “what if” seeds at them. (“What if the economy makes a vast improvement this year? What if [insert current president]’s policies just happen to solve the problem? What if you got an even better job than the one you lost? What if you saw the amount of terrorist attacks in the world begin to decrease?) Sure, they will come back at you with the typical “Yeah, right,” and “Dream on,” responses, but at least you’ve planted another image in their heads, however temporary.
Life is short enough as it is, and as precious as it is, I certainly don’t want to waste one drop worrying or despairing or refusing to believe that I can’t have things that make my heart joyful and help me thrive in this world. I can. And so can you.
I wish you all the best on your life journey!
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