WHEN YOU BELIEVE...

The other day, I woke up to the sound of rain pelting my windows, and shadows giving my room that mysterious aura of the semiconscious state--that thin veil between reality and dreams. My body however, was on high alert, every prior injury giving me a shout out in one grand role call. My shoulder, in particular, seemed anxious for some recognition.

I wasn’t at all surprised, as I had at one time torn it out of its socket and due to a misdiagnosis, had walked around with it locked in a strange position for months. I pondered this for a moment... The months of sitting around going from one doctor to another, bringing my test results with me and always the same response based on those results. That response? “The test results are negative. There is no permanent damage to the shoulder.”…  Then finally, after three months and very much motivated by agony and a shriveling arm, my decision to go to a surgeon to be told an hour later I needed surgery immediately.

I had spent two hours in surgery and I’d needed six months of physical therapy to gain complete use of my arm and shoulder once again. And all because of repeating the same behavior and expecting a different conclusion.

There were so many lessons for me in that experience. First one? Go with your gut. If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. The second lesson?  If you keep getting the same conclusion , perhaps you need a different approach or you need to ask different questions. Last lesson? If you wait around for someone to rescue you, you could wait a very long time. You must take care of and be responsible for yourself and your well being.

Those lessons got me thinking about the law of attraction. I had recently decided to really embrace this concept. Instead of always asking myself why something is happening to me or wishing for a different outcome, I had decided that it was time to manifest my desires. As I got out of bed, I realized that that day was going to be one of my first tests.

I turned on the radio to hear of torrential rain and flooding in the weather forecast. My first inclination was to envision poor visibility, snarled traffic and accidents everywhere. It was almost enough to make me cancel my plans for the day and crawl back under my covers. But I had waited so long for some of the very important appointments I had scheduled that day. And my gut told me another story. “Listen” It whispered. And I did. I listened to the radio while I got dressed and had breakfast. And then I listened some more as I cleaned up. There were no reports of accidents at all. So I put on my jacket, grabbed my car keys and headed out.

Prior to today, I would have plopped myself down into the car, my thoughts preoccupied with the difficulties of driving in the rain. I would have expected to creep along, tense and frustrated at my slow progress. And I would have envisioned long waits at my appointments. In essence, I would have created a very negative environment.

But on this day I decided to try that different approach. The sky was ominous but I visualized how I wanted the day to go…Timely Doctors’ appointments, no traffic delays,  and to end the day, a stop at the Mall for the best haircut I’d have to date. Then I put in a CD I hadn’t listened to in a very long time. The music was uplifting with very positive messages. And last but not least, I repeated to myself, “I am going to have a great day!”

I took my time, sang along to the tunes and before long I was moving from one appointment to the next. And though some took longer than others, I took advantage of the wait time by striking up conversations with others who were waiting as well. And I actually became enlightened on a few topics. Soon enough, I was done and on my way to the Mall. Sitting at my hairdresser’s station, I watched as she went to work with an ease I had never seen before. It was probably the fastest haircut I'd ever had. And when she was all finished I had to laugh. For it WAS truly the best haircut she had ever given me.

To make matters even better, on the way home the clouds dissipated and the sun appeared as if out of nowhere, like the sudden glimmer of a flashlight. If I’d never believed in manifesting before, I certainly was a believer now.

So far this is what I have learned…

1) In the words of Yoda, “ Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try…”. And to that end, my mantra has become: “I CAN”. 
           
2) In order to manifest what you want you need to surround yourself with the positive…Uplifting movies, music, books, etc…Positive thoughts are like a whirlpool. They swirl around and around sweeping up more positives as they go.  

3) When I begin to have doubts or when I feel negativity creeping in I repeat the following words,  “I choose to be happy.” For I truly believe happiness is a choice. Yes, there will be times when sadness cannot be avoided. But I have the choice to submerse myself in it or move past it.

4) I ask myself, “Just what does my Universe look like?”  OR “What do I really want?” And then I start creating an environment to welcome all the things I would like to have in my Universe.

5) If something is weighing me down, I need to let it go!…I tell myself that I refuse to let negativity into my space. I try to imagine sweeping my space clean of any cobwebs that clutter it or slow me down.

6) I try to find something to be grateful for everyday even if all I can think of is the fact that I woke up that particular day. So many of the good things in our lives are truly taken for granted.

Now I don’t profess to be any sort of expert on the law of attraction but in the words of William Arthur Ward, “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.” And I, for one, am truly beginning to believe!