Wishing you Freedom and Happiness

It's the fourth of July here in the US. A day to celebrate our freedom.

I'm going to celebrate today by being truly appreciative of all the freedoms I enjoy, something I don't give much thought to otherwise. Freedom in the US is much like water to fish, you just don't notice it until it's gone.

I deeply and truly appreciate....

Being free to move anywhere I want, whenever I want. I can move to California or New York, Mexico or Canada, to a Caribbean island or to Europe.

Being free to freely access information all over the world via satellite television, local stations, the Internet and telephones.

Being free to choose my own relationships, to love whomever I will, and to marry as I will or not.

Being free to walk out in public without hiding myself, my body, my femininity and without a male presence.

Being free to camp, hike and kayak by myself whenever I want

Being free to practice my own philosophy or religion in my own way without repercussions and with tolerance from my friends, family and neighbors, to say nothing of the government

Being free to have children or not have children as I wish

Being free to send my children to public or private schools or even to teach them at home

Being free to speak out publicly, to write editorials, to write blogs, to produce videos, to publish a newsletter saying whatever I wish whenever I wish without censorship

Being free to support my own causes with my energy, time, and money all over the world even when unpopular or in a minority

Being free to drive myself or to take public transportation wherever I want in relative safety

Being free to ride my bicycle at midnight if I wish without curfews

Being free to move about my city, state and country without restrictions whenever and wherever I wish...ah, sweet travel!

Being free to choose my own career, to be recognized in my field as a professional, to be paid what my services are worth, to change careers as I wish or to stay home if that is my desire

Being free to vote (or not vote) for my governing leaders and to vote as my head and heart dictate

Being free to change direction in my life whenever I feel the need

Being free to dress fashionably, unfashionably, to set new trends or to defy trends without repercussions

Being free to make as much money as my ability, my education and my desire will allow

Being free to make mistakes, fail and to learn

Being free to read books and magazines of my choice, no matter the content

Being free to affiliate with whomever I wish and to join clubs and organizations

Having choices in my life due to the incredible abundance in which I live

And finally, for today, knowing that freedom can be lost and is worth investing our time and energy for both here and around the world.

Highest joy and deepest peace to all of you!

Stop Complaining 101

Have you ever noticed how often we complain? We complain about our situation, our spouse, our children, our jobs, our city, our world, our politicians, our street, the weather, and so on.

I recently went to a spiritual retreat with my Buddhist teacher, Lama Ole Nydahl. He is a living example of everything I wish to be. I have never, not even once, seen him complain about anything. I have been with him many times, sometimes for a week at a time and have never witnessed him in any kind of negativity. That is what I wish to live like.

But what do I do? Do I practice being in a positive state all the time? Do I emulate my teacher so I can become more like him? No, I complain!

Driving home from this retreat, I really began to notice how often I have a negative thought or negative comment about something. Here are a few examples:

"Look at all this flat land (in north Texas and southern Colorado). Who would want to live here? I think it's ugly."

"Wow, it's too hot out here." "Wow, it's too cold out here." "Wow, it's too windy."

When sitting in my brand new, air conditioned, fully loaded hybrid Camry, I "wonder why they put this button here, it would be lots more efficient over there."

"I think this steak is overcooked." "I think my Sprite is watery." "I wish I had more salad dressing." "They didn't give me enough ice."

My ego seems to be a never ending stream of negative commentary on everything around me. And I am basically a very positive person!! Much of the above was not expressed out loud, but the thoughts were still there.

I know a man who is probably the most negative person I've ever met. In the many hours I've spent with him, my guess is that 95% of what he says is negative. I ask, who are your friends and what are they like? He spends thirty minutes telling me how bad they are, how they are negative and unfriendly, how they have betrayed him, how they really aren't that interesting, and so on. Then I ask about his job, and he responds at length about how he doesn't like the people, the work is too hard or boring, the office is too small, it's too long a commute, and so on. Even his hobby which he says he loves, is expressed with negativity. He doesn't have the right tools and supplies, the outcome of his projects are bad, unskilled, crummy, and no one respects his hobby. And he wonders why he is so unhappy!

So I've decided to stop complaining. I am starting with making sure that I do not express what I think when it is negative. And I am starting to catch myself when a negative thought comes up. For example, in my thoughts about the flat land above, I immediately thought "yes, the land is flat, but I'm so grateful that farmers want to live here so I can have food to eat." And I actually felt the gratitude immediately. So that is transforming negativity into something positive. I expect that this will take a lot of practice, but I think I am on my way to being like my teacher in at least one aspect. No more complaining.

Wanting What You Have

We are often told to feel and express gratitude as a way of being happier and a way of practicing the law of attraction. The law of attraction simply says that what you think and feel is what you get. So it follows that if you are feeling grateful for something you have or something you have experienced, then your thoughts and feelings are positive ones of appreciation, which then create more of the same in your life. For example, if you are very grateful for a loving, kind friend, it sets you up to receive more loving kindness. If you are grateful for the money you have, it sets you up energetically with the Universe to receive more and to have plenty of money. The thoughts and feelings of gratitude are the key to this, not the things you received themselves.

So how does this gratitude thing work? First, when you are feeling gratitude, then you NOT feeling anger, resentment, sadness, or angst of any kind. You are feeling and thinking positive thoughts and feelings. So when you are not feeling the negative emotions, you must be ... happy! Okay, gratitude may not equate to happiness for you, but it is positive. Second, gratitude is one of the highest (most positive) emotions vibrationally that you can have. You've gone straight to a home run, rather than lingering on first base. Third, it is the very opposite of wanting, grasping, feeling lack, needing, feeling greedy, etc. When you feel gratitude, you know in your deepest heart that you have what you want and need and you recognize it through your gratitude.

So how does one generate gratitude? For some of us it comes naturally. Maybe we've been trained that way or maybe it's our nature. But all of us can feel and express gratitude. If it doesn't come naturally, then practice it. I suggest writing out your "gratitudes" each day. At first they may not flow freely. But with practice, they come to mind more easily and you will find that some of the things you "think" you are grateful for, actually generate the emotion of "gratitude". For example, on my list might be "I'm grateful for a steady supply of electricity so that I can write this newsletter, that my husband makes smoothies each morning and serves them to me in a tall glass, that I have a top notch computer, that one of my grandchildren is able to visit me often, and so on." Now some of these do not elicit much emotion, they are just thoughts. For example, the gratitude for electricity was a thought, but didn't change my emotions; however, the longer I thought about it and what it would mean to do without electricity, to be in the dark, to not have all the tools we use daily (refrigerator, computer, phone, lights), the more grateful I become for it. The thoughts generated the emotion. The thought about my grandson generates an immediate emotion of gratitude. So from these examples, you can see that some gratitudes you may have to play with a bit to actually feel the gratitude. The important thing to remember is that we must FEEL the gratitude not just think it. It is the feeling of appreciation that is the key to feeling happier and to having more of what we really want.

Flow Mojo

One of my desires is to stay in the flow as much as possible. To have ease in my life and have things just flow, without major obstacles, and stops. Everything can be thought of as a flow of energy. Money is a flow of energy. Love is a flow of energy. Creativity and creative endeavors are flows of energy. These flows can be encouraged or discouraged by our emotions, thoughts and actions. Let's look for just a moment on how to encourage the flow, to strengthen or amp up the flow so that abundance can be ours right now.

Money: If money is tight, you're feeling the lack of money and resources to fulfill your dreams, then your reality of money is following your feelings and thoughts. Your thoughts and emotions of lack and "not enough" are causing the very thing you fear the most. Your worries are playing themselves out by bringing you more to worry about. So, take a breather. Sit down and write the things you have right now and can feel appreciation for, especially around money. Examples might be, my rent is paid up, I have a savings account with a positive balance, I have a job that brings in money every week, I paid off a loan last year, whatever comes to mind. Remember, it's best if you can "feel" gratitude rather than just stay in your head "thinking" the appreciation. Now the next step is to take action. Prime the money flow pump by being generous. Donate extra books to the library or clothes to the local women's shelter. Give money to a charity. If you can swing it, tithe money to a group that involves your heart (spiritual works for me). While you are doing these things over the next few weeks or months, each time you feel tight or worried, give a little. Give without expectation of getting something back. Give because you already have abundance and can give.

Love: Love is a flow of energy, positive and life-giving. When we don't feel loved or don't feel like we are being appreciated, we tighten up and close off this energy. It becomes blocked. By love I mean any positive feelings about another person. It can be friendship, inspirational, romantic, or familial. Again, sit and write about what you do have already. It might include: I have a husband who takes care of my car every month, I have two best friends who have given me support, my sister loves me, and so on. Include the kind of detail you need to make you "feel" the gratitude. Then give love. The easiest way to get the flow going, to prime the pump, is to give it. Do something special for a friend or a neighbor. Be kind to a stranger or to someone who is down and out. Say heartfelt thank yous to your doctor, florist, postman and grocery store clerk. Every interaction can be completed with love (positive feelings). Again do these actions without expectation of return because you have an abundance of love and can give it away freely.

Prime the pump by giving.

Wishing You Enough in the New Year

I was sent this quote this morning from a simplicity group I belong to. I'm hoping it will speak to you so I'm passing it on.

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye."

Here's to wishing you peace, love and enough in 1008!

Achieve through Receiving

In aiming your thoughts and emotions toward your goals, that is, by using the law of attraction, one area often trips us up. Receiving or allowing. The steps to working with the law of attraction are:

• Clearly know what you want.
• Use your thoughts and emotions to positively and clearly make it real in your mind.
• Be grateful for all that you already have, especially in line with what you desire.
• Think, feel and act as if you already had what you desire.
• Let go and allow the Universe to work on your behalf, let go of the how.
• Watch for clues from the Universe or God that will let you know what actions to take.
• Take the actions.
• As what you desire starts to show up in your life, receive it, allow it.
• Be grateful for each and every thing that shows up as you desire.

Many of us are able to clearly see what we desire, are able to stay positive and visualize, but than stumble when it comes to receiving. I have a personal story to illustrate this. A friend of mine keeps a dream binder in which she has pictures of all the things she wants, some material, some intangible. In this book, she had a picture of a gorgeous Rolex watch. I was in a class where the leader, my friend and fellow coach, held up her arm. On it was a beautiful Rolex watch. She asked the group, "Want to know how I got my watch?" We all nodded and said yes. She went on to say, "A friend called me up and said that she was getting too fat to wear her watch and wanted to know if I wanted it. I said yes!" We all looked surprised. She then asked "which of you would have accepted the watch, this free gift of the Universe?" We all said we would have said no to the gift. Some would have felt guilt, or felt there were strings, or felt they couldn't wear such a nice watch, all sorts of reasons. Talk about not receiving!

Of course, it's obvious when you think about it, it won't matter how good you are at affirmations, at thinking and feeling positively, at visualizing and journaling about your desires or at taking informed actions as provided to you by the Universe, if you cannot receive what is given. No where in the law of attraction does it say you get to pick how your desire will show up. No where does it say, it will come to you in a way you can accept and expect. We do not get to choose the how, we only need to watch and say yes. We receive and allow, easy with the flow of good coming to us, no matter its form.

Practice today saying yes when offered something. A cup of coffee, a ride to work, help with something. Say yes and receive.

If you have a story to share about receiving, please leave a comment.

All contect copyrighted, 2007, Mary Anne Fields and Life Unfolds. All rights reserved.