I Love a Snowy Night (Borrowed from Eddie Rabbit!)

Yesterday was the winter solstice here in the northern hemisphere. I celebrate the winter solstice as "New Years" basically. It's the shortest day of the year and acts sort of like the "New Moon" of the YEAR. I worked on planning out some intentions for the next year, but mostly I just spent the day being thankful with my family.

It was only like 15 degrees all day yesterday. There was a new, glittery blanket of snow just deep enough to cover the tips of the grass and thanks to a minor ice storm that blew through a couple days before, all of the tiniest limbs and biggest branches where coated in ice and sparkled so brightly, with such light, it almost seemed they were glowing from within. The wind whipped the dry grainy snow up into little frozen vortexes of white iridescence that danced in a pirouette from one end of my yard to the other. Through it all, the sun shone brightly, illuminating this day of fresh beginning and reflecting it's magnificence off every speck of my frozen wonderland making it almost too spectacular to behold.

"What a wonderful first day of winter", I thought. "It's so breathtaking, it's almost as though someone planned it this way." And I chuckled to myself :)

Today it is 10 degrees. The wind is gone, but the beautiful tree limbs remain. It has snowed about 3 feet in the last 11 hours. It continues to flutter to the ground in BIG, fat, lazily circling flakes. Still the sun shines.
There's been a number of gorgeous, colorful winter birds taking samples of the suet cakes that hang outside the picture window in my dining room. My warrior kitty, Patch, keeps launching herself into the window to catch the feathered visitors, but never succeeds at doing more than startling them into flight. I continue to giggle at her asking yet again, "Didja Getem?!?!" She just meows at me and resumes her place at my left foot. What a perfect start.

Winter is my favorite season, in case ya couldn't tell. LOL I always feel so overwhelmingly happy during the winter solstice. I think it's the new beginning... the fresh start. I looked back at the intentions I had for last year and BOY did I accomplish a LOT! The only things I didn't accomplish are things I'd lost focus on when my desires shifted to make room for new ideas. This year should be totally WILD! I'm REALLY looking forward to all the wonderful things that are headed my way!!

Visit my homepage!

Happy Winter Solstice!

Yesterday was the Winter Solstice.
The first day of winter.
The shortest day of the year.
The new beginning.

The Winter Solstice is like, the new moon for the whole year. It's a great time to set goals and create affirmations, mantras, vision boards or any other creative tool you find useful. If you are familiar with how to work with the Moon's energies, then you already know what I'm talking about.
If this is new to you, I'll explain.

When setting intentions, it's easiest to manifest working with the moon's light. At the New Moon (the day there's NO moon), write a new moon check or set your intentions another way. Work on vision boards or any other creative tools. Focus on your intentions as the moon waxes, or the light of the moon builds. This cycle peaks at the full moon.

Now the moon wanes. The light begins at the full moon and slowly recedes over the next 2 weeks. This isn't a good time for setting or working on intentions. Spend this time cleaning you house and your mind. Write in a gratitude journal and spend time being thankful for what you manifested during the previous 2 weeks and beyond. The end of this cycle is when the moon returns to new and all the light is gone. Then, we begin again.

The Winter Solstice is another natural cycle that works in the same way. The winter solstice marks the day of the year with the least amount of sun light. It's like the new moon of the YEAR. This is a wonderful day to plan and begin your creation. If you miss the exact day, don't worry. The winter solstice energies are present for up to 72 hours beyond the specific day.

This cycle will peak around June 20-23 on the first day of summer, which is the day when the light illuminates the day the longest. This is reminiscent of the full moon. From here, the day gets slowly shorter and the night gets progressively longer. The year wanes until the dark dominates again and we begin again.

I recommend you set your intentions according to the scale you're setting them on. When you set a new moon intention, set an intention you expect to see results on over the next 28-30 days. When you set a winter solstice intention, set an intention you expect to see results on over the next year. This is actually most likely where new year resolutions originated.

The strongest periods of creative energy is during the waxing moon from the winter solstice to the summer solstice because both light building cycles are working WITH you. The equinox in the spring and fall are the points where you should review you intentions and renew your focus upon them.

I don't claim to be an expert on this subject because, believe me, I'm not. I DO know, however, that people of all different religions, creeds, nationalities and belief systems have worked with the moon and solstices for millenia. Because of this fact, I decided to try it for myself. I was skeptical going in, but I noticed a marked difference in my manifestations when I consciously worked with the earths natural cycles. I now observe daily cycles, the monthly moon cycles, the seasonal cycles and the yearly cycles.

There is waxing and waning light and energy all through your life. Why not harness the energy and make it work for you!

Visit my homepage!

The Flow of Energy (Manifestation Techniques)

I think of receiving energy in the form of love, money, goods, services, etc... in a very give and take way. I try to live my life in a way that I aspire to give out only positive, loving energy. I try to consider the energy I'm projecting even BEFORE I allow myself to react to people and situations.

I automatically set a sort of co-intention... no matter what it is I'm intending to manifest. My co-intention is always an intention to spread out back into the Universe the energy I'm manifesting in my original intention.

For example, I manifested free lunch with my friend Kris for her birthday. I'd intended to buy her lunch and have a great time in the face of some monetary imbalance I was experiencing. I thanked God for the beautiful day and asked to be carried through the day in joy and pleasure.

My co-intention was to bring joy and pleasure to all who I encounter along the way. I smiled fondly at everyone I encountered and spoke kindly to all. I shared my joy and pleasure at just being with my good friend on her birthday, eating good food and enjoying each others company. There was a minor mistake with my order. I politely pointed it out and asked if I could get the fish I'd ordered... no big deal, I'll keep the rice and broccoli... but could you please change the fish? Never have I seen an entire restaurant swing into action to make sure a customer was happy. They basically catered especially to ME the whole rest of the time I was there. I never did anything but smile fondly and speak softly with kind words. Then, of course, the manager came out to tell me my lunch was on the house. We were at Red Lobster! It was a $38 check.

I see it ALL as energy... so as long as you're sharing your energy, you're ALWAYS making room for more to flow in. Then all YOU have to do is intend what form you'd like your incoming energy to collapse into.

Don't forget, don't dwell on what you don't want, because that's what you'll be asking your energy to collapse into. If you can have anything you intend to, intend something great!

Visit my homepage!

Manifesting Technique: Impact the World

When you:

• visualize your goals
• think about your goals
• ponder your goals
• work on your vision board
• perform any kind of manifestation meditation or ritual
  

A GREAT way to amp up your vibe (because we all know ya gotta FEEL it!) is to ponder the impact your desire will have on the world.

For instance:
Let's say I've set an intention to manifest one million dollars. This seems to be where people are blocked the most, so it seems like a good place to begin.

Now, if I suddenly had one million unexpected dollars to share with the world.... wait... Share with the world? But, yes.... that's exactly what I'd be doing. Everything I did with my spontaneously manifested one million dollars would be me sharing my monetary energy with the world.

Now I've suddenly gone from a WANTING vibe to a GIVING vibe. That's a good trade because, as Jesus put it, "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away." Matthew 25:29

Wanting is a "does not have" vibe.... Giving is an "already have it" vibe. Because, of course, you can't give away that which you do not have. So trading from wanting to giving will put you closer to where you need to be to get what you want.

Ok, back to that spontaneously manifested one million dollars :)

How will I impact the world. Who in the world will be better off because of MY desire to manifest this million dollars?

Let's see... I would:

• pay off my home.
• buy a new car.
• take a tropical vacation.
• start my own business.
• put money away for my children's education.
  

That's a good start. Now, who, besides myself and my immediate family, would stand to benefit from my "selfish" little desire?

Pay Off My Home:
The mortgage company whom I owe for my home.
The employees, employee families, stock holders and investors.

Buy a New Car:
The owner of the dealership.
The salesman who earns his commission.
The people who will be receiving money from the above after my purchase.

Take a Tropical Vacation:
The local stores, employees and economy when I go SHOPPING for my vacation.
Taxi drivers, waitresses, bell boys.
The tropical local economy.

Start My Own Business:
The suppliers of whatever I need for my venture.
The local economy.
Everyone in my community.

Put Money Away for My Children's Education:
I don't need to think beyond the affect this would have just on my own children :)

And this list mostly only covers those who would benefit in about a 200 mile radius. The energy would in total, transfer from person to person and eventually have some kind of an effect on every person on the entire planet.

It's like the "Six Degrees of Separation" theory. Wikipedia defines this as "Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on Earth."

So, can you see how the money I''m manifesting could touch every person on the planet in some way? The more you desire to have, the more you circulate energy back out into the world and have a positive impact on other people's lives.

You can make a list mentally or on paper, but make a list of what you want, then who would benefit from it. Focus on how it feels to think about helping other people and sharing what you have, knowing that all of it and more are already on the way to replace what you'll be giving away!

Enjoy your impact on the world.

Visit my homepage!

Allowing the Calendar :)

I had the most perfect case of allowing yesterday.

I bought this desk calendar. You know the type... flat, no pictures, little plastic corner pieces that you tuck the bottom of the page into... made for sitting flat on your desk top. I can never find a good place for this kind of calendar, but I like them so much better than the standard calendar with the big picture and laminated pages that can be difficult to write on.

So... we normally hang the calendar on the basement door (right in the dining room) but I don't like it there. It's a pain when ya walk by or open and close the door. So I have this desk calendar and I don't want to put it in the old place, but I don't know what else to do with it, so I hang it half hearted, on the basement door just to keep it safe and dry.

I want a place to hang this where I'll see it all the time and it's safe and dry and not in my way. As soon as those words floated through my head, I knew it was the "intention".

I went back about my business of cleaning up the kitchen and doing laundry. I ended up digging in the junk drawer.... which BTW I think should be renamed the treasure drawer because seriously, there's ALWAYS neat stuff in there..... I don't remember what I was looking for, but there in the back of the drawer was a big roll of forgotten magnet. "I don't know what on earth I'm every gonna use that magnet roll for.." I thought, and went back to what I was doing.

I must mention that I've recently set an intention to "make peace" with where I am and what I'm doing. I've been having some trouble with that so I've been trying to do whatever needs done... and do it happily. So, I intend a place for this calendar, then turn my focus back to what I was doing, and go HAPPILY on my way.

Eventually, I was looking at our big black fridge. It was so messy. No room for anything. I started taking things down and reorganizing and wiping it all down. It's been a long time since I did this. So, as I'm cleaning and organizing it, I'm going through my gratitudes in my mind, "Thank you for this wonderful fridge that always works and keeps our food cold etc.." And as I cleaned the side that faces the dining room, I ended up with this big bare space that was the exact size of that calendar.

"Wow. this would be a perfect place for my calendar! How on earth could I hang it on the fridge without hurting the fridge?" I thought.I pondered this for a few minutes, but some kind of magnetic hook was the best I could come up with, but I don't have anything like that, that'd be strong enough to hold a calendar to the fridge. *Shrug*

And...on to the other sides of my messy fridge. I cleared them all, wiped them down and reorganized the things that were going back up. It looked so pretty when it was done. And really bare. I had so much crap on there. It's easy to collect a ton when ya have 2 little artists and A students in the house!

ALL DONE!! I walked over and sat in my chair. I sit at the dining room table, picture window right behind me, facing into the living room, large hutch to my right about 4 feet away and side of fridge to my left about 6 feet away. I turned in my chair and looked at the fridge. "That would be SUCH a perfect place for my calendar!" I thought....."But how??!"

Then it hit me... the roll of magnet in the TREASURE drawer! It's not really strong magnet, but if I put 2 or 3 long strips across the back of the calendar, it should hold it!! So I did...and it did... perfectly! Now I have my favorite kind of calendar, in the coolest style, in the most perfect place I could have imagined!

Contrast: I have a new calendar because I don't like the old one. I want a new place to hang it because I don't like the old one.
Intention: I want a place to hang this (calendar) where I'll see it all the time and it's safe and dry and not in my way.

Vibe Management: I went HAPPILY about my business. I didn't fret or worry or complain or give it anymore thought at all. I walked around my kitchen, dining room and laundry room "Cleaning to the Tune of Gratitude" (as I've coined it) and gave great thanks for everything around me and focused on feeling happy.

Take Inspired Action: I've wanted to clean off the fridge for weeks, but never seemed to get to it. Yesterday, I was on a roll and I just REALLY felt like having a clean fridge. I truly felt INSPIRED to do it. At the time, I thought the inspired feeling was coming from the other intention to "make peace with where I am" and maybe it partially did, but it WAS inspired action, and that's the point. I wasn't forcing anything. I was definitely inspired to act.

Get Quiet and Listen: After I cleared out the old and made room for the new, I sat and looked at it. I knew it would be a perfect space and I knew I wanted my calendar there. I focused in on it and cleared my mind and the answer I was seeking came right through. Then I saw the roll of magnet as the coincidence that it was, when I'd missed it at the time.

I know it may sound trite, but this was truly an awesome experience. It rolled together so fast, I was able to look back at the whole process. I believe that everything works in this way. Anything you want to bring into your life can flow in as easily as a perfect calendar space. The trick though, is that I wasn't attached to the outcome. I didn't really care where it ended up, so long as it wasn't where it's been. Something new, something fresh..... then I let it go. Let go of how or where or when. I knew I'd get there, and that knowing was all I needed to move on and continue with my day.

Everything you ever ask for is on it's way the moment you ask for it. The key is getting out of your own way and allowing it space to flow into.

Visit my homepage!

Thanksgiving

I know loads won't be online today due to the American holiday, but incase anyone is on, I want to send out a very warm "Happy Thanksgiving" to everyone.

I am SO thankful for all of you who influence my life, in ways I expect and in ways I don't, in ways I deem pleasant and in ways I deem unpleasant, in harmony and in contrast.

Every person I interact with in ANY way shapes me into the person I am becomming and I couldn't be ME without YOU, no matter who you are, so from the bottom of my love filled heart, thank you for being who you are and being in my life.

Peace, Love & Joy....
El

Visit my homepage!

A Life Lived is a Life Loved

Who chooses your happiness?

In America, we have the "American Dream". That used to mean that you came to America with your own dreams and ideas and desires and because America is the land of the free, you could live out your dream. Now, when you say "American Dream" people automatically see a house in the burbs, the spouse, kids, career, white picket fence etc. I'm not saying this isn't a good dream, but I do believe that lots of people remain unhappy because they're busy trying to live up to what other people think "happy" looks like. And then when they have the "American Dream" they're still unhappy and don't understand why.(Insert mid-life crisis here.) Or worse, they don't have what they think they want and their life is unhappy because they can't see that they are already whole and in possession of everything they need to be happy.

I used to be unhappy in my marriage. I deserved what I deserved and he wasn't living up to my expectations. Then one day, shortly after I began my conscious living, I got angry with him and instead of allowing my anger to flare, I began to analyze my expectations instead of analyzing why he wouldn't live up to them.

What I found changed my life.
I was unhappy because other people said I was. My husband wasn't living up to unrealistic standards imposed on him by other people. There's a certain way that I thought he had to behave if he loved me, but I was so busy focusing on what he wasn't doing, I was completely missing the things he WAS doing. The word "romantic" is a cliche' in my opinion. You think that word, you have a specific list of things that comes to mind because movies and music and books have told us forever that, that's what we should be doing and expecting.

What do you want?
Do you want to get married because you think you're supposed to? Do you want a career because you think that's what you're supposed to want?

The questions get bigger!
Do you stay unhappy in a marriage that's going nowhere because other people think you shouldn't divorce?

They're everywhere.
Do you wonder why you have things that you thought would make you happy, but find that you still feel like you're lacking?

Are you afraid that if you do what will truly make YOU happy, you'll be disappointing people that you love? Do you think that the people you love want you to be unhappy? Of course you don't. But I bet you DO think that it'll affect the way they feel about YOU if you assert yourself and do what you want if it's not what they think you should do.

But, I have a much more important question for you. Who is it that lives inside your body with your thoughts and ideas and life? Who has to make your choices and live with the results? Well, of course that would be YOU. And not anyone else. Besides, maybe one of THEIR life lessons is to learn to accept other peoples choices in their own lives and still be supportive, AKA: unconditional love. A lesson we all have to learn.

The way I feel about what family and friends think of me changed when I stopped feeling so attached to them. Yes they are my blood. Yes they are close to me. But they're also a manifestation of the very same spirit that is ME. It's like I'm learning lessons by interacting with myself. If they have negative thoughts about what I'm doing in my life, it's because THEY have issues to sort through and lessons to learn of their own. I love them and want them to feel as wonderful and happy as I am, so far be it from me to take away their lessons they need to learn to break through their self imposed limitations by acting in a way that's not true to myself in an effort to placate their irrational requirements of me.

A wonderful quote I've gotten in my inbox recently that REALLY resonated with me is:

"When you think about other people and what they think of you, do you understand that what they think of you has very little to do with what you are? It has mostly to do with the habits of thought that they have developed. It has more to do with them as thinkers than it does with you as the subject of their thought." Abraham-Hicks

Live your dreams! Don't worry about what anyone else thinks of you and your life, and don't aspire to something simply because society says that's what you SHOULD want. You can't mess up your life. You're here to do whatever you want to... so do.. want... and expand. This is the only way to really live. You can't love your life by living it for someone else. Let them live their own lives and learn their own lessons. Don't make it harder on them by reaffirming their illusions with your actions. When we all turn our focus solely on our own happiness and stop imposing our ideas of happiness on others, we will all have peace and the human power struggle will end.

Peace Be With You.

This article may be FREELY distributed as long as this footer is included.
You may not alter this article in any way. All rights reserved.
Written By: El Baugher
http://TheSmilingSpirit.com - Law of Attraction, Conscious Living & Loving Life!

Visit my homepage!

Anger, Jealousy, Manipulation, Depression

Better known as, "My Weekend"!

This weekend I was MAD! I was mad at my Hubby because he made me feel bad Friday night. He did something I consider, self centered. He only considered MY feelings for a moment, then moved on in his own self serving direction.

Why do I feel this way?

Saturday I spent the whole day in a funk. I analyzed the situation to DEATH. How I feel, how he feels, what he did, what I could've done, what I might do next time, etc... I decided somewhere along the day that, I was mad, but I was mad at the wrong person. I can't be mad at him for knowing what he wants and doing what he has to in order to fulfill that desire. I'm mad at ME for not being able to do exactly that for myself.

What do I get out of failing to assert myself into a desired situation. I get to feel bad and explain to him how he made me feel. I get to make him feel bad for the way I feel. I get to manipulate him into being responsible for my happiness.... I fail to control MY reaction so I make HIM feel like it's his fault. (BOY was Saturday a big day for me!)

I'm jealous of his freedom. He doesn't care what anyone thinks or says... he knows what he wants and he gets it. Him being in control of himself and his reactions is a stupid reason to be mad at him.

This was a HUGE leap for me. I've been mad at him for this exact reason before. I'm always left sitting in a big puddle of "poor me" and in the past, I've managed to force responsibility for it onto him. This time, I decided it should be different. I never feel better, so that must not be the answer.

I sat and made mental lists of what I could do differently next time. How can I have what he has. What would need to happen for me to feel different about the end result and how can I take the responsibility for those happenings into my own hands.

We had make-up sex. LOL Even though we weren't really "making up" because I knew I was mad at me, not him. It was wonderful to rid myself of the negative feelings I was aiming at him and reconnect with him. After, we were laying together and he kinda chuckled and said, "I thought you were mad at me."

"I thought I was too" I said, "But it turned out I'm the one who needs to change, not you. I can't be mad at you for knowing what you want and getting it, that's stupid and doesn't serve me. You're perfect exactly the way you are and I'm going to try harder to allow you to just BE. I'll sort through and deal with my feelings as they come, but I'm sorry I was so weird all day."
I could see the slightly stunned confusion on his face, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. LOL He stood up and headed for the door saying, "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, even if I don't quite understand."

"All you need to understand is that I love you" I said as he walked out into the hallway.

Here's the funniest part.

He walked out of the room, and as I layed there in the dark I thought, "I wish I knew I was thinking better now. I wish I could be sure that I have a grip now. I've thought I was right in the past and wasn't... so I hope I'm finally on the right track."

I no sooner finished the above thought when the radio launched into this song. I smiled at my amazing connection to the Universe and felt endlessly grateful for my self actualization.

Just the Way You are
By: Billy Joel

Don't go changing, to try and please me,
You never let me down before,
Don't imagine, you're too familiar,
And I don't see you anymore.
I would not leave you, in times of trouble,
We never could have come this far,
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times,
I'll take you just the way you are.

Don't go trying, some new fashion,
Don't change the colour of your hair,
You always have my, unspoken passion,
Although I might not seem to care.
I don't want clever, conversation,
I never want to work that hard,
I just want someone, that I can talk to,
I want you just the way you are.

I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew,
What will it take till you believe in me,
The way that I believe in you?

I said I love you, and that's forever,
And this I promise from the heart,
I couldn't love you, any better,
I love you just the way you are.

I don't want clever, conversation,
I never want to work that hard,
I just want someone, that I can talk to,
I want you just the way you are.

Visit my homepage!

LOA & Weight loss

I'd set an intention to lose 10 pounds between September 22 and Octber 22. It didn't happen. I lost my focus about a week and a half in and I lost only 3 pounds then I gained all 3 back. Then I cycled into some PMS which made it all come to a screeching hault. I wasn't upset about it because I KNEW I'd lost my focus... I knew when it happened... and I let it go. I figured I'd get to it, but now's just not the time.

Last week, I wrote an article for my homepage and blog. An article about how LOA works through our bodies and how making a backup plan is as much of an intention as the plan you're backing up was. The funny thing is, I wrote this HUGE article... probably 3000 words easily, and then as I was submitting the changes to my page, my server logged me out and I lost my WHOLE article! I started to get angry and caught myself. I decided if I had to rewrite it, there must be a reason.... and I set out to rewrite this HUGE article as best as I could.

I tried to remember as much as I could and reconstruct what I'd previously written. I'm happy with the result, although it IS different than the first one. Not better or worse... just different.

As I was rewritting this article, I started REALLY thinking about what I was writing. I mean, I'd put a good amount of thought into it before I'd started, but it was hitting me different this time. My perception shifted slightly and I had the most amazing idea. If you haven't read the article I'm talking about, this might not mean as much to you, so ya might go read it if ya want. It's right on my homepage, and I believe it's the next post under THIS one.

So... I was writing about how our bodies work and how the Universe organizes all our cells and makes them swing into action to take us where we "intend" to go. And if the Universe organizes all the cells in my body to move me around and take me where I want to go simply by me intending to go there, why can't I depend on the Universe to organize all my cells to weight the weight I intend to weigh??

What a profound idea... I thought. That was when I decided (Thursday morning @ 171 pounds) that no matter what my body is doing, inside I weight 160 pounds. I'm 5'10" tall and 160 is a great weight for me and inside, where I am.... I weight 160 and anything extra that's there is just emotional baggage that I don't need anymore.

I have not eaten differently. I eat healthy food anyway. I'm trying to raise my kids to live a healthy lifestyle. I also have not exercised. Not at all. I've even been having my period up untill this past Monday. Last Thursday morning, 11-6-08, I weighed 171 pounds. This morning, Wednesday, 11-12-08, I weight 164. I have lost 7 POUNDS of un-needed emotional baggage from my body with LITERALLY NO EFFORT on my part, apart from the decision that I weigh 160. That's MORE than a pound a day... WITH NO EFFORT!!

I decided that, that is just the way it is and KNEW... KNEW... KNEW.. that the Universe would organize my cells to do exactly what I wanted because that's what it does everytime I move, so I KNOW beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it's capable.

SOOOO here I am, 6 days and 7 pounds later. I am SOOO in love with this life! At this rate, I should see 160 by the end of the week. I am SO PSYCHED!!!

Peace & Love,
El

Visit my homepage!

What's your backup plan?

What's your backup plan?
So, you've decided to use the law of attraction to consciously create within your experience. You get clear on what you want. You visualize yourself with your desire met. You feel your desire and live it in your mind. Then, if you're like most people, you do your best to let it go, but consciously or not, you're too invested in the outcome to truly let go. People fear the unhappiness they associate with not having their desire manifested. This is the main block to manifestation.

The ability to let go is directly affected by how attached one is to a specific outcome. If you feel that you can only be happy with outcome A, and outcome B is unacceptable, you're not going to be able to set an intention and let it go. You're going to worry that outcome B might happen, so to compensate, just in case, you formulate a backup plan.

Everyone is guilty of not having faith and having a backup plan at one time or another. Many people apply the law of attraction in this way and they don't manifest their intentions and after a few perceived failures, they give up LOA and label it BS. But in truth, they were applying the law of attraction the entire time, and it was working exactly as it's supposed to. I'll tell you how.

Intending Plan A
When you set an intention, the entire Universe swings into action to bring into manifest reality whatever your intention dictates. A wonderful example of this can be seen in your body. Your body began as a single cell. That single cell replicated only 50 times, but the finished product is a one hundred trillion celled living organism. You not only have one hundred trillion cells in your body (that's 100,000,000,000,000 or 1 billion, one hundred thousand times!), but there are approximately 250 DIFFERENT types of cells, and they all come from that single cell.

The most amazing part is that each individual cell, of all one hundred trillion, knows at all times what is happening with each of the other cells. There is constant communication happening and when one cell goes out of balance, every other cell in the body will synchronisticly compensate to resume the balance. Without constant non-local communication (from God or the Universe or whatever your word is), your cells wouldn't be able to work smoothly together and your body would fall apart.

Say you're sitting in a chair at your house and you have the thought, "I'd like a glass of water." Where does that thought come from? Not your brain. If a doctor could look inside your brain as you think a thought, he couldn't SEE it. He could see and measure the electrical activity that is initiated BY the thought (the energy), but the thought itself is invisible and without location. The thought comes from the observer. But the invisible, non-locatable thought alone creates the measurable energy.

So, plan A... I'd like a glass of water. Then you stand up, walk through the house, pour a glass of water and.... ta'da! Intention, Attention, Manifestation. I know, I know.... ya already knew ya could do that. But what did you actually do? You set an intention to have a glass of water. That invisible thought created instant energy in your brain which set off millions of neurons and nerves and cells and fluids and your large clump of a body instantly and without hesitation swung into action to move you toward your intention. Then the next thing you know, there you stand with your desire manifest in your hand. It all started with the invisible thought from the non-locality.

"Of course I can control my own body!" you say, but at it's essence, everything is your own body. You have the same control over your environment as you do over your body. When you set ANY intention, the same energy becomes from it and the Universe swings into action to make it so in the exact same way that it orchestrates your cells into action to fetch you a glass of water.

Creating Plan B
When you decide you want something and intend it to be so but make a plan B for just in case your desire doesn't manifest, you're telling the Universe that you want THAT, but since it won't come, you'll take THIS instead. Then guess what you get! Yup. You will ALWAYS manifest plan B.

Lets go back to that glass of water. There you sit in your chair, wanting your glass of water. Now, just in case the Universe can't organize your cells and help you launch into action to retrieve the water, you better figure out what you're gunna do because you're thirsty!!

Huh?

That'd be dumb! Of course your body will do what you want it to. It always has before. You don't know exactly HOW it works, but you know it works and it's pretty darn reliable. You decide what you want and your body moves in the direction of it.

That's how the entire Universe operates. The thing about plan B is.... it's also an intention. It doesn't matter that it's your "only if plan A doesn't work" intention. You thought (intended) "What if the Universe can't organize my cells into action?! I'd better plan on being thirsty." and so the Universe gave you thirsty, and it will ALWAYS give you thirsty if that's what you're planning on.

So, think about what you want because each thought is an intention of it's own. And when you know what you want, plan on it.

Don't sit and plan to be thirsty!

This article may be FREELY distributed as long as this footer is included.
You may not alter this article in any way.
All rights reserved.Written By: El Baugher
http://TheSmilingSpirit.com - Law of Attraction, Conscious Living & Loving Life!

---

Self Hatred

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

I've had something on my mind for a few days now, so I guess it's time to write.

I'm not going to write a three mile post about self hatred, but WOW do a LOT of people think very little of themselves. I listened to someone very close to me argue a point of view the other day and she was SO very negative in her opinion. But the funny thing is, the group she was classifying as the WRONG ones is the group she falls into. She considers herself morally wrong. There's something wrong with her.

How can anyone hold such negative opinions of themselves and constantly berate themselves mentally, but then look around at their life and wonder why it's so awful?! You have to accept you for you. You are exactly who you're supposed to be. And when you grow and change into who you will become, you will STILL be exactly who you are supposed to be. You are as good as you can be for where you've come from and what you've been through. And no one, having been through the exact same things as you, could have turned out any better than you've managed to turn out.

If you were sitting in for your ideal best friend, you'd tell you how you did what you had to and you did the best you could with the knowledge you had at the time... which leads me into my second point. I think most people are 100% nicer to other people than they are to themselves. Even people who come off egotistic or shallow hate themselves. They seem full of themselves because they're over compensating for what they feel they're lacking.

Many of you already know that my Spiritual journey became much more intense in the past year because of my choice to live consciously and in balance with myself. I've lost 35 pounds, changed my diet, my health and my life. I truly believe that Spiritual things started flowing because I started to love and respect myself. I stopped talkin shit to myself. I supported my thoughts and ideas and stopped being so negative all the time.

You are your greatest ally in this life. Love yourself. Make time for yourself. Don't do so much for other people that you don't do for yourself. You bring more to the table with a refreshed Spirit that you do with a stressed out, self deprecated, anxiety ridden Spirit. In the spirit of this theme, I've become a poet yet again. I'm sorry, it rhymes. LOL Deal with it!

Love, Me

I am my best friend you see.
No one loves me more than me.

When I make a mistake, I forgive and understand.
I always offer me a helping hand.

Whenever I find me feeling scared and alone,
I assure me that I'm here and remind me how much I've grown.

I don't put me down or tell me I'm bad
I tell me I'm great and I love me like mad.

The very first step to a life of joy with no end,
Is to turn love onto yourself, and be your own best friend.

Visit my homepage!

What is Living Consciously?

Living a conscious life is part of the spiritual journey I am on. You can't really use the laws of the Universe to your advantage without becoming intensely self aware.

The media dramatizes everything for the shock effect and I believe it's highly important to be conscious of what you're doing in your own life, instead of taking someone else's word for it. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but the bottom line in this world of unconsciousness is money. Our own government is trying to knowingly POISON us currently. How? Have you seen the commercials for how healthy high fructose corn syrup is?! The first time I saw one of these ridiculous commercials, I nearly fell out of my chair. Anything for the almighty dollar.

Well.... I choose not to participate in the unconscious, frantic, consumer driven, stress filled, holographic existence that the rest of the world calls life.
Here's some examples of how I "live consciously".

My kids were never vaccinated. It's a BS rumor that they can't go to school without them. Back in the 1930s when we started vaccinating our children, the instances of autism went up by 36% and has risen to a current day count of 1 in 150 births. I did the research and read the articles and made the conscious choice to NOT poison my children to try to protect them against diseases that rarely even exist in this day and age.

I don't believe in diets. I believe in fueling my body with good food. I still eat junk food or hit the drive thru, but it's not a regular part of my life. I don't want to be tired all the time. I don't want to gain excessive weight. I want to eat and feel energized from it, not lethargic and bloated. I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't eat a lot of meat. I try to make my diet about 60% produce, 30% grains and 10% meat. I ended up at this balance by researching for myself and making informed decisions. My body's balance is best at this ratio. I'm also a chronic nutrition label reader.

I get regular exercise. I want my bones to have the density building benefit of weight lifting and the supportive benefit of being encased in strong muscles. I believe it's very important to my overall health to be strong and flexible. I love practicing yoga. Never have I been so sweaty and exhausted without ever having lost my breath. I don't want to be one of those little old ladies with a giant hump across their shoulders. I practice sitting up straight and building core strength to hold my posture. I would also have to say that it was through regular exercise and learning to respect and love my body that I made some of my biggest most life changing spiritual leaps. I believe regular exercise is just imperative.

I avoid doctors. I'm not neglectful, but seeing a doctor is a last resort in my home. When my kids get sick, I take care of them. If someones ear hurts, I put some peroxide in it. Doing that a couple times always clears up an earache in no time. Our country has more doctors and medicine than any other country in the world.... yet we're the sickest bunch of people. The country is obsessed with it's health and weight... and we're all fat and unhealthy... and everyone's on medications for maladies that could be easily resolved if they only respected their lives and bodies. Most doctors want to throw medications at symptoms until you're too doped up to notice you don't feel well. I avoid medications, prescription and non... doctor's offices, and here's a big one.... antibiotics!! I mean, I'm not a total idiot. I know sometimes an antibiotic is imperative, but usually, it's not. Doctors aren't perfect and all knowing. That's why what they do is called a "practice". They went to school, and yes, they know a lot.... but I trust myself first.

I also try to be ever conscious of my energy. I believe it's important that I take responsibility for the energy that I carry around. Have ya ever been around someone and been almost uncomfortable because they were floating in such bad vibes. Maybe they're worrying about something or maybe they're preoccupied but they seem tense and unfocused and that kind of energy affects everyone around them. I try to always be aware of the effect I will have on those around me. In the Energy Soup we live in together, you leave an impression of your energy on everyone you meet. I strive to be conscious of the impression I leave behind.

There are countless examples of living consciously, but it all comes down to consciousness. My life used to be like a dream. There I was, in my dream life thinking of ME and THEM..... then I realized that ME and THEM are really just.... I. I'm not ME and I'm not THEM.... I'm the one observing it all. Once I became conscious of the dream, I became lucid and took control. I can no longer be herded like sheep. I choose. It's MY dream and I have the power to choose for myself.

Everyone has the power to take responsibility for their own lives. All it requires is a desire to be the best you that you can be.

Full Moon 10-14-2008

Visit my homepage at The Smiling Spirit

A Synchronistic Life

Back on October 16th, I posted here about "Confronting My Ego Monster" because I had a sudden urge to prove I was right when someone disagreed with me about The Law of Attraction. I am going to quote him here because I want you to understand the rest of this post.

Here's the comment that pissed me off:

*"I’m a great believer in positive thinking, I think affirmations and visualization can be very useful tools for personal development. But talk of a “Law” of attraction is just twaddle, there is no scientific justification for such claims. Proponents quote quantum physics, but there is no evidence that by sending out magnetic vibrations we can influence events - and get a parking space!!But if others find it useful, fine, so long as they do no harm to others (or start suggesting those suffering disease or famine haven’t been thinking properly)."*

So.... I ranted a little with some of my LOA friends, and I wrote a blog post about it. I needed to embrace and understand my irritation as opposed to burying it and letting it fester. I figured the best way to release my anger was to allow myself to FEEL it. Denial never served anyone.

The thing I kept thinking through it all was: I wish I knew MORE about quantum physics and the scientific angle of LOA so I would be able to explain it to someone who was so completely missing the point. Of course, in retrospect, that sure sounds like setting an intention. I didn't even realize I was doing it at the time. It wasn't a conscious intention. I was just angry and I'm not used to being unable to articulate exactly what I mean.

Now, I'm a member of Audible.com. I signed up for a free trial and forgot to cancel after 30 days. Isn't that just how it always works? LOL Audible sells downloadable audio books. On October 20th..... 4 days after I sent out the intention to know more and be able to explain quantum physics... I get an email from Audible. My new credits are available. CRAP! I forgot to cancel again. I browsed their metaphysical and self help sections and found nothing of interest to me which is why I'd intended to cancel in the first place.

Of course they won't allow you to cancel and give you back your money. You have to use your credit, then cancel. So I might as well go and see if I can find SOMETHING of interest. So I went. I got to my account page and there was a recommendation for me. They recommended *The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire - By: Deepak Chopra* I've read one other Deepak Chopra book and had enjoyed it, so I figured.... what the hell, nuttin to lose, and traded my credit for this book and downloaded it.

OH MY GOD! I began listening to it as soon as the download finished and I ended up sitting here for the full 6 hours and listened to the whole thing. Of COURSE the whole first half of the book was a dumb ass friendly explanation of quantum physics and how it related directly to The Law of Attraction. I now feel SO much more confident about my knowledge of quantum physics. I've never been a science person, so every other explanation I'd ever gotten was just slightly beyond my understanding. This book could not have been more perfect for me at this time. I really did get exactly what I wanted. And I didn't do anything to get it except to ask.

Of course I'm now going to very highly recommend this book! It is fantastic. The second half of the book was also just was I needed. I've felt kinda stuck. Not sure where to turn next. Wanting to further my personal and spiritual growth, but really unsure how or what to do now. Deepak walks you through, step by step. Tells all about how to get where and what to do once you're there. I found it to be one of the most enlightening books I've EVER read. I'm almost done listening to it for the second time and I ordered it from Amazon because I want to have it in print. Referencing specific chapters will be easier in print. It should be here today or Monday and I can't even TELL you how excited I am. If you have ANY questions about personal development or quantum physics, you have got to read this book.

I've also ordered a bunch of documentary style movies that are spiritual in nature. I will post about them as I watch and let yall know if they were worth the hype. I'm starting with "A Course in Miracles".

If you click this box, it will take you to a place where you can read an excerpt from the book.

Happy Creating,

El

Visit my homepage at The Smiling Spirit

Much Better Now!

I've really loved writing in my blog since I started it, but I couldn't seem to find a blog template that really made me happy. Nothing that I found made me feel like myself. I know it's just a website, but it's kinda hard to express yourself when you look at your finished product and don't really feel like it does a good job of expressing who you are.

I was doing some writing last night before bed in my gratitude journal, which I do every night, and I was suddenly struck by the impulse to ask the Big U for a template for my blog that would make me feel more aligned with my purpose. I'd browsed a bunch of templates online before, but I hadn't actually ASKED for help. So, I flipped to my "Intentions" section and wrote these words: I want a blog template that I feel expresses my personality in as great a way as this Gratitude and Intention Journal does. Please help me make this easy to do.

I should meantion that my Gratitude journal is a 3 subject notebook with a sturdy plastic green cover (Green is one of my favorite colors!). This notebook is home to my Gratitude Journal, my Intention/Manifestation Journal, and my Dream Journal. I have all kinds of little drawings and stickers on the front and tiny post-it notes marking pages and entries.

I woke up 45 minutes early this morning, so from 5:15 am till 5:45 am, I just layed in bed and did my gratitude meditation. Then I remembered my intention to find a new template and my request for help. It made me smile to think of finding what I wanted, even though I didn't have a picture of it in my head. I figured God knows what I'm like and can manage to send me something that screams "EL!" without me giving specific instructions.

At 5:45, I got up and shut off my 6am alarm before it went off and headed out to turn on my coffee. I sat down at the table in front of my laptop and started browsing light heartedly while I waited for my brew.

It didn't even take me 10 minutes to find this template, and when I did, I almost yelled out loud. LOL I've looked here n there for months. Some of my regulars can attest to how many times I've changed the look and feel of this blog. This is the one though. It even LOOKS like my Journal. I don't think there's another background and set up in the world that is more "Me" than this one. I'm SO THRILLED!

I hope yall like my new digs! I feel SO much better about it now. I love the feeling of being aligned with your purpose.

Happy Thursday!

El

Visit my homepage at The Smiling Spirit

Confronting My Ego Monster

I had to confront my ego today. Someone said some not so very nice things about my belief in LOA. It was on someone else's blog and I felt an instant urge to run straight there and defend myself and my beliefs. I read and reread what this guy said and got more and more indignant and plain ol' PISSED OFF by the second.

Here's what I know:

#1. This feeling I was feeling has started every single war that has ever been started.
#2. It in no way stops me from believing the way I do.
#3. He can't take my peace away from me. I can only be indignant and GIVE it to him.

It took me about 5 minutes to calm down. 5 minutes and an angry venting post on a forum of my LOA friends. By the time I'd made it to the bottom of the post I was typing, I was calm and laughing at how badly I'd flown the sanity-coop.

As humans, we REALLY want to be right. I was ready to go flip out on some guy just to try to prove to him that I was right. In truth, he can think that I'm a certifiable nut case and it doesn't change anything. Not one single thing in my reality can change because of what someone else thinks about me unless I invite and allow it to.

Here's part of my vent:

*I don't need anyone to validate me... or validate the way I believe the Universe works. I don't need anyone to tell me that LOA works because I see it for myself. I also don't need to convince anyone that LOA works. If they can't see it, then it's not their time to see it. I can't force them to be conscious enough to accept their own hand in what their lives have become.*

It's not my job to convince anyone or "save" anyone. Only you can save yourself. If someone wants to live the life of a victim, they can't be empowered by force. One thing I do find amusingly ironic.... I spend my time mastering my thoughts. I am consciously directing my thought patterns toward good feeling thoughts and ideas. I don't worry uncontrollably because I know that my thoughts are directing my life, and I watch things march right into my life after I focus my thoughts on them. Somehow, skeptics say I've lost my mind.... when in truth, I not only possess a strong mind, but I have very precise control over it. Irony amuses me :)

I hope you're creating the life of your dreams!
El

Believe it and Be it

I was watching "Grey's Anatomy" on my DVR this morning and I was struck by a character appearing on this episode. He was a man of about 45 who spent most of the episode listing off the long list of things that had gone wrong in his life.


The complainer filled every room he was in with a litany of grievances about his life. He complained about things that had happened years before and that are currently happening now. He wasn't even angry though. He seemed defeated, like he woke up every day expecting life to shit on him. He said things like, "God hates me" and "It can't get worse than this" constantly. I've known people like this in my life and it always amazes me that they spend their days repeating affirmations like that and never realize they're only getting what they asked for.

Anyway... The complainer needed a major surgery and considered not having it because he hated his crappy life and thought he might prefer to die from whatever was ailing him. One of the doctors said to him, "You have to have SOMETHING to live for. Even the possibility of something." and that's what got him. He thought of a woman he wanted to talk to, but had never had the courage, and the doc said, "Well, this surgery will change your luck, and then you can say hello."

The guy's attitude changed. He seemed uplifted by such an idea as a change in luck and a second chance. This uplifted attitude was the one he had as he went in for surgery. The climax of the show was the water pipe crisis. The ceiling of the complainer's O.R. collapsed mid surgery, and the unconscious man, with chest open, got covered in debris and unsanitary water. While the surgeons were trying to clean the man up and digging through his body cavity checking for debris, they found a tumor on his pancreas.

They lead the viewer to believe that this guy has every reason to believe God hates him going into commercial, but upon return, we learn that the tumor is cancer, which is generally terminal by the time it's found on the pancreas, but because of the ceiling collapse and debris, the doctors were digging where they shouldn't have been and they found the cancer in stage 1 and removed it. The man was going to be fine and live a long and happy life and it's all because of his bad luck.

I know this is only a television show, but things like this happen all the time. Ok, not night time tv drama stuff to a tee, but I'm talking concepts here! People walk around constantly complaining about their lives and the people they know and their jobs and their family. How can a person expect God to give them anything other than what they're asking for?

But in the end of the show, it works out to the complainer's highest good. In the end, he has a shift in his vibe and looks forward to what he DOES want, the woman.. or at least the CHANCE to just talk to her, and with this amazing feeling of excited anticipation, he goes under the knife and when the crisis happens, the one that would've left him saying "Why does this always happen to me?!", instead it's the event that saves his life. I don't believe things like that happen on accident. I think when you expect good things, you get good things. If you're waiting for the sky to fall, then I hope you have your umbrella handy, but of course you would.... you'd have brought it anticipating the fall!

You don't have to live up to anything. You can't fail anyone but yourself. You are loved and all is well. You have created your world to be exactly as you believe it has to be. If you want to change your life, the first step is to stop believing that it has to be the way it is.

In truth, it can be any way you want it to be. In the words of Cat Stevens - Well, if you want to sing out, sing out. And if you want to be free, be free. There's a million things to be, you know there are.

Peace & Love,
El

Fantastic Day

Hi Everyone!

I am having just a FANTASTIC day and I thought I'd share it.

I headed out my door to go grocery shopping first thing this morning.I slept well last night and we had a smooth morning, so I was singing to myself and in a really happy mood. When I got to the store, I parked way in back (Thank you for strong legs that work!) and as I was walking through the lot, there was an older lady putting the last of her bags in her trunk, so I walked right up to her and said, "Good Morning!... I'll take that cart for ya!" She smiled pleasantly and thanked me and I walked away with "Have a great day!".

So now I have my cart, and into the store I go. I'm shopping and singin to myself and about 15 minutes later, I passed a lady in an aisle. She was at least 55, and the 2 yr old in her cart was obviously her grand daughter. I smiled at them both and said, "Now,what aisle did you find that in? (pointing to the baby) I've been lookin for one of those and I didn't think you could get them here! "They both smiled and the lady took the opprotunity to brag a little about her angelic looking grandchild.

And, off I go... to continue my shopping. A couple aisles later, I encountered these 2 ladies, probably each at least 70. They smiled fondly at eachother and embraced in a quick hug as I was passing and I turned and said, "You giving those away for free today?".... "I sure am!" the lady closest to me said.... then she grabbed me and gave me a big hug! Her companion looked utterly stunned! It was hysterical. I hugged her back and told her she made my day. She agreed and said, "Can't be a bad day if you're happy enough to hug astranger!"

And, off I go... again... I finish my shopping and get in line at the check-out. There's this frazzled looking young mother. Probably no more than 20, with a cart filled to the top, and a very distraut 2 yrold begrudgingly buckled into the cart seat, screaming her little head off. So, I got in line behind them. I stood there and played with the baby and tried to keep her happy while her exhausted mother was unloading her cart onto the conveyer belt.

Finally I was out of the store, pushing my cart full to my van. I loaded everything into the back, got in, turned the key.... nothing. It did this the other day. Hubby said turn it on, off, on, off. Something inside the starter is freezing up. If it does it again,we'll get a new starter. Before, I turned it on and off and couple times and the starter kicked in and the van started. This time, no such luck. I called my Hubby (Thank you for a Husband that drives a tow truck!) at work and he said to keep trying it and if it starts,call.... and he'd be on his way in about 10 minutes.

I forgot I have 2 insulated freezer bags in my van, so I dug them out and got in back and stuffed all my frozen and fridge stuff in them. I got a small snack and sat in silence watching the people go about their lives, periodically trying to get the starter to unfreeze. I've been intending to attract a good sized lump sum of money recently and yesterday, our tenants called to say they were moving and wouldn't be paying next month. I didn't let my brain panic. I thought... whatever happens will help us and be good. Then shortly after, the idea to advertise the house for sale struck me so we're doing that. (My lump sum maybe?) Then I realized October is a 5 Friday month. There's an extra $500 for the month. Cool!

Now I'm sitting here wondering how needing a new starter for my van fits into receiving money. Seems more like a quick way to get rid of some. Then I thought... No, there might be an opprotunity waiting or a person to meet.. I know the Universe is on the right track and I will not judge the means! Then the sexy tow truck driver arrived (Hubby.. obviously). He climbed under the van and gave the starter a WHACK to see if it would unfreeze.... nothing. He's quiet a minute, then says, "Start er up babe!" I turned the key and it started right up. He stood up and said, "Just a loose wire. I'll take off the bolt and tighten it all up when I get home."

YAY! I don't need a new starter! He smiled and said the call out was going to run me 2 kisses. I paid the man, and headed home with a big cheesey grin on my face. I arrived home and started unloading bags. All my frozen foods were outside of a freezer for almost an hour and a half total... still frozen solid in my insulated little bags!

It's A Wonderful Life!
El

What Are Affirmations?

Affirmations are short sentences that you repeat out loud or to yourself to achieve a desired effect. You can be, do or have anything you wish with only one catch. You must believe that you already have the desired effect you seek.


For example:


A person who wants to lose weight might make the affirmation; I'm SO happy that I am becoming more and more healthy everyday! or THIS IS SO EASY!


You tell your body and surroundings what to do with every thought you think according to The Law of Attraction. When you repeat positive, inspirational things... your world can't help but respond. Affirmations also reprogram you brain to think more naturally in the direction your affirmations turn it. When you consciously turn your thoughts to things you WANT, you relax into the flow of the Universe and the things you're consciously focusing on are able to come right to you.


When your thoughts are on what you DON'T want however, you are STILL relaxing into the flow of the Universe, and those things ALSO flow right to you. I believe the name for THAT is "Murphy's Law", which states, "If something could go wrong, it will" which is actually an affirmation in itself. You're telling the Universe that if there's a negative outcome, that's the outcome you'd like to see.


So if there's something that you want to have, or achieve, or even feel... making an affirmation or two to repeat to yourself daily might be a really good way for you to achieve the effect you desire.
Please Note: Affirmations aren't fool proof.

• They're a tool that, when used correctly, can greatly increase the likelihood of a desirable outcome.


• They must be articulated using positive words to work in a positive way.
  


• They must be repeated daily, or more often if possible.
  

The Universe is going to send you whatever you're giving your focus to. Why not try making an affirmation to help you ask the Universe for the right things?

The Remedy is the Experience

* At 5am this morning, I woke from a dream I was having. I don't remember specifics, but in my dream, I was going about a normal day, but everything I did seemed to go wrong or fall apart. I kept telling myself (in the dream) that everything happens for a reason and there's a higher power at work here and I kept laughing off whatever thing had gone wrong, but it was getting harder and harder to laugh because I was becoming irritated as things continued to be different from how I wanted them to be.

I woke up to my alarm at 6am after dozing in and out for an hour after that dream. I thought about how I hate having days like the one in my dream and hoped I wasn't getting ready to have one today. My Hubby got called to work at 7, so I took my boys down to the end of the driveway and put them on the school bus. Hubby arrived back as the boys were leaving so we hung out and talked for half an hour. I'd planned on going to the bread store (where the bread's cheap) this morning to get a bunch of bread for my freezer, so as Hubby left for work, I followed him out of the driveway and headed off on my way.

* I get 8 miles from home..... 1 mile from my destination when a voice in my head tells me to look in my purse and make sure I have money. I grab my purse as I'm sitting at a red light and dig through real quick. I not only have no money, but my wallet isn't inside, so I don't have a debit or credit card either. I had to turn around and go back home.

As I head in the direction I just came from, I decide there's no way I'm driving all the way back up here today. My Hubby is very gas conscientious and would have a stroke anyway. I'm a little annoyed with myself because if I'd checked before I left, this wouldn't be an issue. Then I think of the dream I had. *Everything happens for a reason... there's a higher power at work here* I say to myself and continue home.

I have a mixed CD in my van. I call it my "power mix". It's just a bunch of songs that I love that make me feel good. One of the songs is by Jason Mraz. It's called "Remedy". I was listening to it during the last 3-4 miles of my trip home. The first line of the chorus is... "The remedy is the experience." Here's where it all got a little weird. LOL The following is the thought process that blew through my head at lightning speed. Please excuse me if I go in a circle at any time. Thought processes get you from point A to point B, but it's rarely a straight line!

I mulled this phrase in my head for a moment and decided.... the remedy to an experience really IS the experience. It's through the denial of your current circumstances that you perpetuate the negativity to reoccur. When you accept what's happening and actually allow yourself to experience it, good or bad, you free yourself of the cycle.

Need an example?

**A woman gets beat by her husband. She's miserable and wants out. When she accepts the fact that she's in an abusive relationship and that he doesn't really mean it when he says he's sorry, she can begin to break the cycle and remedy her situation. When she accepts the apology and denies the abuse, she perpetuates the negative cycle.

**When a person finds themselves going in circles and chasing their tails by dating the same kind of person over and over, they're in a cycle. They say they're an "asshole magnet" but the truth is, if they could look at and experience what's really there they'd see the pattern. Most continue on in their patterns though and blame the world because "All the good ones are married".

I believe that a situation will repeatedly repeat itself until you experience it fully and take away the lesson you've been trying to learn from it. If you can see a pattern in your life, there's a belief or thought process you should be examining. Shifting the belief or process to serve you will dissolve the patterns and cycles.

But it's the belief that creates the experience in the first place. So if you're miserable in your experience, the things you believe to be true are to blame. And changing the belief to serve your happiness will change your experience to suit you better.

So.... your beliefs.... beliefs being: thoughts you think over and over and identify with in some way, therefore seeing them as irrefutable truths... your negative beliefs create an experience.... you use the negative experience as PROOF that the belief you hold is true... and you struggle against the situation until you are through it... and then you say... SEE, that's why I know that (fill in the blank with the belief) is TRUE! And so as you believe what you are saying.... you are busily creating another experience to PROVE you right again. There's the pattern.

The remedy to the experience is experiencing what you've created as it IS, instead of as you've already labeled it, or as you saw it last time, or as people SAY you should see it. When you see it for what it is, it can't continue being what you used to think it was because when you don't believe in something, it can't BE.

So the thoughts and beliefs that you hold in your mind and heart that are negative and self sabotaging are like the poison..... but the experience those thoughts and beliefs create is the remedy when you experience it as it is. It's almost like the Universe reflects back your beliefs and God's saying, "Oh honey, now look how yucky you feel from creating this for yourself. Well now you'll know to do it different next time." But we don't GET that message. So we go RIGHT back out and recreate the experience again. The life you live is like looking out at a reflection of your mind. When you truly change a belief, you WILL see your world begin to change to accommodate your new belief.

*As my thoughts are wrapping up the rampage they went on, I remembered my "dream mantra".... Everything happens for a reason. There's a higher power at work here.

NOTE: This is by far the most hysterical synchronicity I have ever seen happen in my life. You can't make this stuff up! I laughed the whole last mile home!

I pulled up to the stop sign at the end of my road and was waiting to cross the intersection and into the last mile of my journey back home. A truck turned off of the main road and onto MY road heading in the same direction I was. As this white, dually truck turns in front of me... there on the tailgate, in black bold letters it says, "Higher Power". Cross my heart, hope to die.. stick a needle in my EYE...THAT'S WHAT WAS ON THE BACK OF THE TRUCK!!! (Hey K... have you ever seen this truck around?!)

Anyway, I laughed. I see synchronicities quite a bit... and I ask for parking spots a lot as we leave and get them... and I started shaking my hands and saying "Booga Booga" at the kids. They laugh. LOL So that was my morning adventure. I hope your morning adventures were fruitful.

Peace & Love,
El

Who Are You?

* I recently realized that I've changed SO much over the past 2 years, that no one in my life knows me anymore, except my Hubby. Funny how alone it makes you feel when you realize that every single person who's ever known you thinks of you very differently than you are. I mean, I USED to be that person. They're not REALLY far off base. But I'm night and day to that girl now.

My friend K uses a word that I love. It's... surfacey. Yeah, you read that right. It's a word to describe the pursuits and concerns of people who are completely wrapped up in ego and who live their lives seeing themselves as separate from the rest of the life on the planet. People who live their lives only on the surface, and cut themselves off from their own peace. That was the girl I was. We'll call her "Surfacey El".

So, I realized quite suddenly one day that every person in my life, outside my husband and children, doesn't have the slightest clue who I really am. I think I've always behaved in an individually, specific way around different individuals in my life. Not meaning to really, but this person laughs at these kinds of jokes, and that person enjoys my dry wit, while the other person enjoys my quick sarcasm. The things about all these traits is, they went away. I mean, not completely, but most of my jokes, wit and sarcasm came from a negative, disconnected place. And that negative, disconnected space in me doesn't run my life anymore. I'm not "Surfacey El" anymore. Well... most of the time. LOL

I'm still learning to cultivate emotions of love and connectedness to my fellow man, but for the most part... I manage to stay connected. I don't automatically criticize people anymore. A silly looking pair of pants and a bright hat would send me into a frenzy of "OMG! Why would someone want to wear that, bla bla bla, etc, etc." I've been learning through my children though. My 8 yr old dressed up in a way that I wouldn't, but when he asked how he looked, I asked him how he felt. He said he felt good, and so I told him ... "If it makes you feel good, then you look GREAT"

That was a powerful sentence in my life. Since then, when I see someone looking like what I would have labeled as STUPID before.... now, I think, WOW... they must feel FANTASTIC! I think the people in my life are actually disappointed when I don't come off with the same old wise cracks that I used to, but I just don't FEEL it anymore.

So here I am. This fantastic new person and I don't have anyone to share me with. Everyone expects me to be different than I am and I'm tired of switching from Surfacey El to Real El all the time. But the thing is... I didn't realize I was tired of doing that, or even that I was really doing it. It was almost unconscious. No.... it WAS unconscious. Because I'd be talking to someone and there's be moments of clarity when I would actually HEAR the things I was saying, and I'd think... WHAT!? What the hell are you saying that for?!... but then I'd get sucked back into whatever drama I was hearing about and the Real El was again forgotten until the ride home.

Then, one day not too long ago... I came out of my LOA closet. You may remember the blog post about it. To recap, I was at my friend T's house (HI T!) and we started having a spiritual/religious discussion and I totally outed myself. Told her what I thought and my ideas on the Universe and God and creation and conscious living and loa and intention/manifestation. I questioned my sanity at the time, but on the ride home, I decided that I wasn't going to be Surfacey El anymore! I'm not her anymore. I was unhappy when I WAS her. No more going back!

The funny thing about all of it though, is that, when I decided to stop being anyone other than who I am now, the Universe compensated by sending me my friend K. I asked the Universe for a friend that was more like the Real El and less like the Surfacey El 6 or 7 months ago, but I was still "popping in and out of consciousness" if you will and I couldn't have her yet. Then I decided there'd be no more popping in and out to suit the expectations of whoever I was around, and suddenly, there was the friend I'd asked for. I committed to being myself no matter what, and God sent me someone who would love, accept and understand me for the new person that I am.

Who do the people in YOUR life think you are? Are you your authentic self, or do you put on a mask? I'm so much happier being my happy, laid back, peace filled self.

Here's to having the courage to be yourself!

Peace & Love,
El

Eat, Pray, Love

Good Saturday Everyone!

To go along with my current weight-loss goal, I wanted a new book to listen to on my MP3 player while I run and walk daily. I recently saw Elizabeth Gilbert on Oprah talking about her new book "Eat, Pray, Love". As I was browsing my local library, there it was, looking me right in the face.

"What a coincidence!" my brain thought, but I just laughed at it. I've come to know better than to lend weight to accidental occurrence. There's simply no such thing.

I'd felt a kinship with this woman as she talked about how lost she'd felt and how she'd wanted to experience life and herself and God. I knew I wanted to read this book, and there it was.... in CD form, exactly as I'd have wanted it. Perfect timing... of course.

Well, this is the point where I tell you all that I LOVE THIS BOOK! I feel as though this woman is feeling my feelings. Although her path lead her through a life where she had to hit rock bottom to find her way up, I found that her path was still the same as my own. Her learning process and the way things hit her and when. Much of the time, as I'm listening to her voice, reading me these words she so passionately wrote, I think, "WOW! If I had articulated those feelings of mine, they'd have emerged in the exact same phrases as hers!"

I'm only 2/3 through the book, but I had to come here and talk about it briefly. I want to VERY highly recommend this book to all of you. Here's a link.

Eat, Pray, Love - By Elizabeth Gilbert

I hope you all had a fantastic Saturday! See ya later.

Peace & Love,

El

My Weight Loss Musings

*Monday morning, I woke up and instead of going right into my gratitude meditation as I normally do (I find that meditating on being grateful is a FANTASTIC way to start my day), I found myself thinking about losing weight.

Back in September of 2007, my scale hit a scary 205 pounds. I have weighed as much as 260 in the past, but always longed to see the 160 of my teenaged years. And it bears meantioning that I'm 5'10" tall. I joined Curves (a circuit training gym for women) and totally changed the way myself and my family eat and between September 2007 and May 2008, I managed to take off 33 pounds, leaving me at 167 pounds. My mini men got out of school for the summer and I couldn't go to the gym so I walked and jogged daily and sometimes less and managed to maintain my weight loss without much effort. I did go from 167 up to 170/172 but I didn't think much of it. I spent the summer pretty happy with my body and my weight. I got some new clothes and felt really good... health wise AND about myself. I'd originally set my goal at 160, but I was in no hurry.

*Back to Monday morning. There I lay, thinking about losing weight. And I thought... that's odd... maybe it's time to actively go for that goal again...maybe this spontaneous thought pattern is a sign. I got out of bed and went about my day but the weight loss thoughts kept returning on and off. Having not been on my laptop in what seemed like forever, I decided to go read the blogs that I usually follow. On the blog, "My Gratitude Journal", the most recent post was entitled Love Your Body - No Matter What! Of course it was about her current weight loss and goals. (Singin *Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.)

Later, when my boys came home, my 8 years old says, "I'm gunna go outside and rake some leaves to celebrate the first day of fall!!"

"The first day of fall? Is it??" I asked.
"Yeah" he said, "We talked about it in school today."

Wow... I wake up thinking about losing weight out of nowhere... then there's blog posts on the topic and now I find out it's the first day of fall... you know... the season when mother nature shakes off all the excess. Boy... it's really lookin' like a sign to me now. I get up and walk across the room to look at this day on the calendar and see that this day is ALSO the first day of the moon's 3rd phase. On the day marking the 3rd seasonal quarter (fall) nature also marks the 3rd lunar quarter. And it's a Monday. Who doesn't love starting a new habit on the first day of the week. It's a fresh start.

*So, I wrote down my morning weight from that morning... 171 LBs... and I've decided that I'm going to lose 11 pounds by October 22, 2008. One month. I can SO do this!! My friend K has been wanting to conquer her last 10 pounds too, so we've decided to do it together. She dragged me 4 1/2 miles down the road on foot the other day. Boy can that girl haul ass! We both love walking and it gives us time to gab, so it ends up being a really fun time.

I'm going to put my little weight loss icon back on my vision board. Mondays will be my weekly weigh day. I am so psyched about the idea of weighing 160 pounds again. That's what it takes though... a passion about what you want. I'm so happy about this, there's no way I can fail! I might have to steal Jeannette Maw's mantra/affermation about losing weight while she sleeps.

*Ya know... this just occured to me. I experienced the most life changing parts of my spiritual journey during the time of my weight loss, as I really learned to love and respect my body. Lately, like the last 2 weeks, I've been feeling a little.... stalled. I've had my mind on other things and was spending time getting to know K, but I was REALLY on a roll for a while and I feel like I'm stuck and I need to step in a direction other than where I am now. So maybe I'm being pulled back into my weight loss as an avenue for me to find my way. Maybe God knows it worked and got through to me the first time.... a second go-round might be just what I need. Boy, writing is almost like meditation sometimes. I love it. Even if all that didn't make much sense to you, that up there is JUST what I needed. LOL

Anyway, that's where I am right now. Learning to love my body, regardless of it's shape, size, or weight is where I found my connection to God. Loving yourself is the hardest thing in the world for so many people but it's where you will find peace, and exercise and weight loss was the path that lead me there. I guess I'm off to further seek my truth by releaving my form of these 11 pounds.

I hope your path is leading you in a direction that feels good. If it's not.... change your path. A different direction is never more than 1 step away!

Peace & Love,
El

Where on Earth Have I Been?!?!

This has been the question of the hour lately! LOL I'm getting emails left and right inquiring as to my well-being. It's so wonderful to feel missed! I love you all and thank you for your concern.

I have been having a very busy life. As many of you moms out there already know (insert happy dance!) another school year has begun. My strapping young men are in first and third grade this year and we've been trying to find our groove. It can take a little time to adjust to change, and going back to a school schedule from a summer schedule takes patience and persistence. Our schedule has evolved from last year too because I felt it could be a little smoother AND my third grader is learning to manage his own time, so his shower and computer time have become his own to complete when he so desires. The little guy still needs Mom over his shoulder.

Another time stealer of mine has been a very welcome change in my life. About 6 months ago, I set the Law of Attraction to work on finding me a female companion that I had TONS in common with, who shared my thoughts and views, who I could be good friends with.... and she's here!! Hi K (waves!) I made a list on paper and man o man... it's NUTS. I've tried to find the paper just to let K read it because it's almost CREEPY how accurate it is, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Have ya ever seen one of those talk shows where identical twins, separated at birth, reunite after 30 years and find that they're living VERY similar lives and think the same? And they instantly have this connection that almost goes beyond what you can accurately describe. That's what it's been like for me, getting to know Her. We've spent an amazing amount of time saying the phrase... "REALLY?! Me too!". And of course (Big Gratitude here), we couldn't have met at a more perfect time in our lives. We both seem to be in a place where the other person is exactly what we needed. All things in perfect time. Amazing.

Anyway, I'm back. Got my time and my family all settled back down... and I have things to tell yall too! It'll have to wait for the next post though. My mini men are due through the door momentarily. I hope you're all having a fantastic Tuesday! See ya soon.

Peace & Love,
El

My Communication with Mother Nature

I had a very cool experience the other night and I wanted to share it with yall.

Right now, I'm listening to Deepak Chopra's book, "The Book of Secrets" on my MP3 player. In the section I'm in, he talks about how, you ARE the Universe. The Universe is IN you as much as you are IN the Universe. And how the Universe is a writhing sea of life. The Universe itself is alive, and you should build a personal relationship with the Universe the same as you would with another person.

Well, he says in this section to contemplate this idea: When you're driving down the road and you see a beautiful sunset and you think, "Oh, what a beautiful sunset!", consider that you and the sunset are NOT simply existing within the same fragment of time and within view of each other. Instead consider the idea that the sunset is natures way of catching you intention. That it's actually JUST for you, because no other living thing will see that sunset in the same way as you. Whenever something catches your attention, or you see something out of the corner of your eye that causes you to turn your head, it was meant specifically for you to see. The Universe and Nature are trying to send you lovely images to appreciate.

So, all that being said, here's the coolest thing that's ever happened to me.

After that section of the book, I walked around like a grinning fool for a while. I looked out my window at the trees a moment or 2 longer than usual, and when a bird in flight or a falling leaf caught my eye, I stopped and watched it and applied the thought that it was happening specifically for me. This became an almost overwhelming idea. It made me feel like the whole landscape was a stage where the Universe was acting out these wonderful dances just for my amusement. I smiled warmly and told the Universe how beautiful I thought it was and thanked it for doing it's dance for me.

About 6pm (note:Still very light out. Not even close to dusk yet.) Saturday night, my Hubby and boys were all outside and I'd been doing housework all day trying to catch up from being sick and tending the sick. It was time for a sit, so I walked into the dining room to open my laptop and sit at the table. As I walked past the picture window, frantic movement outside caught my attention and I stopped and looked out.

The huge Maple tree in my back yard was blowing in the breeze, but I swear, it looked like all the leaves were waving at me! They were all straight up, like a hand, and waving back and forth in an almost unnatural way... WAVING! I couldn't help but smile and giggle, and not sure what to do, I lifted my hand and enthusiastically waved back at the tree. And I said, out loud, "I see you trying to get my attention out there!! You're beautiful and perfect and I appreciate you so much!"

Then I saw it. The moon. Beautiful crescent moon, glowing way brighter than it normally would be given how bright it was outside. It was really breathtaking. The moon was, from my perception, hovering in the sky, just to the right of the waving tree. And I said to the tree, "Wow, thank you for getting my attention! I'm glad you waved me down to see the moon... it's BEAUTIFUL!"

Now, this alone was pretty cool. I was ginning like a fool as I thanked the tree for showing me the moon (There's a sentence I never imagined myself saying!), but the next part is what made it amazing to me.

As soon as I said my thanks to the tree, out of nowhere, and seemingly in answer to my thanks, a HUGE hawk flew into my view and began to circle the moon! Not literally circling the whole moon obviously... and not flying in a horizontal, lazy, soaring circle, as though circling prey, but flying up into the sky to above the moon on the left, over the top, down the right side, around the under side, and back up the left side.... in a great big circle...around the moon!

I was speechless.... and it was breathtaking! It circled the moon a full 5 times, as though thanking me for my love and attention, and then it was gone. I didn't even see which way it flew off... and I looked for a dark spot in the sky, but it was totally gone.

I stood in the window, almost in tears, completely awed by what had just happened.... and positive that it had, in fact, been a display of nature that was intended specifically for me. Deepak says, (enter paraphrase) the universe responds to every single thought you think, and if you pay attention to your thoughts, and to the Universe around you, you will see the response that's given just for you. I thought it would be a little weird to think of spontaneous nature as acting out just for my attention, but WOW... I decided to adopt the perception and really feel it.. and I'm just stunned.

I would have to say... it's very easy to keep your vibe up and happy when you think of life and nature in this way. I found that every time I turned around all day, nature was giving me something to smile about. And you're SWIMMING in feelings of being perfect and loved and special when you really feel like it's all a play happening on the stage of the Universe...just for your pleasure! It was really an amazing day... and I think it's leading into an amazing time in my life.

Much Love,
El