09.27.07
Posted in Law of Attraction, Manifestation, Positive Thinking, Visualization
at 10:44 am
I was reading an interesting article about focused attention and Roger Federer (probably the best player in tennis if you’re not a sports type person). I found the link at a blog I like to read and he liked the article because it deals with Federer’s ability to “save” his concentration for his matches. I thought it was an interesting idea, so I went and read it and found a gem that totally relates to the Law of Attraction. First, here’s the quote (emphasis mine):
Federer has inspired an army of purple prose-writing editorialists to write encomiums to his play. Often the questions he is asked tend to come with a subtext of, “Your genius far exceeds these other guys, huh?” 
Further, writers tend to explain his dominance as a form of better thinking. But, during the U.S. Open, Federer often downplayed the amount of thinking and conscious effort he needs to put into playing tennis. It’s as if he’s trying to say, “Guys, I just go out there and play my game. I’m not a ballet dancer or an aeronautical engineer. I’m a tennis player, and I react to what happens out there.”
At this stage of his career, Federer more and more resembles Pete Sampras in his approach to winning. It’s not about the other guy, it’s about what you know you will summon from yourself at times of need. I suppose winning as much as those two guys have builds something more than confidence, something like faith.
Federer has that faith (and so did Rod Laver, judging by some fascinating comments Rosangel put up on the “Simply the Best?” post). And he’s less strategic than many analysts would have you believe. He’s not out there thinking all that consciously about slicing followed by the deep topspin forehand followed by the dropshot. His is an athletic genius, after all, and as he says, “it goes too fast.” Instead, he uses his mind to make sure he’s ready to concentrate at those crucial moments he is so good at identifying, and once there, doing what comes to him. That’s what I think he meant when he said, after Isner, “it’s all in the mind and it’s all in the moment.“
My favorite part of that is that it’s not about anyone else, it’s about what we know about ourselves. And further, it’s about unwavering focus on what we know. We’re all not Roger Federer, obviously, but we all don’t want to be great tennis players either. This is a great reminder to evaluate what we know about ourselves and what we want. It’s important to throw away all those thoughts that don’t make us feel good and selectively focus on the thoughts that make us feel great and empowered. Once our attention is focused more on knowing that were capable of doing, everything we set our attention to than on what we specifically need to do, the details will take care of themselves.
By focusing our attention selectively that way, our manifestation process becomes a question of what (what we want) not how (what the Universe does to bring it to us). (Say that to yourself a hundred times: I need to focus on what not how. What not how.) One thing I’ve been saying over and over to myself when I worry about something is, “I don’t know how this is all going to work out, but I know it will. The Universe always says yes.” and I stop worrying. (Sometimes for about ten minutes and then I say the same thing to myself again.)
What do you know about yourself? What are some of the things that you naturally assume? What can you do to tweak those things to make each moment better for yourself?
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09.26.07
Posted in Paths to Bliss
at 11:28 am
Priscilla Palmer is compiling a list of outstanding personal development bloggers (I’d reproduce the list here, but it is ever-growing so go check it out in her post). Below is her description of personal development and her list:
Personal development is a large topic that includes but is not limited to (law of attraction, goals, time management, physical fitness, education, motivation, inspiration, and social skills). This list should include any blog you feel can benefit us in our growth process.
I’m honored to be on the list and have a few contributions. Most of the people I read on a regular basis were already on there, and then I noticed one area sadly lacking: Body Acceptance. So here are my contributions to help fill in the gap:
Peggy Elam at On the Whole
Good With Cheese at Good With Cheese
Kate Harding at Shapely Prose
The Rotund at The Rotund
Laurie Toby Edison at Body Impolitic
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09.20.07
Posted in Make Your Life Easier, Manifestation, Positive Thinking, Quick Tricks
at 12:40 pm
Your job is to be happy.
Sometimes I have negative emotions about the consequences of how I’m spending my time. I feel like I should be more productive or doing different things that traditionally lead to the results (in this case, income) I desire. I know from a deep place inside of me, though, that living a traditional life will not give me the same kind of fulfillment.
This is the affirmation I use when those negative emotions and thoughts pop up: My job is to be happy and employer is the Universe who always pays me what I ask for. That reminds me to keep doing things that make me feel good, and to ask for A LOT.
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Posted in Paths to Bliss, Positive Thinking, Visualization
at 8:46 am
Over at Occupational Adventure, there is an interesting post about how our brain is wired:
“If the top is convinced, the bottom level of data will be overruled.” In other words, what you believe, you see. That has so much potential to be either an amazing asset, or an excruciating obstacle.
Take a look at your life. More specifically, take a look at the idea of creating a life that feels fun, meaningful, and fulfilling. How do you see it? Is the top convinced that it’s possible, or a pipe-dream? With a 10 to 1 ratio of information going down as coming up, you can see why - however you see it - you’re probably right.
In other words, we see what we believe. A great example of this is the success of placebos–our belief is that the medication will help, therefore it helps. This basically means that our brain is wired for visualization and manifestation. Our picture of reality is literally based 10x more on our beliefs than by what is actually in front of us. If we wake up and and believe that it’s going to be a crappy day, everything we see will reflect that belief. If we believe we are ugly, every time we look in a mirror our ugliness will stare back at us. If on the other hand, we believe that great things are going to happen and that we are beautiful, the things we see will reflect that belief.
Just imagine the power of our physiology at work here. It shows the amazing power of positive thinking in a very concrete way. If we deliberately reprogram our beliefs to focus on positive things, what we see around us will be positive. The momentum of that positivity will lead to wonderful things.
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09.18.07
Posted in Discovering the Senses, Our Bodies, Paths to Bliss
at 11:18 am
I’ve added a bunch of new links to the sidebar under “Body Acceptance.” The abundance of resources and support for this topic is overwhelming (in a good way). Here are a few I want to highlight:
12 Steps to Health at Every Size
Health at Every Size is a way of life that focuses on how you’re feeling (sound familiar?) and making friends with your body instead of what you weigh or what body type you have.
Good With Cheese
This is one of my new favorite blogs because it is about a woman’s journey to listening to and accepting her body. And because she’s hilarious.
You Don’t Have to Be Pretty
Here’s an oldie but a goodie that is worth a re-read (every. freakin’. month.). It’s about how we don’t owe prettiness to anyone. We only owe happiness to ourselves.
Here are some particularly good posts that I’ve come across recently (they may not have actually been written recently, but they’re new to me.):
Crush-Worthy
This right here sums up one of the best thing about participating in the Health at Every Size movement: The joy that comes with a lovely realignment in priorities.
You Won’t Go to Hell Because it Tastes Good
This post challenges us to remove moral judgment from what we eat.
I dare you
The Rotund dares us to go an entire day without thinking or saying negative things about our bodies.
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09.16.07
Posted in Paths to Bliss
at 1:55 pm
The past month kicked my ass.
It’s hard for me to type it, and then copy it into Wordpress, and then publish that. Here I am, the self-appointed Queen of Positive Thinking and then events conspire to knock me down and question everything in my life. To say the least, it’s been a humbling experience. Less than a week after I wrote a post Titled (oh merciless irony!) Doubts:
Stop struggling. Stop clawing. Stop working. Let go. Get out of your own way, stop making things more complicated than they are (which is not at all). Do what comes into your mind to do, when it comes into your mind. Trust that the worst possible thing that could happen to you will always be the best possible thing that could happen to you. Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is. The Universe always says yes to what you think and ask.
Stop looking outside of yourself to find happiness. That means stop waiting for people and things and money and situations. Let them go. Turn “what is†into the best day of your life. Turn your focus inside…
I was facing a situation that shook me to the core of everything I have become. The details aren’t really important—I can easily explain them away, put a positive spin on them, change them into a blessing, etc. What’s important is how they affected me: I was in a state of complete despair. I mean that literally—I was at a point where I had no hope, I was angrier than I remember ever being, where I felt the last three years of my life were a complete waste, where I felt completely spiritually abandoned, where the only thing that felt real to me was that despair. Everything I gained since I moved to Colorado felt like a joke, and once I started questioning a few things, everything became questionable. My mother called it the Dark Night of the Soul, but I called it a big steaming pile of poo.
My words about letting go and stopping my struggles and finding happiness inside were taunting me. I had even printed them out along with the affirmations below them and hung them on the wall behind my computer before everything broke open. When my crisis began, I would glare at them in defiance and think, “I’m amazed I have friends if this is the kind of crap I’ve been saying to them. I’m a jackass.” I came face to face with exactly how hard it is to hear those things when times are tough.
My mother, going through a slightly less traumatic but still difficult crisis of spirit herself, kept trying to talk me down. “There’s a reason! There’s a reason! Something’s coming. You’ll be ok. Just surrender and let go.” And the core that is intrinsically who I am desperately wanted to believe that. The fiery ball of resentment that had taken me over kept demanding, “Less talk! MORE RESULTS!” And I went into that spiral of bitterness that results from fear that being upset was just making everything worse, but who cared if I was questioning everything I believed in. My whole existence became that spiral. I didn’t even know how to live my day much less live my life. It felt like a failure of staggering proportions. Here I was, completely and utterly incapable of following my own advice and what was worse, my ever-reliable brain couldn’t figure out how to move on.
So I’ve been recovering from that. And I wish I could say that I magically got everything back and here I am in happyland again, la la la. It’s not true though. I got beaten down so far and became so tired in all four of my bodies (physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual) that I had no choice except move on. Well that’s not true, I had a choice: I could either stay upset and do nothing and feel nothing or I could just put one foot in front of the other and make little choices to make myself feel better. It was time to take my own advice by doing what I could in any given moment to make myself feel better because I couldn’t live feeling bad all the time anymore. Things are the way they are and I can either live with joy and hope or I can be sad and bitter. And since I made the decision that I was done being sad, the joy and hope have started filling the empty spaces. What a wonderful affirmation, no?
So here’s my revised plan for letting go–this is how I’ve convinced myself to join the land of the (happy) living again:
- There’s nothing to figure out. There’s just me and how I’m feeling and how I’m reacting to my life.
- There is only now. Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow will take care of itself.
- I am always allowed to feel, to think, to eat, to move, to say whatever/whenever/however I want.
- Affirm that my intuition will never fail me, even if it leads me in painful directions.
- Tell myself over and over (whether I’m feeling it or not): The Universe always says yes.
Yes, the past month kicked my ass, but I’M BACK!
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