Manifesting Through Action

I received an email from a woman who's been unemployed for over a year.  She said she's been applying all the principles of manifesting and trying to use the law of attraction to attract a new job, but no job.  This is a frustrating experience, but the woman said she's only applying for jobs that are similar in compensation to her previous job.  This is limited thinking.  If you put out limited thinking, you're going to get limited thinking in return.

This is a crappy economy, but it doesn't mean the law of attraction can't work for you.  When I finished school, I remember my dad said, "Send out 100 resumes."  I said, "But there aren't 100 teaching jobs out there in this whole state."  But he explained that if I put the energy out there to one and all, I'd receive a job.  And he was right!  I received two job offers that summer.

When I moved to a different state, however, the situation wasn't as positive, and teaching jobs were very difficult to come by.  So I wrote for our city's newspaper and waitressed at my sister's restaurant at night.  Within a year, I had the teaching job I'd always wanted.

On summers off, if I couldn't find a job, I'd create one.  One summer, I baked cookies for local coffee shops.  I printed out business cards that read The Cookie Lady, received approval from the health department, and baked up boxes of cookies for area coffee shops to try.  Within a week, I had contracts with three coffee shops.  Another summer, I tutored students and did freelance writing.  One summer I assisted a real estate magazine editor.

Ask a teacher about summer jobs, and you'll get a lot of funny stories.  One of my friends had the grand job of gluing bows on bras at a local factory.  Another teacher friend of mine sewed costumes for pets.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  Put the energy out there and it will come back to you.

The law of attraction works like karma.  Whatever you put out -- in thought, act or deed -- comes back to you threefold.  If you're always complaining, gossiping and whining, guess what you're going to receive?  If you believe the economy will keep you from making more money, you're sending out a literal instruction to the universe that reads: I'm not ready to receive.

If you want a job, a relationship, a new health regimen, take actions in that direction.  And throughout, don't forget to give abundantly and with confidence in little and small ways.  Soon, you'll be receiving that job or relationship of your dreams.

Here's what 20th century mystic Flower Newhouse had to say about the law of attraction:

"Supply is related to giving.  We give something -- labor, time, unselfish love, or moral assistance -- and the great law of compensation repays us with the Good we have earned and we must give more of ourselves to the world's need.  To master unemployment, we should examine ourselves to see where in the past we have worked grudgingly.  Steadiness of work shall be ours to the degree that we give service willingly and in love of God."

And since today is the feast day of St. Therese the Little Flower, it's fitting to mention that we can give back in small ways such as a smile to a stranger, returning a cart we find left in the parking lot, calling a friend who's having a tough week and just listening, giving a nice waitperson an extra tip.  Be creative and discover the small and large ways you can give to the circle of abundance.  Before you know it, you'll be receiving not only a job but a better appreciation for your life.

How to Make the Secret Work For You

Okay, so by now everyone has seen The Secret (www.thesecret.tv) and read every book out there on the law of attraction.  But, as many of you have probably already learned, it's not as easy as they make it sound.  You can't exactly think of a car, test drive the car, get a brochure of the car, and then presto!  You've got the car.

Why not?

Well, for one there's a little thing called karma.  If you're trying to manifest a relationship with someone and part of your karma is that it's not supposed to happen because someone better is down the road, it's not going to happen -- no matter how many times you "feel it real."

And for another, there's a big thing called conditioning.  Many of us have been conditioned to revert back to negative thinking.  Let me show you through example.

We get excited after watching The Secret.  We think, "Wow, if that little kid can manifest a bike, I'm going to manifest a great career."  You do all the work, practice the positive affirmations, plan for success maybe by purchasing the suit you'll wear to the big interview for the big new career.  Maybe you even get that interview, and then BAM!  No job.  No big career.  The suit gets put to the back of the closet.  Your ego gets slammed to the ground, and you think, "Great!  I'm a big loser.  The Secret sucks, and those Abraham channeling people are nuts." And you go right back to your old way of thinking.  "This is good enough for me."  "I should feel blessed for the job I have." "Well, you can't have your cake and eat it too."

And why the hell not?  What good is cake if you don't eat it?

If you get a chance, check out Greg Braden's work -- especially The Spontaneous Healing of Belief and The Divine Matrix.  He uses science to explain how we can reprogram our brains to think positively for us.  How?  He says all it takes is spending 2 - 3 minutes a day focusing on gratitude to change your brain.  Sounds crazy, right?  But the science backs him up.  When we think thoughts of gratitude, we calm down, our cortisol levels lower, endorphins are released, serotonin levels increase and we begin to change our energy.  We become more open to positivity, more receptive to happy outcomes.

So give it a try.  Every day, spend 2 - 3 minutes closing your eyes and visualizing all the things in your life your grateful for -- the beautiful day you spent at the park, your boss telling you what a good job you did on the Peters account, your child running out the door to hug you when you come home, your dog always waiting for you to spend some happy time with him, the birds outside always singing their morning song.  I could go on and on (can you tell?), but, really, there is so much in each day to be grateful for.  Soon, you'll start to see changes in your thinking, your reactions, your unconscious programming and this will in turn change your energy, increase your vibration and make you more receptive to attracting positive things, events and people to you.  Goodbye energy vampires -- hello happiness!