The Magical Secret To Receiving!

 

          We have all heard the Biblical saying "It is more blessed to give than to receive.  That phrase may sound awkward and confusing upon first hearing because we may think how can I give when I have nothing to give.  First let me remind you of the fallacy of such thinking.   There are very few people who are so destitute and desperate that they have absolutely nothing to give.  And we can almost always look around us when we are having tough times and see that there are other people who are much worse off than we are.

 

          Secondly giving to others does not limit itself to monetary and materialistic offerings.  There are many things we can give to others besides money.  One of the greatest gifts we can bestow unto our fellow humans is our precious time.  Everyone feels lonely at times and will welcome some company.  Why not take some time out and strike up a conversation with your neighbor who lives alone, someone sitting by them self at a social or religious function, or even the little old lady or man sitting on a bench waiting for the bus.

 

          So by now I think that I have made it clear that the magical secret to receiving is in giving.  There is something about our energy that changes when we shift our attitude from an ego 'me' oriented focus to a loving concern and desire to spread one's wealth, time, love and such to other people.  I believe that we all possess a higher self, or you can call it soul or spirit if you wish.  I also believe that this higher more evolved part of our total essence watches over and monitors or thoughts, behaviors and actions.  It is this part of us that is in touch with the subconscious and super conscious mind that connects everyone.  This term is also known as the 'collective unconscious' and was coined by Swiss Psychiatrist Carl G. Jung.

 

          Over the years I have learned that everyone is intuitive and some are intuitive to the point of being clairvoyant and psychic.  I also believe this is a skill that our beloved God, Creator, Source, endowed us with and that, although it is natural for some people, that anyone can develop their intuitive and psychic skills with effort and practice.  Once we open up to our inner self and intuitive senses, we are more receptive to the thoughts and feelings of others.  We also become more receptive to the voices of our invisible guides and angels who have the ability to plant thoughts in our minds which can lead us to positive glorious opportunities.  In other words we are never alone and our guides will do all that they can to help us.  Giving to others (or being of service to human kind as I like to call it) is one sure way to brighten one's soul light so that people as well as guides and angels will be attracted to our loving soul light.  We are all familiar with the term synchronicity  (another term that Carl G. Jung coined) or simultaneous occurrence.  It is a very popular talked about subject these days.  And many of us are seeing synchronicity in action more frequently which validates that there is much more to the human experience and our glorious grand potential than many are aware of.

 

          I think of the famous case where Dr. Jung was working with a lady who had a dream about Egyptian scarabs.  He looked at the window at one point while in the middle of interpreting the dream when he noticed a scarab  like beetle crawling across the window.  One might call such an experience a mere coincidence but when we begin to notice such 'simultaneous occurrences' occurring in our lives more frequently we realize that there is more going on.  I also believe that we can attract synchronous events to us via utilizing focusing our intention on that which we wish to create and manifest.

 

          There is a quality of 'magic' about synchronicity and I feel the same way about the art of 'giving' which we are all wise to cultivate.  It opens up many doors of opportunity and brings us countless rewards and blessings.  It is as though the soul is telling us, "there is enough prosperity and abundance to go around."  Spread and share what you have so that more will come your way.  Some people may call such talking rubbish and sheer nonsense.  That is fine and I respect everyone's beliefs.  However, I know from many personal experiences and from the experiences of many others that synchronicity is very real and operates in our everyday world. 

 

          I know it may take a bit of reality checking and opening and stretching and expanding our thinking and horizons before we start seeing synchronicity in action and see how Life begins to bless and reward us when we start practicing the beautiful selfless art of giving to others.        It may take some practice but I wholeheartedly promise you that it works.  Old beliefs and ways of thinking and doing do not change overnight but if the desire is there, and the willingness to stick to it, attitude, then success is guaranteed.

 

          Why do I speak this way so confidently?  Because I personally lived by the philosophy 'poor me victim thinking' for many years.  Such negative thinking and constantly talking only reinforced my negative attitude and I found that it kept me in the pit of lack.  I barely got by and lived not only from paycheck to paycheck, but I lived one day at a time.  I am kind of embarrassed to admit it, but since we must all be true honest and true to ourselves, I was often not practicing what I preached even when I started learning about synchronicity, the art of joyous giving, positive thinking, affirmations and about the wonderful law of attraction that the famous book The Secret by Rhonda Byne (and many others) talks about. 

 

          I remember a Psychic Fair I worked back in 2005.  It seems that everyone got a little life coaching and motivational counseling in their reading along with the psychic information that came through.  I remember being impressed and grateful at how the information just flowed through me.  It felt like automatic talking or that I was actually channeling the information from the client's guides directly to them.

 

          Then it hit me like a ton of bricks as I drove home of how guilty I was of teaching something that I was not practicing, or shall I say practicing to the extent I should have been.   At the time I was driving an old junker car that my mother had given me which had been my brother's who had died a few months before.  The air conditioning barely worked and during the psychic fair there was a leak that was coming up and making its way to the accelerator.  It got on my shoes and this made the accelerator very slippery.  My brother-in-law had looked at it and I thought had fixed the problem.  That fix lasted about a week and the leak came back.  I drove to the psychic fair and on the way there was more of the leak.  At one point I spun about and almost ran off the road.  That is how slippery the accelerator was.

 

          That was a reality check and big wake up call.  "I could have gotten killed," I told my friend Leiah.  I don't feel safe driving this car home."   
          "I am hearing that you will be okay.  Just drive slowly."

          I was able to get through the rest of the psychic fair without any further catastrophe or disaster.  On Monday Leiah and I had lunch and she gave me a real talking to.  "Michael, you and I are ministers along with being professional Psychics.  People come to us for spiritual guidance and help in all areas of their lives.  You know as well as I do that we often cannot read ourselves.  We also know that nothing happens by chance.  Your little leak problem with your car is a blessing in disguise."

          My eyes got real big.  "Did I hear you correctly?  You are telling me that a leak that could have gotten me in an accident, could have even killed me or hurt others, is a blessing in disguise.  Non capisco as the Italians say  I don' get it."

          "You were not meant to get in any accident.  Your guides protected you.  That little disaster happened in order to wake you up.  It's time for you to start practicing what you preach to others.  Teaching it is only part of it.  We have to be living examples to our clients or we cannot expect them to believe us.  Like they say in order to be respected we must walk the talk or actions speak louder than words."

          "Well that makes sense, and to a great degree I do practice what I preach.  After all, I went out on a limb and gave up a teaching career to pursue my writing dream and psychic work, didn't I?  There were times I had to borrow rent money and had no food in the house.  You recall those times don't you.  I even lived with you twice when I did not have a penny to my name and many times I ate your leftovers."

          "Of course I recall those times.  We have been friends for over twenty years.  Remember, I knew you when you were miserable at your high school teaching job back in the late 1980's.  I was one of the people who encouraged you to quit teaching and move on to something else."

          "Yes, and that was very scary to me and it did not happen overnight, but the good news is that I did it.  I am now proud to say that this is my fifth year of being a full time psychic.  My bills are always paid on time and I lack for nothing."

          "That is wonderful and you have many other tales and stories to share as I do.  But now your guides are asking you to 'go out on the limb' again."     

          I used that phrase a lot in my readings and now it was being used on me.  The implications made my heart start to flutter.  Leiah just looked at me with kindness and love and was silent for several minutes.  Finally, I could take the silence no longer.  "Okay, Leiah, spill the beans.  What am I supposed to do?"

          "Do you really want to know?"       

          "Yes and no, but more yes than no.  So lay it on me.  I don't have to believe or act upon what you say."

          Leiah scooted closer and said, "Your spirit guides want you to get another car."

          I coughed.  "Another car."  Then I made a faux-pas that I almost never make and I constantly get after friends and clients for.  "I can't afford another car."  I said.  Immediately I felt my energy drop and my mood descended into 'depression mode' almost instantly.  "I don't mean to be negative, Leaih, but I just don't see how that can happen right now.  You know I don't even have a thousand dollars in my savings account."

          "I understand, Michael, but Spirit has more than one way around things.  You know that."

          "So what does spirit propose that I do?"

          "Well, to make this conversation more juicy shall we say, and to make your jello flop as you can be real resistant, spirit wants you not only to get yourself a car but they want you to get yourself a brand spanking new car."

          My eyes got as big as a saucer.  I was so shocked by what Leiah said that I was speechless. 

          "So not only do I have to go out on a limb once by getting a car, I have to do it whole hog and purchase a brand new car.  Pray tell me just how do I do that?  No, on second thought, pray tell, please do not.  I am feeling half sick to my stomach, my friend.  Can you please just take me home.  We will finish this conversation in a couple of days."

          "No problem, hon."

 

          After Leiah dropped me off I holed myself up in my apartment and was depressed for the rest of the day.  Then something unusual happened.

That night I dreamed that I was sitting on Santa's knee.   After Santa greeted me and asked if I had been a good boy, he winked at me and said, because you have been a good boy I am going to give you something very special this year.  Then a huge mirror appeared.  I stepped inside the mirror and Santa Claus was standing in the middle of the room.  He pointed his fingers at a door behind him.  He came and gave me a big hearty hug and then disappeared.  When I looked at the mirror I saw that my appearance had changed.  I had transformed into Santa Claus.  Then some red writing appeared on the mirror.  It said "It is more blessed to give than to receive.  This year you are to make a gift to yourself."

 

          I was drawn to open the door I had earlier seen that Santa pointed to.  Instantly Leiah and I were at a car dealership negotiating a new car.  The car was a medium size and the salesman kept reiterating what a wonderful warranty the car had.  We were there for over three hours.   Then when I said I will think about your offer, the salesman winked at me and said, "Remember, our cars have great warranties.  That is so important to have."

 

          I woke up whispering the words "Great Warranty."  Then something else strange happened.  I knew in that moment that this was no ordinary dream.  This was a precognitive dream.  Through symbolic imagery and language my subconscious mind and spirit guides were showing me that it was time for me to practice what I preached and to get a new car.   That was fine and dandy, I recall thinking, but my mind was still wanting to know the exact details of how I was going to pull this off.  I have to admit that I was becoming kind of excited and my inner child had quite a fun time imagining me driving a new car.

 

          I called Leiah and shared my dream.  "Wonderful," she replied.  "I know the perfect car dealership who has a great warranty-Hyundai.  As a matter of fact I purchased my Hyundai Sonata from the dealership near Florence, Kentucky.  I say let's go over there and have a look and see what is available.  You will probably not need a Sonata.  A Hyundai Elantra will be a perfect pick for you in my opinion."

          "But Leiah, how am I going to pay for this wonderful car with the great warranty?"
          "The way that most people do.  You are going to finance it if they offer you a decent deal.  And you know I am the queen of negotiating.  I will be happy to do that for a treat to lunch.  Now is that not an offer you cannot refuse?"

          "So, I'm going to finance this new car, eh?"
          "I think I can talk them down to a decent price.  This is the time of year when they need to move their cars so the new ones can come in.  Not to worry, Michael.  You have perfect credit and that will be enough."

          "Yeah, thank goodness for that.  I guess I can thank spirit for that for we know things have not always been that way."

          "That is another story to prove how positive thinking, affirmations, and faith helped you build your credit back up.  Aren't you proud of yourself for that?  I remember going to court with you when you declared bankruptcy.  You were so embarrassed."

          "Yeah, and I remember saying never again.  I even took my Sear's Card and I said "You are paid off."  I said that over and over and became bound and determined to build my credit back up."

          "You were bound and determined.  That was a very important step (pardon the pun) on getting back on your feet."

          "It was like my guides went to work.  My phone started ringing more.  I got invited to work many shows, psychic fairs, and parties.  My business more than doubled."

          "It was not 'like' your guides went to work.   They most definitely went to work, but you went to work as well and did your part too, and made constant efforts.  Like the saying goes "God helps those who help themselves."

          "Yeah, I recall working very hard at getting my name out there more.  The next thing I knew I started sending Sears $100.00 instead of $40 which barely covered their high interest rate.  I had been paying them $40 something monthly for the past several years.  Then more business came in and I started sending them $200.00.  Then I sent $500.00 and a few months that $2,000 something balance was all paid off.  I cancelled my Sears account and cut up the card.   And I also paid off not one, but both of my student loans which I had been struggling with for many years.  So I have had wonderful experiences where positive thinking and hard work went hand in hand and literally paid off."

          "Yes, and because of so much hard work, your Santa dream told you it is time to 'give to yourself."

          "Okay, I get it now.  Not only is it important to give to others in order to receive, it is also important to give to ourselves."

          "That is a very important truth to realize, Michael.  Many people think it is selfish to give much to our selves but we are somebody.  If we can't love our self and treat our self, how can we expect our self to do it for others?    After all, didn't Jesus say "Love thy neighbor as thyself?  Thy or our self is equally as important as other people, are we not?"

          "You are right.  I am going to do just that-give to myself.  It is time.   It is probably past time to stop living in this poverty mode.  It sucks.   Now, I embrace my prosperity and abundance.  I give thanks to spirit and my good credit and hard work for this new wonderful car that I am about to drive off of this parking lot."

          We headed to the dealership a little while later.  Leiah proved that she is the queen of negotiations.  She saved me about $4,000 on the tan Hyundai Elantra.  At one point the salesman said he'd need to see a tax statement for proof of income.  Leiah smiled and said, Sir, Michael has perfect credit.  That is all that you need."

          "I guess you are right," the salesman said and the negotiations proceeded.

          A couple hours later I was driving my new car.  I had not had a new car in nearly ten years.  I admit that it felt great to having wonderful air- conditioning, heating, cruise control, remote control electric locks with (something I had never had)  and that 'great warranty' that the salesman in the dream told me about.

          Looking back I see that we are often the ones who sabotage our dreams.  Although I had made a lot of progress, I was by no means living life as prosperously as I could.  As I pondered more I realized that I still had some of the old negative programming that I had carried as a child.  My father used to constantly put me down.  He would call me stupid and say I was never going to amount to anything.  He'd say I did not deserve to be successful.  I had internalized what he said as truth and my life script was living out just what he had predicted.  I see how that inner child little boy part of me had not released all of those memories and old hurts, and how that had kept me in the poverty mode for so many years. 

 

          But much self work and therapy helped with a lot of the releasing and letting go of the old programming and memories.  The truth is that sometimes we need a little help from outside our self.  My friend Leiah was a catalyst and grand help to me as was my subconscious mind and guides in the dream they gave me.   And I was the one who made yet another choice (do they ever end?) to challenge my limiting beliefs and to take action to improve my life.  Going out on the limb as I did was a milestone step for growth, and now I cannot imagine driving a 'junker' ever again.  I also learned, or relearned I should say, a great lesson.  When Beloved Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive, there was more to that statement.  It is wonderful to give to others (and that will be the focus of my next article) but equally important is the need to give to our self!  I wish you all success, prosperity and abundance from the bottom of my heart!