HOW TO MAKE SWEEPING CHANGES IN YOUR LIFE

Much of my life has been spent looking backwards and crying over "spilt milk." I have kicked myself for years over stupid mistakes I made. I walked out of situations that were good for me and stayed in situations that were bad for me. I learned the wrong lessons and then used them to gauge my response in more recent dilemmas. Not a healthy situation. I was at a loss when trying to reason with the fact that my life was falling apart. Only recently have I begun to break out of this self-destructive rut.

Focusing on the past is only a good thing when one is trying to recapture that sense of wonder we have as children and lose as we become disenchanted with and let down by the happenings of life. And things always look better when we look back on them, because we tend to forget certain aspects or we have a skewed version of what really happened because we block out the bad things.

There have been so many times that I tried to reconnect with people and places from my past, only to see that they are either not really as I remembered them, or that they have significantly changed since the times I remember. It's true that you "can never go home again."

I am okay with that. I have recently moved "into the now" and started living my life! I am no longer allowing myself to be a slave to the past or to my perception of how I perceive that things "should be." I accept people and situations for what they are. If a person's behavior or a certain situation is unacceptable, I no longer feel the need to deal with and accept it. How plain, simple and easy this has just started becoming to me. It took me years of counseling with an LCSW as well as a life coach and two and a half years in Al-Anon (a support group for the friends and families of alcoholics) to realize the state I had allowed my life to deteriorate to and the need for escape. I was feeling so trapped in a blatantly unacceptable relationship that I didn't even realize that there was a way out. Once I brainstormed about the situation and followed intuition, I scrimped and saved every extra dime until I had enough to leave.

It wasn't until I began to accept the situation for what it was that I was able to think more of how important it was to stop killing myself with stress and to start living the life God intended! Following his "Divine Design," as per Florence Scovel Shinn, I came to realize the need for drastic change. Once I accepted that I needed to make a change, I began to pray for guidance in this. I was already a Christian, but I found that as I prayed harder and more often than I ever had in the past, I had also opened up my ears to hear the answer. I opened my heart and listened for the Lord to bring me out of bondage. And He did. As I prayed for the right conditions and for the things that I wanted (as opposed to focusing on what I didn't want), doors started opening that had always been closed in the past.

And I didn't question it. I welcomed every positive thing that happened for me and gave thanks. I am not yet exactly where I want to be, but at least now, I know the path to find it. My faith is in the Lord, or "the powers that be," or my "higher power," or whatever you want to call it. I believe. Ask, believe, receive. Rub that magic lamp! I no longer feel the need to follow astrology or any other thing that promises guidance that is not of the Lord.

And while the movie, "the Secret" does not give credit for the laws of the Universe to the Lord, I do. You may turn your nose up at the movie for that very reason, but I tell you, those ideas are still made up of truth. It doesn't take away from the strength of the Lord, for those of you who are skeptical because it seems as if this is against His grain. The Lord is the source of all energy. Everything is energy. So if you believe that the Lord created everything, your beliefs are the same as mine. Such is the fabric of our lives. The thing that is not so clear in the movie is the way to achieve this.

Ask, Believe, Receive. It's right there in the Bible. Matthew 7:7, "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." It is so true that we must voice the desires of our heart, for it is our words that crystallize the essence of what we want. Repeating affirmations is the thing that will bring the desired result. But only if we believe that it is possible to receive anything we ask for can we truly expect to receive it.

Florence Scovel Shinn wrote a series of books, but my personal favorite is, "The Game of Life and How to Play It." She gives detailed information and examples that have helped me tremendously in my life. I have been reading this book daily lately, and I have been looking at the affirmations she wrote which give credit to the Lord and utilize the Law of Attraction as well as the Law of Karma. I also read the Bible, and I find that the stories there have taken on new meaning since I started thinking differently.

It is of the utmost importance to avoid feelings of anger, hatred, resentment and any other bad feelings (ie fear, worry) that bring on ill-health. Hoarding isn't healthy, either. While one should never be wasteful when spending money and other valuable resources, it is the willingness to let money go that invites more money into your life. It's called planting seeds of faith. You have to do this with intelligence and guidance from intuition (per Esther Hicks, your "emotional guidance system" will help you make the right decisions). Do your best not to be skeptical. You must know for yourself, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the thing you are expecting to happen can and will happen for you.

The law of attraction is a simple theory. It is as simple as the thought that, "What you think about, you bring about." Thoughts truly are things. Be careful to focus on the thing you want to happen, not on the things you are afraid of.

For example, if you are in what seems to be an impossible situation, I give you the words of Florence Scovel Shinn that, "No matter how impossible the situation seems, Infinite Intelligence knows the way out."

Some affirmations to ask for guidance were suggested as follows:

"Infinite Intelligence, give me a definite lead, let me know just what to do!"

"The unexpected happens, my seemingly impossible good now comes to pass."

"The long arm of God reaches out over people and conditions, controlling the situation and protecting my interests!"

More wonderful and insightful affirmations can be found by clicking here.