Choosing...

(In case anyone's wondering, the last bit was an accidental double post that was supposed to go on my "Fame or Famine" blog. Sorry about the confusion. Go look at that blog. It's neat. And I get paid for it.)

Ah, those Slow Leadership folks. They are SO wise. Today's post on "The Wonder of Letting Go" contains more useful gems in one web page than I think I could hope to bring to this blog in a year. I'll let you go look at it yourself, rather than trying to paraphrase here, but among the many bits there are to talk about, this one is especially useful--and difficult--for me right now:

You can be like the guy who trains himself to see only threats and fears in the faces of other people, or the one who decides instead that the people around her are most likely a source of abundant joy and surprise, if only she is willing to let go and float with the tide of life. It is always your choice.

My girlfriend is big on the whole "visualizing" thing--just short of daily affirmations, but she has told me about the year she saw money as "abundant and flowing" and how she had done so well financially that year. My own experience with finances is not so hot--having been a single Dad with no marketable job skills and 4 infants to support, I tend to still live in a starvation mentality most of the time.

I've been trying to change that. I've been listening (with, admittedly, a healthy dose of skepticism) to Steve Pavlina's talk about the "Intention/Manifestation" idea, and decided "What the heck, I'll try it." The intention was pretty simple: to be seated behind a nice, reliable car that I own. That's it. Now, along with that would be a whole lot of other factors--it would mean, basically, that I was not worrying about money, and that would be quite a trick, as my loved ones would tell you.

To some extent, it has worked. I got the "alpha manifestation" he talks about, from a couple of different and surprising sources, and a few other opportunities came my way. And while it bears some of the snake-oil salesman's gimmick--"What, it didn't work? Well, then you must not have really believed!" there is also an element of "becoming one with the flow of the Tao" which I can really get behind, having used that Taoist philosophy to survive the USMC.

But in the last few days? There've been some financial circumstances that have set us back hundreds of dollars. Meager, hard fought savings have been depleted, and for a while, at least, we are again living on the edge of disaster. Travel plans have been cancelled, groceries frugally shopped for, and the change to a Moleskine planner regretted because I no longer have a Palm to hawk on eBay for spare cash.

And within this, it is difficult to maintain that choice that Slow Leadership talks about--to remember the mantra that I came up with when I manifest that intention: I'm not going to go looking for the money. The money's going to find me.

But I suppose I simply have to remember: whether I'm cheerful or maudlin, I'm still going to have the same low bank account. So I may as well be cheerful about it, and enjoy the life there is to live.

Dum vivimus, vivamus!

Comments

[Steve Pavlina]

Note that you've basically trashed your positive intentions by continuing to reinforce what you don't want. Do you really want to keep affirming "the same low bank account," "living on the edge of disaster," etc? There's no point in holding positive intentions if you're going to turn around and erase them after a few days.

It sounds like you're still directing most of your thoughts towards observing the results you're already getting but don't want. If you want your positive intentions to manifest instead, you need to stop thinking about what you don't want, and that includes writing about it, unless you can write without thinking. :)

As for how to do that effectively, you might find this article helpful:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/08/creative-observation/

Good luck!

P.S. I've gone through times of financial hardship as well, and I can say with certainty that spending time thinking about my problems didn't help me one iota. My financial situation only improved once I was able to focus fully on solutions and possibilities and put all my energy there.

[Gray Miller]

you need to stop thinking about what you don't want, and that includes writing about it, unless you can write without thinking.

Well, I have been accused of that a time or two...but no, I'm not all that good at zen writing.

On the other hand, the intentions aren't entirely trashed. It's not a post about how I am financially bereft; it's a post about how it's hard to hang onto those kinds of thoughts in the face of events. Hard...but not impossible.

Really--it's a cheerful post!