If We Ask Amiss. . .

“Whatsoever we ask which is not for our good, He [God] will keep it back from us.  And surely in this there is no less of love than in the granting what we desire as we ought.  Will not the same love which prompts you to give a good, prompt you to keep back an evil, thing?  If, in our blindness, not knowing what to ask, we pray for things which would turn in our hands to sorrow and death, will not our Father, out of His very love, deny us?  How awful would be out lot, if our wishes should straightway pass into realities; if we were endowed with a power to bring about all that we desire; if the inclinations of our will were followed by fulfilment of our hasty wishes, and sudden longings were always grant.  One day we shall bless Him, not more for what He has granted than for what He has denied.”  H. E. Manning, quoted in Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Mary W. Tileston)

This quotation illustrates an important corollary to the law of attraction, one that is described in later works by Rhonda Byrne that focus on love, but is not perhaps made too clear in The Secret. So Rhonda knows of the vital importance of living in a loving universe, and we know that God is a God of love. Sometimes this love becomes a matter of saving us from ourselves.

If we ask amiss, we are protected. Evil desires will not manifest, because of their negativity. Things that seem benign to us actually may give us something that will turn out badly. So, in these cases, our request is not granted. Then we often think that the law of attraction is not working.

But it is working magnificently, a secret of the working of the universe and our God. If we ask amiss, we are protected.

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Belief

“It is also important to emphasize that a basic factor in successful living is not how much you know or how hard you work, although neither is to be minimized.  The most important factor is what you believe and how sincerely you believe it.  This law was stated by William James, one of the greatest thinkers in American history, who said, ‘In any project, the important factor is your belief.  Without belief there can be no successful outcome.  That is fundamental.’”  Stay Alive All Your Life, by Norman Vincent Peale

Here we see the great preacher, Norman Vincent Peale, and the great thinker, William James, in agreement about belief.  Jesus is quoted in the New Testament as saying much the same, and Jesus’ statement, found in Mark, is highlighted in the sidebar of this blog.

The statements about belief are a reaffirmation, in other words, of the law of attraction, explaining how it works.  But we must understand one thing more to use the belief principle in our law of attraction endeavors.  Unless we are sure, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this thing we want is true for us, in our heart of hearts, we will not actualize it.  The doubt at the base of our psyche is the killer of the dream.  If we know, through and through, that we can have this desired good, then we are living out the contract we made before we were born into this life.

Our dreams of acquisition will bear fruit.

Be Joyous when We Seek to Attract

“Having faith in yourself, and letting go of memories when things did not work, will help you open to more abundance.  If you must think of the past, think of those times you were powerful and creative.  Go into your heart and ask whether you feel you deserve all the joy and love that is awaiting you on your path of higher purpose.”  Living with Joy, by Sanaya Roman

We need to go to our heart when we are invoking the law of attraction.  Do we feel we deserve what we are asking for?  If we have doubts about whether or not what we think we want is right for us, we will negate the thoughts that would draw our desired thing to us.  Doubt kills.

Think back, if you must think back at all, to those times when we were powerful and creative.  Don’t dwell on our weakest times, for these are killers of the dream.  Focus on the times when we were on top of the world.  Focus on those things that came to us so easily and effortlessly at such times.  Then replicate the feelings.

It is just that easy.  Good moods enhance our draw to the good life.  Good moods, if founded in our hearts, bring the best to us.

More – More – More

“An excellent measure of happiness is the differential between what you have and what you want.  You can spend your lifetime wanting more, always chasing happiness—or you can simply decide to consciously want less.  This latter strategy is infinitely easier and more fulfilling.”  Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff

We need to be reasonable about wants when we invoke the law of attraction.  Once we have received a desired object, if we never stop to appreciate, then we don’t get the full benefit from our desires being manifested.  We are not “filled up” because we are not living well enough in the present.  If we are not filled up, then we would keep wanting something else, and something else—more, more, more—and we would be insatiable.

Being insatiable, meaning never to be satisfied with what we have, is no way to live.  This habit of mind even runs counter to the law of attraction, for gratitude is a primary way to attract what we want.  When we are never satisfied, we are not stopping long enough to be grateful.

An irritable reaching after more is a dead end when it never encourages us to savor what we have already.

Appreciation

“Develop a new appreciation for the blessings you already enjoy.  See your life freshly, as if for the first time.  As you develop this new awareness, you’ll find that as new possessions or accomplishments enter your life, your level of appreciation will be heightened.”  Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff

We can use the law of attraction to bring new things into our lives, but if we are not appreciative, we lose the value and are still unhappy.  So the best thing that we can do is to appreciate what we have now, and with the appreciation and a nod to new things, we will appreciate the new things as well.  If we have no practice in appreciation, then the new things won’t mean much after the initial thrill of acquisition is gone.

So:  This is another way of saying “count your blessings.”  Our attitude makes all the difference.  And when we are grateful, the world opens up.

Bad Moods

“If you learn to focus on and feel grateful for what you have in each moment, that thought process will become habit itself.  Similarly, when you focus on what is lacking in or wrong with your life, you will always find a way to attract even more of what you don’t like.”  You Can Feel Good Again, by Richard Carlson

Sometimes we have been too introspective. It is especially dangerous to be too introspective when we are feeling low, depressed, negative about life. If we want to attract the good things that we deserve, we need to find a way to lift our spirits and move forward. If we obsess about every little thing, we will attract more negativity. The law of attraction in operation.

I know that it is hard to lift one’s spirits when we are feeling down. Rhonda Byrne recommends shifting our thinking by reminiscing about happy things that give us joy. We can also read. Or journal. Or distract ourselves with conversation with our loved ones.

We know what works, because we have short-circuited a depressed mood many times in our lives. The most important thing to do is to “short-circuit.” Don’t give an inch, which becomes a mile, to depression. Focus on what is right in our lives–another way of saying “count our blessings.” A gratitude list is a potent circuit breaker.

Nourish the small amount of gratitude that is always a part of us. Gratitude will then grow and eclipse the mood of deprivation. Moods are natural; staying in them is actually one of the worst things we can do for ourselves.

Be Glad for What We Have Already Attracted

“You can only feel happy if you shift your focus from what you think would give you happiness and pay attention to what you have.  When you do, you’ll get the great feeling you’ve been looking for.  Despite how obvious this seems, most of us do just the opposite.  Instead of learning to appreciate what we have, we continue believing that the next fulfilled desire or the next achievement will be different.  The next one really will bring us joy!”  Shortcut through Therapy, by Richard Carlson

It is obvious that getting at least some of what we desire, through the law of attraction, will make us happier—or at least give us the potential to be happier.  But if we constantly up the ante, wanting one thing after another, never stopping to appreciate the last thing we got, we are going to lead ourselves into a dismal existence.  We certainly won’t be happy if we don’t focus on what we already have, at least to a great extent.

We are practicing unhappiness when we constantly ask for more, never stopping to enjoy what we have, right here and now, in the present.

We will be focusing on the wrong thing.  And a wrong focus does invoke the law of attraction, but in a negative way.  And we might never realize what is going on; we would just remain unhappy.

Be glad for what we have already attracted.  Live in the present with our many goods, our blessings.  Ask for something more only after living contentedly with what we have already received.  Give it time.  A fretful, agonizing desire for more is insatiable.  And with the fretfulness comes a lack of joy.

On the contrary, a contented life, lived with gratitude, offers us the happiness that the law of attraction is meant to give.  God wants to fulfill our desires, but He wants some indication that our joys are rooted in sanity.  Our true sanity would have us live most of the time in the present, where happiness can truly be found.

Resistance

“Resistance can be a major obstacle to having what you want and feeling the way you want to feel.  However, you can easily let it go and enjoy the benefits of a life without resistance filled with all that you choose.”  The Sedona Method, by Hale Dwoskin

What exactly IS resistance? It is when we have been going along, producing, working, enjoying life, and suddenly we want something new and different; we stop wanting to have and do the things that have filled our lives. We become stuck when we seek to relinquish that which has blessed us.

We have to flow into change, and when we flow into life and into change, we don’t have to resist the things that have previously been perfectly acceptable. When we let our antagonism, which is at base negativism, go, then we are opening a space for all that is good and honorable for the future.

Change will happen. We just don’t want to turn away too soon from what has sustained us. Let the flow of good happenings open up in our lives. And don’t resist the things that have previously offered us blessings. This would be ingratitude, and ingratitude stops the law of attraction from functioning normally in our lives.

Focus on What We Have Already Been Given

“Perhaps the most ironic part of this understanding is that when you focus on what you have instead of what you want, you end up getting more of what you want anyway.  It works this way:  The gratitude that develops works as positive energy, or fuel, that leads toward your heart’s desire.  Optimism leads to satisfaction, which encourages you to take action and look for more positive aspects in your life.  Negativity, or focusing your energy on what’s lacking in your life, only encourages you to find more of the same.  It’s impossible to feel satisfied.”  Shortcut through Therapy, by Richard Carlson

Richard Carlson’s comment might be best summed up as “count your blessings.” When we focus on lack, we are creating lack–a prime way that the law of attraction seems, but only seems, to work in reverse. When we become negative, we may become resentful, and this type of negativity hinders and stops the flow of good into our lives. When we focus on what we have, being happy about what we have (a synonym for “blessed”), our minds are uplifted and a positive flow enters and transforms. The law of attraction gives us the goodies only when we stay upbeat and avoid reactivity about what we don’t have.

Think of how much we have. Did we stop to assess, or did we just add to our “wants” list with more? Were we ever satisfied, even for a moment?

With this type of mind slant, we are shooting ourselves in the foot. Only when we start to count the blessings of what we have already been given, do the floodgates from Heaven open and pour more down upon our heads.

Trust

“Trust yourself and believe you can create what you want.”  Living with Joy, by Sanaya Roman

It is quite possible that trust is the missing ingredient when our prayers to receive do not bear fruit. A Course in Miracles says that trust is the first prerequisite of a teacher of God. And haven’t we all noticed that those who depend upon God in the matter of prayer seem to live charmed lives?

When we trust, the first recipients of that trust ought to be ourselves. And we are a part of God (though many of us might doubt this). If we trust our inner Self to bring us those wonderful things that we long to have, then miracles happen.

As always, unless we are very sure of our wants, we will ask amiss. And God knows when we are doubting. Doubting negates the prayer for abundance. And the law of attraction.

Ask for greater trust today. It will be a prayer in God’s will. And trusting ourselves–and Him–will bring joys that we heretofore have not allowed ourselves to contemplate.