"If you think about shortages, you're going to attract more shortage! If you think about what's missing, you're going to attract more of what's missing in your life. "

Dr Wayne Dyer

Over the last few months, I've noticed that my ability to manifest things into my life has increased massively. You may have noticed this too. No sooner do I think about something that I'd find helpful or fun, or think of something I need, then somehow it has come to me. We are in a time when the energy vibration is such that, almost instantly, things we want are attracted to us and appear in our lives. The trick, however, is not to try and limit how it comes to us... that is where we slow things down. A prime example of this is money. When we think about money some people immediately get a pit in the centre of their stomach and feelings of "I don't have enough", or "I'll never have enough", or other such negative thoughts. Now remember, what we think about, we attract. If those are the thoughts you have whenever you think about money what do you think the Universe is going to provide you with?!

Now the other thing about money is that many people limit themselves as to how they will attract it into their lives. If you work for someone else you hope for a pay rise or a bonus. If you work for yourself you hope for more clients or customers. If you don't work at all you hope for these things from the government or from your partner! Do you see what I'm getting at? This is very limiting. When we think like this, we are limiting the ways in which the Universe (or Source, or God) can send them to us. The Universe might decide it to respond by giving us a windfall in a completely different way that we hadn't anticipated but, because we're only focusing on or two specific routes, we're now allowing it to come to us. Remember, the Universe will send us what we want and need any ways that are easiest for it. Our responsibility is to keep an open mind and just allow it into our lives, not limit it to just one route.

A key thing to remember here is that where we put our attention is what we attract and how we attract. The Universe is unlimited and is abundant and there is enough for everyone. If only we'd allow it to provide for us in the easiest ways it knows rather than using our less expanded thoughts to limit it to what we believe possible. So think about what you want, see it and see yourself experiencing it, feel good about it, and let go of any thoughts of HOW you're going to receive it. Just let the Universe provide.

Something else to remember, the Universe doesn't work with negatives... so don't think about things you don't want. "I don't want to get fired", 'I don't want my car to break down", "I don't want to be late", "I don't want X's health to get any worse". All the time you're thinking these thoughts you're also thinking about them happening and sending out that vibration. Instead, think about things you DO want "I want job security", "I want my car to run smoothly", "I want to be on time", "I want X's health to improve". Really focus on what it is you do want and feel good about it. The Universe wants you to have the things you want and wants you to feel good about having them - so why not give it a hand in allowing it help you do that?

Every thought we have sends out a signal to the Universe about what we want. As I said before we are in a time where the power of our thoughts is being magnified such that what we think about manifests more quickly than it has ever done before. Focus on feeling good and you'll attract more good things in your life. Your feelings are your guidance - so if what you're thinking doesn't feel good, change the thought to something that feels better.

We are heading, this week, to 090909 and that will be a very powerful day for manifestation. So try to get yourself into the habit of thinking things that feel good or make you feel better than where you are now by the time Wednesday comes around.

There is also a going to be a worldwide focus at 9.09 am on 09.09.09 starting in New Zealand in a wave across the globe. If you can, try and make time at 9.09 am this Wednesday, even if it's only 1 minute, to think of the wellbeing of the planet and everything living upon it. Visualise and feel harmony, peace, and unconditional love for each other, and all living things. Be a part of this wonderful wave of love and light that will be passing around the globe.

See http://www.interconnectedness090909.org/ for more ideas on what you can do to help manifest a more peaceful and unconditionally loving world with this powerful focus on 09.09.09.

If I were to ask you the question: “Who are you?” how would you respond? How many labels or descriptors would you need to describe who you are? 1? 2? 10? 100? For example a man might answer that as “I am Joe Bloggs, Doctor, father, husband, worker, happy person, etc”. A more unhappy person might answer “I am no one”. A more spiritual person may answer “I am God”. Now who is right? Any of them? All of them? None of them?

There are elements of all those answers given that we may use to describe who we are, but the last two answers are the most accurate I feel. Let me explain why I think that the “I am no one” answer is quite accurate. In ourselves we have a Soul and an Ego. As Eckhart Tolle describes in his brilliant book “A New Earth” (well worth a read if you haven’t already) whenever we talk about “I am…. Whatever” we are actually identifying with the Ego, not with the Soul. We build up our personas in order to interact in this 3rd dimension world in which we live. But, in essence, we are not the person we are creating. We are the Soul behind it. And that Soul is God. God is everything, and everything is God. And so, in and of ourselves, we are not “Alun Jones” or “Joe Bloggs” or whatever our name happens to be this time around. We are Source Energy/God/Allah/Father-Mother God/Divine Spirit or whatever other word you choose to use. Everything else around us is an illusion and many have become so identified with their Ego Self that they cannot see this. I say this not in judgment, just in observation.

Many years ago I used to play an online role-playing game which was set in a fantasy world. You start that game with a character that you create, and you decide how you’re going to play this character: what job he/she will do, what the character will wear, male or female, what race etc etc. You then used to interact with other people and do various things to earn experience points and “go up a level” and so become able to do more difficult things and do other things more quickly and easily. For example I had an empath (healer) and the more experience he became the more serious wounds he could help people with. I decided how he would interact with other people and whether he’d be a nice person (as I saw it) or not and so on. Hundreds of people used to play this game all across the world – all doing a similar thing – creating a character and role playing it out. Some people took it incredibly seriously both in terms of the game itself and taking it into the real world. There were whole conventions for this game where people would go dressed as their character really acting out the roles.

OK – if you’re not bored and I haven’t lost you yet that’s good! Another way of looking at the world in which we live is to liken it to the fantasy world I’ve just described above. We each choose what character we will play, what we will do, how we will behave and interact with others, and we gain experience through such interactions. Again, it’s a bit like the film The Matrix with all the people thinking that what they were living was real. Unlike the computer game and the film, however, we cannot switch off this computer game or take a green or red pill. However, we can decide to wake up and understand that the person we think we are is just a role that we have decided to play. Only WE can decide what we think, and feel, and what to do. Even if someone held a gun to our head and told us to go to work we could still choose not to.

There is an awareness within each of us that is waiting patiently for us to acknowledge that it is there. Waiting for us to understand that we are not the characters we play in the world. We are One Soul that is having multiple experiences in order to expand and grow the whole of Consciousness. We are not the butcher, the baker, or the candlestick maker – even though one of those may be the role we wish to play right now. We are so much more than that. The Ego Self will try to force us to limit ourselves to the characters we have chosen to play up until now. The Ego Self in some people reading this will think it’s a load of nonsense – and that’s OK too.

Regardless of whether you can relate to anything in this week’s musings, do have a think about your life and the role/character you are playing. Whether or not you believe you are more than that character, at least consider your role and the choices you are making about who you are. Only you can decide to change it if you are unhappy with it. But you also have the power to change whom you are portraying to the world – all it takes is intention, action, and a bit of tenacity.

Where do you draw the line at trying to help someone feel better about him/herself or a situation he/she is dealing with? It’s a tough one at times isn’t it. It can also depend upon the person whom you’re trying to help! If it’s a close family member we perhaps work a bit harder than we would for, say, a friend. Why is that? Is it because we love the family member more and so feel very unhappy when they are distressed, whereas the friend has less impact in and upon our lives? I’m sure that most of us would go out of our way to help family members more for all sorts of very good reasons. Although, isn’t everyone deserving enough to receive the best help we are able to give? At the end of the day, we’re all part of the same Soul and so equally deserving of the best.

There are a couple themes I think I’d like to get in today: 1) where do we draw the line at trying to help someone help him/herself, and 2) how the ego can be a pain in the butt!

Imagine this: you are a lighthouse standing tall and grounded, shining your light out to sea so that passing ships will be able to see any rocks or hazards. Now what happens if the captain chooses to ignore the lighthouse and continue sailing further along the coast towards the rocks? Should the lighthouse run along the cliff shining a light in front of the ship so that captain can see the hazards more clearly and so come to safety that way? If it did that, imagine what would happen to all the other ships that count on that lighthouse being where it was meant to be but wasn’t! You’d have a whole load of shipwrecks rather than just the one. Further, the ship that ignored your lighthouse may decide to turn back, may get picked up by another lighthouse further along the coast or the captain might even know the waters so well that he doesn’t need the light from your lighthouse. There’s also the unfortunate possibility that the ship will crash on the rocks – but is that your fault?

It's also like the metaphor I used the other week.... if someone is drowning in quicksand and you've thrown them a rope, you cannot make them take it. You can shout encouragement, throw the rope as near to them as you can, even seek ideas and help from others, but if the person in the quicksand doesn't want help getting out there's nothing you can do about it.

We can only help people insofar as they want, and are open, to be helped. We cannot save everyone from making mistakes that we ourselves have made if they don’t want to be helped. Sometimes the best way for people to learn is to experience something themselves and then we can be there to help them pick up the pieces if it all goes horribly wrong. The thing to do is keep shining the light of love from your heart to those that need it and, whether or not they acknowledge it, you’ll know that you’ve done your best to help them.

And this brings me onto my second point – the ego! The ego is a tricky little bugger at times and will try to twist even the best intentions we have to the detriment of ourselves and others. A few years ago, I used to do a lot of training to help people with their job-seeking skills. At the end of every workshop the delegates would leave and say something on the lines of “thanks that was great and really helped me” and so on. But, every now and then, there’d be the person who sat there stony faced throughout and would leave the room without even a thank you. “How rude!” I used to think. “I’ve worked for three hours with this person and they haven’t even got the courtesy to say thanks”. Without getting into the why’s and wherefores as to whether the person was rude or not, the questions we need to ask ourselves are: Why am I doing this in the first place? Is it for the thanks and praise or to try and help and make a difference? These questions brought me up short and are a constant reminder to me of why I do the work I do – because I love to help people and try to make a difference to the world. Yes it’s great to receive thanks and compliments – it feels good. But the most important thing for me when working with people is knowing that I’ve done the best I can, to be the best I can be, to help them be the best that they can be.

The ego will try to tell you that a person is rude and/or ungrateful if they don’t say thanks, and it will also try to make you feel inferior as a result. You end up putting yourself and the other person down! The ego makes no allowances for interpersonal behaviour preferences or what people are dealing with. It constantly wants us to judge ourselves and others in order to make ourselves feel like we’re better than someone else and not good enough to be the best! Like I said, it’s a tricky little bugger!

Bit of a long one this week but wanted to include both points. It’s worth thinking about people you’re helping and whether you’re pulling yourself out of your centre in order to do so. Try not to let yourself get so caught up helping one person who’s ignoring your support that you miss out on helping those whom you really can. Also, think about your motivations for helping – is it because you’re expecting praise or thanks back or because you want to help? Think about that next time you hold a door open for someone and they walk through without saying thanks ;-)

As I was sitting here this morning my mind was completely blank in terms of what to write for today’s Thought. I was completely stumped and beginning to worried about ending up just cobbling something together “that would do” which I really don’t like doing. I normally have lots of ideas and musings about what to write each week days in advance but… not today. “Maybe a cup of coffee will help” I thought. “And maybe not” said another part of my mind! It was as I was having a look through twitter updates to see if there was any inspiration to be had (which there invariably is I find) and the thought came to me – I could ask my twitter followers for help and see if they could give me a helping hand. This idea began to take form in my head and reminded me about asking for help when we need it.

You’ll see from today’s quote by Rona Barrett that asking for help is not necessarily a disempowering thing – quite the opposite in fact. Not asking for help can end up putting a person much further behind and/or missing an opportunity to get help when it is available.

There are times when it’s good to try and work things out for ourselves, without running for help at the first sign of difficulty. That’s all about growing and learning and helping ourselves to deal with new things in order to expand and evolve. But when you’ve tried umpteen times to get the lid of a jar of pickle and you have someone who you know is stronger in the room, why not ask them for help? Is it so bad to acknowledge that someone else might have a skill or strength that’s more developed than your own? Isn’t life all about developing and sharing the skills we have in order to make life better for everyone?

Another example of this is something I witnessed in a supermarket once. I was standing and browsing the shelves trying to decide what to buy when I noticed a young man (shorter than me) who was trying to climb up the shelves to try to reach something at the back. Unfortunately for him, the shelves decided not to want him on there and buckled whereby all the tins and packets on the shelves began to fall on him. Fortunately however, the only thing he injured was his pride! The shop manager didn’t handle it very well and actually shouted at the man asking him why he hadn’t asked someone for help, to which the customer replied “I didn’t want to bother anyone” . Amazing!

The moral of this story? Buy your food from the market where they serve you ☺ Sorry just teasing. Seriously though, all too often people struggle to do some things for themselves where it’s quite clear from the outset that they’re going to need help to do them. I’m not saying don’t try (safely!) to reach for the tin on the top shelf, but if you can’t quite reach it ask someone around you to help you lift it down. Look at this way, if someone asks you to lift down the tin would you say “no”?

People don’t usually mind help us when we ask them in a good natured way and, if they do, there’s either a very good reason why they are unable to help. If there isn’t and they’re just plain mean, you can always run your trolly over their foot “accidentally” as you move off round the supermarket ☺ Just kidding again. Seriously though, if someone doesn’t want to help, respect that and ask somebody else.

It’s worth taking time to think about things you’re dealing with in your life at the moment. Are you struggling unnecessarily with something? Even if you don’t want or need someone to do the whole thing for you, would it help to get some support, ideas, or encouragement from someone? Nothing wrong with a bit of humility in life, as long as we ask for help in place of centredness and self respect, and not victimhood.

The other day I was on the telephone to a client (I'll her Susan) who was quite stressed about a situation she was dealing with and she didn't know what to do about it. As many people do, when they have to deal with things that appear scary, Susan was beginning to panic about what to do next and what the consequences of her actions, or any lack of action would result. I could hear her beginning to get almost hysterical and tearful so I immediately got her to stop and doing some breathing techniques to re-centre herself, followed by a couple of drops of rescue remedy. Just reminding her to focus on where she was right then, in that moment, was helpful in itself. We then had a more calm conversation about what she could do next to deal with the challenge she was facing. Happily I received an email from Susan this morning telling me that everything was OK and that the fears that were causing her to panic didn't transpire BUT apparently only because she'd managed to stay calm and centred.

Now there's a long introduction to my blog.... Sometimes it's helpful to set the scene in a bit of detail though I think ☺

So, let's get back to Susan and her dilemma. Imagine if I'd not helped her calm down and, instead, joined in and added to her fears about what might have happened. The outcome would most likely have been very different from the positive one, and Susan would have been in a worse state. There's no point becoming mired in the quicksand of negativity to help someone get out of it. You'll end up getting mired yourself and most likely make the other person sink faster! It's better to help a person to calm and centre, then help them find the rope or branch on which they can pull themselves out of the quicksand.

It's also not helpful to tell them that they're no good and that they'll never be able to get out of the situation - all you're doing there is adding more despair and fear, and are more likely to help tip them over the edge. After all, would you like someone to tell you that you're no good when you're dealing with your own pit of quicksand? Of course not. We ask our friends for help in finding the rope that will pull us out back onto solid, dry ground not ask them to help us drill ourselves deeper!

Life never sends us anything that we're unable to deal with. It may send us things that really stretch us. It may even send us things that we cannot deal with alone (which happens often). The thing to do is not be too proud and ask for help when we need it. But allowing ourselves to get drawn into someone else's drama such that we also become mired in the quicksand of negativity isn't helpful for the person we're trying to help or ourselves.

This goes for all forms of negative emotions, not just when others are in a state of panic about what to do next. Gossiping with someone about other people, joining in a person's anger about someone else, worry about what someone will do to resolve a situation, worrying about someone who you know is ill or unwell, and so on. I'm not saying don't be empathetic and supportive - absolutely not. BUT, don't get drawn into worrying, don't get drawn into gossiping, and don't get drawn into the anger. All these things inhibit a person from seeing the way out of the quicksand and all you do is end up getting mired in there with them.

It's worth paying attention to the interactions you're having and see whether you're being drawn into someone's quicksand of negativity. If you are, then you know what to do: re-centre yourself and get back onto dry, stable ground. Gossip, anger, fear, hate, resentment, worry, and panic will all mire you, and the person to whom you're speaking, more deeply in the negativity - and that will just draw more negative stuff to you. Better to stay on solid ground, hold the rope, and give positive encouragement.