Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Which is Better: Money or Things?

Today's posting is not directly addressed in The Secret, but does discuss a matter that prevents many from living their dreams.

One of my favorite financial authors is Dennis R. Deaton. The book "Money: An Owners Manual" is a must read for anyone who wants to know how money works in their lives. I wish to talk about one statement made in this book that I have not seen made *anywhere* else, but which was truly profound for me.

"It is better to have money than any of the things that you can buy with money". There is a corollary as well which states "all ownership is a form of bondage". Amazing!

Now this does not mean you should not own a house, or a car, or a mattress to sleep on, but it does shed some light on the biggest money problem that most people who have money problems have, and that is the fact that more money goes out in a month than comes in. The problem in America (for most people) is not that they do not make enough money, but rather that they spend too much. And what do they spend it on?

The moment one exchanges money for anything, they are in a loosing deal. The "thing" that they have purchased loses some percentage of its value the minute they leave the store with it. Sure they could return it to the store perhaps, but that would require an investment of their most important asset, which is their time. They certainly could not resell the item to someone else for anything near what they paid for it.

In addition, the item they have bought must be maintained, may break, may cause other kinds of problems. It will take up additional amounts of their time. I do not wish to specifically pick on boat owners, but a boat is a great example of this. The moment it is bought it loses a lot of value. It must be stored somewhere as it takes up a lot of room. They have to put gas in it and maintain it almost like it was another car. They have to have insurance on it.

It reduces their future freedom in planning family outings because, since one has spent so much money on the boat, they now feel obligated to use it at every opportunity to "get their money's worth". But they say "I like boating and one need a boat to go boating!". I say: Rent One. This preserves all ones freedom, does not tie one to anything, and allows one to still go boating when they want to with no strings attached. Would that not be better?

I love Robert Kiyosaki's books, starting with Rich Dad Poor Dad. Robert clearly defines what the difference is between the wealthy, the poor and the middle class.

The wealthy are the only group that knows how to spend their money for something that increases in value, a true asset. Assets that increase in value more per annum than what one could get in a CD or a Money Market Mutual Fund are better to have than money, and are the *only* exception to the first statement about having money being better.

The poor do not make enough to cover their basic needs, and thus do not have the money to buy themselves into a lot of bondage.

The middle class buys big liabilities, like boats, and calls them assets. It just comes from not understanding what an asset is. Most middle class families have the income to be wealthy, its just that they do not buy assets with their extra funds, and as long as they continue to do that they will always be middle class.

Take this idea with you the next time you go somwhere to spend money: It is better to have money than any of the things that you can buy with money!

Money = Freedom
Things = Bondage

Learn

Joseph

Saturday, May 26, 2007

The Power in What You Behold

Even though Esther Hicks does not appear in the current version of The Secret, she was the main teacher in the original version and most of the teachings about the exact mechanics of the Law of Attraction were done by her. Whether you believe in that whole channeling thing or not, what she teaches is powerful.

I saw this bit posted recently from a workshop that Esther did in North Carolina in 2004. It concerns the healing powers of the Saviour:

Jesus is said to have been a powerful healer. And the reason that he was is because when he looked at you, no matter what your current temporary state of physical condition, he
did not allow himself to behold it, instead--he saw you as he knows you to be.

And because he saw you in your wellness, and he saw you that way so powerfully, your illness could not abide in his vibration. There just wasn't a place for it there.

--------

I have posted before about how I no longer give any energy to thoughts of me being sick, even if I feel the initial symptoms of it. I just completely ignore it and move on. I am not sure that I am really seeing myself healthy, but I am doing everything possible to avoid seeing myself sick.

Now I wonder what power and effect it has when I look at someone else? Do I see them as being healthy and well or do I see them as being sick? How much will it help them if I see them as being healthy and well? I am going to have to experiment on this some and I will report back later what I find.

Also I will be posting soon about the reality that we see all around us. Read this for a sense of what I will post about.

Joseph

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Can You Attract Lower Gas Prices?

Now here's a subject area where The Secret could gain some additional popularity, as if it needed any. How to use the Law of Attraction to attract lower Gas prices?

Well energy goes where attention flows. If having lower gas prices is something that you want, and in fact you want it more than other things that are competing for your mental attention, then you would go to the extra effort and spend the necessary time to figure out where the best deals on prices are. I have noted that I could save up to 30 cents a gallon in some cases by doing this.

I would make a different recommendation, however. If you have a standard vehicle that takes about 20 gallons of gas to fill it up, and you are able to find that station where you save 30 cents, then you will save 20 X 30 cents = $6.00 for your efforts. Factor in how much time it takes you to find the lower price station (or drive to it) and you can figure out how much you are being paid per hour for this activity.

It is obvious that many people are focusing on the higher gas prices, or the things that they do not want. The Secret says to do just the opposite, and where your savings are so small anyway, I say remove yourself for this entire scene, get gas at the station that is the most convenient not necessarily the cheapest, and move on with attracting bigger and better things that you want.

Some things are just not worth worrying about!

Joseph

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Why is The Secret so popular?

It is fun to watch the news media try to cover the story that is The Secret. Quite a few of them are just not sure why it is so popular. It is also obvious from some of the reports that I have been seeing that very few of them really understand what the movie is about.

I will not presume to speak for others, but I will explain why it is so popular with me. One of the knocks from the press is that The Secret is not presenting anything that has not been written about before by authors like Wallace Wattles and James Allen and Charles Haanel. That is mostly true, but how many people have recently been reading the works of those authors?

Its not that The Secret is presenting brand new information, it is instead that the information that is presented is done so in such a way as it reaches many people. It certainly reached me. I know several people who have see parts of the movie and have professed no interest whatsoever in what it teaches. That is certainly fine, and is oftentimes an attitude shared by some who feel like their life is a success and they have everything that they need, so why would they need what is presented in The Secret?

But at the time that I was introduced to the movie, I was looking for something better, or at least a better explanation for what currently was. The movie answered both of those questions for me in one movie! Through watching the movie and writing my Research Paper about it, I have learned how my life came to be where it is now. I also learned of several small things that I could to to make it incrementally better.

I have put what it suggests that one do into practice on several occasions. One of the things I did was build this website, also I started this blog. My wife is building a Network Marketing business with Arbonne International. We are learning so many new and cool things because of these steps we have taken; and once we have learned enough, we expect we will be able to replace our working for others income with these new endeavors.

Ultimately, I have learned that I need to make every effort to be paid for the things that I love doing, which for me is writing and public speaking. Although I do like my current work for someone else job, I do not get to write or do public speaking with it. The Secret said "Follow Your Bliss . . .", and my life is much more exciting now as I am trying to do that.

Joseph

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The Law of Attraction and Giving Directions

I am writing about cases where the Law of Attraction, or more specifically knowing about it, has made my life easier.

Recently my wife was flying in to the Houston Airport and I needed to give her directions on how to board the right parking bus to find the car I had left for her. There is a bus with a small blue sign and a bus with a small red sign, and she needed to take the one with the red sign.

Prior to watching The Secret , I would have told her to get on the Red bus but not get on the Blue bus. Invariably what would later happen would be when the time came she would be confused, because I had said both red AND blue, and she could not remember which was which. This is an example if we put what we do not want (blue bus) next to what we do want (red bus).

But since I had seen the Secret, I remembered to focus on only what I did want, and so I told her to take the Red bus and said nothing at all about the blue bus. Having those instructions, my wife found the car without any trouble whatsoever. When she saw the blue bus, she knew immediately that it was wrong because I had not even mentioned it, and so she found the red one.

I used to be a good one for giving people confusing instructions because I would tell them what I did want them to do followed by what I did not want them to do. No wonder people got confused. Now I just omit the do not want part. I also now try to phrase everything in terms of what they should do, and not necessarily what they should not do. This has helped as well, because it puts the focus on all the right things.

If you have not seen The Secret, its really cool! I strongly recommend it.

Joseph

Monday, May 14, 2007

The Secret and a Great Movie

If you read the book "The Science of Getting Rich", by Wallace Wattles, one of the things that you would learn is that you want to grow rich by creation, not by competition. Being creative is one of the best things for us to learn how to do while we are living this part of our life here on the Earth. BTW, this book by Wallace Wattles was one of the main books that inspired Rhonda Bryne to create The Secret.

I recently saw the movie "Music and Lyrics". For those who do not know the movie starts with a music video of a 1980s era New Wave song, but the neat part is that this is not one of the 80s songs that we have heard 300 times or more, no they created a *new* one. They invented a group (Called Pop!), invented three or four songs, and a music video that captures the essence of the 80s music videos that they used to play on MV3 or MTV back in the mid-eighties.

I was just amazed by this, because they really nailed it. I love the eighties music, but it is a little annoying that there is nothing new, at least until now. What a great example of someone being creative. They have completely resurrected something that was dead!

And look at the character Alex Fletcher. He makes his living prior to the film by living in the past (as a "happy has been"), but through different events is given the opportunity to be creative again by creating a brand new song from scratch. How cool would it be if all of us could get paid and have our careers built around being creative in this manner.

Why is it such a big deal for us to learn to be creative while we are here on Earth? It is simply because that opportunity to be creative will continue with us into the next phase of our existence. And there IS a next phase.

As Mike Dooley would say, Tallyho!

Joseph

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

My Health and the Law of Attraction

When I first saw the movie The Secret, I was amazed by the ideas presented about health and disease and The Secret.

Now I do not have and I have never had any really serious diseases, but I have noticed a difference in my life since I learned and started to apply The Secret.

I used to find myself one day with cold symptoms. My reaction would be "Oh no! not again! and then I would come down with that cold for the next seven to nine days. Similar occurrances would happen and I would end up with bronchitis or sinusitis (sinus infection). Even the odd ear infection.

Now since seeing The Secret, I have learned that I do not want to give any kind of energy to these kinds of things.

Now what seems to happen is this: At some point I begin to detect cold symptoms coming on. That part has not changed! But now I completely and utterly ignore them, and do not give them any thought whatsoever. Energy cannot flow where no attention goes I believe, and I am testing the theory in my own life.

Well I have not had a cold, or a bronchitis, or a sinusitis for over a year now since I started doing that. I am 39 years old and to some extent my body is better at fighting these things now since I am older with a more experienced immune system, but the complete reversal is startling.

And I had another strange experience. Sometimes my ears fill up a little with wax and I go to the doctor to get it professionally removed. (Yes I could be attracting the wax, but I do not know how yet). So I went about three months after watching the secret and my doctor told me that I had a big ear infection in one ear.

Now I have had these before and they HURT! But this time I did not even believe her because I could not feel anything. When I focused specifically if I was feeling anything I could detect maybe a little pressure in that ear, but no pain whatsoever. It was really weird!

Based on all of this I would have to say that The Secret has so far proven to be true in my life with regard to Health, and based on James Allen saying "those who live in fear of disease are the ones who get it", I have determined to give no energy at all to any thoughts of me having any disease.

Like what you read here? Learn all of The Secrets of The Secret.

Joseph