This subject may seem a little off topic for a blog that is generally about The Secret, but there is actually a subliminal bit in the movie that sheds some light on this subject.
There is a two frame flash of the title and author of a book early in the movie. The book is "Life Power and How to Live It" by Elizabeth Towne. Chapter One of this book is entitled "Methuselah and The Sun", and it begins with these words:
“There are people who declare that time was when a great canopy of vapor hung over the Earth and revolved with it, as Jupiter’s vapory canopies now do; and that this vapory canopy kept off almost completely the actinic (death-dealing) rays, while it admitted light and heat rays. Thus they account for Adam’s and Methuselah’s great ages. And they say that, unless this vapory canopy is again formed around our Earth, to ward off these death dealing rays, we shall never attain immortality in the flesh.”
Well this is certainly an interesting idea, and it is possible that it was postulated even before her book. If anyone knows an earlier source, please leave a comment.
But is there any support for this idea in the Scripture? Well there is this . . .
"But there went up a mist from the Earth, and watered the whole face of the ground."
That is Genesis 2:6 in the King James Version of the Bible.
OK, assuming that this is true for a second, does it fit in? Here is the computation.
Aligning with the Jewish calendar, it appears that the expulsion from Eden happened about 4000 BC. The timelines in the Bible seem to indicate about this time as well. We have record of the following people living with the following life spans:
Adam (4000-3070BC) 930 years.
Seth (3870-2958BC) 912 years.
Enos (3765-2860BC) 905 years.
Cainan (3675-2765BC) 910 years.
Mahalaleel (3605-2710BC) 895 years. (Hmmm, dies early :-) )
Jared (3540-2578BC) 962 years.
Enoch (3378-3013BC) 365 years. (Enoch was taken to Heaven and did not live his whole span).
Methuselah (3313-2344BC) 969 years. (Longest recorded lifespan that we know of).
Lamech (3126-2349BC) 777 years. (His father Methuselah outlived him).
(In the year 3070 Adam dies.)
Noah (2944-1994BC) 950 years. Flood came at 600 years, or about 2344BC.
(All the other patriarchs die except Methuselah and Lamech in this time frame)
Noah's Three sons are born in 2494-Japeth 2452-Shem and 2444-Ham.
Again the approximate date of the flood event is from 2-17-2344BC to 2-27-2343BC before they actually left the Ark. Noah still had the really long life span, half of it post-flood. But the days of men shortened gradually according to what we read in Genesis 10. The lifespans got to be around 500 years, then 400, then 300, 200 and finally just over 100.
So what happened? Well the Flood is what happened. But it appears that the mist was not all taken away at once, but the flood appears to have started the process where the mist slowly went away. The gradually shortening life spans seem to indicate that people at each new generation were exposed to more of the aging rays of the sun than the previous generation had been.
So can we ever live to be 900 years old in this mortal life?
Sure, if the mist comes back.
Otherwise, it's wait 'till the resurrection, and then of course we will live forever.
Rock on!
Joseph
Showing posts with label The Secret. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Secret. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sunday, November 18, 2007
The Secret and Network Marketing ??
Did I scare you off already?
Well, to be fair, they do not once mention network marketing in the movie The Secret; so why am I writing about it here?
Well, quite frankly, because I have my wife's network marketing company to thank for the fact that I was introduced to the movie the Secret the very month it was released back in March of 2006. I got the see the original edition with Esther Hicks.
And she rocked.
Had I not been introduced to the movie through that channel, then it is very possible that I would not have heard of it to this day, because I was not looking for it, and I was not travelling around in circles where anyone was interested in it.
I have had a lot of interesting insights come to me as a result of helping my wife out with her Network marketing business. The training meetings that I have attended with her were outstanding, and very inexpensive and sometimes completely free of charge. Training on how to think like a business person, training on how to better relate to others. Training on how to put your mind to work in helping you reach your goals.
I have since priced these kinds of trainings on the open market outside of a Network Marketing company. You could expect to pay thousands of dollars.
So, if nothing else, the network marketing industry is the greatest training secret known to man.
I have a clear understanding of why some people do not like it. Prior to my wife's starting a business, I had been chased, hunted and almost killed twice by people from other network marketing companies. I understand the bad experiences that people have had, because I have had them too.
In fact I still am not 100% positive in my own belief that a network marketing business is something that that many people would want to do.
And this is why my own attempt in the business resulted in me recruiting exactly zero people.
But my wife was able to find a groove, and has built from nothing a business that does 40,000 to 60,000.00 a month in business. I am so proud of her. She drives the company car, which is the White Mercedes.
So what does the secret have to do with all of this? Well let me tell you a little story of how my wife managed to reach the Mercedes driving level of her company:
Mercedes drivers generally do $40,000.00 a month or better in the business. My wife was sitting at the management level right below that, the level between $10,000 and $40,000 dollars for several months, fluctuating in that range. Making a decent four digit income, but not driving the car.
The one day, specifically Nov 1, 2005, she decided that she was going to qualify for the next level, the car level, in the next two months finishing by December 31. She made the decision, and then worked the next two months of her business as if it were true.
This is all that I can tell that she did any differently. I was watching her the whole time. She did not change her presentation system. She did not change her prospecting system. She did not change anything at all that I could see on the outside.
But she made a significant change in what she was thinking. And she did not doubt, and also I did not detect any fear that she would not make it.
Well you might guess what happened. That November she doubled her volume from the month before, putting her over the $40,000 mark. She did finish by December 31, and we picked out and bought her White Mercedes on Jan 2, 2006.
All of this was about three months before the movie came out.
When we saw it my wife said Yes! That is exactly what I did!
So here is another secret I have learned about the network marketing business that was very interesting, and which for me explains why several people have such a hard time with it.
The business is 10% about what you are doing, and 90% about what you are thinking and believing.
Yes, that's right, only 10% about what you are doing. Compare that to your typical work for someone else job which is 90-100% about what you are doing, and 10% or less about what you are thinking. The worst one's of all are the ones where they specifically tell you that they do not want you doing any thinking. Yes I once had one of those jobs.
So people struggle in the business because they spend 100% of their time trying to improve their actions, which is 10% of the business. At the same time, people who get their minds right build massive organizations and paychecks and seem to put in very little physical effort. People just flock to them.
If you want to see a great example of what can happen when you get you mind right, go talk to anyone who is a mega-success in Network Marketing. Amazing!
So the movie The Secret is the coaching and the instruction of what you want to do with your mind.
And the Network Marketing business in one way (among others) to test out what you have learned in a real world environment.
If you are brave enough, I say try it. You cannot possibly do worse than I did, and yet I see my experience as a great positive because of all of the things I learned, mostly about myself.
And *that* is the whole point of the game.
Joseph
Well, to be fair, they do not once mention network marketing in the movie The Secret; so why am I writing about it here?
Well, quite frankly, because I have my wife's network marketing company to thank for the fact that I was introduced to the movie the Secret the very month it was released back in March of 2006. I got the see the original edition with Esther Hicks.
And she rocked.
Had I not been introduced to the movie through that channel, then it is very possible that I would not have heard of it to this day, because I was not looking for it, and I was not travelling around in circles where anyone was interested in it.
I have had a lot of interesting insights come to me as a result of helping my wife out with her Network marketing business. The training meetings that I have attended with her were outstanding, and very inexpensive and sometimes completely free of charge. Training on how to think like a business person, training on how to better relate to others. Training on how to put your mind to work in helping you reach your goals.
I have since priced these kinds of trainings on the open market outside of a Network Marketing company. You could expect to pay thousands of dollars.
So, if nothing else, the network marketing industry is the greatest training secret known to man.
I have a clear understanding of why some people do not like it. Prior to my wife's starting a business, I had been chased, hunted and almost killed twice by people from other network marketing companies. I understand the bad experiences that people have had, because I have had them too.
In fact I still am not 100% positive in my own belief that a network marketing business is something that that many people would want to do.
And this is why my own attempt in the business resulted in me recruiting exactly zero people.
But my wife was able to find a groove, and has built from nothing a business that does 40,000 to 60,000.00 a month in business. I am so proud of her. She drives the company car, which is the White Mercedes.
So what does the secret have to do with all of this? Well let me tell you a little story of how my wife managed to reach the Mercedes driving level of her company:
Mercedes drivers generally do $40,000.00 a month or better in the business. My wife was sitting at the management level right below that, the level between $10,000 and $40,000 dollars for several months, fluctuating in that range. Making a decent four digit income, but not driving the car.
The one day, specifically Nov 1, 2005, she decided that she was going to qualify for the next level, the car level, in the next two months finishing by December 31. She made the decision, and then worked the next two months of her business as if it were true.
This is all that I can tell that she did any differently. I was watching her the whole time. She did not change her presentation system. She did not change her prospecting system. She did not change anything at all that I could see on the outside.
But she made a significant change in what she was thinking. And she did not doubt, and also I did not detect any fear that she would not make it.
Well you might guess what happened. That November she doubled her volume from the month before, putting her over the $40,000 mark. She did finish by December 31, and we picked out and bought her White Mercedes on Jan 2, 2006.
All of this was about three months before the movie came out.
When we saw it my wife said Yes! That is exactly what I did!
So here is another secret I have learned about the network marketing business that was very interesting, and which for me explains why several people have such a hard time with it.
The business is 10% about what you are doing, and 90% about what you are thinking and believing.
Yes, that's right, only 10% about what you are doing. Compare that to your typical work for someone else job which is 90-100% about what you are doing, and 10% or less about what you are thinking. The worst one's of all are the ones where they specifically tell you that they do not want you doing any thinking. Yes I once had one of those jobs.
So people struggle in the business because they spend 100% of their time trying to improve their actions, which is 10% of the business. At the same time, people who get their minds right build massive organizations and paychecks and seem to put in very little physical effort. People just flock to them.
If you want to see a great example of what can happen when you get you mind right, go talk to anyone who is a mega-success in Network Marketing. Amazing!
So the movie The Secret is the coaching and the instruction of what you want to do with your mind.
And the Network Marketing business in one way (among others) to test out what you have learned in a real world environment.
If you are brave enough, I say try it. You cannot possibly do worse than I did, and yet I see my experience as a great positive because of all of the things I learned, mostly about myself.
And *that* is the whole point of the game.
Joseph
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Rise of the Mega-Pastor
The book and movie The Secret are very much inspired by the Wallace Wattles book The Science of Getting Rich. In fact this is the book that Rhonda reports being given by her daughter that started everything off for her. (The cover page shot in the movie shows a different book, which is Secret of The Ages by Robert Collier).
I wish to address the following passage from The Science of Getting Rich:
"What is now needed is a demonstration of the science of life from the pulpit. We want preachers who can not only tell us how, but who in their own persons will show us how. We need the preacher who will himself be rich, healthy, great, and beloved, to teach us how to attain to these things; and when he comes he will find a numerous and loyal following."
Mr. Wattles wrote this 100 years ago. If he were alive today, I think he would visit Houston, point to Lakewood Church, and say: See! I told you so!
If you are one of the five people in America who have not heard of Lakewood Church or Pastor Joel Osteen, it is a non-denominational church following similar theology and methods as an Assembly of God church would. Pastor Osteen draws crowds of several tens of thousands every weekend, filling up the former Compaq Center, where the Houston Rockets used to play basketball. At the rate they are growing it seems that the currently unused 60,000 seat Astrodome might be the church's next location. The television audience is numbered in the millions.
To put things in a little perspective, I estimate that about 3-4 million people have had the opportunity to see the DVD movie The Secret. Pastor Osteen reaches twice that many people directly every single week. I do not know the numbers for the book.
And yet several other pastors and leaders from other churches level much criticism for Lakewood Church being really light on doctrine or even repentence, which is scarcely mentioned. In my mind Pastor Osteen is more a motivational speaker than a Pastor, but having grown up as the son of the former Pastor of Lakewood church it was natural for him to follow in his father's footsteps.
And yet to attend motivational seminars that are half as good as what is presented at Lakewood costs several hundred dollars. At Lakewood, the services and the parking are free. The church brings in millions upon millions of dollars from donations from the congregation and from the TV audience, which is quite interesting because the do not show collection on the TV program, and they never ask for money on the TV version (a great plan given what some TV preachers have done in the past).
So, why is this Pastor so popular?
Because his message describes a loving God who is always working to bring better things into our lives. All of his sermons discuss different ways that we block Him from doing that, and how we can stop blocking Him. It is a refreshing change of pace from those who preach that God is uncaring or uninterested in the details of a single persons life, or the message that true spirituality is obtained through poverty and lack.
As information comes to light in this age about the Law of Attraction, we can begin to understand how it was us, and not God, who caused most of what we are complaining about to happen to us. This is an important distinction!
If our afflictions are sent to us by God, then we would be absolutely powerless to do anything about them at all except for muddle through, and pray to the God who sent them to take them away. Does this seem like a disconnect to anyone?
What if instead we attracted them ourself? True or Not, this is a more empowering idea. You see if God is the cause of your afflictions, then i do not know how you do anything different than live your entire life as a victim. The God in this thought universe is the God of Justice, brimstone and damnation.
If instead you attracted them yourself via the Law of Attraction, then guess what? You can do something about it! Given we are taught that God helps those who help themselves, it is apparent that we were meant to do something about it ourselves. The God of this thought universe is the mentor, the loving father, the advocate. The one who wants to bless us with more than we can imagine, but also the one who knows when we are ready to handle something.
Pastor Osteen does exactly what Wallace Wattles said 100 years ago, and he certainly does not lack for a following.
Here is another item to consider. The success of Pastor Osteen is but an example of the success that every human being can attract once they get in line with the Universe and start using the talents that they were blessed with. Combine that with some marketing work to find the right audience, and a similar success story can belong to anyone else who seeks it.
And we should all seek it. How would you like to go to different cities and towns and have hundreds of people line up all telling you that you have so inspired them, that their life is so much better now since they have come to know you. Talk about a virtuous circle, here is the case of someone living in the magic of life.
All of us are meant to do the same, no matter how much we ignore it.
Joseph
I wish to address the following passage from The Science of Getting Rich:
"What is now needed is a demonstration of the science of life from the pulpit. We want preachers who can not only tell us how, but who in their own persons will show us how. We need the preacher who will himself be rich, healthy, great, and beloved, to teach us how to attain to these things; and when he comes he will find a numerous and loyal following."
Mr. Wattles wrote this 100 years ago. If he were alive today, I think he would visit Houston, point to Lakewood Church, and say: See! I told you so!
If you are one of the five people in America who have not heard of Lakewood Church or Pastor Joel Osteen, it is a non-denominational church following similar theology and methods as an Assembly of God church would. Pastor Osteen draws crowds of several tens of thousands every weekend, filling up the former Compaq Center, where the Houston Rockets used to play basketball. At the rate they are growing it seems that the currently unused 60,000 seat Astrodome might be the church's next location. The television audience is numbered in the millions.
To put things in a little perspective, I estimate that about 3-4 million people have had the opportunity to see the DVD movie The Secret. Pastor Osteen reaches twice that many people directly every single week. I do not know the numbers for the book.
And yet several other pastors and leaders from other churches level much criticism for Lakewood Church being really light on doctrine or even repentence, which is scarcely mentioned. In my mind Pastor Osteen is more a motivational speaker than a Pastor, but having grown up as the son of the former Pastor of Lakewood church it was natural for him to follow in his father's footsteps.
And yet to attend motivational seminars that are half as good as what is presented at Lakewood costs several hundred dollars. At Lakewood, the services and the parking are free. The church brings in millions upon millions of dollars from donations from the congregation and from the TV audience, which is quite interesting because the do not show collection on the TV program, and they never ask for money on the TV version (a great plan given what some TV preachers have done in the past).
So, why is this Pastor so popular?
Because his message describes a loving God who is always working to bring better things into our lives. All of his sermons discuss different ways that we block Him from doing that, and how we can stop blocking Him. It is a refreshing change of pace from those who preach that God is uncaring or uninterested in the details of a single persons life, or the message that true spirituality is obtained through poverty and lack.
As information comes to light in this age about the Law of Attraction, we can begin to understand how it was us, and not God, who caused most of what we are complaining about to happen to us. This is an important distinction!
If our afflictions are sent to us by God, then we would be absolutely powerless to do anything about them at all except for muddle through, and pray to the God who sent them to take them away. Does this seem like a disconnect to anyone?
What if instead we attracted them ourself? True or Not, this is a more empowering idea. You see if God is the cause of your afflictions, then i do not know how you do anything different than live your entire life as a victim. The God in this thought universe is the God of Justice, brimstone and damnation.
If instead you attracted them yourself via the Law of Attraction, then guess what? You can do something about it! Given we are taught that God helps those who help themselves, it is apparent that we were meant to do something about it ourselves. The God of this thought universe is the mentor, the loving father, the advocate. The one who wants to bless us with more than we can imagine, but also the one who knows when we are ready to handle something.
Pastor Osteen does exactly what Wallace Wattles said 100 years ago, and he certainly does not lack for a following.
Here is another item to consider. The success of Pastor Osteen is but an example of the success that every human being can attract once they get in line with the Universe and start using the talents that they were blessed with. Combine that with some marketing work to find the right audience, and a similar success story can belong to anyone else who seeks it.
And we should all seek it. How would you like to go to different cities and towns and have hundreds of people line up all telling you that you have so inspired them, that their life is so much better now since they have come to know you. Talk about a virtuous circle, here is the case of someone living in the magic of life.
All of us are meant to do the same, no matter how much we ignore it.
Joseph
Friday, October 5, 2007
How Much Does Enlightenment Cost?
I will be on a tightrope for this one, because there are some fine lines here.
I once went to an investment seminar that cost about a thousand dollars. Using the tools I was taught at that seminar, and believing that I was a pro because of attending that seminar, I proceeded to lose several thousand dollars in the stock market. I do not play the market anymore. I learned one thing for my thousands of dollars lost and spent: The market is controlled by fear and greed. The truth of the matter is that no one knows which way the market will go tomorrow, but everyone can tell you why it did what it did today.
You know what? People who were friends of mine had tried to tell me that, but I did not believe them. That unbelief cost me thousands of dollars. I would have to say that the one thousand dollar seminar was not a good value.
There was one thing said at the seminar that did impress me however. One of the presenters asked the crowd if they were suddenly given $20,000.00 to invest, how much of that would they spend on their financial education, and how much would they invest directly?
The presenter said that he would spend 15 of 20 thousand on his financial education, and I remember being impressed by that.
So here is something I found that was a great value . . . The DVD movie The Secret. For just over $30.00 (shipping included) one can have this DVD that presents the Law of Attraction, and does a great job explaining it! The book The Secret, at a similar price, is also a great value.
There are many other books that talk about these topics, several by the teachers in the movie. These are all fairly inexpensive, and the several I have read have all been very good.
Even I got into the act! I wrote a 30 page eBook around The Secret DVD that goes more in depth into the history, some of the subliminal things in the movie, trivia pieces, and a whole lot more. All of that can be had for less than the cost of the movie as well. Do you know which teacher got the most time in each edition? Read my eBook and find out!
But what about the two thousand dollar seminar that purports to reveal all of the "secrets that were left out of the secret" ??
You will undoubtedly get some great information out of such a seminar, but at that price point, it is pretty difficult to see the value it would provide, because your earning power would have to change fairly drastically and quickly to make up for that much money out the door. One would really need to compare and see if they would not make more money by placing that 2000 dollars in a safe investment that returned money to them.
There is the aspect that someone will take it more seriously if they spend so much money on it. Everyone has to decide for themself if this is true for them. I say: Would it not be easier to train ourself to take something seriously without having to put that much money down?
My concern is mostly for those who are new to all of the ideas in The Secret, and who will plop down a large amount of money in the hopes that this will save them from having to do their own research and come to their own understanding.
So I offer a humble suggestion. Set a percentage of your income that you will spend on your own personal development. There is not a better thing in the world to spend money on, except for buying assets that put money in your pocket every month. If you can, start a business in a area where you have talent and enjoying doing it and set aside a percentage of those profits as well for your personal development.
In the beginning with this plan you would have to start out small. Buy a couple of books, or get them at the library. Put what you learn into production and see if it brings you increased income or increased enjoyment which will lead to increased income. Use the books to grow your business. Do not forget the books on Sales and Marketing.
As your business grows, or you income increases as a result of doing this, you will have more to spend and will graduate to buying more expensive things.
But here is a critical point . . . .
If you business does not grow, and your income or your enjoyment have not increased, then it means that there are some basic elements of The Secret which you have not understood yet in their entirety. If you have not yet fully understood and proven the basics, then spending more money will not typically help you. It would be like taking calculus before understanding algebra. You will learn some neat things, but it will not help you.
Is this a failure if we go this way? Only in the sense that everyone's ultimate path to success is built on what they have learned from previous failures. Avoiding failure is a 100% known way to never reach a big success.
So stick to the plan. There is enough in the initial book or DVD to get someone started in the right direction. There is enough additional information for free on the Internet to keep us busy at first. Let's make sure we understand the basics via proving it with increased income and increased enjoyment. It is a staircase to success, not a high jump.
Joseph
I once went to an investment seminar that cost about a thousand dollars. Using the tools I was taught at that seminar, and believing that I was a pro because of attending that seminar, I proceeded to lose several thousand dollars in the stock market. I do not play the market anymore. I learned one thing for my thousands of dollars lost and spent: The market is controlled by fear and greed. The truth of the matter is that no one knows which way the market will go tomorrow, but everyone can tell you why it did what it did today.
You know what? People who were friends of mine had tried to tell me that, but I did not believe them. That unbelief cost me thousands of dollars. I would have to say that the one thousand dollar seminar was not a good value.
There was one thing said at the seminar that did impress me however. One of the presenters asked the crowd if they were suddenly given $20,000.00 to invest, how much of that would they spend on their financial education, and how much would they invest directly?
The presenter said that he would spend 15 of 20 thousand on his financial education, and I remember being impressed by that.
So here is something I found that was a great value . . . The DVD movie The Secret. For just over $30.00 (shipping included) one can have this DVD that presents the Law of Attraction, and does a great job explaining it! The book The Secret, at a similar price, is also a great value.
There are many other books that talk about these topics, several by the teachers in the movie. These are all fairly inexpensive, and the several I have read have all been very good.
Even I got into the act! I wrote a 30 page eBook around The Secret DVD that goes more in depth into the history, some of the subliminal things in the movie, trivia pieces, and a whole lot more. All of that can be had for less than the cost of the movie as well. Do you know which teacher got the most time in each edition? Read my eBook and find out!
But what about the two thousand dollar seminar that purports to reveal all of the "secrets that were left out of the secret" ??
You will undoubtedly get some great information out of such a seminar, but at that price point, it is pretty difficult to see the value it would provide, because your earning power would have to change fairly drastically and quickly to make up for that much money out the door. One would really need to compare and see if they would not make more money by placing that 2000 dollars in a safe investment that returned money to them.
There is the aspect that someone will take it more seriously if they spend so much money on it. Everyone has to decide for themself if this is true for them. I say: Would it not be easier to train ourself to take something seriously without having to put that much money down?
My concern is mostly for those who are new to all of the ideas in The Secret, and who will plop down a large amount of money in the hopes that this will save them from having to do their own research and come to their own understanding.
So I offer a humble suggestion. Set a percentage of your income that you will spend on your own personal development. There is not a better thing in the world to spend money on, except for buying assets that put money in your pocket every month. If you can, start a business in a area where you have talent and enjoying doing it and set aside a percentage of those profits as well for your personal development.
In the beginning with this plan you would have to start out small. Buy a couple of books, or get them at the library. Put what you learn into production and see if it brings you increased income or increased enjoyment which will lead to increased income. Use the books to grow your business. Do not forget the books on Sales and Marketing.
As your business grows, or you income increases as a result of doing this, you will have more to spend and will graduate to buying more expensive things.
But here is a critical point . . . .
If you business does not grow, and your income or your enjoyment have not increased, then it means that there are some basic elements of The Secret which you have not understood yet in their entirety. If you have not yet fully understood and proven the basics, then spending more money will not typically help you. It would be like taking calculus before understanding algebra. You will learn some neat things, but it will not help you.
Is this a failure if we go this way? Only in the sense that everyone's ultimate path to success is built on what they have learned from previous failures. Avoiding failure is a 100% known way to never reach a big success.
So stick to the plan. There is enough in the initial book or DVD to get someone started in the right direction. There is enough additional information for free on the Internet to keep us busy at first. Let's make sure we understand the basics via proving it with increased income and increased enjoyment. It is a staircase to success, not a high jump.
Joseph
Monday, October 1, 2007
God and The Secret
Those of you who have watched the movie The Secret or read the book know that they reveal some amazing things, many of which seem like spiritual truths.
And yet they are not doing it from the point of view of any specific religion. In fact the concept of God is barely mentioned; and never discussed.
Add to that the quote by Neale Donald Walsch about "no one will stand in judgement of it, now or forever", and it is not a surprise that some start to wonder if the truths taught in The Secret can be reconciled with their religious beliefs. And what about all the money? Materialism?
If you have had any of that conflict within you, then I salute you. The truths taught in this movie are very powerful, and yet it is a good thing for us to be careful at first with any new information until we can apply the "test of truth" to it.
And what is the "test of truth"? That is the question now isn't it! For those who follow the Christian scriptures, the answer is given by the Lord Himself: "By their fruits ye shall know them". In other scripture we read that "all that is good cometh from God".
Things that are good invite, entice, and persuade all men to do good. The movie makes the delicate point that you must think good before you can really do good. All of their efforts to help us "think good" are for one sole purpose, and that is so that we might do more good, provide more value, enhance more lives, including our own. The movie is making the point that we must enhance our own life before we can clearly enhance another, and this is in line with the messages from Robert Collier and Wallace Wattles upon whom much of this work is based.
So the question becomes: Does the movie and the book do the things that we just described?
Everyone must answer this question for themselves, I would never presume to do it for you.
But if you come to the answer that it is good, and as such ultimately from God, then comes the part of fitting it in with what you already believe about God.
This need not be an arduous exercise. I cannot spell out how every belief fits in because there is a very wide variety of religious beliefs, but I can state a few things that may help. Obtaining clarity of mind and singleness of purpose will bring the required inspiration for the rest.
1. Why is God mentioned so little in the movie?
A: I make a guess, because I was not involved in the production of the movie, but I am pretty sure it was done in order to make the movie acceptable to as wide an audience as possible. If any hint of the movie leaning towards any specific religion appeared, then a great many people who were not of that faith might feel less welcomed. This was done because it had to be done to reach as wide of an audience as it has reached.
2. What does the Neale Donald Walsch quote mean about no one standing in judgement?
A: Neale can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that he is referring to what we decide to do with our life, i.e. our career or our choice of what to do with our free time. There are some who believe that God wills them to a certain career, which in some cases is a career that they do not enjoy. The movie says "Follow Your Bliss". He is saying that God will not adversely judge those that do so. The scriptures say that man should, of his own free will and choice, bring to pass much righteousness, and be anxiously engaged in a good cause; and following one's bliss will always lead to a career or a business that will provide great value to others, and bring much good to the world. Compare this to slaving away at a job we do not like ??
3. They talk so much about money and lots of it, but isn't it more spiritual to be poor? I mean, when the Lord was here, he did not seek for riches.
A: 100% the truth! The Lord did not seek Himself for riches, although the temptor tried to use them to entice Him once. When you have the command of the Natural Laws of the Universe as He did, and can manifest food and other things at any time, then there would be little need to ever worry about money or how much of it you had.
But for the rest of us, the scripture says this: By the sweat of your face shall you eat your bread all the days of your life . . .
The world runs by money. Those breadwinners who do not attempt to earn some are not doing what they should. The scripture says that it is the love of money that is the root of all evil, and others have said that it is the lack of money that is the root of all evil.
But it is the love of people that is the root of all good, independent of any amount of money.
There is one case and one case only where it is more spiritual to be poor . . . it is the case of someone who loves something else, possibly money, more than people. The poverty that is faced will often help the person to humble themselves, and seek for God. Those who humble themselves and seek for God will of a surety find Him. Once they find Him, then the way will be made clear for them to love their fellow man.
A prophet once said to a group of the poverty stricken: I behold that your poverty hath humbled you, and in your humility you have sought the Lord and been blessed. But more blessed are those who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; those who remember the Lord and love people in their prosperity. Those who give thanks in all things.
Unto such will more prosperity be given, because they use it to bring value and good to the world, and thus the vibration is strengthened.
So is it more spiritual to be poor? Only in the case described above. If we love people, and are providing value to the world, then having more money will only mean one thing:
We will have more resources with which to love people, and bring more value to the world.
And we will ultimately conquer lack thinking, which has been programmed into most of us for years and years and for generations and generations. I personally see this as one of the great awakenings of this life; the chance to conquer lack thinking once and for all.
Because where we are going, it will not serve us. Greater enlightenment is now coming to the world, not moving away from it.
Those who are grateful for the enlightenment that they have will recieve more, yea even an hundred fold.
Joseph
And yet they are not doing it from the point of view of any specific religion. In fact the concept of God is barely mentioned; and never discussed.
Add to that the quote by Neale Donald Walsch about "no one will stand in judgement of it, now or forever", and it is not a surprise that some start to wonder if the truths taught in The Secret can be reconciled with their religious beliefs. And what about all the money? Materialism?
If you have had any of that conflict within you, then I salute you. The truths taught in this movie are very powerful, and yet it is a good thing for us to be careful at first with any new information until we can apply the "test of truth" to it.
And what is the "test of truth"? That is the question now isn't it! For those who follow the Christian scriptures, the answer is given by the Lord Himself: "By their fruits ye shall know them". In other scripture we read that "all that is good cometh from God".
Things that are good invite, entice, and persuade all men to do good. The movie makes the delicate point that you must think good before you can really do good. All of their efforts to help us "think good" are for one sole purpose, and that is so that we might do more good, provide more value, enhance more lives, including our own. The movie is making the point that we must enhance our own life before we can clearly enhance another, and this is in line with the messages from Robert Collier and Wallace Wattles upon whom much of this work is based.
So the question becomes: Does the movie and the book do the things that we just described?
Everyone must answer this question for themselves, I would never presume to do it for you.
But if you come to the answer that it is good, and as such ultimately from God, then comes the part of fitting it in with what you already believe about God.
This need not be an arduous exercise. I cannot spell out how every belief fits in because there is a very wide variety of religious beliefs, but I can state a few things that may help. Obtaining clarity of mind and singleness of purpose will bring the required inspiration for the rest.
1. Why is God mentioned so little in the movie?
A: I make a guess, because I was not involved in the production of the movie, but I am pretty sure it was done in order to make the movie acceptable to as wide an audience as possible. If any hint of the movie leaning towards any specific religion appeared, then a great many people who were not of that faith might feel less welcomed. This was done because it had to be done to reach as wide of an audience as it has reached.
2. What does the Neale Donald Walsch quote mean about no one standing in judgement?
A: Neale can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that he is referring to what we decide to do with our life, i.e. our career or our choice of what to do with our free time. There are some who believe that God wills them to a certain career, which in some cases is a career that they do not enjoy. The movie says "Follow Your Bliss". He is saying that God will not adversely judge those that do so. The scriptures say that man should, of his own free will and choice, bring to pass much righteousness, and be anxiously engaged in a good cause; and following one's bliss will always lead to a career or a business that will provide great value to others, and bring much good to the world. Compare this to slaving away at a job we do not like ??
3. They talk so much about money and lots of it, but isn't it more spiritual to be poor? I mean, when the Lord was here, he did not seek for riches.
A: 100% the truth! The Lord did not seek Himself for riches, although the temptor tried to use them to entice Him once. When you have the command of the Natural Laws of the Universe as He did, and can manifest food and other things at any time, then there would be little need to ever worry about money or how much of it you had.
But for the rest of us, the scripture says this: By the sweat of your face shall you eat your bread all the days of your life . . .
The world runs by money. Those breadwinners who do not attempt to earn some are not doing what they should. The scripture says that it is the love of money that is the root of all evil, and others have said that it is the lack of money that is the root of all evil.
But it is the love of people that is the root of all good, independent of any amount of money.
There is one case and one case only where it is more spiritual to be poor . . . it is the case of someone who loves something else, possibly money, more than people. The poverty that is faced will often help the person to humble themselves, and seek for God. Those who humble themselves and seek for God will of a surety find Him. Once they find Him, then the way will be made clear for them to love their fellow man.
A prophet once said to a group of the poverty stricken: I behold that your poverty hath humbled you, and in your humility you have sought the Lord and been blessed. But more blessed are those who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; those who remember the Lord and love people in their prosperity. Those who give thanks in all things.
Unto such will more prosperity be given, because they use it to bring value and good to the world, and thus the vibration is strengthened.
So is it more spiritual to be poor? Only in the case described above. If we love people, and are providing value to the world, then having more money will only mean one thing:
We will have more resources with which to love people, and bring more value to the world.
And we will ultimately conquer lack thinking, which has been programmed into most of us for years and years and for generations and generations. I personally see this as one of the great awakenings of this life; the chance to conquer lack thinking once and for all.
Because where we are going, it will not serve us. Greater enlightenment is now coming to the world, not moving away from it.
Those who are grateful for the enlightenment that they have will recieve more, yea even an hundred fold.
Joseph
Sunday, September 16, 2007
From Whence Cometh Happiness ??
OK, if you were paying very close attention to the scene in The Secret with John Asseref's vision board, the you saw the statement printed thereon: Joy is the best measure of success!
I often hear people say something like the following: When I have _____, then I will be happy.
The statement is born out of a misunderstanding. Happiness is not a destination. Happiness is a journey. What is the difference beteeen happiness and joy? Joy is a feeling, and an emotion. Happiness is a lifestyle.
So what is required for happiness? You could ask anyone who is truly happy. The following ideas are meant to get you thinking about the subject, not to convert you to a certain way of thinking.
Is living in a nice house required to be happy? Yes. But there are *all* kinds of nice houses. Who has to think it is a nice house? Why you, of course.
Is having prosperous circumstances required to be happy? Well, I had to think on this one for a moment, but No, not required. I would like to say it helps, but in some cases it hinders.
Is being grateful for our current conditions required? Yes! 110% Yes.
Is knowing about or trying to live the Law of Attraction required? Sorry guys, but No.
Is the opportunity taken to be of a benefit to others required to be happy? Aye Aye. Yes.
Must we seek for spirituality in order to be happy? Yes, if we want all of it.
Must we drive a luxury car in order to be happy? Only if we think so.
Can we be happy or have joy in any kind of dishonest dealings? Nada. Nothing that lowers our vibration will make us happy.
Can we be a victim and also be happy?
No, not completely.
Can we be happy even if we have bad memories, or memeories of bad things?
Those are all in the past. Happiness and joy are in the now. In the now redefines the future.
Does being forgiving make us happy? A definite Yes. Its not bad for the rest of the world either.
Does uplifting others make us happy? Yes! A proven way to get there.
Do any of the emotions on the "bad" side of the emotional guidance scale make us happy?
YES.
But only when we realize that they are guidance telling us something, and when we properly understand what the guidance is telling us. That lesson will invariably lead us to happiness and joy, but short of that, NO.
Is there ONE overriding principle; One grand emotion; One mode of thinking that includes all of the others already listed; that is empowering within itself; which all low vibration flees from; which overpowers all negativity; which casteth out all fear; which destroys all doubt; which energizes all who come in contact with it; which has the power to command all other emotions; which raises our vibration to a Heavenly state; which is the best conduit in this lifetime to understand God; which puts us in total 100% command of all aspects of our reality; which shapes our very existence; which transcends all other human emotion ??
Well I am glad that you asked . . .
Because YES there is . . .
What is it ??
You already know,
and you never needed me to tell you.
I just wanted to be there when you fully realized it.
Now that you know . . .
What can you do now?
Love,
Joseph
I often hear people say something like the following: When I have _____, then I will be happy.
The statement is born out of a misunderstanding. Happiness is not a destination. Happiness is a journey. What is the difference beteeen happiness and joy? Joy is a feeling, and an emotion. Happiness is a lifestyle.
So what is required for happiness? You could ask anyone who is truly happy. The following ideas are meant to get you thinking about the subject, not to convert you to a certain way of thinking.
Is living in a nice house required to be happy? Yes. But there are *all* kinds of nice houses. Who has to think it is a nice house? Why you, of course.
Is having prosperous circumstances required to be happy? Well, I had to think on this one for a moment, but No, not required. I would like to say it helps, but in some cases it hinders.
Is being grateful for our current conditions required? Yes! 110% Yes.
Is knowing about or trying to live the Law of Attraction required? Sorry guys, but No.
Is the opportunity taken to be of a benefit to others required to be happy? Aye Aye. Yes.
Must we seek for spirituality in order to be happy? Yes, if we want all of it.
Must we drive a luxury car in order to be happy? Only if we think so.
Can we be happy or have joy in any kind of dishonest dealings? Nada. Nothing that lowers our vibration will make us happy.
Can we be a victim and also be happy?
No, not completely.
Can we be happy even if we have bad memories, or memeories of bad things?
Those are all in the past. Happiness and joy are in the now. In the now redefines the future.
Does being forgiving make us happy? A definite Yes. Its not bad for the rest of the world either.
Does uplifting others make us happy? Yes! A proven way to get there.
Do any of the emotions on the "bad" side of the emotional guidance scale make us happy?
YES.
But only when we realize that they are guidance telling us something, and when we properly understand what the guidance is telling us. That lesson will invariably lead us to happiness and joy, but short of that, NO.
Is there ONE overriding principle; One grand emotion; One mode of thinking that includes all of the others already listed; that is empowering within itself; which all low vibration flees from; which overpowers all negativity; which casteth out all fear; which destroys all doubt; which energizes all who come in contact with it; which has the power to command all other emotions; which raises our vibration to a Heavenly state; which is the best conduit in this lifetime to understand God; which puts us in total 100% command of all aspects of our reality; which shapes our very existence; which transcends all other human emotion ??
Well I am glad that you asked . . .
Because YES there is . . .
What is it ??
You already know,
and you never needed me to tell you.
I just wanted to be there when you fully realized it.
Now that you know . . .
What can you do now?
Love,
Joseph
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
A Great Example of Follow Your Bliss!
One of the best things, I think, about the popularity of the movie The Secret is the number of people who are now trying to "Follow Their Bliss" to attract greater success into their lives.
The movie does not speak any at all about talent, but what seems to happen is that once someone starts to follow their bliss, then they suddenly discover talents they have that were previously undeveloped or unused.
There was a striking example of this recently on the show Britian's Got Talent, which is similar to the US show American Idol. Paul Potts, a shy mobile phone salesperson from Wales, had often thought of singing for a living. It was something that he enjoyed doing. It was something that he was pretty good at.
But it was not something that he had DONE.
And all of that potential talent was just sitting on the shelf --- gathering dust.
But he finally decided to do something about his dream. The following clip shows his initial performance on the show. No one had ever heard of him, and no one knew what to expect. Watch what happened . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oxTy7KIAaA
(I will let you have just a moment to recover)
. . .
. . .
Well what was future then is history now, and history records that not only did Paul Potts capture everyone's imagination after that first performance, he went on to win the entire competition!
As a result he was set to sing before the Queen, and also is working on, if he has not already released his first CD.
What a great story! Because he was willing to take a risk in front of the whole world, his life has been completely transformed! He followed his bliss, and the Universe opened doors where there had been only walls.
Well that's great for Paul. . .
But what about us?
If we are seeing walls, and not doors, then we should check to see if we are doing what we really want to do. As we develop our talents in those areas, we will become top 1% in the world for what it is that we do. See my previous post on talents for more on this.
May you find the doors that the Universe wants you to find.
Joseph
The movie does not speak any at all about talent, but what seems to happen is that once someone starts to follow their bliss, then they suddenly discover talents they have that were previously undeveloped or unused.
There was a striking example of this recently on the show Britian's Got Talent, which is similar to the US show American Idol. Paul Potts, a shy mobile phone salesperson from Wales, had often thought of singing for a living. It was something that he enjoyed doing. It was something that he was pretty good at.
But it was not something that he had DONE.
And all of that potential talent was just sitting on the shelf --- gathering dust.
But he finally decided to do something about his dream. The following clip shows his initial performance on the show. No one had ever heard of him, and no one knew what to expect. Watch what happened . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oxTy7KIAaA
(I will let you have just a moment to recover)
. . .
. . .
Well what was future then is history now, and history records that not only did Paul Potts capture everyone's imagination after that first performance, he went on to win the entire competition!
As a result he was set to sing before the Queen, and also is working on, if he has not already released his first CD.
What a great story! Because he was willing to take a risk in front of the whole world, his life has been completely transformed! He followed his bliss, and the Universe opened doors where there had been only walls.
Well that's great for Paul. . .
But what about us?
If we are seeing walls, and not doors, then we should check to see if we are doing what we really want to do. As we develop our talents in those areas, we will become top 1% in the world for what it is that we do. See my previous post on talents for more on this.
May you find the doors that the Universe wants you to find.
Joseph
Sunday, September 9, 2007
To Earn, or Not to Spend! That is the Question.
If you are like me, in your past you were taught the following:
You must spend less than you earn.
This statement is of course 100% correct! It is also the worst kind of *lack* thinking. Did you notice that they did not say this once in the movie The Secret ??
Whoa! You say, I learned that from the financial books that I read! --- I know. So did I.
Let me be clear that it is not a sin to think this way. Also 99% of the world thinks this way.
. . . but . . .
God does not think this way. And believing this, we find we now need to pay attention.
Lack thinking will prevent us from living in the magic of life; but we are not required to live in the magic of life, it's only if we want to!
Lack thinking will encourage the Universe to manifest financial issues for us; but we are not required to have financial issues, it's only if we *want* them.
And for those of you who say "but I have financial issues and I do NOT want them!" ----- There you go again, focusing on what you do not want. You are attracting it.
OK, you say, if "spend less than you earn" is lack thinking, what should you say instead?
I am sooooooo glad that you asked!
Are you ready ???
Make more than you spend.
It's really just that simple. Think about it. Focus of statement one is "spend less". Focus of statement two is "make more". Notice the implicit statements as well . . .
1. Spend less than you earn (Your income is limited so you must be sure to not test it).
2. Make more than you spend (Your income is unlimited, you can decide how much you want).
I must thank Robert Kiyosaki for the following, which is further proof of this:
Poor Dad Always Said: I cannot afford it. (Shuts the brain down)
Rich Dad Always Said: How can I afford it? (Gives the brain some creating to do)
Neither had the money to afford it at the beginning. Its not even about whether we have the money at the beginning . . . it's about whether we think lack, or think abundance.
And while that is easy to write, it is a little tougher to do if we have not practiced. The following should help.
We must listen to ourselves. What we speak is powerful. Are we speaking lack? We must stop immediately!
An experiment. Think of a money amount right now that if you had that much in the bank you would be set for life. How does that feel? Now compare: Multiply that amount that you just thought about by 1000, and get a new amount. Now how does it feel having this new amount? If it feels worse, or if you are now in any way afraid, then you have some issues with money that need to be cleared up.
Do not forget yourself! If there was fear in your experiment, was that possibly because you know that having money of that magnitude really enhances who and what you already are, and you are just not 100% sure that who and what you are is where it should be yet?
Now for the kicker . . . . .
When you think of "money", do you respond with A. Love? or B. Fear?
Maybe you are thinking of the scripture that says "for the love of money is the root of all evil". And because of that, you now have a fear of loving money. Is it any wonder we are all messed up on this one?
May I suggest that having feelings of love around money, and "loving money", are two completely different things? Being evil is the root of all evil. Having money only determines how widespread that evil would be. "Loving money" means not loving people, and THAT is the problem the scripture seeks to address, and it gets progressively worse the more money there is. Sometimes this problem is called "pride". One slays it with Gratitude.
But we must seek to have feelings of love around money; like we feel like we trust it, we can count on it to be there for us, it won't let us down. We can count on it to grow for us and manifest more than we need.
Your bills? All opportunities to express appreciation in the form of money. The balance on your last bank statement? The Past. Put the feelings of love around money, and it will start to show respect to you.
Money loves to come where it is welcomed, and it is welcomed by value. Find a way to provide more.
Joseph
You must spend less than you earn.
This statement is of course 100% correct! It is also the worst kind of *lack* thinking. Did you notice that they did not say this once in the movie The Secret ??
Whoa! You say, I learned that from the financial books that I read! --- I know. So did I.
Let me be clear that it is not a sin to think this way. Also 99% of the world thinks this way.
. . . but . . .
God does not think this way. And believing this, we find we now need to pay attention.
Lack thinking will prevent us from living in the magic of life; but we are not required to live in the magic of life, it's only if we want to!
Lack thinking will encourage the Universe to manifest financial issues for us; but we are not required to have financial issues, it's only if we *want* them.
And for those of you who say "but I have financial issues and I do NOT want them!" ----- There you go again, focusing on what you do not want. You are attracting it.
OK, you say, if "spend less than you earn" is lack thinking, what should you say instead?
I am sooooooo glad that you asked!
Are you ready ???
Make more than you spend.
It's really just that simple. Think about it. Focus of statement one is "spend less". Focus of statement two is "make more". Notice the implicit statements as well . . .
1. Spend less than you earn (Your income is limited so you must be sure to not test it).
2. Make more than you spend (Your income is unlimited, you can decide how much you want).
I must thank Robert Kiyosaki for the following, which is further proof of this:
Poor Dad Always Said: I cannot afford it. (Shuts the brain down)
Rich Dad Always Said: How can I afford it? (Gives the brain some creating to do)
Neither had the money to afford it at the beginning. Its not even about whether we have the money at the beginning . . . it's about whether we think lack, or think abundance.
And while that is easy to write, it is a little tougher to do if we have not practiced. The following should help.
We must listen to ourselves. What we speak is powerful. Are we speaking lack? We must stop immediately!
An experiment. Think of a money amount right now that if you had that much in the bank you would be set for life. How does that feel? Now compare: Multiply that amount that you just thought about by 1000, and get a new amount. Now how does it feel having this new amount? If it feels worse, or if you are now in any way afraid, then you have some issues with money that need to be cleared up.
Do not forget yourself! If there was fear in your experiment, was that possibly because you know that having money of that magnitude really enhances who and what you already are, and you are just not 100% sure that who and what you are is where it should be yet?
Now for the kicker . . . . .
When you think of "money", do you respond with A. Love? or B. Fear?
Maybe you are thinking of the scripture that says "for the love of money is the root of all evil". And because of that, you now have a fear of loving money. Is it any wonder we are all messed up on this one?
May I suggest that having feelings of love around money, and "loving money", are two completely different things? Being evil is the root of all evil. Having money only determines how widespread that evil would be. "Loving money" means not loving people, and THAT is the problem the scripture seeks to address, and it gets progressively worse the more money there is. Sometimes this problem is called "pride". One slays it with Gratitude.
But we must seek to have feelings of love around money; like we feel like we trust it, we can count on it to be there for us, it won't let us down. We can count on it to grow for us and manifest more than we need.
Your bills? All opportunities to express appreciation in the form of money. The balance on your last bank statement? The Past. Put the feelings of love around money, and it will start to show respect to you.
Money loves to come where it is welcomed, and it is welcomed by value. Find a way to provide more.
Joseph
Saturday, September 1, 2007
The Big Decisions
I will cover two of them. These topics are hinted at in the movie The Secret, but not addressed directly.
Decision 1: Love or Fear? Sometimes the same question is phrased as Faith or Fear?
When something that you are not expecting manifests. . . Oh what did I do to derserve (or to attract) this ??
Irrelavent. It's here now. It's coming is in the past, it's going is in the future, but your decision is RIGHT NOW.
The scripture says: For perfect love casteth out all fear. Not surprisingly, perfect fear casteth out all love.
How do we feel when we choose love? That's guidance telling us that we are doing the right thing!
How do we feel when we choose fear? That's emotional guidance telling us that we are now acting in a way that is contrary to our true nature. If we were supposed to be fearful beings, then emotional guidance would have us feeling really good about that fear.
We never feel good about False Evidence Appearing Real.
Decision 2: Freedom or Security? Some may feel that these are the same thing. They are not.
In fact the one repels the other. Seeking security reduces freedom, and seeking freedom can seem to reduce security, at least at first.
Who has the most Security? The people in Prison. Very little freedom though (Thank You Robert Kiyosaki for this one :-) ).
Who has the most Freedom? Those who have obtained all three of the three dimensions of success. They are 1. Financial Freedom -- 2. Time Freedom -- 3. Freedom to bring Joy to others. (Thank You Donna Johnson for that).
Those who seek Security seek for a Job. One with benefits and a Secure paycheck. In exchange they give up their time freedom for 40-80 hours a week (counting commuting time).
Those who seek Freedom seek for a Business. One that they can build to the point where they have both financial and time freedom. One with which they can bring Joy to the life of others. One in which they are rewarded according to the value that they provide.
The happy compromise? Keep your day job, and start your own business.
One last thing. The combination of both questions can change your life. Seeking security based on fear will reduce your freedoms. Think: Patriot Act, Domestic Spying. Only a fearful population will consent to giving up these freedoms.
Seeking freedom based on love is the hidden doorway to the magical NOW.
The magic and joy is in the journey, AND the destination.
It is not an exclusive road.
You can drive whatever (business) vehicle you want. . .
See you there.
Joseph
Decision 1: Love or Fear? Sometimes the same question is phrased as Faith or Fear?
When something that you are not expecting manifests. . . Oh what did I do to derserve (or to attract) this ??
Irrelavent. It's here now. It's coming is in the past, it's going is in the future, but your decision is RIGHT NOW.
The scripture says: For perfect love casteth out all fear. Not surprisingly, perfect fear casteth out all love.
How do we feel when we choose love? That's guidance telling us that we are doing the right thing!
How do we feel when we choose fear? That's emotional guidance telling us that we are now acting in a way that is contrary to our true nature. If we were supposed to be fearful beings, then emotional guidance would have us feeling really good about that fear.
We never feel good about False Evidence Appearing Real.
Decision 2: Freedom or Security? Some may feel that these are the same thing. They are not.
In fact the one repels the other. Seeking security reduces freedom, and seeking freedom can seem to reduce security, at least at first.
Who has the most Security? The people in Prison. Very little freedom though (Thank You Robert Kiyosaki for this one :-) ).
Who has the most Freedom? Those who have obtained all three of the three dimensions of success. They are 1. Financial Freedom -- 2. Time Freedom -- 3. Freedom to bring Joy to others. (Thank You Donna Johnson for that).
Those who seek Security seek for a Job. One with benefits and a Secure paycheck. In exchange they give up their time freedom for 40-80 hours a week (counting commuting time).
Those who seek Freedom seek for a Business. One that they can build to the point where they have both financial and time freedom. One with which they can bring Joy to the life of others. One in which they are rewarded according to the value that they provide.
The happy compromise? Keep your day job, and start your own business.
One last thing. The combination of both questions can change your life. Seeking security based on fear will reduce your freedoms. Think: Patriot Act, Domestic Spying. Only a fearful population will consent to giving up these freedoms.
Seeking freedom based on love is the hidden doorway to the magical NOW.
The magic and joy is in the journey, AND the destination.
It is not an exclusive road.
You can drive whatever (business) vehicle you want. . .
See you there.
Joseph
Saturday, August 25, 2007
What if a Dawn of a Doom of a Dream
Yes, you recognize the words: e. e. cummings.
This post is about how your dream may not dawn because of doom.
In simpler terms, you desire may not manifest because it is blocked.
There are only two things that can block it, both self inflicted.
1. Fear. The word is an acronym. False Evidence Appearing Real.
2. Doubt. The word is an acronym. Defeat Originality Under Bogus Thoughts.
The movie and book The Secret does not list these two separately, but they are included on the negative emotions list.
If you have perceived a lack of success in some aspect of your life, and you have had a negative emotion that corresponded with that event, let us be clear what this means. . .
I credit Carol Tuttle for this idea from her book Remembering Wholeness. She was also greatly influenced by Louise Hay.
The negative emotion that was associated with the event was a clear indicator that this unsuccessful event was not in alignment with what your life should be.
If you were supposed to be a failure, you would have positive emotions around that failure, indicating that what has happened was representative of the real you.
But I know you did not.
Because I know you.
And you are meant to live an abundant life.
He who has conquered Doubt and Fear has conquered failure, and yet the difference between the successful and the less so is that the former view failure as a stepping stone to success, while the latter view failure as a referendum on their life policies.
No one remembers that Thomas Edison invented 10,000 different ways to make a light bulb that did not work, except for me, but I am a special case. He is generally remembered for inventing one version of the light bulb that did work, after 10,000 unsuccessful tries.
And while it is true that if first you do not succeed, so much for sky-diving . . . we generally find that our failures are steps along the path to our ultimate success.
If we learn from them.
Learn.
Joseph
This post is about how your dream may not dawn because of doom.
In simpler terms, you desire may not manifest because it is blocked.
There are only two things that can block it, both self inflicted.
1. Fear. The word is an acronym. False Evidence Appearing Real.
2. Doubt. The word is an acronym. Defeat Originality Under Bogus Thoughts.
The movie and book The Secret does not list these two separately, but they are included on the negative emotions list.
If you have perceived a lack of success in some aspect of your life, and you have had a negative emotion that corresponded with that event, let us be clear what this means. . .
I credit Carol Tuttle for this idea from her book Remembering Wholeness. She was also greatly influenced by Louise Hay.
The negative emotion that was associated with the event was a clear indicator that this unsuccessful event was not in alignment with what your life should be.
If you were supposed to be a failure, you would have positive emotions around that failure, indicating that what has happened was representative of the real you.
But I know you did not.
Because I know you.
And you are meant to live an abundant life.
He who has conquered Doubt and Fear has conquered failure, and yet the difference between the successful and the less so is that the former view failure as a stepping stone to success, while the latter view failure as a referendum on their life policies.
No one remembers that Thomas Edison invented 10,000 different ways to make a light bulb that did not work, except for me, but I am a special case. He is generally remembered for inventing one version of the light bulb that did work, after 10,000 unsuccessful tries.
And while it is true that if first you do not succeed, so much for sky-diving . . . we generally find that our failures are steps along the path to our ultimate success.
If we learn from them.
Learn.
Joseph
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The Law of Attraction and . . . . . The Lottery ???
Please stick with me on this one, because the point I want to make is going to take a little bit to get there. There are several images of "The Lottery" in the movie The Secret. In my mind those images are just meant to convey the idea of a boat-load of money, but is the movie suggesting that The Lottery is a possible way that we might want to attract money?
Because the laws of mathematics are just as valid as the Law of Attraction, and the Lottery is mathematically designed for millions of people to play and only one to win the big jackpot. This is to say that by design, millions of people will play and lose at every drawing. Now I am not here to say that one person cannot attract the win, but I am here to say that if too many people start attracting the win, then the win will be watered down until it is not worth anything anymore, because the big jackpot is divided by the number of winners.
Let me tell a fictionalized version of a true story. There was a woman, we will call her Laura, who had come to a point where she had hit rock bottom in her life. Her father died suddenly, and her whole life was in turmoil. Little did she know, but our of her greatest despair would come the most wonderful blessing!
She had been introduced to a Great Secret, in the form of a 100 year old book. She grew excited about this and traced The Secret back through history. She could not believe that there were other people alive today that knew this Great Secret, but she was able to find and study them. Based on her studies, she became a very powerful attractor!
She then thought (and here is where the story moves into fiction), "I am a great attractor! I think I will try my hand at The Lottery!" Well sure enough she plays the Lottery and she wins! She wins the big jackpot! All hints of money troubles are over for the rest of her life, because she has also attracted being smart with her money.
Well she moves on with the knowledge that she can attract whatever she wants. She tries to tell all of her friends about this great gift, but she is not able to make them understand, and ultimately they all ascribe her great success to pure dumb luck. She lives happily ever after . . .
But we do not. All the great blessings of the movie and book The Secret never occur.
Because you see, in her focus on how to attract money, she did not also focus on providing any value. The Lottery is the world's number one way to attract money without providing any shred of value in return. Pyramid schemes, legal or illegal, are the number two way to attract money without providing any value in return.
But Laura does learn one important lesson that she could have never otherwise learned . . .
It is lonely at the top.
(Now for the truth of the story)
The truth is that this is not a fictional story, and our hero's name is Rhonda, not Laura. But Rhonda had a great desire to tell others about the great discoveries that she had made. She wanted to share the value that she had found for herself with others.
So instead of attracting a win at the Lottery, she instead took an extremely large risk. She hired a very skilled production company to help her make a movie, and she talked some of the world's foremost experts on the Law of Attraction to be interviewed for a movie at no payment. Millions of dollars where spent to make the production worth watching, and two farms were given away to pay for a teacher named Esther Hicks.
All of this was done with no guarentee whatsoever that anyone would ever buy the movie or be interested in it, or that the original TV station that they had an agreement with would ever air it. In fact the original TV station never did air it as they were supposed to.
But of course the rest of the story is history. The movie was a smashing success, it has inspired literally millions of people the world over, and ALL OF THIS because one person was looking for a way to share value that she had found in her own life with others.
OR NOT. She could have just played the Lottery and attracted the win. Lived happily ever after. The movie and the book The Secret go *poof* into nothingness. This entire Secrets of The Secret blog ceases to exist. The great Secret forum at powerfulintentions.com disappears, along with any wisdom gained by anyone reading it.
So should we look to attract money without providing value in return?
Well its our decision. It's either:
1. Lonely at the top.
- or -
2. Unspeakable joy in every soul that we are able to help.
So decide already.
Joseph
Because the laws of mathematics are just as valid as the Law of Attraction, and the Lottery is mathematically designed for millions of people to play and only one to win the big jackpot. This is to say that by design, millions of people will play and lose at every drawing. Now I am not here to say that one person cannot attract the win, but I am here to say that if too many people start attracting the win, then the win will be watered down until it is not worth anything anymore, because the big jackpot is divided by the number of winners.
Let me tell a fictionalized version of a true story. There was a woman, we will call her Laura, who had come to a point where she had hit rock bottom in her life. Her father died suddenly, and her whole life was in turmoil. Little did she know, but our of her greatest despair would come the most wonderful blessing!
She had been introduced to a Great Secret, in the form of a 100 year old book. She grew excited about this and traced The Secret back through history. She could not believe that there were other people alive today that knew this Great Secret, but she was able to find and study them. Based on her studies, she became a very powerful attractor!
She then thought (and here is where the story moves into fiction), "I am a great attractor! I think I will try my hand at The Lottery!" Well sure enough she plays the Lottery and she wins! She wins the big jackpot! All hints of money troubles are over for the rest of her life, because she has also attracted being smart with her money.
Well she moves on with the knowledge that she can attract whatever she wants. She tries to tell all of her friends about this great gift, but she is not able to make them understand, and ultimately they all ascribe her great success to pure dumb luck. She lives happily ever after . . .
But we do not. All the great blessings of the movie and book The Secret never occur.
Because you see, in her focus on how to attract money, she did not also focus on providing any value. The Lottery is the world's number one way to attract money without providing any shred of value in return. Pyramid schemes, legal or illegal, are the number two way to attract money without providing any value in return.
But Laura does learn one important lesson that she could have never otherwise learned . . .
It is lonely at the top.
(Now for the truth of the story)
The truth is that this is not a fictional story, and our hero's name is Rhonda, not Laura. But Rhonda had a great desire to tell others about the great discoveries that she had made. She wanted to share the value that she had found for herself with others.
So instead of attracting a win at the Lottery, she instead took an extremely large risk. She hired a very skilled production company to help her make a movie, and she talked some of the world's foremost experts on the Law of Attraction to be interviewed for a movie at no payment. Millions of dollars where spent to make the production worth watching, and two farms were given away to pay for a teacher named Esther Hicks.
All of this was done with no guarentee whatsoever that anyone would ever buy the movie or be interested in it, or that the original TV station that they had an agreement with would ever air it. In fact the original TV station never did air it as they were supposed to.
But of course the rest of the story is history. The movie was a smashing success, it has inspired literally millions of people the world over, and ALL OF THIS because one person was looking for a way to share value that she had found in her own life with others.
OR NOT. She could have just played the Lottery and attracted the win. Lived happily ever after. The movie and the book The Secret go *poof* into nothingness. This entire Secrets of The Secret blog ceases to exist. The great Secret forum at powerfulintentions.com disappears, along with any wisdom gained by anyone reading it.
So should we look to attract money without providing value in return?
Well its our decision. It's either:
1. Lonely at the top.
- or -
2. Unspeakable joy in every soul that we are able to help.
So decide already.
Joseph
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Success as a Second Language
Its either Esther Hicks, or Bob Proctor, or both in the original movie The Secret who talk about the words that we speak, but other than their short phrases, the story goes back to what we are visulaizing, feeling, and thinking.
"We see that those who speak most of prosperity have it". "We see that those who speak most of disease have it".
So the question becomes, how does one "speak" of prosperity?
If we were not brought up in a home where parents spoke of prosperity, and if we have not been in another group where they speak of prosperity, then the words may be foreign to us, and learning to speak them might be something like learning to speak a different language.
As a second language.
I will outline a phased approach. In Phase One, we identify the words that we speak which are anti-prosperity and we eliminate them as possible. We pay very close attention to the words "I Am . . . ", and we are very careful to never let ourselves utter those words followed by anything negative! We begin to understand the power of the words: Are you living well? Yes, I Am.
Phase Two. We have all had multiple success events in our lives. How do we speak when we speak of these? We will learn to speak positively of these if we do not do so already. Our past success is NEVER the result of luck. In phase two we can listen to ourselves as we speak about our own past successes. Why were we successful? What made us stick to it? How did we overcome the odds? How did we manifest that awesome thing? How did we win? Are you remembering well? Yes, I Am.
Phase Three. Given that we are the exact same person who just spoke about all those wonderful success stories, we begin to know that the thoughts we thought, and the feelings we felt, and the talents we used, and the actions we took, brought us to those past success stories; and will lead us to the future ones, which can be awesomely bigger. Are you Believing Well? Yes, I Am.
Now we will remember the same language we used to describe our past success, and use it again to describe our future success. Eventually we will be able to talk of our future success as if it had already happened in a way that makes sense. Our speech will become inspiring to us and perhaps also to others. Are you speaking well? Yes, I Am.
Now we have learned the language, so we will know all the passwords.
Speak and Grow Rich
Joseph
"We see that those who speak most of prosperity have it". "We see that those who speak most of disease have it".
So the question becomes, how does one "speak" of prosperity?
If we were not brought up in a home where parents spoke of prosperity, and if we have not been in another group where they speak of prosperity, then the words may be foreign to us, and learning to speak them might be something like learning to speak a different language.
As a second language.
I will outline a phased approach. In Phase One, we identify the words that we speak which are anti-prosperity and we eliminate them as possible. We pay very close attention to the words "I Am . . . ", and we are very careful to never let ourselves utter those words followed by anything negative! We begin to understand the power of the words: Are you living well? Yes, I Am.
Phase Two. We have all had multiple success events in our lives. How do we speak when we speak of these? We will learn to speak positively of these if we do not do so already. Our past success is NEVER the result of luck. In phase two we can listen to ourselves as we speak about our own past successes. Why were we successful? What made us stick to it? How did we overcome the odds? How did we manifest that awesome thing? How did we win? Are you remembering well? Yes, I Am.
Phase Three. Given that we are the exact same person who just spoke about all those wonderful success stories, we begin to know that the thoughts we thought, and the feelings we felt, and the talents we used, and the actions we took, brought us to those past success stories; and will lead us to the future ones, which can be awesomely bigger. Are you Believing Well? Yes, I Am.
Now we will remember the same language we used to describe our past success, and use it again to describe our future success. Eventually we will be able to talk of our future success as if it had already happened in a way that makes sense. Our speech will become inspiring to us and perhaps also to others. Are you speaking well? Yes, I Am.
Now we have learned the language, so we will know all the passwords.
Speak and Grow Rich
Joseph
Friday, August 10, 2007
Is it harder to attract Positive than Negative?
If you want to get really technical I think you would have to say that neither one is "hard" to do.
We may have a lot more experience with one than we do with the other.
In the movie The Secret, Dr Beckwith says that an affirmative thought is hundreds of times more powerful that a negative thought, adding that this fact has been proven scientifically.
Does it follow that a positive attraction is hundreds of times more powerful? Does the fact that the natural state of the entire Universe is prosperity and wonder mean that it should be easier to attract those things?
Some people put a lot of mental effort attracting negative circumstances into their lives. Does that sound crazy? People do it all the time. Of course much, if not all, of that is the subconscious doing the attracting; but that subconscious program was written based on thoughts and experiences that came down from the conscious mind.
So for any who seem to be still attracting a lot of negative things I say the following . . .
Take a Break.
Look at the grass. It does not struggle to grow, it is just an intelligent design. The wind blows whithersoever it will. The same designer who created these things created us. Feel gratitude for the grass, the wind, the sun, and the thousands of other little blessings occurring in our lives that we pay no attention to and thus express no appreciation for. Express verbal appreciation at every opportunity.
The first step in manifesting the positive is to stop working so hard manifesting the negative.
Do it!
Joseph
We may have a lot more experience with one than we do with the other.
In the movie The Secret, Dr Beckwith says that an affirmative thought is hundreds of times more powerful that a negative thought, adding that this fact has been proven scientifically.
Does it follow that a positive attraction is hundreds of times more powerful? Does the fact that the natural state of the entire Universe is prosperity and wonder mean that it should be easier to attract those things?
Some people put a lot of mental effort attracting negative circumstances into their lives. Does that sound crazy? People do it all the time. Of course much, if not all, of that is the subconscious doing the attracting; but that subconscious program was written based on thoughts and experiences that came down from the conscious mind.
So for any who seem to be still attracting a lot of negative things I say the following . . .
Take a Break.
Look at the grass. It does not struggle to grow, it is just an intelligent design. The wind blows whithersoever it will. The same designer who created these things created us. Feel gratitude for the grass, the wind, the sun, and the thousands of other little blessings occurring in our lives that we pay no attention to and thus express no appreciation for. Express verbal appreciation at every opportunity.
The first step in manifesting the positive is to stop working so hard manifesting the negative.
Do it!
Joseph
Sunday, August 5, 2007
The Truths Hidden in the Fairy Tales
For the initial idea covered in this post I credit David Maestas. He is a regular poster on the official Secret forums and has great ideas that he shares with everyone.
Consider this quote form Rhonda Bryne, the creater of The Secret:
"The greatest teachers and Avatars have shared the creative process through their wondrous work, in a myriad of forms. Some great teachers created stories to demonstrate how the universe works. The wisdom of their stories has been handed down through the centuries and has become legendary. Many people living today do not realize that the essence of these stories is the very truth of life."
Just like the story of Aladdin shared in the movie. Isn't it just like our lack an limitation society, that the story was changed over time to allow for only three wishes; when originally the wishes were unlimited? For someone who understands the Law of Attraction and lives in the "magic of life", the wishes truly are unlimited.
More than just a process of understanding, it is really a matter of remembering. We sometimes think in terms of education, meaning that we learn something that we did not previously know. However if you trace the word back you will find that it comes from the Latin word Educo. The word Educo means to "bring out from within", or "to remember".
As the poet Wordsworth once wrote: Our birth is but a sleep, and a forgetting.
To find the magic of life we must remember.
The poet continues:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.
You see, the reason that it is a remembering is because . . . .
We knew it all before!
And we are meant to find it all again. And we will.
Joseph
Consider this quote form Rhonda Bryne, the creater of The Secret:
"The greatest teachers and Avatars have shared the creative process through their wondrous work, in a myriad of forms. Some great teachers created stories to demonstrate how the universe works. The wisdom of their stories has been handed down through the centuries and has become legendary. Many people living today do not realize that the essence of these stories is the very truth of life."
Just like the story of Aladdin shared in the movie. Isn't it just like our lack an limitation society, that the story was changed over time to allow for only three wishes; when originally the wishes were unlimited? For someone who understands the Law of Attraction and lives in the "magic of life", the wishes truly are unlimited.
More than just a process of understanding, it is really a matter of remembering. We sometimes think in terms of education, meaning that we learn something that we did not previously know. However if you trace the word back you will find that it comes from the Latin word Educo. The word Educo means to "bring out from within", or "to remember".
As the poet Wordsworth once wrote: Our birth is but a sleep, and a forgetting.
To find the magic of life we must remember.
The poet continues:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.
You see, the reason that it is a remembering is because . . . .
We knew it all before!
And we are meant to find it all again. And we will.
Joseph
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
The Best Measure of Success
Ask someone what they think the best measure of success would be for a new business venture, and they will likely reply with an answer centered around money; as in: has the venture made any money, or how much money has the venture made?
And while the money is certainly a critical componant, the movie The Secret is trying to teach us something a little bit different than that. So what is the best measure of success?
The answer to the question flys by so quickly in the movie that you probably missed it. The answer is on a card taped to John Asseref's vision board. No one in the movie actually says these words, but the card says "Joy is the best measure of success". Profound!
Now the business venture must ultimately be profitable; because joy will not last if the venture that is what we want to do is not able to surplant the current income we have, which is earned from what we may like to do and what we are doing currently.
Joy comes from using our talents to serve others. Some believe that serving others is designed to be a non-profit business. Many churches teach that service does not count if you are actually paid for it; then it's not service, its a business.
I would agree with that sentiment except for one small problem, that problem being that we were placed here on Earth (generally) without an endless supply of cash already given. As a result, we have to do something that earns us money. I think that some of these churches would say that we earn a living with drudgery, and then find joy in the volunteer service of others.
Why do they have to be separate? If we can arrange a way to be paid for the service that we render that gives us joy, then is that not what we should do? It does not mean that we cannot contribute time to volunteer causes (or money), but it gives us permission to make money doing what we love to do.
The joy and the magic of life will not be fully realized until we are able to spend all of our time doing what brings us joy, and being paid enough doing it to provide financial freedom, however we may define that.
Joseph
And while the money is certainly a critical componant, the movie The Secret is trying to teach us something a little bit different than that. So what is the best measure of success?
The answer to the question flys by so quickly in the movie that you probably missed it. The answer is on a card taped to John Asseref's vision board. No one in the movie actually says these words, but the card says "Joy is the best measure of success". Profound!
Now the business venture must ultimately be profitable; because joy will not last if the venture that is what we want to do is not able to surplant the current income we have, which is earned from what we may like to do and what we are doing currently.
Joy comes from using our talents to serve others. Some believe that serving others is designed to be a non-profit business. Many churches teach that service does not count if you are actually paid for it; then it's not service, its a business.
I would agree with that sentiment except for one small problem, that problem being that we were placed here on Earth (generally) without an endless supply of cash already given. As a result, we have to do something that earns us money. I think that some of these churches would say that we earn a living with drudgery, and then find joy in the volunteer service of others.
Why do they have to be separate? If we can arrange a way to be paid for the service that we render that gives us joy, then is that not what we should do? It does not mean that we cannot contribute time to volunteer causes (or money), but it gives us permission to make money doing what we love to do.
The joy and the magic of life will not be fully realized until we are able to spend all of our time doing what brings us joy, and being paid enough doing it to provide financial freedom, however we may define that.
Joseph
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Where Should You Rank When Using Your Talents?
If the message did not come across clearly as you were watching The Secret, one of the main points of the movie is that we increase our chances of being successful a hundred fold if we put our energy into creating what we love, and not competing for it. When we create in an area where we have been blessed with talent, then we will have the "inside edge" in that area.
And some of you shrewd readers already recognize a competition theme here in even talking about where we would rank; please forgive me, I am talking in terms that the general population can understand. It is clear from the movie and the Wattles book The Science of Getting Rich, that we must get rich by CREATION, not competition.
But here's the skinny: If there are ten distinct talents in the world then someone who is creating based on theirs should statistically land in the top 10% of that industry.
If there were twenty distinct talents in the world, then someone creating with theirs should land in the top 5%.
If there were 100 distinct talents in the world, then someone creating with theirs should land in the top 1% of that industry.
If (as seems likely) there were more than 100 distinct talents in the world, then someone creating with theirs would be well within that top 1%.
So if you are not presently in the top 1% of some industry, I would ask the following question:
Why Not?
The answer might be that you are not leveraging your talent, or it could also be that your talent is now being expressed in an environment where it is little appreciated and where the money earned from it is bounded by contract of employment.
People who are living in the magic and abundance of life have all done two specific things in relation to their talents:
1. They have joined or set up a business system that allows them unlimited income from using their talent(s). Their earnings become now a matter of how many people they can help. The more people they help, the more money they earn.
2. If their talent(s) do not fall within the areas of Sales and Marketing, then they hire or partner with someone who is talented in these areas, because they realize that the world's greatest talents will not find full expression if no one else knows about them.
Not in the top 1% yet?
What are your talents?
Joseph
And some of you shrewd readers already recognize a competition theme here in even talking about where we would rank; please forgive me, I am talking in terms that the general population can understand. It is clear from the movie and the Wattles book The Science of Getting Rich, that we must get rich by CREATION, not competition.
But here's the skinny: If there are ten distinct talents in the world then someone who is creating based on theirs should statistically land in the top 10% of that industry.
If there were twenty distinct talents in the world, then someone creating with theirs should land in the top 5%.
If there were 100 distinct talents in the world, then someone creating with theirs should land in the top 1% of that industry.
If (as seems likely) there were more than 100 distinct talents in the world, then someone creating with theirs would be well within that top 1%.
So if you are not presently in the top 1% of some industry, I would ask the following question:
Why Not?
The answer might be that you are not leveraging your talent, or it could also be that your talent is now being expressed in an environment where it is little appreciated and where the money earned from it is bounded by contract of employment.
People who are living in the magic and abundance of life have all done two specific things in relation to their talents:
1. They have joined or set up a business system that allows them unlimited income from using their talent(s). Their earnings become now a matter of how many people they can help. The more people they help, the more money they earn.
2. If their talent(s) do not fall within the areas of Sales and Marketing, then they hire or partner with someone who is talented in these areas, because they realize that the world's greatest talents will not find full expression if no one else knows about them.
Not in the top 1% yet?
What are your talents?
Joseph
Friday, July 13, 2007
Think and Speak Your Way to Prosperity
In my mind, the entire purpose of the movie The Secret is to help us to begin to think a little differently about a few things in our lives; and the movie also talks about how adding speaking to that increases its power.
Close to 98% of us grow up learning and especially hearing lack thinking most of the time. If we did not hear it from our own parents, then we heard it from several other sources. Someone who grew up without all of this is fortunate indeed.
For the rest of us, there are some things that we need to get clear in our mind in order to overcome the lack thinking, and so that we may begin the prosperity speaking. The prosperity that we seek will follow only after we have learned the language of prosperity and spoken it for a while. We will not be able to speak it until we get it entrenched into our thoughts.
1. While you may have been a victim in the past, you now realize that you have more control of your circumstances then you ever thought possible, and that you have a clear choice in any matter as to whether you will be a victim. At first even if you still feel like a victim of something you will not add power to it by speaking or complaining about it!
2. You now understand clearly that we will obtain prosperity through creation, not competition. You will abandon all the false ideas that someone else has to lose for you to win. You must completely destroy within your own mind any idea that some dishonesty will be required on your part in order to succeed. It is the competition mindset that says that we must gain advantage over others in order to win; you now know that this is false doctrine.
3. As a follow up to the last item, you now understand that your prosperity comes from helping others find their prosperity, and that it comes quicker as you help more people.
4. You understand clearly that you are blessed with a talent of some kind that will allow you to be in the top 5% of your industry when you use it. How do you know what your talent is? You will find it by doing these three words: Follow Your Bliss. Spend you mental effort setting up a way for you to get paid for doing what you most love to do, and make sure that you get paid more for it as you help more people with it. Once this is done, then you are set up to succeed. Since it is hard to think prosperity if basic needs are not met, do not quit your current income until your new venture(s) have at least doubled it.
5. Do what you can to be around other people who speak prosperity. The group around the office water cooler may not be the best choice. If you do not have any good ideas as to how to accomplish this, I will give you one: Go attend a meeting put on by any Direct Sales/Network Marketing Company. You do not have to join the company to go. There will be people there who think and speak prosperity.
Sound like a lot to do? Does this sound hard? Here is what I think is hard: Forcing ourselves to live an unremarkable life takes a lot of mental effort! Some of us are just so used to it now that we no longer perceive the effort. Our soul longs for the magic of life, and we will surprise ourselves with what happens when we start moving in the right direction!
Last thought: Time will be required, and there will be some number of failures along the way. When you see them you will know them for the sign that they are, which is the sign that you are on the right path. How can we ever learn anything if we never fail? The answer is that we cannot, and if we never learn anything then our life cannot change.
I end with a recent Note From The Universe (Mike Dooley, tut.com): Fear, Joseph, can only be experienced when one pretends they're not in control.
I could say the same thing for doubt. Successful people know how to replace doubt and fear with love.
Joseph
Close to 98% of us grow up learning and especially hearing lack thinking most of the time. If we did not hear it from our own parents, then we heard it from several other sources. Someone who grew up without all of this is fortunate indeed.
For the rest of us, there are some things that we need to get clear in our mind in order to overcome the lack thinking, and so that we may begin the prosperity speaking. The prosperity that we seek will follow only after we have learned the language of prosperity and spoken it for a while. We will not be able to speak it until we get it entrenched into our thoughts.
1. While you may have been a victim in the past, you now realize that you have more control of your circumstances then you ever thought possible, and that you have a clear choice in any matter as to whether you will be a victim. At first even if you still feel like a victim of something you will not add power to it by speaking or complaining about it!
2. You now understand clearly that we will obtain prosperity through creation, not competition. You will abandon all the false ideas that someone else has to lose for you to win. You must completely destroy within your own mind any idea that some dishonesty will be required on your part in order to succeed. It is the competition mindset that says that we must gain advantage over others in order to win; you now know that this is false doctrine.
3. As a follow up to the last item, you now understand that your prosperity comes from helping others find their prosperity, and that it comes quicker as you help more people.
4. You understand clearly that you are blessed with a talent of some kind that will allow you to be in the top 5% of your industry when you use it. How do you know what your talent is? You will find it by doing these three words: Follow Your Bliss. Spend you mental effort setting up a way for you to get paid for doing what you most love to do, and make sure that you get paid more for it as you help more people with it. Once this is done, then you are set up to succeed. Since it is hard to think prosperity if basic needs are not met, do not quit your current income until your new venture(s) have at least doubled it.
5. Do what you can to be around other people who speak prosperity. The group around the office water cooler may not be the best choice. If you do not have any good ideas as to how to accomplish this, I will give you one: Go attend a meeting put on by any Direct Sales/Network Marketing Company. You do not have to join the company to go. There will be people there who think and speak prosperity.
Sound like a lot to do? Does this sound hard? Here is what I think is hard: Forcing ourselves to live an unremarkable life takes a lot of mental effort! Some of us are just so used to it now that we no longer perceive the effort. Our soul longs for the magic of life, and we will surprise ourselves with what happens when we start moving in the right direction!
Last thought: Time will be required, and there will be some number of failures along the way. When you see them you will know them for the sign that they are, which is the sign that you are on the right path. How can we ever learn anything if we never fail? The answer is that we cannot, and if we never learn anything then our life cannot change.
I end with a recent Note From The Universe (Mike Dooley, tut.com): Fear, Joseph, can only be experienced when one pretends they're not in control.
I could say the same thing for doubt. Successful people know how to replace doubt and fear with love.
Joseph
Monday, July 9, 2007
Have Other People Attracted Some of Your Actions?
In the movie The Secret we learn about the Law of Attraction, and the movie focuses mostly on what we attract to ourself. But what about what other people around us are attracting? Are we fulfilling the attractions of others with some of our actions (without even trying to)?
Case in point. There have been a couple of recent occurrences in my life that were strange, because my actions were strangly out of character for me, and I do not have any reason why I did the things I did.
1. I am normally a very friendly and courteous driver. I always let someone in if they are trying to get in. Except this one time. This one time I totally made great efforts to block someone from getting in for no reason at all. I did not know this person, I was not in a bad mood, I had not had a bad day at work, in short I had absolutely no motivation to do what I did, but somehow I did it anyway. I spent the rest of the day wondering why I had done that.
2. I recently took the kids to one of these pancake type resturants. The service was good and I gathered up cash at the end to pay the bill and add the tip. I had clear in my mind that I wanted to pay the $59.00 bill and add a decent tip, say $6.00. So I left $65.00 on the table and left thinking I had left my normal 20-25% tip that I always do for good service.
It was not until about three hours later that I looked back and realized that I had only left a 10% tip, and that waitress would be wondering why I shorted her. Well you might say that it was just a brain freeze and I was not thinking right, and I would normally agree except to say that this does not happen to me. I never do tips in my head and come out with the wrong answer. So I spent the rest of that day wondering why I had done that.
Here's a possibility: Those people attracted my actions. Perhaps the first person was in their vehicle affirming how bad the traffic is and how unfriendly the drivers are and how everybody always tries to cut her off. Perhaps the second was thinking here's a guy with four kids who are breaking all the crayons and making a lot of noise, he will probably stiff me, that always happens to me.
Well unfortunately I do not know either person and I do not expect to ever see either of them again. So I wonder if similar things have happened to you? Have you done some things that were out of character for yourself and later wondered why you did it? Have you noticed that others acted out of character towards you in an unexpected way? Can you think of any way you might have attracted that? You may not be able to, because it could be a subconscious attraction drawn from programs running in your mind.
What do you think?
Joseph
Case in point. There have been a couple of recent occurrences in my life that were strange, because my actions were strangly out of character for me, and I do not have any reason why I did the things I did.
1. I am normally a very friendly and courteous driver. I always let someone in if they are trying to get in. Except this one time. This one time I totally made great efforts to block someone from getting in for no reason at all. I did not know this person, I was not in a bad mood, I had not had a bad day at work, in short I had absolutely no motivation to do what I did, but somehow I did it anyway. I spent the rest of the day wondering why I had done that.
2. I recently took the kids to one of these pancake type resturants. The service was good and I gathered up cash at the end to pay the bill and add the tip. I had clear in my mind that I wanted to pay the $59.00 bill and add a decent tip, say $6.00. So I left $65.00 on the table and left thinking I had left my normal 20-25% tip that I always do for good service.
It was not until about three hours later that I looked back and realized that I had only left a 10% tip, and that waitress would be wondering why I shorted her. Well you might say that it was just a brain freeze and I was not thinking right, and I would normally agree except to say that this does not happen to me. I never do tips in my head and come out with the wrong answer. So I spent the rest of that day wondering why I had done that.
Here's a possibility: Those people attracted my actions. Perhaps the first person was in their vehicle affirming how bad the traffic is and how unfriendly the drivers are and how everybody always tries to cut her off. Perhaps the second was thinking here's a guy with four kids who are breaking all the crayons and making a lot of noise, he will probably stiff me, that always happens to me.
Well unfortunately I do not know either person and I do not expect to ever see either of them again. So I wonder if similar things have happened to you? Have you done some things that were out of character for yourself and later wondered why you did it? Have you noticed that others acted out of character towards you in an unexpected way? Can you think of any way you might have attracted that? You may not be able to, because it could be a subconscious attraction drawn from programs running in your mind.
What do you think?
Joseph
Monday, July 2, 2007
When Good Stops Better
In the movie The Secret, Bob Proctor asks why do we think that about 96% of all the money that is being earned is being earned by the top 1% of the money earners?
If you are not one of the 1% folks, then is it because good is stopping better?
I see a lot of this first hand. My wife is an Independent Consultant and Regional Vice President with Arbonne International. In the course of doing this business, she has the opportunity to talk to many different people who will initially express interest in the unlimited income opportunity that Arbonne offers.
What we find, however, is that if these prospects perceive that their life is pretty good overall, even with those few things that they complain about, then they are less likely to pursue the Arbonne opportunity. People are not stupid. . . they generally know that to succeed in a Network Marketing Business is going to require that they change their thinking, which is an exceedingly difficult thing for some people to do. I do not wish to pick on the post office, but there are many who will do their day jobs through sleet and snow and rain and dogs and everything else before they will give one ounce of effort towards thinking in a different way. Why is that?
It's because that is what we know, and we will generally choose the problems that we know over the fears of the unknown every day of the week. It is a classic and epic battle of "security" versus "freedom". Some believe that security and freedom are essentially the same thing. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I cannot emphasize this next statement enough: Seeking Security reduces Freedom!
You know it is true. It starts the day we apply for and receive our first full time job. We exchange anywhere from 45 to 90 hours a week (counting commuting) for a secure paycheck, so that we can have money that we can count on. With this arrangement we may eventually obtain financial freedom, but that financial freedom will not include time freedom, and thus is not truly freedom. A similar situation occurs for many retired persons: They have the time freedom but not the financial freedom to do much with that time. It seems to be very few who have both time freedom and financial freedom at the same time.
No, I am not saying that it is time to quit your full time job today. In fact, just the opposite. If we are not able to meet our basic needs of food, clothing and shelter then we will not really be able to pursue our dreams. But what are we doing with our free time? Are we seeking freedom, or are we bunkered in security, which security includes protecting ourselves from ever failing?
There are literally hundreds of things that could be done in that spare time for those seeking freedom; but ALL of them involve us receiving training that will allow us to think a little differently. That training need not be expensive, especially at the very first. As an example, I again cite a Network Marketing business like Arbonne. In this kind of business you have an upline manager who is paid only when you succeed, and as a result they have a strong financial motivation to train you to succeed. Through experience in this type of business, we can learn the effects of failure, and further learn that it is only a stepping stone to success.
Every successful Network Marketer that I know (and I know at least 50 of them), tells about how they failed at first, but how instead of quitting they just simply tried to learn what they could from the failure and kept going. They generally say that it took them five to ten years to truly come to the understanding of what this Network Marketing business was all about. Their success did not generally come until after they had made that realization.
It is funny to me when people say that we are asking for a lot with a Network Marketing business. I mean ten years is a long time, and a really big commitment! But here is the truth: What is really asking a lot from you is this idea of security, and you will give up more and more of your freedom the longer you seek it. Its no different in world events! How much freedom are we willing to give up in the United States now in the name of greater security from those who would attack us? Here's the kicker . . . has giving up ANY of that freedom really made us any more secure?
So here is a great Secret that is not in the movie The Secret: The best security comes from seeking Freedom first, not security.
Learn.
Joseph
If you are not one of the 1% folks, then is it because good is stopping better?
I see a lot of this first hand. My wife is an Independent Consultant and Regional Vice President with Arbonne International. In the course of doing this business, she has the opportunity to talk to many different people who will initially express interest in the unlimited income opportunity that Arbonne offers.
What we find, however, is that if these prospects perceive that their life is pretty good overall, even with those few things that they complain about, then they are less likely to pursue the Arbonne opportunity. People are not stupid. . . they generally know that to succeed in a Network Marketing Business is going to require that they change their thinking, which is an exceedingly difficult thing for some people to do. I do not wish to pick on the post office, but there are many who will do their day jobs through sleet and snow and rain and dogs and everything else before they will give one ounce of effort towards thinking in a different way. Why is that?
It's because that is what we know, and we will generally choose the problems that we know over the fears of the unknown every day of the week. It is a classic and epic battle of "security" versus "freedom". Some believe that security and freedom are essentially the same thing. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I cannot emphasize this next statement enough: Seeking Security reduces Freedom!
You know it is true. It starts the day we apply for and receive our first full time job. We exchange anywhere from 45 to 90 hours a week (counting commuting) for a secure paycheck, so that we can have money that we can count on. With this arrangement we may eventually obtain financial freedom, but that financial freedom will not include time freedom, and thus is not truly freedom. A similar situation occurs for many retired persons: They have the time freedom but not the financial freedom to do much with that time. It seems to be very few who have both time freedom and financial freedom at the same time.
No, I am not saying that it is time to quit your full time job today. In fact, just the opposite. If we are not able to meet our basic needs of food, clothing and shelter then we will not really be able to pursue our dreams. But what are we doing with our free time? Are we seeking freedom, or are we bunkered in security, which security includes protecting ourselves from ever failing?
There are literally hundreds of things that could be done in that spare time for those seeking freedom; but ALL of them involve us receiving training that will allow us to think a little differently. That training need not be expensive, especially at the very first. As an example, I again cite a Network Marketing business like Arbonne. In this kind of business you have an upline manager who is paid only when you succeed, and as a result they have a strong financial motivation to train you to succeed. Through experience in this type of business, we can learn the effects of failure, and further learn that it is only a stepping stone to success.
Every successful Network Marketer that I know (and I know at least 50 of them), tells about how they failed at first, but how instead of quitting they just simply tried to learn what they could from the failure and kept going. They generally say that it took them five to ten years to truly come to the understanding of what this Network Marketing business was all about. Their success did not generally come until after they had made that realization.
It is funny to me when people say that we are asking for a lot with a Network Marketing business. I mean ten years is a long time, and a really big commitment! But here is the truth: What is really asking a lot from you is this idea of security, and you will give up more and more of your freedom the longer you seek it. Its no different in world events! How much freedom are we willing to give up in the United States now in the name of greater security from those who would attack us? Here's the kicker . . . has giving up ANY of that freedom really made us any more secure?
So here is a great Secret that is not in the movie The Secret: The best security comes from seeking Freedom first, not security.
Learn.
Joseph
Saturday, June 30, 2007
What Does it Mean? "Get Really Clear"
These words were uttered by James Arthur Ray in The Secret just before he asks if we treat ourselves the way that we would like others to treat us. Other than him saying the words, the concept is not further explored within the movie (I am guessing that the Secret Part II will contain more on this).
What does it mean? It has to do with what is going on inside our heads. The movie teaches that we should put our attention and thought focus on what we want, not what we don't want; but our mind can still be crowded with a very long list of different things that we do want, and a crowded mind does not focus too much energy on any one specific thought.
To bring some order to this process, several of the teachers will recommend making a list (actually writing it down is important) of the things that we want, and as Bob Proctor says to "make it in the present tense", like we already had the things we are wanting. The concept of the Vision Board as described by John Asseref is for the same purpose, to keep us focused on those things that we are really wanting.
The "Get Really Clear" part comes in after this. If we assume that our list is created in the order of the things that we want most at the top, then we "Get Really Clear" by spending some specific time each day thinking on - visualizing - meditating on the item that is at the very top of the list, not allowing other thoughts to distract us. Similar time could be spent on the next two or three items, but each item needs to be given specific and un-interrupted time.
One way I have heard the activity described is to play a movie within your mind. The movie stars you as the person who already has the things that you are wanting now. How are you acting now that you already have these things? What is your life like now? Who can you bless now that you were not able to bless before because you have this new thing?
Oh, and by the way, if you are wanting someone close to you to achieve something, and you want to help them, the absolute best thing that you can do to help is to think of them and talk to them as if they had already achieved what they are wanting. That will help them to "Get Really Clear", and will speed the manifestation greatly.
If someone close to you knows about and is supportive of what you are wanting, they could do the same thing for you.
A clear mind is a peaceful one. For those who believe in God it is a mind that feels free of major offense against same. None of us are perfect, but some of us are not trying very hard. Anything that we have done that was an offense to others will not help to clear the mind, so we should do all that we can to remedy such situations. A clear mind is one of the results of having faith, and as such faith should be cultivated.
It also helps to remember that failures happen to everyone, and the only difference between those who manifest what they want and those who do not is how they view those failures. Successful people know that failure is a stepping stone towards manifestation, while unsuccessful people view failure as a sign that its time to quit.
It is not those who fail who do not succeed, it is those who QUIT!
Learn.
Joseph
What does it mean? It has to do with what is going on inside our heads. The movie teaches that we should put our attention and thought focus on what we want, not what we don't want; but our mind can still be crowded with a very long list of different things that we do want, and a crowded mind does not focus too much energy on any one specific thought.
To bring some order to this process, several of the teachers will recommend making a list (actually writing it down is important) of the things that we want, and as Bob Proctor says to "make it in the present tense", like we already had the things we are wanting. The concept of the Vision Board as described by John Asseref is for the same purpose, to keep us focused on those things that we are really wanting.
The "Get Really Clear" part comes in after this. If we assume that our list is created in the order of the things that we want most at the top, then we "Get Really Clear" by spending some specific time each day thinking on - visualizing - meditating on the item that is at the very top of the list, not allowing other thoughts to distract us. Similar time could be spent on the next two or three items, but each item needs to be given specific and un-interrupted time.
One way I have heard the activity described is to play a movie within your mind. The movie stars you as the person who already has the things that you are wanting now. How are you acting now that you already have these things? What is your life like now? Who can you bless now that you were not able to bless before because you have this new thing?
Oh, and by the way, if you are wanting someone close to you to achieve something, and you want to help them, the absolute best thing that you can do to help is to think of them and talk to them as if they had already achieved what they are wanting. That will help them to "Get Really Clear", and will speed the manifestation greatly.
If someone close to you knows about and is supportive of what you are wanting, they could do the same thing for you.
A clear mind is a peaceful one. For those who believe in God it is a mind that feels free of major offense against same. None of us are perfect, but some of us are not trying very hard. Anything that we have done that was an offense to others will not help to clear the mind, so we should do all that we can to remedy such situations. A clear mind is one of the results of having faith, and as such faith should be cultivated.
It also helps to remember that failures happen to everyone, and the only difference between those who manifest what they want and those who do not is how they view those failures. Successful people know that failure is a stepping stone towards manifestation, while unsuccessful people view failure as a sign that its time to quit.
It is not those who fail who do not succeed, it is those who QUIT!
Learn.
Joseph
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