Sunday, September 23, 2012

When Your Beliefs Fail You

Last week my friend sent me a text that said "my hopes and dreams are shattered." She had just found out her test score that, in one second, stumped her long held career goal in life. Living vicariously through my friend's successes in life, I was really devastated by this news as I rooting for her to do well. 

You see, about a month prior to taking this test I introduced my friend to The Secret and she absolutely loved it. The Secret is the documentary-turned-book by Rhonda Bryne that teaches on the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking. My friend was pumped! Yeah, she studied (it's debatable -- did she study enough? Did she not? How much is enough?) yet I would say most of her hope was riding on what the Secret taught -- that positive thoughts manifest positive outcomes. 


She took this in wholeheartedly. She kept the perfect score on her mind. She noticed coincidences that hinted she would do well. She confidently spoke about which schools she would apply to. Where she would live, etc. And then reality set in. Her test score came back and I got that heartbreaking text. Of course my first reaction was "Oh, shit! Did I do this? Maybe this whole positive thinking is bullshit! Why did I tell her to watch it? Why do I like reading about this stuff so much?!" 

A part of me felt guilty for the role I may have played. Did she study less because she felt that being positive was all she needed? Did she rush her exam date? Then back to thinking "God, why did I have to be the one to show her this stuff!"

I wanted to know where it went wrong and why her beliefs had failed her. Here is what I had come up with: 

a. The Law of Attraction is a lie. Maybe it just doesn't work. That being positive or negative doesn't affect any outcomes in our life. That what's gonna happen is going to happen regardless of what we think. 

b. That subconsciously she wasn't truly positive. Maybe at a subconscious level there was still doubt that she would not do well therefore overriding all her positivity. 

c. That the Law of Attraction works but great effort is still required. It's possible that the Law works but the bigger our desire, the greater real-life effort we have to put in to achieve it. 

d. There is a Law even greater than the Law of Attraction. Maybe there's an all knowing universe at play that has even bigger plans for us but our small minds can't fathom it so we view life events as merely "failure" or "success."





e. That if she was going to put hope in anything, it should be to God. My little sister said this. She explained that perhaps the flaw in the Law of Attraction is that it teaches you to put so much faith in yourself that you neglect the need for God.  

f. The Law of Attraction is real. Maybe the Law still works and this incident doesn't change anything. Every day people throughout every religion and culture hope for miracles and yet when another uneventful day passes, they continue to believe. 

I started thinking this does not have to change my belief in the Law of Attraction just as simply as having an unanswered prayer does not change my belief in God. Many things in life don't have clear cut answers and this may just be another example. 


Saturday, September 15, 2012

The Productivity Blues

I haven't quit blogging yet, but at this point I'm moving slower than an injured snail. Usually I post something about once a week when I feel like it and that has to be the stupidest I could do. In case you don't know NEVER wait for your feelings to come around to do anything in Life. Do you think full length screenplays would ever be completed if the writer just wrote when he felt like it? Would songs be recorded? Books be published? 

I don't care how passionate you are about your Life no one is above feeling too tired, too brain-blocked, too weak etc to do what they know they should be doing. If anything, our feelings  are good for leading us to inspirational messages, thoughts, ideas, etc but beyond that they only serve our weaker self who is always too "something" to ever get shit done. 



Now I've known this for awhile and yet I'm still stuck in the same trap. Still only writing when I feel like. How much simpler would Life be if we lived up to the things we already know? 

Well that's what I'm going to try to do here. Ignore my feelings when they don't serve me. I've decided I better stop pretending I can write Monday through Thursday when I've spent all my energy at work and instead write several posts on the weekends that I can publish on my blog throughout the weekdays.   

Now you may think, I'm taking the inspiration out of the message. Not exactly. Like I mentioned I love the feeling when I think of a new topic to write about. I jot it down. And the feeling behind that idea/topic stays with me for weeks. It's just a matter of being honest with myself about when I'll actually get around to writing about it.

(insert real awesome quote about being productive here.)

Thursday, September 13, 2012

The One... again

The other day I was out for a walk and decided on a fresh take on the concept of The One. For being a 26 year old girl, I honestly don't think about men as much as people think I should but for some reason this was on my mind. 

I've decided that I really like the idea that any man you love could be The One. And at the same time he's not The One. He is both. Why limit your entire love story to one person? Why feel you missed your opportunity because the One passed you by. Let's just say he wasn't the only One. hehe:)

Life is meant to be fun, joyous, pure, full of unconditional love, rainbows, and unicorns. That's what I believe and I want my beliefs to always work in my favor. So if I meet an amazing guy, I can definitely believe that he is the One that was divinely picked out for only me. And if I miss the opportunity with an amazing guy, I believe there are other Ones. 

(beautiful painting by Leonid Afremov)


Is that lying to myself? Maybe. But I don't think so. What I believe is what's true for me.

It happens in people's lives all the time. You know someone who you cannot imagine life without and you know what, it may never work with them. You guys met when neither of you was available. You don't live in the same area. He has demons to overcome while you're ready then he's ready and now you got to face your own demons etc. That doesn't mean you don't love each other. Or that they're not the One. But at the same time, I don't think you should become stagnant and think there aren't other people to meet out there.


Be faithful. Be true. And know that you are full of love -- to give out. There is an infinite amount so don't limit your love to only the Ones. 



Phillipians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Make Me Rich, B.

If you know me, you may know that this is my 793rd attempt at blogging. According to Blogger.com, I've had my account open since 2007 with my first post written on February 4th, 2007. And outside of Blogger, I've written other pieces as well but I've hid most of my old material since I started to notice a common theme: sad depressing thoughts. And that's just not the way I like to think about Life anymore. Here was my first post on Blogger:

Feb 4th, 2007
"I was just thinking if anyone ever wonders about what their doing. I'm sitting here working on homework but i can't help but think if this what i was meant to be do at this time and day....my homework. Is it wrong to not feel motivated to do things because you know that we all have the same fate in the end? I'm not necessarily feeling this way but I know someone who is. I mean just imagine achieving everything you have ever dreamed of only to find out it was all for waste.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers, and things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art; to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow"

Besides my long history with blogging you may also know I have always talked about making a career out of it. Sometimes I say it jokingly, and sometimes I'm serious. I'm not even sure anymore. Most bloggers I admire have made a career out of it so it is possible, but like most people I have self-doubt. They say you need to find your niche to gain a loyal following and I haven't really discovered that yet although I think my blog would fall under: simple living, conscious living, forgiveness, love, etc basically all things nice :)



One thing I have noticed about bloggers who have made it and those those who haven't is consistency in writing. Simply put, bloggers are the biggest quitters I know. When I am roaming through random blogs, almost every single one I go through hasn't had an update in months which explains why it's hidden in the masses. On the other hand, some of the better known bloggers on the internet, James Altucher or Joshua Becker (who I just discovered is from Peoria, AZ and has over 100,000 monthly readers!) write new quality material almost every few days. 

So where do I fall? Well I'm definitely a quitter -- or at least that's what my track record shows. I'm not even going to pretend I can keep it up. Throughout my day I am constantly making goals for myself and quitting them all within the same minute. But sometimes, just sometimes  ...I set my mind to something and I actually make it happen.