Boy did that ring true for me!  There are times I just don’t feel like carrying on with this or that tradition in the usual (read: expected) way.

In manifesting its important to reach for the better feeling.  So if participating in a tradition makes you feel yucky then just don’t do it, right?

Ah but what if not participating also makes you feel yucky?  Then what?

For me what really helps is examining the tradition itself and thinking about how it got started and why I ever participated in the first place.  From this perception I’ve often come to a new appreciation of tradition, allowing myself to fully participate in a way that’s fun and meaningful to me.

And sometimes, with this new understanding I’m able to see that the tradition doesn’t fit me anymore so I can let it go without guilt or any yucky feelings.

So think about those dusty, boring traditions of yours.  Is there something you’ve forgotten about their roots that could bring new meaning for you?  Is there a different way to honor them that’s more fun and better reflects who you are?  Or truly – is it time to chuck them all together?

This morning, while avoiding doing anything meaningful once again the idea hit me to make a list.  I am a real go-with-the-flow kind of gal so lists aren’t something I do much of these days.  But when I feel that little nudge from my inner being I listen so I started jotting things down.

Very quickly I had 21 things to do, most of which were small things that could be done in just a few minutes.  And as I read over the list, I realized there were also a few things that I’d really been avoiding doing – and they’d turned into huge monsters in my mind.

Seeing what I had to do in black and white made something shift and almost immediately I was motivated to take care of a couple small things.  Then I did one of the big things I’d been avoiding.  It took less than 15 minutes to complete and once I was done it was like a huge weight had been lifted.  Now I’m almost a third done with the list, and I have a stack by the front door for the “errands” section which I am doing next.

The point is that sometimes getting stuff out of your head and onto paper clears the way for inspired, focused action.  And the act of crossing things off the list is empowering and energizing!

How about you?  Do you find lists helpful when you’re feeling stuck or lack direction? I’d love to hear what gets you moving again.

I’m a Law of Attraction realist. By realist I mean I don’t think that Law of Attraction is all about intangible, feel good stuff that has no practical meaning in our lives.  Rather LOA is a very real, Universal law that we are all subject to.

Having said that, I also understand why some people find it a hard concept to swallow.  I mean heck, it’s hard to think that when bad things happen to good people they’ve somehow attracted it. But the Law of Attraction isn’t about being optimistic and having warm fuzzy feelings and fat bank accounts. It’s about our lives reflecting what we are in sync with.

If you look at what caused the economic situation we’re in right now, it wasn’t caused by the stock market or the  financial markets or any other markets for that matter. It was people losing confidence in prosperity which lead them to take actions that ultimately led to the economic downturn. And it will be people regaining that confidence and acting accordingly that will turn it around.

Law of Attraction isn’t some invisible force buzzing around the universe dropping gold on one person and manure on the next. It’s an expression humans made up to describe a very real condition – what we give attention to becomes our reality.

What humans are trying to learn now is how to use that on purpose in their own lives. But changing ingrained beliefs isn’t as easy as the gurus make it out to be (and certainly isn’t purchasable in 3 easy payments of 39.95).

It takes time and commitment to master something that is such an ingrained and transparent part of us. I suspect it will take a few generations before the majority of people are saying, “well duh, everyone knows that.”

As I was scrubbing away yesterday it occurred to me that now is also a good time to clear out those mental cobwebs and eliminate old, dusty thought patterns in favor of something a little more fresh and new.

But one of the hardest things about doing that (at least for me) is deciding what needs to go.

So the rule of thumb I use is that anything that makes me heavy, tired, stifled, dusty, old, or just plain yucky needs to be booted right out the door.  That includes things, people, situations, and most importantly attitudes.

Now of course I know I can’t just boot certain people out of my life on a whim.  And I also know that certain situations may not change on a dime (although I’ve seen it happen – never say never :p).  But I do KNOW, without a doubt that I can always change my attitude.  And experience has taught me that once I do that then outer change is always right behind.

This is why I list “attitudes” as the most important factor.  I KNOW that attitude is the one thing I can always change and I also know that it’s one of the fastest way to seeing results in those other areas.

What about you?  Do you have a few cobwebs lurking in the corners of your mind that need a little clearing out?

I’ve been so busy I haven’t even had time to get to the grocery store…as evidenced by 1 crust of bread and shockingly empty refrigerator shelves.  On the bright side….I have been meaning to clean out that fridge!

About the middle of the week I realized that I had moved from being busy and productive to spinning my wheels – running around without really knowing what I was doing.  This left me feeling frazzled, unfocused and very restless.

So what did I do about that?

Well…………..after becoming aware of where I was mentally & emotionally (which isn’t as easy as it may seem when you’re in the thick of things), I took an afternoon and did absolutely nothing.  That’s right, despite “needing” to do tons of stuff I just stopped.

I took a nap, went for a walk, goofed off with my daughter – absolutely refused to do anything that even resembled a “should.”

Afternoon spilled into evening and I ended up going to bed early, leaving what seemed like A LOT undone.

Guess what happened?

I woke up refreshed, clear headed and ready to zoom into action.  I got more done by noon that day than I had in the previous 2 days!

Of course there’s a lesson here.  If I had been paying attention all along I would have known that I was trying to push things instead of waiting for inspiration to take action.

This is such an important concept – wait for inspiration to take action!

Intend that it comes, follow your bliss and let the rest go.  When inspiration hits – and it will – you’ll get so much done in such an easy and stress free way you will know that down time was well worth it!

Happy Manifesting!

That happened to me last night and before I knew it I was mentally breaking off a really good friendship just because I was hurt.

Thing is….the person I was mad at didn’t even know it. It was a completely inside job.

This little internal battle reminded me of a truth I often share with people:

The only reason people get mad is because they’re not getting their way.

In my case I wanted this person to communicate in a certain way that just wasn’t happening. And no amount of me forcing my will is going to change that.

So what can I do?

I can manifest a change in this relationship.  Which is exactly what I decided to do.  And once I made that decision my attitude shifted and harmony was restored once again :)

What changes would you like to manifest in your relationships?

Anyway, I hadn’t made fortune cookies for a very long time – probably at least 10 years or more so I was a little out of practice to say the least!

Ignoring the directions, I decided to make them in a skillet instead of the oven (which is how I remember making them way back when).  At first the batter was too thick then and they burnt on the edges and didn’t get done in the middle and then I tore a few trying to flip them.

After ruining half the batch I finally remembered I’m supposed to be “manifesting” perfect fortune cookies…not fighting with them!

So I took a break to have a little talk with the Universe and came back a few minutes later intending “golden brown, perfectly round fortune cookies.”  Almost instantly the idea popped in my head to turn the heat down and wipe the skillet out with a paper towel after each cookie.  I also decided to thin the batter with a couple tablespoons of water.

Instant Success!

I finished the batch easily and they turned out great!

That’s what its all about ~ living in the flow with the little daily things makes your life oh so much easier :)

And they’re soooo yummy!

(used this recipe, adding 2 or so Tbls of water and cooking in an iron skillet over med-low heat)

My take on attachment is that is can be either love or fear based depending on the emotion surrounding it.

For instance, I love, appreciate, am completely grateful for my daughter and I’m very attached to her but at the same time I completely understand and even encourage her  independence and need to make her own decisions, create her own life and yes – even leave me in time.  I see this attachment as based in love.

If it were fear based attachment I might be inclined to undermine her dreams, maybe encouraging her to go to college close to home, choose a career that is “mom approved,”  shelter her, or tell her no more often than is reasonable.  This I see is fear based attachment.  It says “I am afraid of losing that which I love so I’m going to hold on to it as tightly as possible,” and it’s stifling.

A basic human need is to feel connected.  I think this is very natural to feel attached to people and things we love…it’s the hanging on for dear life that turns an attachment based on love to one based on fear.

What do you think?

It’s not important how you do (or don’t) celebrate.  What is important is that you’re happy with your choice.

If you choose to ignore it but have an underlying sense of disappointment or even anger because you don’t have someone special or the someone special you do have isn’t living up to your expectations then you’re not being true to yourself.  Conversely, if you choose to make a big deal of it when your heart isn’t in it then you’re not going to have a good time and the day will be ruined for you.

The bottom line is “do what feels good.”

Treat yourself with the utmost love and care and that is guaranteed to make EVERY day that much better.

Have an inspired weekend!

In simple terms the Law of Attraction is about experiencing what we give the most attention to.  So when you start out on Monday morning with the attitude that Wednesday is “hump” day, what are you creating?  For me it feels like a slow, laborous hike through a muddy creek.  Not fun.  Sure when you finally get to Wednesday it’s smooth sailing to the weekend.  But why ruin half of your week, every week because of a day on the calendar?

Instead why not find something to celebrate every day so you can wake up eager to experience life (and yes, that includes the work part).

And with that, the hump smooths out to become another welcome adventure on the path of life :)