About those limiting beliefs...

"Winners do things different" - Dr. Phil.

I was recently introduced to a guy who changed my
perception of personal power and it didn't take
long to realize that this was a person who had
something very special to offer.

His words have helped heal 1,000s of people of
their limiting beliefs, and now it's your turn.
http://tinyurl.com/yca57sl

Brian Colbert is not only an NLP Master Trainer,
he is also an amazing Hypnotherapist and
Ireland's top Life and Business Coach.
Brian makes regular appearances on Irish
television where he has changed literally
1,000s of lives over the last 20 years, but
that's not enough for our Gaelic friend.
You see, Brian now wants to help YOU!

That's right! Brian Colbert is offering you
exclusive access to some incredible
secret tools for change and he
wants to give you some of these amazing secrets
right here and now, today, while it's fresh in
your mind and you are in the mood for lasting change.

Go now and watch Brian in action in this
incredible video and pick up an awesome free hypnosis audio.

http://tinyurl.com/yca57sl

Let's have a look at what you are going to get
this week:

YES - You will get access to the secrets of a
life worth living.

YES - Brian will send you some really cool free
stuff just for taking part in this project.

YES - There will be LIVE change work and you
could be the focus of Brian's personal coaching
and receive the secrets to unlocking your dream life.

YES - Many of these secrets have an instant
impact and create immediate results.

YES - You will receive life changing information
that will change your world forever.

YES, I want to take part NOW!

http://tinyurl.com/yca57sl

Let's finish 2009 with a bang and make sure the next
12 months are the best ever!

The best news? There are another 3 videos to come this
week! I want you to take part in this. It just might
change your world, but the first step is up to you :)

You won’t want to miss out on this…

You might want to drop what you’re doing and go check out this
video right now. Just click on the title to this post.

Literally tens of thousands of people have been rushing to watch
her complimentary videos just in the past seven days, and many of
them are reporting that they’re having breakthrough experiences in
just a few minutes using this process.

I knew that we all have blocks around money and attracting wealth
into our lives…but I’ve never quite seen a system like this before
that so effectively exposes your money issues on such a “big
picture” level.

Seriously, you should check this out…while she’s still giving it
away.

Even though this looks a little crazy…

What do you do after you’ve set the perfect intention…visualized
your ultimate dream life and put all the right attraction steps in
place?

If you’ve ever worked with the Law of Attraction and then found
yourself running into a brick wall, you’re probably just forgetting
one simple step that could change everything for you.

Resistance and self-sabotage is a natural part of the attraction
process. But too many times, we simply attempt to use positive
affirmations and self-talk to overcome that feeling and raise our
attraction power.

It’s not enough.

I just learned about this lady named Margaret Lynch who has
pinpointed a process for fine-tuning your ability to target exactly
where you’re running into the blocks and barriers that hold you
back from achieving what you truly desire in your life.

This information is too good not to share with the world…and I want
to share it with you right now.

In this complimentary video, she’s going to reveal to you a
foolproof process that will have you blasting through your
resistance, like a hot knife through soft butter, in just a few
minutes.

Honestly, I’m surprised she would even give this secret away for
free…but she has given us this gift...and here it is:

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=3368263

We’ve all been there -- seeing our best-laid plans crumble and fall
apart just as it seemed everything was coming together. And it’s a
challenge to understand why. It’s usually hard for you to
recognize where those resistant points are without a little help.

But help is on the way.

You deserve to have it all. And you can. But first, you have to
discover where that resistance lies for you and how to move past it
and crash through your barriers to success, money and attracting
what you want.

Margaret is going to introduce you to a process called “Tapping”
and show you how you can use it to laser-focus your goals and
intentions, while you learn to recognize EXACTLY what has stopped
you – up to now.

If you’ve ever felt like you’ve been stopped just short of
achieving what you really want, you owe it to yourself to check
this out right away. It’s only going to be available for a short
time, so you might want to do this now, while it’s fresh in your
mind.

I’d love to hear back from you about how this process worked for
you…I just learned about this and wanted to share it with you
immediately.

Innovation and Creativity

Creativity and innovation are key components to moving you and your team towards
their goals. The book, Paper Airplane, shares a story of creativity that reinforces
the importance of innovation for individuals and corporations.

In the wonderful story, Paper Airplane, you will be completely surprised at the
innovation and outside of the box thinking that is revealed. It is the perfect way
to jumpstart creativity with your own team which will increase your competitive
advantage. Enjoy this unique and inspiring movie!

Now Showing: "The Shift" with Dr. Wayne Dyer

Do you know what your life’s purpose is? Is your life right now filled with meaning and happiness?

Imagine watching a feature film that is entertaining (with big Hollywood stars in it), and shows you the way to discovering your life’s purpose! The movie is called The Shift, and it stars Dr. Wayne Dyer and Portia DeRossi.

Through this inspiring film, you’ll:
• Discover how to fulfill your destiny and to live your life on purpose
• Learn how to recognize a “quantum moment”
• Understand the different ways men and women make the shift

Thanks to our friends at Spiritual Cinema Circle, you can receive The Shift (plus several great short films and an exclusive interview with Gary Renard) for FREE by signing up for a free trial (you pay a small shipping fee). The movies are yours to keep and cancel anytime.

To see the trailers of the films and get your FREE* DVD, click here!

*$4.95 US shipping fee applies, $7.95 international.

Why conflict is your best friend (gotta see video)

I just finished watching a video I think you'll
enjoy.

It's refreshingly different... and not your
typical hyped "Law of Attraction" stuff. Check
it out and see how a simple shift in the way you
see conflict can change EVERYTHING for you.

"How Can Conflict Get Me My Happy Ending?"

http://www.inscribeyourlife.com/conflict.html?10332

The video comes from Chris Cade, creator of
Inscribe Your Life. He's been using story as a
path for self-discovery and spiritual growth.
His unique approach has changed his life and
the lives of those he coaches.

I've never seen anyone approach personal
development quite like this and I have to say
its fascinating and exciting. We all love
stories! We relish getting lost in Shakespeare's
star-crossed lovers, George Lucas' galactic
battles, or the magic of Harry Potter.

What if we could use story to get ourselves from
where we are now to our own storybook ending...
the same way these magnificent authors get their
heroes to their happy endings?

Chris Cade Shows Us How.

http://www.inscribeyourlife.com/conflict.html?10332

Because stories work just like life does: they're
only satisfying when our hero encounters and trumps
conflict.

Conflict is what makes a hero - what allows him
(or her) to discover who he is and what he's made
of. There's no happy ending without it.

You can use conflict to achieve YOUR storybook
ending as well! It's only when we run away from
it that it can defeat us.

Grab Your One Way Ticket to Success!

http://www.inscribeyourlife.com/conflict.html?10332

When you grab this Free Video you'll also receive
two additional bonuses.

Hope you enjoy them! I sure have.

Do this for faster manifesting

Oh my gosh, this is incredible...

I just saw this interview of a guy from Australia that
could change the way you manifest anything you want
into your life. You really do have to see this:

http://www.MindMovies.com/vid1/?13898

You see, he figured out this powerful way to tap into the
Law of Attraction that practically guarantees
you'll get whatever you want.

And the surprising thing about it is it is SUPER easy to do,
you can start doing it right now...and here's the really cool
part...

He's GIVING it away! For FREE.

He obviously understands abundance, because he's
practicing it in a very big way here:

http://www.MindMovies.com/vid1/?13898

So what is it about Aussies anyway? They seem to totally
have this figured out, especially when you consider that
the land down under is where we got...

The Secret

I'm sure you'll agree that was life changing all by itself.

And now, this guy has added another dimension to the
Law of Attraction that ramps up how fast you can manifest
anything you want into your life.

This makes the Universe say YES even faster!

He even got marketing expert Frank Kern excited about it.
If you haven't heard of Frank, well, he's a marketing genius
who makes millions of dollars online. Everything he does
seems to turn to gold.

But he's not exactly what you'd expect when it comes to using
The Law of Attraction to manifest your goals and desires.

You'll hear his personal experience with this when you
watch the video:

http://www.MindMovies.com/vid1/?13898

So, if even HE is doing this, what does that tell you about
how effective this is? Bad news for the naysayers who think
it isn't for "regular" people, or the Law of Attraction is
some kind of mumbo jumbo.

Only thing is I'm not sure how long this will be available
at NoCost.

So if you're really serious about increasing your power to
manifest anything you want into your life super fast,
you need to check this out right now:

http://www.MindMovies.com/vid1/?13898

I've already started using this, and I strongly recommend
you do too.

10 ways to unleash your inner compass

Did you know that you have a magic wand in your pocket?

An inner compass that will align you to your highest path and
potential, that you can consciously access and apply?

It is your ultimate ally!

Find out how you can unlock it in this awesome FREE report!


This magic wand is the gateway to your unlimited self, and all the wisdom, love and guidance you need to craft your life optimally!

It is the innate tool within you that swings wide open the doors to True Success; success that reflects and expresses your inherent gifts, talents and soul's calling.

This mysterious power will give you access to higher realms of awareness beyond five-sensory perception.

It is your most treasured resource, and lies latent and untapped, waiting to be unleashed within!

Discover how in this transformational FREE report:
"Unlock Your Intuition".

This is not to be missed!

****************
Here's just some of what you'll discover:
****************

* The four primary intuitive channels

* The most powerful way to shift your consciousness

* How to get the intuitive ball rolling right away

* The vast and magnificent overseer of your multi selves - past, present and future, conscious and subconscious.

* How to decode the whispers in your physical reality

* The highest vibration in the universe & how to meld with it

* How to 'create the space' for your intuition

* Wisdom beyond the intellectual capacities of the mind

* What will initiate your receiving guidance

* The antidote to the ego virus

* And so much more

***********************

Go to this link and follow your bliss
***********************

Organic eggs

Found a terrific new source of organic products - this time it's eggs. Professional Chefs, 5-Star Hotels Use Eggology Egg Whites Available Online!

An argument for vegetarianism

This one's a bit off topic, but it's well-written and well thought out, and the angle it takes is pertinent to Charles Fillmore's writings. He and many other Law of Attraction authors argue that we shouldn't eat meat. Here's the beginning of the article:

Full disclosure: I love to eat meat. I was born in Memphis, the barbecue capital of the Milky Way Galaxy. I worship slow-cooked, hickory-smoked pig meat served on a bun with extra sauce and coleslaw spooned on top.

My carnivore’s lust goes beyond the DNA level. It’s in my soul. Even the cruelty of factory farming doesn’t temper my desire, I’ll admit. Like most Americans, I can somehow keep at bay all thoughts of what happened to the meat prior to the plate.

So why in the world am I a dedicated vegetarian? Why is meat, including sumptuous pork, a complete stranger to my fork at home and away? The answer is simple: I have an 11-year-old son whose future—like yours and mine—is rapidly unraveling due to global warming. And what we put on our plates can directly accelerate or decelerate the heating trend.

(Read the entire article from Audubon Magazine, The Low-Carbon Diet, here.)

You and your core desires

I hope 2009 has started bright and promising for you.

In the clutter of New Year email wishes, I received a couple
of items that stood out. I’d like to share one of them with
you now.

Jack Zufelt and his DNA of Success program is one of the
most well-known and widely quoted Law of Attraction sources
I’ve found. He wrote a wonderful article about obtaining
what you truly desire in 2009, and I’m happy to be able to
share that with you. (Why don’t affirmations work? He’ll
tell you.) It’s six pages long, which is a bit lengthy to
read in a blog entry, so I’ve posted it online.

When you get to the end of the article you’ll see Jack has
included an extremely valuable reward for getting that far!


One of the original thinkers on the subject. Read the book
titled simply “Prosperity”. If you don’t have your copy
yet, see how you can download your Prosperity book package right now, day or
night. Try it risk-free!

For an ever-growing list of Web sites, newsletters, books,
and more, visit our Resources page.

I don't know about you, but I'm a big fan of Christmas. I got it from my grandmother - she used to decorate their mobile home to win prizes in the park. I have a lot of her homemade ornaments.

Of my three siblings, one lives a couple of thousand miles away and another chooses not to participate in Christmas festivities. So we're not all together the way I would like. But there's still a big happy group of us and I know I'm so fortunate to have them. Hope yours is merry too.

Your Energy Level Determines Your Luck

Hi folks - just passing along an article I like a lot. Enjoy!

Your Energy Level Determines Your Luck

By Enoch Tan / Creator of Secrets of Mind and Reality

Many people think that luck is something that is purely random, unpredictable and difficult to control. That is because they do not know what luck really is. When you are able to know the true definition of luck, you can learn the whole science behind this phenomena and gain control over it.

Luck is another aspect of your reality and perhaps the most powerful and important one. The more conscious and aware you become of the elements of your reality, the more of a conscious and powerful creator you will be.

Your luck is your psychokinetic resonance with the environment you are in. Like everything else, luck is an energy. It is something that is quantifiable not in physical but in nonphysical ways. You can quantify it physically only in terms of its physical manifestations in your life. Luck is dependent on time, place and consciousness.

When you are lucky, you are in mental and emotional resonance with your surroundings.

When you are unlucky, it is the opposite. The level of resonance is the level of your luck.

Luck is also a feeling or emotion because emotion is energy in motion. When you are lucky, you are also feeling lucky. Your feeling is your vibration and therefore you are vibrating luck and feeing it. You feel and experience that everything is working for you when you are lucky.

You feel that everything is working against you when you aren't lucky. A state of vibrational harmony or disharmony with your environment is the whole explanation for this. You either feel that things are in a flow or things are disrupted.

Your energy level determines your luck vibration. At times when you are feeling low of energy, that is also when your luck vibration is at a low point. You are more likely to make careless mistakes, become more accident prone and flop up in some way. When you are feeling high of energy, that is also when your luck vibration is in a high state. You are sharper, clearer and more in the zone. You seem to be able to do amazing things in ways that baffle others to the point that makes you seem very skillful or lucky.

Actually luck and skill are one. The more in energetic resonance you are with your environment, the more your skill will work and the luckier you'll seem. You can always observe that when the best are in action, they always seem to have both their skill and the situation working for them. You can never separate luck from skill because after all, they are both part of the same thing called psychokinetic resonance with the environment. Your skill is your capability of handling the situation which depends on luck.

Once you know that luck is an energy, you can depend on it in that manner. You cannot depend on luck that is considered to be random chance occurrence. You can't depend on such things because they do not exist. A non existent thing cannot be depended upon. Everything that exists is a part of consciousness and can be controlled by consciousness. Therefore luck exist and is fully under your control. Knowing this, you never have to fear of bad luck because you can make all things work in your favor.

Since luck is dependent on energy, you have to pay attention to your level of energy in every moment and take charge of it. When you notice that your energy level is low, be more careful with the things you do especially if they are important. You may make mistakes that usually never happen, and wonder how could you be so unlucky or stupid.

You may realize that every time you have made careless or stupid mistakes that seem to be like bad luck, it was when your energy level was indeed at a low point.

Lack of focus and lack of being adequately present minded also creates bad luck. Do you notice that when you make stupid mistakes in situations, you felt that you were not ready? What do you mean by not being ready? You mean that you weren't focusing properly or fully enough, and you weren't being adequately present minded. The first step to controlling luck is to be present minded. If you want to be lucky, you must put your focus in the activity you are doing. Or else you'd create bad luck and mistakes.

Your level of focus and placing your mind in the present determines your psychokinetic resonance with the environment. Focusing is how you channel energy towards a particular time and place. When your focus is here, your energy is channeled here and you experience luck here. Where you focus is where you generate luck in. That is why the secret of success is focus. Successful people are lucky people because they have more focus than the unsuccessful and unlucky ones. Focus to be a lucky one.

Seek to maintain a high level of energy or vibration at all times. People who experience their luck going up and down throughout the day allow their energy to go up and down. People who experience their luck being consistently high all the time maintain their energy and vibration at a high level. At times when your energy is low, seek to increase it to a higher level again. Do not continue doing any work at a low level of energy because you will tend to make mistakes. Recharge your energy first, then work.

Be aware of negative thoughts and feelings that will bring your level of energy or vibration lower. Positive thoughts and feelings bring your energy level and vibrations higher. Therefore choose to think positive thoughts and feel positive emotions, and you will experience more luck and success in your life. You can also increase your luck when you are more intent of succeeding in a certain situation. Your energy of intent will energize you with the luck you need, and that is why willful intent bends the world to you.

Enoch Tan is the creator of Secrets of Mind Reality

Happy New Year!

Not putting in a lot to read this round…just taking the
opportunity to wish everyone the happiest of New Years, and
nothing but health, happiness, and abundance in 2008. I look
forward to hearing your stories of success!

To help us all along that road, here are a few new finds as
well as some of my usual favorites.

Brand new for Lightrae: two programs from Peggy McColl.
“Turn Fear into Faith” and "Magnet for Money".
Who can argue with either of those ideas?

Those aren’t free (but they are VERY reasonable!) But these
two are, in case you haven’t taken advantage of them yet:

The Science of Getting Rich – it’s a downloadable ebook, and
it’s a good one. You’ll like it enough to check out the
rest of the site.

TUT – Totally Unique Thoughts. Mike Dooley puts out a
Monday-Friday thought of the day that is wonderful – it’s
like a little morning pep talk from the universe!

Not enough? Look at the resources page for a whole list
of sites, books and giveaways.

That’s all for today folks…I know we’re all busy with
end-of-the-year festivities. I expect to be back in touch
soon with more early New Year gifts and recommendations for
you! Resolve to make 2008 your best year ever.

Prosperity Works Newsletter: The Peter Principle For Self Help

Prosperity point: The Peter Principle For Self Help
Success?


Have you ever wondered why so many successful people
stumble and have problems, and why so very few of us seem
to have the complete success we strive for?

As a counselor I've had a number of people come to me over
the years when they have been depressed and unhappy, and
one particular patient told me that he saw a woman with an
intellectual disability walking along the street. The
woman had a huge happy grin on her face, walking along
blissfully ignorant of all the terrible things going on in
the world. And the man said to me, "I wish I could be just
like her."

And it set me thinking about one of the corner stones I've
had in my own life as a way of considering success, or the
lack thereof. It's a concept called "The Peter
Principle" which states, in the original male-only form, that "In A
Hierarchy Every Employee Tends To Rise To His Level Of
Incompetence."

This principle was founded on the observation that a
competent or good employee is often rewarded by being
given a promotion to the next level of the organisation.
This reward will be repeated with more rises up the
hierarchy, until the person is no longer the most
competent for promotion. Often this means that they will
end up at a level where they are no longer good like they
were at their previous level; they are at their level of
incompetence.

If you take this principle of organizational hierarchy,
and apply it to an individual a similar result occurs.
In any given area of life there are certain stages you
need to pass in order to move to the next level. You
begin socializing and meeting people, before you settle
on having one particular partner. You may then go on to a
longer-term relationship such as marriage, and you can go
through the stages of raising kids; changing nappies,
helping with school work, advising about sex and drugs,
and eventually ending up perhaps as a grandparent. At any
stage along this journey there are new skills to learn and
the competencies you develop may be only partially useful,
or even directly unhelpful, for being competent at the
later roles.

Is this your fault? Have you failed? Is this some cruel
trick of life that your ongoing success dooms you to a
never-ending series of new obstacles to try you? No, no
and maybe.

The Peter Principle explains this pattern, and more
importantly allows you to flow with the changes in your
life so that you can make the most of every stage. First,
keeping The Peter Principle in mind allows you to cease
striving merely for the sake of it, and gives you notice
to enjoy your competence as you go along through life's
journey. Second, you will more fully respect that just as
the skills a baby has for walking are useless for the
skills it needs to learn for talking, many of the
competencies that you develop in life are of no guaranteed
help when you enter untested areas of your life, and your
future beyond today.


Dr Martin Russell is the creator of "Self Help Meeting".
He can be reached for more details at the official page:
http://www.SelfHelpMeeting.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Today’s Recommendation: The DNA of Success

I haven’t visited with most of you for a while, so the least
I can do is offer you something free! This is primarily
geared to those of you who are building home-based
businesses of some kind, but the same success principles
apply to all of us. Jack Zufelt, best-selling success
author, is offering a no-charge teleclass where you will
learn:

• What it takes to leverage yourself, your time and your
influence to dramatically increase your earning power
regardless of what home based business you have.
• How to unleash your Conquering Force so you can soar as
high as you want.
• The correct attitudes, characteristics and paradigms that
all highly successful entrepreneurs who work from home have.
With this knowledge you will make all the money you want.

People like Norman Vincent Peale and Lou Holtz have endorsed
Jack Zufelt’s success programs – you can read their
testimonials on his web site. Better still, sign up for the
teleclass and find out for yourself. Here’s a direct link
to the sign up form.

If you’re not building a business, visit the site anyway.
Jack has a regular newsletter and plenty more to offer.




=================================

For an ever-growing list of Web sites, newsletters, books,
and more, visit our Resources page.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For even more guidance on success, visit
the Lightrae web site to see how you can
download your Prosperity book package right now, day or
night. Try it risk-free!

A shameless plug

I think this is just an amazing example of what we can do when we want to. My nine-year-old niece Caitlin has a friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Caitlin wanted to help somehow. She's quite an artist, and she and her mom have made note cards out of some of her drawings. They're selling 10 assorted cards for US$10, and net proceeds go to benefit their local pediatric cancer hospital. Check out Caitlin's web site for more information: http://geocities.com/cardsbycaiti.

Have you seen the movie Million Dollar Baby"? Hillary Swank plays Maggie, a woman from a poor, hillbilly, uneducated background with a dream to become a boxer.

It's not easy, but her drive and enthusiasm ultimately attract the people and places she needs. And she becomes a fighter. It's not long before she's earning some real money.

Dutiful, loving daughter that she is, as soon as she can she buys her mother a house. It's a modest house, but compared to the trailer the family called "home," it's a mansion. She presents it to her mother as a gift.

In one scene, Maggie drives with her trainer (that's Clint Eastwood's role) to give her mother and sister the keys to their new home. Maggie's proud but apprehensive as they walk from room to room.

Is the mother grateful? Does she acknowledge the daughter's selfless, loving act? Hardly.

In a blow worse than a left hook, she complains that she might lose her welfare benefits, her government support, if they find out she has a house. She's worried that she'll lose her poverty status if she's not blatantly poor. And she simply doesn't know how to be anything else.

Maggie found out that giving someone wealth doesn't make them rich. Her mother had a poverty mindset that she'd grown accustomed to. It fit her like her old clothes, and the idea of giving it up was beyond her capacity. She was poor, she defined herself that way, and no one was going to challenge her or prove her wrong.

In Mike Litman's book "Conversations with Millionaires," he includes an interview with personal development coach, author and speaker Jim Rohn. Jim talks extensively about what he learned as a young man from his mentor. In one example, the mentor talks about becoming a millionaire. Wouldn't it be great to have a million dollars, thinks Jim. No, says the mentor. If you set a goal to acquire a million dollars, you'll never be a millionaire. Set a goal to become a millionaire for what it makes of you to achieve it.

Is there a lottery where you live? How often have you heard of flat-broke lottery winners who were flat broke again in a couple of years?

Gaining a million dollars (and more!) didn't make them millionaires. It didn't change their mindsets. It didn't give them the attitude of gratitude, the spirit of generosity, the wealth sense that they would have learned had they grown into an abundance mentality. In their minds they were still flat broke, so naturally the universe accommodated them.

As we think about the law of attraction, it's easy to visualize attracting wealth as if we were magnets and cash was paper clips. But we don't just flip a switch and make it so. We need to "magnetize" ourselves so that once those paper clips stick, they stay stuck.

Maggie's mother wasn't magnetized. The paper clips were alien to her. The lottery winners weren't magnetized. The paper clips fell away. Our job is to build that magnetic pull so that it's natural.

There are plenty of "paper clips" to go around. Once we've become strong enough magnets, they won't be hard to find.
More Prosperity resources

Manifesting Home Runs

Recently I was in Cleveland, Ohio, about two thousand miles from my home in southern California, visiting my brother and his family. My sister-in-law and I took my eight-year-old niece to her first baseball game, where we saw the Cleveland Indians host the Minnesota Twins. We had excellent seats behind home plate, and little Caitlin loved the music, the “wave,” and everything about her first ballpark experience. Of course, it was even better when she saw her home team defeat the visitors 2-1.

I’m no baseball expert but I can say that this game wasn’t what you’d call an outstanding display of hitting. Few times did either team manage to get more than four batters up per inning. Both teams scored a run in the third inning, and it was the bottom of the eighth inning before we saw another score. Cleveland had loaded the bases with two out. Designated hitter Travis Hafner took one ball, one strike…and got hit by a pitch. Which meant he automatically went to first base, all the runners advanced, and Ronnie Belliard trotted home for the winning run. No heroics, no big hit, no dramatic, crash-into-a-wall missed catch. But an errant pitch that wasn’t enough to hurt the batter, but was enough to allow him to win the game for his team.

By the way, for those of you who don’t speak baseball, bear with me just a moment…

Did Hafner dream about getting hit by a pitch? Not likely. He’s a designated hitter—his purpose on the team is to step in and hit the ball, not have the ball hit him! But if you think about it, is his purpose really to hit the ball? Or is it to win the game? If you put it in that perspective, then he did exactly what he was supposed to do. He won the game for his team. It may not have been his preferred means, but he accomplished his end. A win is a win in the final tally.

When we’re working on manifesting a goal, what are we focusing on? Are we thinking about the means, or the end? It’s one thing to think, “I need money,” knowing you need it to buy a new car, and another to focus on “I need a new car.” Is it really the money we want to manifest, or is it the car? Maybe we win the car in a lottery. Maybe we inherit it from a long-lost uncle. But we have the new car, and it wasn’t the money we were after anyway.

It’s not up to us to determine the “how”; the universe is smarter than we are, and will do that for us. We need to look clearly for the “what,” and trust that the universe, the Divine, can handle the “how.”

Prosperity point: A Three-Legged Dog

I was in a veterinarian’s office and met a woman with one
very lively dog. He wagged, shook, panted, licked, and just
radiated joy the way only happy dogs can. He was so
spirited that it was a few minutes before I noticed the
atrophied hind leg. Funny thing, he didn’t seem to notice
it either. He didn’t care that he only had three legs. I
don’t even think he knew the difference. He was too busy
having fun.

In Lesson Twelve of Prosperity, "Overcoming the Thought of Lack," Charles Fillmore writes:

The mind of humanity is like the net catching every kind of idea, and it is our privilege and duty under the divine law
to separate those that are good from those that are not
good. In this process the currents of unselfish, spiritual
love flowing through the soul act as great eliminators,
freeing the consciousness of thoughts of hate, lack, and
poverty, and giving the substance of Spirit free access into
the consciousness and affairs.

That dog could easily have spent his life limping and
looking sorrowful, and no one would have thought any the
worse of him. Quite the opposite, we’d have taken special
care of him. But what a mistake that would have been!
Maybe he didn’t have the Westminster Dog Show in his future,
but that didn’t stop him from running, playing, and living a
full doggie life.

I have a friend who talks to me about his efforts to meet
women. He uses Internet dating sites, trades emails,
occasionally meets someone in person. He’s told me about
some of these encounters. A few times he’s been terribly
excited, having just made some wonderful connection with a
new woman. But sure enough, within a few weeks, she’s
called it off.

It doesn’t take much for us to dwell on what’s missing.
Something not so good happens, and it occupies our whole
thinking – never mind that the good stuff is still there.
One day of rain ruins our whole week on the tropical island.
The garden isn’t landscaped the way we want it, so we
forget how well we decorated the living room. Our eyes
aren’t the color we’d like, and we don’t notice our gift for
compassion (or our 20/20 vision!)

Fillmore explains that while we’re focusing on our
shortcomings, we don’t allow the Spirit the opportunity to
give. Not being able to pay the bills is overwhelming. If
your mind is a net, it will certainly catch that poverty
idea. But it’s up to you to strain that out and only
capture the ones that build, not the ones that destroy. If
you clog the net with the negative stuff, there’s nowhere
for the positive to flow in.

It won’t happen by accident, nor is it somehow ordained.
You get to choose. And you let the good stuff flow through
by choosing to think thoughts of love, gratitude, and
generosity. You know the phrase "garbage in, garbage out"?
It works both ways. Good stuff in, good stuff out.

Clean Closets

I have to admit, I’m not good at throwing things away. My closets are full of “well, I might need this sometime” stuff. And my garage? How does anyone ever fit two cars in a two car garage? Some of it is sentimental, like the little keepsake box that held my treasures when I was ten. Some of it is utilitarian, like the business cards of former customers (never mind that they probably don’t work at those companies any more.) But they’re all there, and they’re all taking up space in my drawers, shelves and closets.

I recently went to my closet to hang up a new sweater and realized how cramped it was in there. If I want space for new clothes, I’m going to have to get rid of some of the old ones! So I started going through the closet, and sure enough, the sentimental and utilitarian entered in. Aw, look at this blouse, it was a gift. I don’t want to get rid of a gift – it has meaning! And look at this skirt. It’s perfectly good, and if I ever have to dress for work every day again I’ll need it, won’t I?

It wasn’t easy, but I grit my teeth and filled a few bags with clothing to donate to charity. I convinced myself that the dress I hadn’t worn for ten years wasn’t serving me any more, that the shoes I forgot I had were outdated and useless to me. They might be good for someone else now, but not for me.

But it’s not just what we store in our closets that becomes worn out, that no longer serves us. It’s what we store in our minds as well. If we can’t let go of an old shirt, how much harder is it to give up an old belief? And how much more powerful that belief, that is with us always, than that shirt, that we can forget about for a while. But beliefs, like clothes and gadgets, outlive their usefulness to us and become clutter.