Key Principles of the Law of Attraction: Action

The third principle of the law of attraction is the most important one, and it is the point where, sadly, most people fail. [The first principle is the importance of knowledge, the second is about focus, and the next one is about the power of belief.]

If you have read the first two articles in the series about the core principles of manifesting – about the importance of knowledge and focus, you already have an idea on what is your part in attracting the things you want in your life: you have to learn about the LoA itself in order to use it properly..

.. However, understanding how manifestation works is the easy part for most people, and once they discover it, they get all hyped about it, making plans and thinking: “oh, I’ll do it right away, I’ll change this, I’ll attract that…” – but they don’t act – mentally they may make an effort, but physically they do nothing.

The law of attraction isn’t just wishful thinking, you do need to actively pursue your goals in real life – so our 3rd key principle required for success is to…

Take Action!

There is no easy way to success and to your dream life.

Manifestation is real, but it does require you to take action towards your goals still.

It simply helps to focus your mind on your goal, give you drive like never before, make you notice opportunities, and put you into situations and positions where you can capitalize on these opportunities.

The person who sits back and expects everything to come to him might actually just be doing a lot of things right – he might be positive, focused on a goal, but without taking action he doesn’t seize the opportunity and so he doesn’t get the result.

Often what the law of attraction does is focus you on your goal so that it brings opportunities to you. It might not just mysteriously leave a red Ferrari parked on your drive one morning… but you might start seeing them everywhere… but if you don’t seize the opportunity, if you don’t go and chat to the owner then you may never find out that he would like to sell it much cheaper than normal price.

The sceptic, the negative person, they see the Ferrari driving past and they shun the law of attraction for not working – not knowing that this is manifestation in motion, and that following up these “leads” and opportunities is the difference between success and failure.

More Examples

The example above of the Ferrari is actually quite abstract and quite an extreme example of the law of attraction in motion (up there with the stories of getting mystery checks in the mail or manifesting your perfect husband right?). So let’s look at just a few examples which should be simpler to see manifestation success coming from the result of taking action.

Manifesting and Finding a Girlfriend

• The non action taker: Uses LoA principles to wish for his dream girl – he visualizes the stunning brunette with the hour-glass body, vibrant smile, she is intelligent and social and she is friendly and interested in him. He even focuses his mind with affirmations and hypnosis tools, but he “isn’t the sort of person to approach a girl” and several beautiful brunettes walk by and dance on the dance floor as he stands by. He summarizes that the law of attraction doesn’t work.
• The action orientated manifestor: He too puts in the mental practice, the mental side of manifesting – stating his desire, writing some affirmations, putting a beautiful girl onto his vision board.. but the key difference is that when that cute brunette walks past him in the street later that week he sees the opportunity and stops to talk to her.. the LoA brought his manifestation into reality, and all he had to do was say “hello!”

Manifesting and Landing Your Dream Job

• The non action taker: Is bored in his job. He dreams of quitting and of working in his dream career. He reads up on his career, maybe he even went to university to study in the area.. but now he sits in his office job, unhappy. Despite all of this focus and passion for his dream career, there is a lack of action and he stays in the job he “just fell into”. “Manifesting doesn’t work” he says, “I’ve been dreaming about this for years and nothing has happened for me”.
• The action orientated manifestor: He too has a dream career and is in a job he wishes he wasn’t. He reads about the law of attraction and puts in further effort to align his mindset to finding his dream job. He gets super motivated and starts taking action like never before – applying for jobs, networking with people already doing the type of work he wants to do, he wants it so badly that he takes a lower paid position as an intern – just to get the chance to follow his dream. The law of attraction changes his life by helping him to focus more than ever on his dreams and helping to fire him up to take massive action.

Manifesting an Exotic Lifestyle

• The non action taker: Goes backpacking to Thailand for 2 months, and is amazed at the beauty, which is so different to his own country – the tropical jungles and the paradise beaches. Over and over he thinks about what it would be like to live there, to find work or a way to travel for longer. In the end he runs out of money and knows that he “has to get back to real life and his 9-5 job”, for him too – he thought about it but the universe didn’t bring his lifestyle to him.
• The action orientated manifestor: Also in Thailand and dreaming of staying, the manifestor creates their own dreams into reality – they actively talk with interest to everyone they can who is doing the same – the guy who was just passing through and has been working in a bar on the beach for 4 months, the scuba diver who learnt to dive and never left, and from one conversation to another his passion is noted and he hears about an opportunity to manage a hotel guesthouse for 4 months. Simply talking to people who were doing it, taking action that others wouldn’t think possible, he immersed himself in a new way of life and manifested it for himself too.

Can you see the difference? One person only desires, wishes, or “mentally manifests”, the other does this, and uses it as inspiration to really go out and take what they want – which person will you be?

We hope we can open your eyes through this website, teach you about the LoA, and turn you into the real manifestor – the guy/girl who gets their dreams manifest into real life! 

Without Action There is Nothing
[Faith without Works is Dead]

Action is the critical missing factor – soooo many people watch The Secret and get excited.. but don’t take action.

The law of attraction often sounds so magical and mystical, and on one hand it is. If you follow it’s principles, and follow it up with real proactive action in everyday life then it can help you to create your dream lifestyle and really put you in control of your own life.

But this follow up is the key. You NEED to take action. Can you see that the law of attraction should really be “the law of action” – that this is the difference between seeing your manifestations come to life or wondering what you are doing wrong.

We love movies like The Secret, and websites that talk about the power of positive affirmations, but while we think that these are great tools and should be used, the real key, we believe, is in taking really focused, continuous action towards your manifestation desires.

Thank You!, Thank You!!, Thank You!!! What Sincere Gratitude Can do for You

Mike Corthell, Editor & Publisher

The old saying “thank your lucky stars” is close to the mark. However, the Law of Attraction has nothing to do with luck. Conscious creation means having the courage to thank your stars even when you can’t see them. 

A sense of gratitude and appreciation for what you have and what is coming lowers your resistance and allows more into your life to be grateful for.

Appreciating what you have is easy enough when things are going well. The average person does this naturally. But it’s a lot harder to be grateful when you are in the middle of a drama or trauma. Yet that’s when being grateful benefits you the most. Looking up when you feel down is a supreme act of courage that tells The Universe you know who you really are and what you really want.

If you can consciously choose to image your vision unfolding even when it seems impossible—it becomes even more possible. When you give thanks for the light at the end of the tunnel when you have no idea when the tunnel will end, the end comes sooner.

If you can courageously demonstrate your expectancy for what is coming tomorrow, in spite of today’s disappointment, you powerfully shift your energy and en-courage The Universe to do your bidding.

In other words, when it comes to getting what you want, your expectation is everything. When you expect with gratitude you are telling The Universe “it is so,” and The Universe responds accordingly. When you expect with fear or judgment, you also are telling The Universe “it is so,” and guess what?

He Didn't Mean To

A magazine article about one of my favorite actors illustrates the power of gratitude nicely, but not the way you may think. Picture a 30-something actor with leading-man looks and talent, a good person with a big heart and plenty to be grateful for.

The article explained that during his well-known television series, he complained that the writers were not developing his character in a way that could add depth and interest to the show. He also criticized the writers for missing obvious storylines that would turn what was good into great. He even said that he had disconnected emotionally from his role because he felt that the writers and producers had stopped caring about half way through the series.

I agreed with his point of view and nothing he said was out of line or unwarranted. Was he right to say what he did? Of course. However, his career never took off once the series ended.

From later interviews on the Internet, I could tell he was disappointed because he believed in his talent and that he deserved the scripts and roles that could make him famous.

According to the Law of Attraction, he should have made it. So what kept him out of the spotlight? Could his attitude have been the problem when he was frustrated with good reason? Or was he someone who would be frustrated no matter what he was blessed with?

What if he had thanked his stars instead of complaining about them?

If he had appreciated the opportunity he had been given instead of begrudging the writers, if he had focused on giving his best for his fans and getting the most out of every scene regardless of what was written, if he had not taken the writer’s short sightedness personally, I would be telling a different story about his career.

This handsome, talented, intelligent actor just didn’t realize how his thoughts had kept his own potential from being realized. He stayed average because it was always someone else’s fault.

A Conscious Creator Means To

A conscious creator uses the fact that like attracts like to his advantage. He knows that…

A grateful attitude attracts more to be grateful for.

He doesn’t put on a fake smile and go along with the herd because he’s afraid of repercussions. He chooses to focus on the positive to intentionally cause it to expand. His focus is like a laser beam that causes an energy vortex to open and The Universe to respond accordingly.

If you can be grateful for even one little thing you like about a job you hate, or a person you don’t get along with, it will help you shift your energy enough to attract more of what you appreciate and less of what you don’t like. This doesn’t mean you’ll attract your ex- back into your life (unless that’s what you want!), it means that in your next relationship you’ll attract more of the positive qualities you like.

The energy you exude when you are feeling grateful opens the door to more people, things, and events to be grateful for. Condemning, criticizing, controlling, and complaining (the 4 Cs) opens the door to more people, things, and events to condemn, criticize, control, and complain about! And whether you realize it or not, in every moment you feel less than happy, you either make a choice to do something to feel better (conscious creation) or simply keep going the way you are going (auto creation).

Going up?

Think of gratitude as an attitude that increases your latitude. The quickest way to get more of what you want is to appreciate what you already have. Appreciation shifts your energy into reception mode (vs. rejection mode). Gratitude greases the wheels of life and gives you a faster, smoother ride. When you thank your stars for everything in your life, even the painful experiences and growth opportunities you’ve experienced, you will have more to be thankful for. (Don’t worry, you won’t attract more pain unless that’s what you expect!)

I used to work for a company with a very conservative culture and what I judged to be paranoid leadership. I felt like the only person who embraced diversity and progressive thinking, and I sensed that they regarded me with suspicion. While I enjoyed the work, I wasn’t happy in that environment and I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t want to have to find a new job.

Remembering that it was up to me to stop attracting things I didn’t want, I decided to shift my energy by shifting my attitude. I completely turned the situation around in a few weeks by 1) thanking my stars for having a job to go to and, 2) wanting to be happy no matter what.

I walked through the door each morning with an upbeat mind-set and I didn’t pay attention to the comments or actions of my colleagues. When someone asked me how I was doing, I replied, “Great, Fantastic, or Couldn’t be better…” or “I had a great weekend, how about you?” with enthusiasm and as much sincerity as I could muster. I was there to work and taking things personally was not going to help me do a good job. I became Thumper's mother: If I couldn't say anything nice, I didn't say anything at all!

The more I focused on what I wanted, the less I cared about their politics and opinions. In fact, once I quit criticizing their motives, the leaders started treating me like gold. Business went on as usual, but I was in a new place.

What changed? Nothing but my attitude.

The Quantum Rule

The Golden Rule says to treat others as you would be treated. When we look at this rule in terms of how the Law of Attraction works through quantum physics, it becomes clear that...

Whatever you put positive energy into gets better.
Whatever you put negative energy into gets worse.

What could be more simple or straightforward? Everything, physical and non-physical, is made of energy. And what is a more positive expression of energy than gratitude? What connects you to God more than appreciation for who you really are?

When you understand the Quantum Rule, you know what to do and how to do it. You become more aware of what is good in your life and thus attract more of it. You begin to grow beyond your problems and become bigger than they are. You need them less and less, and crave happiness and fun more and more. The bigger you get, the farther you can see into the future and the greater you command The Universe.

A note about negative energy...

It’s natural to get mad when you are hurt. Anger can get your energy moving and help you feel better if it inspires you to work through some issues. Ventilating can be therapeutic if it helps you release negative energy. But holding onto anger and making others “wrong” just so you can be “right” for more than a short while is counterproductive for you and your health. You have to leave it behind in order to move forward.

When you find yourself in an unhappy situation, don’t worry about making the right decisions or what is going to happen. Worrying only attracts more for you to worry about.

If you don’t know what to do, act like a conscious creator. Find a bigger vision for your life, something that has nothing to do with where you are now even if seems impossible. Don’t just think big, believe big. Imagine grand things falling into place because you deserve it. Focus on that vision when you need someplace to go in your head, and be grateful for what is coming AND for what is working now.

Remember that others have been where you are now—and are now where you want to be. If they can do it, so can you because you are just as much a part of God as they are. You have a laser beam (your thoughts) that you can use to open a vortex of energy through which you will attract the vision you truly desire and deserve to live.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank You! ....for what you do have, and feed your future to attract more to be grateful for!

Your Ancestors Slept Twice a Night!

Ok, maybe your grandparents probably slept like you. And your great, great-grandparents. But once you go back before the 1800s, sleep starts to look a lot different. Your ancestors slept in a way that modern sleepers would find bizarre – they slept twice. And so can you.

The History

The existence of our sleeping twice per night was first uncovered by Roger Ekirch, professor of History at Virginia Tech.

His research found that we didn’t always sleep in one eight hour chunk. We used to sleep in two shorter periods, over a longer range of night. This range was about 12 hours long, and began with a sleep of three to four hours, wakefulness of two to three hours, then sleep again until morning.

References are scattered throughout literature, court documents, personal papers, and the ephemera of the past. What is surprising is not that people slept in two sessions, but that the concept was so incredibly common. Two-piece sleeping was the standard, accepted way to sleep.

“It’s not just the number of references – it is the way they refer to it, as if it was common knowledge,” Ekirch says.

An English doctor wrote, for example, that the ideal time for study and contemplation was between “first sleep” and “second sleep.” Chaucer tells of a character in the Canterbury Tales that goes to bed following her “firste sleep.” And, explaining the reason why working class conceived more children, a doctor from the 1500s reported that they typically had sex after their first sleep.

Ekirch’s book At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past is replete with such examples.

But just what did people do with these extra twilight hours? Pretty much what you might expect.

Most stayed in their beds and bedrooms, sometimes reading, and often they would use the time to pray. Religious manuals included special prayers to be said in the mid-sleep hours.

Others might smoke, talk with co-sleepers, or have sex. Some were more active and would leave to visit with neighbours.

As we know, this practice eventually died out. Ekirch attributes the change to the advent of street lighting and eventually electric indoor light, as well as the popularity of coffee houses. Author Craig Koslofsky offers a further theory in his book Evening’s Empire. With the rise of more street lighting, night stopped being the domain of criminals and sub-classes and became a time for work or socializing. Two sleeps were eventually considered a wasteful way to spend these hours.

No matter why the change happened, shortly after the turn of the 20th century the concept of two sleeps had vanished from common knowledge.

Until about 1990.

The Science

Two sleeps per night may have been the method of antiquity, but tendencies towards it still linger in modern man. There could be an innate biological preference for two sleeps, given the right circumstances.

In the early ‘90s, psychiatrist Thomas Wehr of National Institutes of Mental Health conducted a studyon photoperiodicity (exposure to light), and its effect on sleep patterns.

In his study, fifteen men spent four weeks with their daylight artificially restricted. Rather than staying up and active the usual sixteen hours per day, they would stay up only ten. The other fourteen hours they would be in a closed, dark room, where they would rest or sleep as much as possible. This mimics the days in mid-winter, with short daylight and long nights.

At first, the participants would sleep huge stretches of time, likely making up for sleep debt that’scommon among modern people. Once they had caught up on their sleep though, a strange thing started to happen.

They began to have two sleeps.

Over a twelve hour period, the participants would typically sleep for about four or five hours initially, then wake for several hours, then sleep again until morning. They slept not more than eight hours total.

The middle hours of the night, between two sleeps, was characterized by unusual calmness, likened to meditation. This was not the middle-of-the-night toss-and-turn that many of us experienced. The individuals did not stress about falling back asleep, but used the time to relax.

Russell Foster, professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford, points out that even with standard sleep patterns, this night waking isn’t always cause for concern. “Many people wake up at night and panic,” he says. “I tell them that what they are experiencing is a throwback to the bi-modal sleep pattern.”

Outside of a scientific setting, this kind of sleep pattern is still attainable, but it does require changing our modern, electric lifestyle. Very cool person J. D. Moyer did just that. He and his family intentionally went an entire month with no electric light.

In the winter months, this meant a lot of darkness and a lot of sleep. Moyer writes “…I would go to bed really early, like 8:30, and then get up around 2:30am.  This was alarming at first, but then I remembered that this sleep pattern was quite common in pre-electric light days.  When this happened I would end up reading or writing by candlelight for an hour or two, then going back to bed.”

Moyer didn’t set out to reproduce our ancestors sleep pattern, it just happened as a byproduct of a lot of dark hours.

Should We Revive Two Sleeps?

Although history shows that two sleeping was common, and science indicates that it is (in some conditions) natural, there is no indication that it is better. Two sleeps may leave you feeling more rested, but this could simply be because you are intentionally giving yourself more time to rest, relax, and sleep. Giving the same respect to the single, eight-hour sleep should be just as effective.

Note too that two sleeping needs a lot of darkness – darkness that is only possible naturally during the winter months. The greater levels of daylight during summer and other seasons would make two sleeping difficult, or even impossible.

Perhaps two sleeping is merely a coping mechanism to get through the long, cold, boring nights of the winter. Today, we don’t need to cope. So long as we give our sleep the time and respect it needs, getting the “standard” eight hours of sleep should be fine.

But next time you wake up at 2 AM and can’t sleep, just remember your great, great, great, great, great grandfather. He did the same thing every night.

Update

Well this article proved exceedingly popular! Thank you to everyone who visited, or took the time to leave a comment. I would encourage new visitors to have a read through the comments below for some interesting ideas and perspectives. I learned two things in particular:

1. This is far more common that I thought. A lot of commenters either practice, or used to practice this kind of sleep.

2. Another possible reason for two sleeps is tending the fire during the night. Several clever readers noted that in order to keep a fire running through the night, we would need to get up and tend it.

Commenters also raised questions regarding non-European and non-Western cultures, which we’ll be digging into in future articles. For anyone who wants to learn more about this kind of sleep, I’ve linked below to two books referenced in the writing of this article, available on Amazon.

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• Why Do We Sleep?

Do You Want to 'Be' Happy?

Mike Corthell, Editor & Publisher

Guess what? You have to actually WANT TO BE HAPPY. 

This requirement is not as easy as it seems because many people, perhaps you, are secretly afraid to feel good.

When you see yourself as a wounded person, coping with depression is a way of life. If you were to become a truly happy person, your sense of self would have to radically change. That kind of transformation is a threat to your ego, which is in charge of developing and maintaining your identity and personality. Even if your pain has influenced your decisions and behaviors to your detriment, over time it has also paid dividends, including sympathy, attention, and a feeling of importance. Whatever caused it, your pain has helped define who you are being.

If you truly want to be happy, but just don’t know how, this Practice can be a powerful turning point. You will have to summon the courage to leave your claim to pain at the door, at least, a little bit at a time. I’m not saying you can’t understand your problems or take steps to resolve them. I am saying you have to be more interested in feeling good than in feeling bad. You absolutely have to stop complaining, criticizing, and condemning yourself and others.

If you truly want to be happy, you have to learn to see the long-term big picture. You have to reach for a better future, laugh more, feel more, smell the flowers and the coffee and, if you are inspired to do so, help others get through what you’ve been through.

Most importantly—and this is the hardest part—you have to let go of the part of your identity that feels like a wounded person. Ultimately, focusing on your pain sabotages your happiness because you keep attracting more of what hurts. While it helps to understand why things happened and learn from your experiences, as long as your pain dictates who you are being, the power to create the life you want will elude you.

The greatest relief is not caring about it anymore! Nothing feels better than empowerment. To claim it, you have to stop playing the victim and be your own hero. Worrying, complaining, and criticizing can no longer be part of your operating agenda because what you focus on expands. You have to exchange the payoff you get from “drama-vibes” with the payoff you get from “higher-vibes” that attract what you truly want.

Instead of wasting your energy worrying about what others are doing, focus on what you are doing and how you are feeling. To be a conscious creatorfeeling good, especially about yourself, has to be your highest priority. It’s the only way to attract the good stuff because like attracts like.

It’s Not Out There

You also have to understand that what you want isn’t out there. As long as your happiness depends on other people or conditions you will never be happy. If you are waiting for “someday,” when “x” happens and then you’ll be happy, you are actually waiting to die because “x” is never going to happen. Like attracts like, and you cannot attract the energy of what will make you happy if your energy is not in accord with it.

Even if you manage to pull things together for a while, those things will change too. Life is organic. People and things change. You also grow and evolve, so what you want evolves along with you.

I used to be miserable because I thought no man would ever give me the love I needed to be happy. I felt that way because I was busy focusing on my imperfections instead of appreciating my own gifts and talents. While studying the Law of Attraction, I “got it” that no man ever could give me what I needed. I had to be happy with myself before a man could be happy with me! (Relationships 101, yes — but it applies to this Practice.)

If you are miserable or impatient during your journey, how does that benefit you or anyone else? If you are joyful, steadfast, optimistic, connected, and confident, then your journey is a great experience for you and an inspiration for those you meet along the way.

So how do you become joyful, steadfast, optimistic, connected, and confident?

Quite frankly, every day, every hour, every moment you realize you are thinking thoughts that don’t make you feel good you have to give yourself permission to choose to think happier thoughts, again and again, until you feel better.

If you make a mistake, instead of feeling bad about it, you could see yourself a year from now telling a friend what you did and laughing about it. See yourself explaining the lesson you learned and how it kept you from making a bigger mistake later on. It doesn’t matter if your happier thoughts are visualizations or memories, what matters is the direction your energy is flowing—toward what you want, not away from it.

If you knew you could have what you want most in life, but only if you turn away from the train wreck in your mind and instead look at the beautiful sunset in front of you—would you make that choice? Can you trust that if the train wreck needs your attention you will be inspired to take action?

You’d have to really want something to make those kinds of choices for any length of time. You’d have to trust, really trust in the process and stop trying to control anything other than the choices you make in the thoughts you allow yourself think.

If you believe in praying to God, then “give it to God.” Once you’ve given control to God, stop taking it back. Worrying about it is an act of doubting God, and/or doubting your worthiness. Either way you stop the flow of good things.

Your thoughts create your reality. If you are ready to think happier thoughts, the following acts of courage will help you prime your attraction pump. Soon enough, you will feel better and inspired to keep your energy and your thoughts aligned with your dreams.

Step Away from Cluster Dramas

Watch out for cluster dramas and step away when you see one coming. If you find yourself in the middle of a fault finder or pity party, make your exit as quietly and swiftly as possible. The object is to avoid the negative energy and keep your energy flowing in the direction you want to go.

Don’t start one either. Saying negative things about yourself may get you attention, but it only brands you as wounded person and holds you there. Talking about others may get you attention, but the only time it wins friends and influences people is when misery is looking for company.

Of course, feeling angry is better than feeling frustrated and it prompts you into action. But making someone else wrong so that you can be right, or participating in such conversations, only sabotages your energy. It’s like a drug that gives you the illusion of being superior. In reality, it lowers your credibility. Consider what happens to the quality of your energy when you are tearing down instead of building up just to fit in.

Talk to people about anything other than your problems.

If you are sharing your problems, you are expanding them. The only people you should talk to about your problems are the people who can do something about them. And when you do, be brief, be clear, be straightforward, stay on the subject, be specific, be surgical, and be optimistic. Go into the conversation with the expectation that you will get the validation, support, and relief you need to let go of the drama and get on with your life. State your objectives clearly and stay focused on your goal.

If you are in a type of therapy that isn’t helping, try something else. There are plenty of personal development and life-reinventing resources that are not victim or label oriented and worth the cost of admission.

Think about God instead of your problems.

What an idea! The next time you feel yourself getting upset, read Emmet Fox’s “Golden Key to Prayer.” It is one of the best ways to shift your energy I have found. It works every time if you follow its guidance.

The highest form of prayer is when you thank your Creator for what is seen and yet unseen. Make it your habit to go to God with gratitude; He already knows what you want.

Follow your blissful passions.

If you haven’t read Joseph Campbell’s work on mythology you are missing a delightful, mind-blowing opportunity to delve into the underpinnings of why people do what they do. His insights into the nature of myth led to his famous quote, “Follow Your Bliss,” his favorite advice to students. Joseph believed if you follow you bliss, the rest will follow.

I include it in this Practice because one thing all conscious creators have is a consuming passion. Some might call it a purpose. I call it your desire to give the world your greatest gift.

Whatever it is that consumes and enthralls you is waiting for you to do something with it. For example, the brother of a college instructor I knew spent his adolescence reading comic books. He wasn’t interested in going to school and his parents were worried. Turns out, he opened a small comic book stand, which led to a small store, then several stores, and he now makes more money than his sister and parents combined. But what matters to him are the comic books and fellow fans he is surrounded by every day! This young man didn’t listen to what others told him. He didn’t feel invalidated and he didn’t get mad. He simply put his heart into what he loved and the rest followed.

Just be careful to pursue your own blissful passion. Sometimes we are compelled to meet someone else’s expectations for us. It may seem like what you want, but if it is not in the top three things you’d do if you could do anything you want, then it isn’t your true passion and it won’t be your greatest gift to the world.

Turn off the TV

What’s more depressing than the evening news? My ex-husband used to watch it in bed, so I had to listen to it. That was then. In the years since, not knowing what’s going on in the world is a blessing and a relief. I feel better, which means it’s easier to stay happy and focused on what I want. If something is critical for me to know, I’ll hear about it from the people around me. Another reason to give up the news is that you won’t be adding your upset energy to the world’s problems.

Other than a few exceptions, television programs and movies are entertaining because they stimulate your emotions without making you think or imagine for yourself. They are like eating white bread…tastes good but isn’t good for you.

The media affects your energy. Watching violence “twangs” your emotional strings as does watching a triumphant love story. Which way do you want to be twanged?

The absolute worst thing about television is the time you waste watching commercials. Not only are you are giving your valuable time to those who want your money, they use fear tactics to promote their products and fill your head with thoughts of disease and disaster. If you want to relax in front of the tube, choose shows that make you feel good. Better yet, record them and watch them later so you can skip the commercials!

An easy way to entertain yourself and catch a higher-vibe is to read books and listen to recordings that help you remember who you really are. Comedies and inspirational movies are an option, especially if you are trying to climb out of an emotional funk.

There are endless ways to keep your energy flowing toward your desires—listen to music, exercise, meditate, hug your children, take classes, dance, sing, go on vacation. I realize that these simple choices may take enormous courage at first, but if can approach each day in terms of fine-tuning your preferences rather than going cold turkey, you will move toward activities that enhance, not lessen, the quality of your energy.

Embrace the Magic in Forgiveness

No discussion on overcoming depression is complete without addressing the subject of forgiveness. In terms of the Law of Attraction, forgiving yourself and/or others means letting go of negative energy and embracing your empowerment. It means remembering who you are. It's about the courage you need to leave your claim to pain at the door and to focus only on what you want.

I’ve heard it said that if you have something to forgive (a claim to pain) it means you have been a victim on some level. But when you Rememberwho you really are, and who everyone else really is, there are no perpetrators and no victims because no one is ever truly hurt. Remorse, blame, and regret just get in your way.

Of course, if you want to apologize for something you’ve done, do so and get on with your life. If you want an apology, ask for it and get on with your life whether you receive it or not.

What matters is shifting your energy to the positive end of the spectrum and keeping it there, where the good stuff can’t help but find you!