“Don’t surrender all your joy for an idea you used to have about yourself that isn’t true anymore.”–Cheryl Strayed
Yesterday in the posse, my really wise friend Cindy made the above comment about the futility of resistance. It says it all. When we continue to beat ourselves over the head trying to make that elephant purr, we are going to continue to be miserable.
It’s plain and simple, folks. We cannot fight problems. We can try and try and try, but fighting, fixing, focusing on what’s wrong is like driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
But there is a steering wheel on our car. We CAN turn around. We can start moving with the flow of the universe. It’s done by taking our attention off everything we think sucks. All those problems we think need fixing. All those issues we have with so and so. Or with our jobs. Or with our bodies.
When we get in the flow of gratitude, when we start noticing all the gazillion things that are going right, those annoying problems have a way of fixing themselves. They literally dissolve. Without any input on our part.
It sounds counterintuitive, I know. We’ve been doing it the other way (driving the wrong way on the one-way street, trying to teach that elephant to purr) for most of our lives.
But we can turn around. We can let that elephant roar. And it all starts with putting our attention on things that we like. Things for which we are grateful.
As for me, I’m loving the open windows, autumn weather, listening to the crickets. I’m loving the fact that the sun continues to come up each morning. There is so, so, so much to be grateful for. And that’s the only road on which I want to drive.
Pam Grout is the author of 18 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the just released, Thank and Grow Rich: a 30-day Experiment in Shameless Gratitude and Unabashed Joy.
If you’ve read E-Cubed, you know that one of the experiments involves asking the universe for an inside joke. Here’s a funny story that came in yesterday.
“As I was sitting by my pool reading the first experiment, I had just finished the part about asking the universe for an inside joke. All of a sudden, the wind kicked up. Our eucalyptus tree began raining it’s leaves down on me and all over the yard and pool and it didn’t stop, making a complete mess! All of a sudden, I started laughing and laughing!!!! I got my joke almost immediately!!!!”
Speaking of jokes, I’d like to remind everybody of the two magic words that I use continuously when I need to remember that we’re making this world up. That it’s nothing but a product of our perception. And that at any time, we can change our perception and change our world. Here’s the reminder:
Sherlock Holmes, if he were to get involved, would probably surmise that I learned the magic words I’m about to dispense from one of the speakers at the Rotterdam I Can Do It! Conference.
And he’d be right about one thing. I did learn these words at the conference. But not from one of the speakers.
On one of the breaks, I met this really cool volunteer named Natasja Frowijn. Write that name down. You will be hearing from this fabulous 29-year-old (yes, a mere 29 years old!) who healed her body after a near-fatal scooter accident. For five years, she was bed-ridden in excruciating pain. After doctor after doctor told her she would live the rest of her life in a wheelchair (if she was lucky), she was ready to take a boatload of morphine and call it a life.
But instead, she decided that she would heal herself–not for her family, not for her husband–but for herself.
“I decided that that not only would I heal myself, but I would go on to live an awesome life,” Natasja told me.
She appealed to her grandfathers on the other side. She said to the universe, “Show me.”
That day, she “just happened” to turn on Oprah (yes, Oprah is even in Holland) and saw Louise Hay talking about how she healed herself from cancer. Natasja had never heard of Louise Hay, but that was clear enough guidance. She was on her way.
That week, a woman knocked on her door offering an 8-week course on Louise’s “You Can Heal Your Life.” From that moment on, Natasja has been able to draw into her life pretty much every thing she ever wants. For her, it’s a game.
Today, she’s completely healthy and whole. She works part-time as a nurse and part-time as a medium, talking to folks on the other side. She’s beautiful and fabulous and I’m so grateful I was able to meet her.
As we were talking, I thought, “Wow, this girl should write a book” and guess what? She has already started. Not five minutes later, a publisher came up and said she wanted to see her book. Although Natasja is holding out for Hay House (and believe me if Natasja wants it, it’s as good as a done deal), I was amazed at how quickly she drew this to her. Many people spend decades trying to attract a publisher.
So you’re probably wondering, what are the magic words? Don’t let their simplicity fool you. The words are “It’s okay.”
No matter what. No matter what is happening to you, it’s important to acknowledge that, “it’s okay.
No matter how you feel, “it’s okay”. No matter what you think, “it’s okay.”
Most of us, instead of being “okay” with our lives, get all balled up with judgment and fear. We exhaust ourselves trying to make things different.
The loving intelligence, the big Quantum playground knows exactly how to play out in your life. But when our little pea brains get involved (“Oh, no! I shouldn’t feel this way. I must stop this now.” Kick-kick-kick. “I’d better call my friends and hash this out. Or join a support group, start a blog.”), we put out a murky energy that blocks the healing current.
Our thoughts emit an electrical charge. And when the thoughts are busy “not being okay,” we put up a roadblock to our good.
“It’s okay” is the energy of love. So whatever is happening in your life, simply say, “It’s okay” and let the loving flow of the universe do the heavy lifting.
Pam Grout is the author of 17 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the just-released sequel, E-Cubed, 9 More Experiments that Prove Mirth, Magic and Merriment is your Full-time Gig.
“What if right in that moment, it was quite beautiful the way it was?”—Grace Bell
Every thought is temporary until you decide to invite it in for martinis and offer to make up the guest bedroom.
Left unopposed, a thought, like a lightning bug, will blink right off, flit away, never to be seen again.
What happens instead is we notice a negative thought, we start swatting at it, we wonder why we have it, we come up with seven steps to get rid of it and we begin beating ourselves up because…well all the books say we shouldn’t have a negative thought.
Before long, we’ve joined a support group and built a shrine.
Instead of fighting a negative thought, I prefer to use my two magic words—It’s okay—and let it flitter away and disappear.
The same strategy applies for those things we dislike in our lives—say the latest credit card statement or the doctor’s report. “But it’s true!!!” you insist.
Once we realize that any thought, any condition is temporary, with no power, no charge except that which we give it, we can go back to our natural state which is joy and amazing awesomeness.
Pam Grout is the author of 17 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the just-released sequel, E-Cubed, 9 More Experiments that Prove Mirth, Magic and Merriment is your Full-time Gig.
