Walk a mile in the moccasins of wonder and awe

“You’re here to localize a cosmic celebration.”—Michael Beckwith chalk-cute-drawing-happy-sunshine-walking-on-sunshine-40585

You’ve probably heard the proverb, “Do not judge a man until you walk two moons (or a mile) in their moccasins.”

So today, I’d like to give you a little taste of what it’s like to walk in the moccasins of the Field of Potentiality–or the universe, God, Cosmo Kramer, take your pick of descriptions.

Here’s a small sample of what the F.P. gets on a daily basis:

You: “I really want to travel.”

F.P.: “Great! I’d love to set that up for you, but it would be helpful to know where you want to go?”

You: “Ummm, well, maybe Paris. Or wait. No, I really want to go to the Caribbean. Except, no, I always wanted to learn to tango in Buenos Aires. But wait, can I really afford it?”

These are the kind of messages the F.P. gets all day, every day.

On one hand, we want a new car, but on the other, won’t that mean higher payments? We hope for a positive outcome, but isn’t optimism a bunch of baloney? We want to be committed to so-and-so, but what if she leaves?

Every thought, feeling and vibration influences the F.P. And the ONLY reason we don’t turn water into wine and heal illness with one touch is because our thoughts are scattered all over the place. Instead of being one, constant, well-aimed tuning fork, our thoughts are like a junior high band of trumpet players.

The force is literally bouncing off walls. Got this way. No, wait: go that way. It’s knocking around like a lightning bug in a Mason jar. This amazing all-powerful force that works with the certainty of mathematics is is being dissipated because we have no clear bead on what we really want.

It’s not that the F.P. isn’t handing over your intentions. It’s just that you’re confusing it by intending way too many, completely opposite things.

So give the F.P. a break. And remember, that you can just as easily choose to view every day as a magnificent spiritual adventure, knowing you are loved deeply. You can walk every day on sunshine.

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 recently released, Thank and Grow Rich: a 30-day Experiment in Shameless Gratitude and Unabashed Joy.

Another trio of tales from the annals of magic and enchantment

“Take off your shoes and let yourself go.”–Elvin Bishop

two-women-dancing-and-laughingMy mission remains the same. To be in service to the new story. The story that reminds us we’re all connected–to each other, to the natural world and to the big cosmic mystery.

One of the ways I fulfill my purpose is by sharing miracles, by pointing out that we are a lot more than what we see with our physical eyes.

I’ve been traveling lately and haven’t kept up with my sharing. So, before I take off again on yet another marvelous adventure, here are a few stories that recently popped into my inbox.

1. “Thank you so much for writing Thank and Grow Rich! It’s been an awesome, awesome read. I had to write to you and tell you what happened to me.

“I’ve been trying to sell my not-so-pretty house for a year, with no luck. My boyfriend died of cancer about 2 years ago and left me the house that we were working on. It still needed lots and lots of work. It has several holes between the inside and the outside of the house, one that is even big enough for a raccoon to crawl through. I had a black snake crawl over my feet in my kitchen last week (its still under the freezer as far as I know). The ceiling leaks in several places and the pipes freeze constantly in the winter and they are even located IN the house! Its been rough, loosing him, and now maintaining a house by myself. In the year that I’ve had it for sale, I’ve probably had 3 people look at it, total.

“I started reading your book about 3 weeks ago and I finally started getting what I’ve been doing wrong! I get it! I finally realized why the universe pours out blessings on me some days and at other times gives me the cold shoulder. ITS ME! ITS BEEN ME ALL ALONG! Wow. I am now grateful for everything, even when things don’t seem to go right. I’m using many different methods to change my vibration (your next book, I hope) and changing my poor-me attitude. I wake up every morning looking for the amazingly awesome things that will happen to me today.

“In this past week my house has been shown 4 times, twice in one day! Today, the realtor called me with not one, but 2 offers! The 2 buyers ended up in a bidding war. The winner (makes you think its Ebay) was happy to offer me $8.000 more than his original offer which was a little over my selling price! I’m still in shock. I walked into my 3rd floor office this morning and a feather was on the floor by my desk, which is my symbol that the universe is looking out for me. Unbelievable. My friends ask me where I’m going to live and I tell them that God will point me in the right direction. It’s nice to turn everything over to God.

“Thank you, thank you for your insightfulness and having the nerve to write down what you believe in a book for all the world to read. Superhero’s are the ones that don’t care what other people think, they do what they know is right.”

2. “First, THANK YOU. I think of you and your journey at least once a day as it has kept me “afloat” now for several years as a cheerleader of sorts. I have read and re-read all of your books regarding “placing an order” with the universe. Since I have been consciously aware of playing the game, I have enjoyed events that would seem IMPOSSIBLE to others. Straight out of the gate, I was in a movie with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler playing the violin. I had been searching and searching for an orchestra for 10 years before that point and then the door was opened to this wonderful land of miracles once I started saying YES to the signs and feelings! It’s been quite a journey since then and folks can enjoy all my manifestations via my website and IMDB pages.  Here’s Katy Harper’s website.”

3. “Thank & Grow Rich is the sunrise of my day and my manifestation is moving like a snowball downhill. Here’s the latest:

#a. At 55 I look better than ever – except I was overly focused on my upper arms – I said to myself, “Universe show me something new to tone my arms.” A few days later my girlfriend, a professional track coach world and American record holder, implored me to get involved in Master’s Track. “You’re so fit and strong. How about you try the throws?” So out we went I threw the shot put, threw the discus, and threw the javelin and I was pretty good for a beginner. One month later we had a heat wave in northern California and I confidently wore a sleeveless top in 94 degrees. Magic! Who takes up track at 55?

#b. I am about 5 weeks into training for the throws in Track and Field and have found an unbelievable 75 year old throws coach. After our first session he asked if I would mind small group and I ended working out with a 15 year old freshman phenom. It wasn’t bad but I wanted to train alone. During my T&GR time this morning I thought I really want to train alone today. Sure enough the young man never showed and I had the trainer all to myself.

#c. I’ve been acquiring throws equipment as my commitment grows but to date I haven’t bought any practice javelins as they are the most expensive piece of equipment. This morning I said, “Someone is going to give me practice javelins.” Towards the end of the training session today my coach said, “Why don’t you keep a couple of my practice javelins so you can keep working until we see each other again.” WHAT!!”

So, that’s how we roll, folks!

And thanks for whoever sent me this awesome video!!!

 

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.

Why I’m the luckiest person on the planet, Episode Can’t Keep Track

“I cannot quite embrace the gods of antiquity. Gods so petty as to feel threatened by human hubris, destroy Babel, chain Prometheus to a rock, etc. Nah. Look around: there are French cheese and wine, Mozart and Bossa Nova, love and sunsets…all ours for the taking. Surely, He/She/It loves us some.”—Vivian Allvin fullsizerender-copy

Life’s many blessings, as I often say, stalk me like Freddie Krueger. Today, for example, I got to chat with Mike Dooley about the upcoming Soulapalooza. Tomorrow, I fly to Barcelona to celebrate my daughter’s 23rd birthday. It’s the same day as Louise Hay who, if I’m not mistaken, is turning 90.

Taz is fluent in Spanish, a skill she acquired through classes and lots of practice.

So today I’d like to share a story about learning a new language, the quantum field and how we can create new realities in our lives.

The quantum field, as you know, is an infinite mashup of possibilities. The Field of Infinite Potentialities (the F.P.) contains countless waves, dancing around in countless states, countless positions, countless possibilities. Each has its own energy and frequency.

It isn’t until the waves are measured–or chosen–that they coalesce into one material reality, thus destroying the original configuration where “all is possible.” Once we decide that say, “life is hard” or that “money is limited,” we’ve collapsed that wave and lost touch with all the rest.

Physicist say we “collapse” the wave of the quantum field by observing. We observe according to our beliefs and expectations.  Once we decide to “observe” something, the rest of the possibilities (the countless superpositions) are no longer available to us.

So what does that have to do with learning a new language? When Taz walked into her first Spanish class, she was given a new name (Luisa, I think it was) and a new temporary identity. The collapsed wave of Taz (or any other student) had already mastered English.

Since Spanish is a new skill (a new superimposition), every good teacher knows to leave behind the old name, the old identity, the old learned habits.  The “new person” has access to more of the possibilities, making it much easier to learn the new language.

So today, instead of being the same person you’ve always been, know that, at any time, you could uncollapse the waves and choose a new identity, a new superposition. You could let go of all beliefs and expectations that no longer serve you. You could collapse a whole new set of beliefs and expectations. You could rehearse and become a whole new you.

As for me, my new identity is this: a joyful creator (let’s just call her Persephone) who experiences an amazing two weeks in Barcelona with her beautiful Spanish-speaking daughter. Add to that my intention (out of the bazillion superpositions) of finally posting on Instagram all my #thankandgrowrich selfies.

So for those who are wondering, the old superposition of me being a luddite is now being uncollapsed and replaced with a Instagram savvy photographer named Persephone.

Thanks you guys. I’ll try to check in while I’m away. But in the meantime, play around with a new fun superposition in your beautiful, amazing life.

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

Gratitude is my bullet-proof vest

“I wake up curious and every day I’m surprised by something. I try to recognize that surprise every day and say, “That’s a new gift that I got today that I didn’t even know about yesterday.”—Michael J. Fox 66def852a7e6954c1a78c056375b684b

I was thrilled to learn that Mike Birbiglia keeps a gratitude journal. The comedian whose recent film, “Don’t Think Twice” is getting Oscar buzz says noticing simple things, like watching his baby daughter sleep, keeps the crazy silverback gorilla in his head quiet. It allows him to stay sane.

Gratitude is like windex in the movie,  “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”—an all-purpose cure-all.

Recently, I’ve been using gratitude to rewrite stories that no longer serve me. Rather than get bogged down in what the silverback gorilla tells me, I reframe my story by using gratitude.

For example, I am so grateful that I am a sleeping superstar. I might use this affirmation if I’m plagued with insomnia. Rather than moan about the fact I can’t sleep and worry about all those “bad things” that supposedly happen when you don’t get adequate Z’s, I plant a seed of gratitude. For what’s to come. For what’s possible.

Because remember, whatever is happening now is only one superimposition in the quantum field. We can collapse that wave with our attention, turn it into a festering problem or we can remember there are a gazillion other possibilities. Possibilities that we can call in with seeds of gratitude.

We don’t ignore problems (I prefer to call them incidences with mistaken identities). We just know they’re one story out of an infinite number of stories.

Here’s a cool one that recently popped in my inbox:

“So my friends and I planned this trip to Washington DC to visit the White House and the Grand Opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Sept. We planned it in July and were just counting down the days. Well in early September we got an email saying that our White House Tour was denied! Then literally 5 minutes later another email saying since so many people were coming to the museum they were going to have to give out timed passes to enter the museum. So between the 4 of us we figured we’ll get online and call and get the passes. Well that didn’t happen and we struck out!!!

““We didn’t want to cancel the trip because we were excited to see DC and no to mention the President and former President and Oprah and everyone was going to be there for the dedication ceremony and we wanted to be a part of history so we continued on. I just knew somehow I had to see the museum while I was there. We had one day Saturday to get in!

“After the ceremony the museum opened, we asked 100’s of people if they had any extra tickets but we were still unsuccessful! We decided to go back to the hotel room and regroup and plan our way to sneak in (seriously).

“At the same time, I just continued to be grateful for going to DC and attending the ceremony. Never once did I throw a pity party for not getting “timed passes” because I just knew FP wouldn’t let me down!!!

“We get back to the room to find a Facebook message from a person with extra tickets. And to top it off she had exactly 4 tickets because her friends canceled. Can you believe it!!?? Exactly the number we needed!!! There were more than 300,000 people trying to see the inside of that museum that day. And we got in! We were a part of history all because I knew the Universe (aka FP) wouldn’t let me down on this one.

“BTW if you are ever in DC definitely put it on your to do list. It is the most spectacular museum I have ever been to!!! It is absolutely breathtaking!!! It’s 7 stories starting from slavery to Obama being President! After reading your books and seeing my ancestors in this museum I know that my ancestors did not have time to throw pity parties or feel sad they simply believed in love (and saw love in others) and that things would change… and they did!! Had they not been grateful for what they did have they would not have been given more.”

Thank you so much, Chastity!!

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

Important news flash: There is only one problem left in the world.


“Through His power and glory all your wrong decisions are undone completely, releasing you and your brothers from every imprisoning thought.” —A Course in Miracles

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This will probably come as a shock, but there is only one problem in the world today. Despite all its many wily manifestations, this one problem is the same for all of us.

It’s a problem of perception. Our perception is the ONLY thing we need to heal. If we pray for healing of the body (or money issues or relationship struggles or any of the other myriad “problems” we think we have), we only reinforce the belief that there’s a problem.

There is no problem. There is only wrong perception.

As you know if you’ve read my blog, I’m all about smooth and easy. Joy and fun. Anything else is but wrong perception, a story we made up to entertain ourselves or frighten ourselves or… heck, I don’t know why we persist in investing all our energy into solving all these problems. Why we spend so much time identifying problems and coming up with 7 steps to get rid of them.

A few years ago, I became Facebook friends with a beautiful, wise woman named Ley Love. Her story so inspired me that I asked her permission to share it with you. If you’d like to hear more from Ley (I lap up her every word with relish), she can be found at https://www.facebook.com/ley.tog/

And, as promised, here’s Ley’s story:

Twenty years ago, i was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. It had been apparent that i had suffered the problems that come with the label for all of my life. After being diagnosed with the condition, i set out to discover all there was to know about the subject, so that i could be informed about my own condition. I read countless books, read websites, pamphlets, talked to others with Bipolar, anything i could find to understand why i was the way i was. I wanted to heal and thought that information was the best way to do this.

Today, i can see that all of that reading, the years spent pouring over information that would inform me of who i was being, was totally counter-productive. In fact, all it did was to teach me more about ‘How to be Bipolar”. I noticed that as time went by, i began to develop even more of the symptoms i had been reading about and life began to become unbearable. I suffered major anxiety, deep depression, panic attacks, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, low self esteem, OCD in many many forms, Agoraphobia (I didn’t leave my house for two years), I had countless problems in all of my relationships, self harmed and had basically completely closed down and given up on life. I had no hope of ever recovering and wanted to die.

This was the ego’s story.

Today, since studying ACIM, I am symptom free of nearly every one of those problems! I am happy, healthy, in love with life extremely grateful for all that ACIM (and god of course) has done for me. My only want in life now, is to be able to share this wonderful system of healing with others. To show people that there is a way out of the seeming nightmare that life can be and to give hope that what the course in Miracles insists can happen, DOES happen! I am the living proof. 🙂

I encourage anyone that wants to exchange the nightmare for the beautiful dream, to study this course. It is truly life-changing and has saved me from the depths of the hell that i thought i was living in. You can have this too. All it takes is a little willingness to see things a different way, God will do the rest! 😉

Let love lead the way :-

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.

“Whether we love, or close our hearts to love, is a mental choice we make, every moment of every day.”—Marianne Williamson

“Observations not only disturb what is to be measured, they produce it.”
Pascual Jordan, German physicist

This is a story about a speck and infinity. Since infinity is a rather difficult concept to grasp, I’m going to use the metaphor of this familiar painting:

For the sake of argument, let’s pretend Mona Lisa here is infinity.

And here is Exhibit A. Ergo: a speck:

( . )

It should be pretty obvious, even to the untrained eye, that Da Vinci’s famous painting is a heck of a lot bigger than this itty, bitty speck.

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Notice, you practically have to strain your eyes to see it.

Yet the speck is what we have spent the last several months (and indeed most of our lives) focusing upon. The speck is the anomaly of say, this year’s political season.

While most of the world is perfectly fine (the sun’s still rising, autumn’s trees are still ablaze in brilliant colors, school crossing guards are still directing hand-holding kindergartners across the street) and 99.999999 percent of its inhabitants are safe and alive and still breathing fresh, clean air, we’ve glued our attention to this one insignificant speck.

The world we see on television–the mayhem, the violence, the unsightly bathtub scum–is but a particle, a grain, a hardly-worth-registering speck. Especially when you compare it to the size and scope of the Creator’s enterprise here. Our earth is one planet among billions of planets that form one single universe of which we’re told there are also billions.

We draw out of the magnificent Field of Infinite Potentiality a speck of seeming disaster and we staring at it like it’s a 16-plex movie cinema.

Herein, lies the challenge of our times. We animate into our lives whatever we place our attention upon.

Once something grabs our attention (a headache, a bad review, an unfortunate world event), we devote every waking moment to worrying about it, to getting the latest twitter updates. And as long as we keep looking at the speck, it will only grow.

What do you say we bring our attention back to what’s working, to beauty, to Truth.

If you can see even a tiny glimpse of goodness, of peace, of kind, well-meaning fellow humans, place your attention on that. This simple truth is what will ultimately save the world.

We draw into our lives whatever we focus upon. Isn’t it time to take our battery-powered headlamps off the speck and focus on the beauty, the depth and the Truth of Mona Lisa?

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.

The Universe and Me: a love story

“Accept but the joyous as truth.”–A Course in Miracles

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I normally share miracles from readers here on the blog. And while this story involves readers, it concerns three miracles that happened to me.

It is only my conceit that believes you might have noticed, but I have been pretty quiet on social media over the past week. I’ve been hiding, so to speak, with my tail between my legs.

Here’s what threw me off my game:

I got an email from my publisher. They were concerned about “my brand.” I don’t know that I put too much weight in matters like “my brand.” I just want to give and love as much as I humanly can. The reason for their concern, it seems, is that some of the Amazon reviews for my new book have been less than stellar.

So I did what any creator knows not to do. I read the reviews. Never mind that 74 percent of them were five stars. But there were also some “bloody awful” reviews, to quote one of the Amazon headlines.

And, even though my spiritual practice is “In my defenseless my safety lies,” I began defending myself in my mind. How dare these reviewers misunderstand me? Against self-help? Against meditating? Against sports car? Anybody who knows me knows that not only am I a self-help junkie (I practically have track marks), I meditate regularly and I am committed to not being AGAINST anything.

Except for that one tiny habit of occasionally being AGAINST myself. I let my ego have a party in my mind. It brought in all the big decorations—shame, fear, depression. Heck, it suggested, maybe I should never write again. Or even leave the house.

But then the universe, who loves me so darned much, decided to send a life boat. Three life boats in one day. In the form of very clear signs. And to me, true miracles.

First, I got an email from a speaker who told me that, using the principles of Thank and Grow Rich (moving towards what makes you come alive, turning your life over to the big mystery, relaxing and having more fun) he’d started a new business and manifested $250,000 in income. Without, as he says, selling or trying.

Then, I learn that a reader in Argentina (hi, sweet Nelly) and a reader in Germany who met through Facebook started a possibility posse. They’re texting each other their three blessings each morning. It’s step two of the 30-day experiment in the new book. How cool is that!! International posses. Affirming my belief that, together, WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

And lastly, I open my mail (my snail mail) and a beautiful woman named Kris sent me a several THOUSAND dollar tithe because my book, the “bloody awful one,” inspired her to follow her dream.

I literally jumped up and down and pumped my fist to the heavens. I kinda think the universe might have even high-fived me back.

So thank you, universe, for these very clear signs that indeed I am on the right path. And for affirming that you love me and that all I need to do is follow my joy, offer my gifts unashamedly and let you take care of the details.

Thank you, my dear friends (those who are still reading) for being such a great blessing to me. I love you all so, so very much.

P.S. The picture on this post was made by Beverley Densham, who makes Happy Kids Cards. She sent it to me (yet another sweet gift) through twitter. Here’s her website:

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.

More tales from the frontiers of magic and miracles

“I have drunken deep of joy,
And I will taste no other wine tonight.”
― Percy Bysshe Shelley joy-is-the-best-makeup-joy-quotes

Today, according to my Scrabble buddy Christine Smith, is International Buy a Priest a Beer Day, Opposite Day, Banana Day and Wonderful Weirdoes Day.

It’s also the perfect day to share a few new stories. Enjoy!

1. “I’d love to share something that happened yesterday, following my first “party game” from “Thank and Grow Rich.” It totally brightened my day.

“In the morning, I wrote on a Post-It note “Something magical is going to happen to me today” (making a little heart sign right after “today”). After work, I met up with 4 of my girlfriends: we usually meet in the city center, as we all live in different parts of the city. But yesterday, for the first time, everyone came to my neighborhood. After drinks, we decided to grab a bite to eat. I suggested the Italian restaurant near my apartment. Well, something magical did happen, which had not occurred before, in the 10 YEARS I have been going there with my boyfriend or my family. When the waiter brought us pizzas, we saw that the chef had made them heart-shaped for all of us! We were treated like queens the entire night. One of the most fun dinner experiences I have ever had!”

2. Yesterday, I wrote to Elena asking for permission to use the above story. Turns out there’s this addendum:

“I started doing one experiment a day since September 1st and I am blown away by the immediate results I’ve been getting. Aside from the amusing heart-shaped pizza (Party Game #1), I have also received some amazing financial benefits in the last week. I am a documentary filmmaker / public speaker and I routinely take my film on tour. Just this past week, two universities doubled my rate (from the original one we had discussed) and one even doubled the number of hotel nights they’re offering me (“just in case there are weather problems”). Needless to say, this has never happened before. Now every time I check my email, my heart is filled with so much joy and positive expectation, thinking “I wonder what amazing thing comes next.” Thank you for being the catalyst for such positive change in my life. Once I finish Thank and Grow Rich, I plan on starting again the party games on October 1st and doing one every day, just like I’m doing now. And then again in November… and December…

3. “I’ve been an actively manifesting since E-Squared, but have still not ‘fully surrendered’ to the fun joy ride the Universe is giving free tickets out for.

“This morning I prayed for the first time since I was 18. But this time I let go of the resistance I had towards my biblical understanding of prayer and just let it all out. I demanded help from the universe to prove to me that I didn’t need to try and control or worry about a thing.

I went for a walk on my lunch break and as I walked passed a woman I’ve never seen before in my entire life, she smiled from ear to ear, looked me in the eye, pointed to the sky and said “he’s listening, he’s really listening.”

Goosebumps and fist pumps followed as I laughed with the pure joy of the universe giving me the go ahead to let it all go and have fun.”

Thanks for sharing, my friends. Drink deep of joy this beautiful September weekend. Make it the best one of your life.

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.

“We are all quantum special effects animators.”–Robert Scheinfeld

“Man only likes to count his troubles, but he does not count his joys.”—Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Before entering the hospital room of a tuberculosis patient, visitors are required to cover their entire bodies. They even don surgical gloves and face masks.

None of us balk at this seemingly overcautious behavior. We don’t want to catch tuberculosis. It’s contagious, for goodness sake. Of course, we’d go to great lengths to avoid being exposed.

Yet, we never protect ourselves from the bad news we see on television, the horrible reports we read in the newspaper. What we see on the nightly news is nothing like what we see in our own neighborhoods. The new media presents a grossly-distorted picture, an anomaly.

And, unfortunately, that picture of “America, the Ugly” is every bit as contagious and as damaging as those tuberculosis germs.

Poet and novelist Maya Angelou went so far as to call negativity poison. She was vigilant in protecting herself from negative conversation. If she heard what she called “a poisonous comment,” she quickly said “sayonara” and didn’t feel a bit guilty about it. If anyone started in at her home, she asked them to leave.

“If you allow it (negativity) to perch in your house, in your mind, in your life, it can take you over. So when rude or cruel things are said, I say, ‘Take it all out of my house.’ Those negative words climb into the wood and into the furniture and the next thing they’ll be on my skin,” she said.

She preferred what Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians. They wrote complaining about old men who were chasing young women, about church members who refused to tithe. And he wrote back, “If there be anything of good report, speak of these things.”

Your thoughts are magic. Not one of them goes unheeded by the universe. Whatever it is you think and feel the great universal energy stands up and says, “I second it.”

Why cast your spotlight in dirty corners? Why focus on negativity?

Our thought about ourselves, about our world, about our relationships create our reality. In a landmark physics experiment, researchers who theorized that light waves were curvy found curvy light waves. And those who deduced light waves were straight as Billy Graham? They found Billy Graham-straight light waves.

Who needs a mind reader or a psychologist to dredge up an unburied unconscious? If you want to know what there’s just take a look around. It’s all right there in living color. If you see dysfunctional relationships, finances that are always a struggle, a word of snotty sales clerks, then that’s what you’re spending your time thinking about. In fact, the thoughts come first.

Change your thoughts and your focus and you can literally change your world.

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 about to be released, Thank and Grow Rich: a 30-day Experiment in Shameless Gratitude and Unabashed Joy

Why it’s only prudent to give every event in your life a five-star review

Our thoughts have the power to instantly release positive energy, or to entangle energy.”—Michele Longo-O’Donnell gratitudechangeseverything

The fifth sentence in Dr. Joe Dispenza’s book, You are the Placebo goes like this: “On a beautiful Southern California day in April, I had the privilege of being run over by an SUV in a Palm Springs triathlon.”

Say what? The privilege of being run over? That day, when he broke six vertebrae, changed his life forever. The work he’s doing now as a speaker, author and researcher would never have happened without the experiment he conducted after doctors told him his one chance of ever walking again was to have a very complicated Harrington rod surgery.

He was 23, just cocky enough to think, “I am going to heal myself. I am going to put all my conscious attention on this intelligence within me. I am going to surrender to this greater, unlimited power and allow it to heal me.”

Doctors, of course, thought he was plum nuts. But nine and a half weeks after the accident, he walked back into his life—without a body cast or surgery. Within ten weeks he was again seeing patients at his chiropractic clinic and training with weights.

No matter what happens in our lives, we have the choice of how we will interpret it. For me, it only makes sense to proclaim “This is the best thing that ever happened to me.” No matter what it is.

A treasured member of one of my power posses told two stories that perfectly illustrate this principle.

She lives on a farm, by herself, and noticed last week there were hundreds of wasps swarming her grill. Sure enough, she opened the grill and found a wasps’ nest as big as a Frisbee. At first, like any sensible person, she panicked and began pacing. But only for a short time. Only long enough to remember this important truth: “I have control over the energy I put forth into the universe and this is not what I want to emit.”

She calmly let go of her wasp dilemma and said to the universe, “Okay, this is your deal. I’m going to trust this will all work out.”

On Friday, she noticed the wasps were no longer circling. Very gingerly, she opened the grill and the Frisbee-sized wasp nest was gone. Disappeared. No longer.

That same week, her car broke down on the side of the highway. Her phone, she noticed, had two percent power left. Once again, she started to panic. But again realized, “I only want to put out clear, trusting energy.”

On a hunch, she pulled down her visor and a card fell out. She’d completely forgotten she had AAA roadside assistance. And with her 2 percent phone power, she called and patiently waited while a very slow-talking operator finally took down her details. Within 10 minutes, a tow truck showed up, delivered her car to a repair shop and took her safely to where she needed to be.

The next day her car was ready and, when she pulled out a card to pay, was told: “No charge. Your car’s still under warranty.”

“Under warranty?” she said. “My car is more than 10 years old.”

Not only that, but the tow truck driver asked her out on a date.

So I ask you? What energy do you put out when things do not appear to be working in your favor? It’s always your choice.

And lastly, I want to announce the Hay House is offering three bonuses for anyone who orders my new book before August 30. Find out how at this link:

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 about to be released, Thank and Grow Rich: a 30-day Experiment in Shameless Gratitude and Unabashed Joy