We Have the Power

"All that [one] achieves and all that [one] fails to achieve is the direct result of [one's] own thoughts." - James Allen

In moments of clarity I know that James Allen is absolutely right. Oh sure, I'm tempted now and again to play the victim...to think that life is happening randomly around me, sometimes to my liking and other times not. And maybe some problems of life we just step in, but my experience tells me that more often than not our situations in life are of our own making, and even the few that seem to be thrust upon us can be navigated more or less successfully depending on our thoughts, feelings, and choices. So, at the end of the day, we create our experiences with our thoughts.

Everything I have ever said with absolute conviction has come to pass in my life. I was determined to live in the most exciting city in the United States (New York), and I did! I said once, with absolute clarity, that by the time I was 40 I would be living in Florida. I celebrated my 40th birthday in my Fort Lauderdale condo. Those are just two instances but they remind me that when I really decide on something, that is, when I focus my attention and intention on a thing, it almost always works itself out according to my instructions!

Of course, it works in the negative as well. I was terrified of HIV. I imagined how I would react if I tested positive. I obsessed about it. Sure enough, my thought form crystalized as a postive HIV test. Now, of course one might say that I was simply exposed to a virus, that the occurance was random. And yet, I have been exposed to other viruses that did not take up residence in my body, and others have been exposed to HIV but somehow remain negative. No, I am convinced that by focusing my attention on what I didn't want I was still contributing to my sero-conversion. Let me hasten to add that I live a very healthy life and expect to live a long life. Just as I attracted HIV, I seem to be attracting the ability to live well with it. Maybe one day I summon the courage to dismiss it from my consciousness and from my body, but until then, I live life passionately and in seeming good health. It remains, at least largely, my choice.

Whether we want a thing or not is irrelevant...if we focus on a thing, the subconcious mind assumes that thing is ours and it works to attract it into our experience. Whether fear or hope, attention brings about the thing upon which it is focused.

Knowing this means that my good fortune isn't dumb luck, here today and gone tomorrow. And it also means that my difficulties aren't random injustices over which I have no power. The thoughts I think will fuel my emotions and color my interpretation of life experiences, and therefore, my thoughts in large part are creating my reality, or at least how I perceive reality. Also, my thoughts are bringing many of my life situations to me, so if I don't like what's showing up, I can change what I focus my attention on and thereby change my experience. I'm not powerless. Indeed, I'm quite powerful which is why it is important to learn how to use the power. I have often used it against myself, and I can begin to use the power more intelligently to attract more of what I what.

Will there always be challenges? Probably (especially since I have just affirmed as much...got to watch that sort thing!). But there is also the possibility that I will navigate those challenges successfully, learn from them, grow from them, and turn some of them into great blessings. There is also the possibility that I will minimize the challenges in life, and attract, create, influence, and manifest those things that will bring me comfort, joy, and fulfillment.

I have heard it said, and in my better moments I absolutely believe, that I can be, do, or have anything that I can imagine...Nothing is too big, too good, or too difficult. I can be, do, or have anything, and so can you.

I have the power. So do you. Now, what will we do with it? The choice is always ours. Let's choose wisely. Let's make a miracle or two today, shall we?