Ask and It Is Given

That’s the best definition of The Law of Attraction I’ve read.

(Like I said, this book is pretty much The Bible for The Law of Attraction. :)

In the book, Esther and Jerry compare The Law of Attraction to tuning a radio. You want to listen to something on 102.7FM? You don’t expect to hear it if your radio’s set to 98.7 do you? Of course not. The radio waves of one frequency can only be received by a matching tuner, right?

Same thing in the “real” world.

If you want to receive love and abundance in your life, you need to set your tuner to the same vibrational frequency as love and abundance, no?

To put it bluntly: If you’re a jerk, do you expect to receive an overwhelming abundance of love in your life? It’s IMPOSSIBLE. You’re putting out all kinds of “jerk” energy and that’s pretty much what you’ll get back.

I can see it in my own life and I’m sure you can, too. Let’s take the most mundane example: I’m calling customer service for something. Now, I can be an impatient, angry jerk and guess what? If the conversation is long enough, typically even the nicest customer service agent will respond in kind.

On the other hand, I can think about how grateful I am that I live in a world that even allows me to have the “problem” for which I’m seeking support and call with an energy of gratitude and eagerness to light this person’s day up. What happens? I have a great little exchange with the agent and we both get off the phone with a smile.

Why is that?

Esther and Jerry would tell you it’s The Law of Attraction. You’re going to get back what you put out. “That which is like unto itself is drawn.”

I would definitely agree. So pick your radio station consciously (love songs, perhaps ;), and make sure you’ve got yourself tuned in to hear the wonderful music.

I love this.

It’s a twist on the classic psychological idea that where we put our locus of control. You’ve probably heard it before. Perhaps many times. Simply, in any given moment, we can choose to be creators of our reality or passive observers/victims of our reality.

You can pretty much determine, scientifically, whether someone is consistently happy or not based on where they put control.

If you put control outside of yourself (external locus of control)—meaning you blame a bad economy or bad relationship or someone’s bad breath for all your problems, then guess what? You’re going to go up and down with the circumstances of your world: economy is good… you’re good (or at least better); relationship is good… you’re good. Turn it around and eek! There you go. Your life sucks.

As Esther and Jerry say: “… the better it gets, the better it gets; or the worse it gets, the worse it gets.”

Now, juxtapose that with a creator, a visionary, someone who realizes they can choose how they will look at the world and how they will interpret every event (internal locus of control). They are independent of the ups and downs of their outside world and, you guessed it: they’re much (!!) more consistently happy.

As Esther and Jerry say: “One who is a visionary thrives in all times.”

How about you?

Where’s your locus of control?

The book is all about empowering you to step into your role as a conscious creator of your reality. It’s an incredibly powerful thing to do.

* nudges you *

What are you waiting for? :)

That’s really cool.

A big theme of the book is the fact that our feelings are a wonderful guidance system to check in and see how closely aligned we are to Source Energy (or Spirit, the Tao, God, whatever you call it!).

Are you depressed and feeling hopeless?

Um… That’s a pretty good (actually, make that a definitive) indicator that your “Source Energy tank is on empty” and you need to fill up with some more positive thoughts to get yourself more closely aligned with source!

You feeling overflowing enthusiasm for life, a joyful desire to create and to serve??!?

BINGO!!! That, my friends, is the perfect indicator you are aligned. Your tank is full. You’re ready for a great trip with nothing to worry about! GOD is in the house. (Literally, actually. Did you know the word “enthusiasm” comes from the two little Greek words en and theos? “Enthusiasm” literally means “God within.” How cool is that?!?! :)

Alright.

All that’s exciting. But here’s the most powerful part.

Just as you’d never criticize your fuel gauge for telling you that you’re running low on gas, don’t (ever!) criticize yourself and your emotions for telling you that you’re currently running low on good thoughts and Source Energy!

Again, you’d NEVER get upset at your fuel gauge when you see it close to “E.” You’d simply pull over to the nearest gas station and fill up with some gas, right?

OK.

So, how about this: The next time you’re feeling depressed/stressed/angry take a look at your “fuel gauge,” notice that you’re running a little low on “Source Energy,” feel as much gratitude as you can possibly muster (!!!!), and pull over to the next gas station—whether that’s doing some affirmations, going for a run or hike, playing with your baby, doing some volunteer work, dancing to your favorite song, meditating, thinking of all of the things you’re grateful for, doing a random act of anonymous kindness… whatever your “gas station” is, fill up with Source Energy and you’ll be back on the road in no time!!!!! :)

Fun.

(And, a friendly reminder, this is DEFINITELY all (yes, ALL!) supposed to be FUN. (ALL CAPS. :)

So smile, dance, and enjoy this precious life of yours! (I commit to doing the same. In fact, time for a little jumping on my rebounder to my favorite song. That always makes me laugh like a little kid. (Good sign I’ve got a full-tank, of course, eh? :)

OK. I’m back. That was fun. Tank is full. Let’s rock.

I love that. Quick question for you: What do you want?

Seriously.

Stop reading this and get out your favorite journal (you do have one, right? and you’re using it often, right?). Turn to a fresh page. At the top of the page write “Things I want:” and then create a nice little (or big!) list of everything you can currently think of that you’d like to be, you’d like to do, and you’d like to have.

I’ll wait. :)

…

You do it? Good!

Asking ourselves what we want is probably the most important thing we can possibly do for ourselves—whether it’s about big life visions/goals or in-the-moment stuff.

For example, let’s imagine you’re in an argument with your significant other (or colleague or friend or whatever). I know, it never happens to me either but let’s pretend. :)

Now, you’re in this argument. In the middle of it, take a deep breath and ask yourself, “What do I want right now.”

My hunch is the answer is NOT, “I want to argue!!!” Odds are it’s more likely, “I want so and so to understand why I care so much about this issue;” or, “I want this argument to end and I want to show up as the highest version of myself I’m committed to being!”

Ahhh… THAT’s what you really want. And, knowing that, you can create it!

OK. How about this? You’re stressed/overwhelmed with your work. Eek. Pause. Take a deep breath. Ask yourself, “What do I want?” NOT, for the record, “How am I going to get it done?” but “What do I want?”

Something magical happens when you ask yourself that simple question. When you’re really clear on the “What” the “How” seems to take care of itself! Try it out. And… one more question: What do you want? :)

Which leads us to the next important point of this whole Law of Attraction business:

Wow. I love that.

If you don’t believe Esther and Jerry, how about Emerson (see Notes)? “There’s nothing capricious in nature, and the implanting of a desire indicates that its gratification is in the constitution of the creature that feels it.”

If you want to read those a couple more times, that’s cool. I’ll just wait here till you’re ready to go on. :)

So, if you’re taking notes, it goes something like this:

1. Get clear on what you want.
2. Know that you wouldn’t have the desire if you/the Universe didn’t have the ability to bring it to life.
3. Joyously and enthusiastically do the next little thing in front of you.

—> Diligently, patently, persistently follow 1-3, and you’re bound to be successful!

That’s beautiful.

Appreciation. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to feel stressed/depressed/etc. when you are appreciating someone or something in your life. How could you? Your tank is full of Source Energy. OK. So, knowing this, what can we do to live with more appreciation—thereby more consistently tapping into and flowing with Source Energy?!?

This concept is so important that Gay and Katie Hendricks—two of my favorite people and the living embodiment of conscious relationships—actually teach people how to give and receive appreciation in their wonderful “Conscious Living and Loving Workshops.” They base their teaching on the scientific findings that the happiest marriages are those that have a ratio of 5 appreciations/positive interactions to 1 criticism/negative interactions.

The idea is simple: LEARN to appreciate more and your happiness will skyrocket!

Try it out. ACTIVELY work on appreciating people in your life today. Look for all the wonderful things you can appreciate about your spouse, your children, your boss, your colleagues, the cashier at the grocery store, the Fed-Ex guy. EVERYONE. And share your appreciations.

And get ready for a perma-grin because as you get good at appreciating everyone and everything, in your life and you’ll be riding a wave of Source Energy for a long, long time. :)

Recognizing that we all need tools to keep that perma-grin perma, Esther & Jerry offer 22 Processes to keep us connected. In fact, over half (!) the book focuses on specific things we can do and exercises we can engage in to keep our mojo flowing.

Me likes. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Remember our discussion about our new jobs? You know: the one where we’re supposed to be asking ourselves “What do I want?!” full-time?

Think of Segment Intending as moment-to-moment (or segment-to-segment) opportunities to ask yourself what you want to create.

Imagine a day in which you consciously intend each segment.

Let’s say it starts with your head on the pillow. You’re getting ready to go to sleep (and enter that segment of your day). As you lie there you set your intention for restful slumber. When you open your beautiful eyes in the morning, you’re entering a new segment and you can set your intention for that time: (“While I’m lying here, I’m imagining my ideal day and getting excited to live with joy and create joy in those I’m blessed to be with today!”)

Then you move into the next segment of your day as you brush your teeth, shower, meditate, get ready to go to the gym or whatever it is you do. Set the intention of doing these things efficiently and with joy.

You can imagine all the moments of your day—from driving to work to settling in at your desk to making dinner or going grocery shopping, playing with your kids, talking with you significant other, and training at the gym. Every single one of these segments gives us another opportunity to practice being powerful, Deliberate Creators of our reality.

Without a doubt, I am most powerful when I am engaged in this Process.

My intention for this segment of my life as I write these words? To bring a smile to your face while you play with ideas that can inspire and empower you to live with more and more happiness and joy! And, to encourage you to re-read Ask and It Is Given if it’s an old favorite or to go out and get yourself a copy if you’re feelin’ it!

“You can literally script any life that you desire, and the Universe will deliver to you the people, the places, and events just as you decide them to be. For you are a creator of your own experience—you have only to decide it and allow it to be.”

Alright: you’re a scriptwriter for your life. Imagine you can write the precise script of your life. Playfully (key word) pick up a pen, grab your journal, and start writing!

Who would you be? What would you do? What would you have? Dream. Play. Create!

As Esther and Jerry say, this is a fantastic way to focus the lens of your desire while you remain light and playful and simply feel the joy of living your ideal life—bringing you one step closer to actually experiencing that joy in your life!