Things Could Be Worse! How This is a Good Thing

Am I the only one who’s struggled to be consistent in keeping my thoughts positive? Surely not. But I found something that is really helping and want to share. It’s The Law of Relativity!!

So what is The Law of Relativity anyway? I learned from Leslie Householder that it’s basically this: Anything that happens in life isn’t necessarily bad or good; It only seems bad or good depending on your perception when you compare it to something else.

And how could this law help you achieve your dreams? Well. The more you learn about manifesting goals, the more you recognize how important it is to keep your heart and mind in a good place. This law really comes in handy when there are challenges.

Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time….during the Christmas holidays, my entire family was sick. In fact, quite sick. Including my married daughter and her family, there were ten of us. We all had high fevers — my daughter’s got as high as 104.5 degrees. We had headaches, sore throats, terrible coughs, chills, and body aches. Yuck! It started days before Christmas and lasted until a couple days afterward. My not-so-large bedroom was strewn with sick bodies. (I shoulda taken a picture of that one!) There were a couple of us in the bed, some on chairs, and others lying on the floor with blankets. No one could eat, and we were trying so hard to stay hydrated to avoid any emergency room visits. Our starry-eyed plans of making gingerbread houses, decorating cookies, and singing Christmas carols were buried in the wastebaskets of tissue paper, Gatorade bottles, and cough drops.

Thankfully, I had just been introduced to the Laws of Thought and was actually able to recall this one in the middle of it all!

As I lay in bed I had an interesting thought come to me. I actually imagined some of my ancestors who crossed the plains into Salt Lake City during the winter. They had to keep moving every day whether they were sick or well. All at once I could see myself in their situation feeling as sick as I did. How could I possibly have kept moving? And yet here I was in a comfortable bed with warm blankets, with a heater, running water, a bathroom, and chicken soup. My son-in-law was the only one that wasn’t sick, and he cheerfully waited on every one of us! My two little grandkids were delightful through the whole ordeal, and they kept our spirits up. And finally, our strain of flu was viral rather than bacterial. Why would this matter? Well, my understanding is that a bacterial infection will leave a person feeling down and depressed. Apparently a viral infection won’t affect you in the same way. I can say with certainty that we all were a mess physically, but emotionally we were pleasant the whole time.

Recognizing how much worse it could have been filled me with a tremendous amount of gratitude, which raised my vibration. Honestly…we made some really good memories in spite of the challenges, and we all grew closer as a family. The Law of Relativity was truly instrumental in making a difficult situation much more positive!

Are you ready to align yourself with the Laws of Thought? I can help.

Changing Our Thoughts to Change Our Lives

There I was minding my own business when a text came through from a frantic customer. “I just got a note that my auto-ship was processed to my card. Is there a way that you can get it cancelled and refunded? I just can’t afford it right now. I need to cancel my auto-ship and be refunded for this month. I just absolutely can’t afford that this month. I can barely make ends meet.”

What followed was a major adrenaline rush for me. This was a customer that I cared about, and a friendship I didn’t want to lose over an auto-ship! I was certain I had given her all the details from the beginning, so I knew I hadn’t messed up. But it sure felt like I was supposed to fix it.

I realized that if fear was dictating my feelings and thoughts, things would only escalate. If I was full of anxiety, it would come out through my text, I might come across as defensive, and the situation could get a lot worse. I remembered that if I were in a place of peace I could communicate more clearly. Thankfully, I knew what I needed to do. I had to “re-write” my story.

I quickly sat down in my chair, closed my eyes, and I visualized receiving a very kind, calm text back from my friend. I imagined reading that she remembered our former discussion with full disclosure, and that our conversation ended well. I asked myself how I would feel to receive a positive text like that, and a feeling of relief washed over me. Gratitude came next, and my stress melted away. (Phew!)

Moments later I received a text saying she was working things out with the company and that she realized she should have taken care of it sooner. Words between us ended on a good note, and I was so grateful!

Have you ever experienced something like this? Have you seen how your emotional state affects others? Maybe a child was frantic, and you calmly talked to them and they settled down? Or you were running late for something that really mattered, and you were super high strung. In that stressed out moment you almost single-handedly destroyed every relationship in your family as you turned their calm upside down with your negative energy?

Every emotion we feel can be felt by others. When we feel love toward someone, we allow them to feel safe and calm. When we feel anger toward someone, everyone around us would prefer to stay away until it’s passed. (As far away as possible!) When we’re stressed, everyone in the room feels it.

The reason we can feel other people’s emotions is because they carry a frequency or vibration with them. When someone’s emotional energy is low, it’s difficult to solve problems because creativity doesn’t exist there.

If we need inspiration to answer a question or to innovate, we have to raise that energy.

I learned from Leslie Householder that this is the Law of Vibration. If we just learn to change our thoughts and add emotion, we can change what we are attracting.

When we change our thoughts to be more positive and at peace, we speak differently. We hold our body differently. We come across differently. Therefore, people respond to us differently and in a more positive way. Changing our thoughts, thereby changing our vibration, can completely change our lives! (And who doesn’t want a positive change?)

To learn more about the Laws of Thought to change YOUR life, see how we can do it together.

Heavens to Betsie: A True Heroine

Have you ever met a character in a book or movie (fictional or historical) that seemed like an old friend? I have. Many times. And it seems like when I have, there is so much to be learned from them. Maybe we feel like we know them because we have similar traits. Maybe they remind us of someone. Actually…maybe they remind us of who we really are and inspire us to become that better version of ourselves.

Have you ever heard of “standing on the shoulder of giants?” This is how I view some of the people who I admire.

Are you with me? Let me explain a little.

A giant to me is someone who has characteristics that I admire…physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and such. If I can learn from the lessons they’ve learned and the wisdom they have gained, I can pick up where they left off — or stand on their shoulders — and continue to progress.

So now I want to introduce you to one of my “giants.” She feels like a dear and personal friend, and if I can get to the end of my life and resemble her in any way, I will be content.

Her name is Betsie Ten Boom.

Have you ever read The Hiding Place? It’s my all-time favorite book! It is an amazing and true story from World War II, told by Betsie’s sister, Corrie. Most people I have talked to have connected more with Corrie than with Betsie, and that’s okay. But Betsie is my hero.

Without giving away too much of the story (because I hope you will go and read it), I’ll just mention a couple things I have learned from Betsie.

The Power of Peace

In a world that often points out that the sky is falling, it’s easy to get caught up in fear, frustration, anxiety, negativity, and blame. We’ve all seen it. We’ve even been pulled in to it. But it’s not a pleasant place. Certainly one we wouldn’t want to stick around in.

Betsie was right in the middle of a time when the sky really was falling. But I LOVE how she dealt with it!

One time Corrie saw some pretty scary things in a dream about the family’s future. When she shared it with her sister, Betsie said, “…if God has shown us bad times ahead, it’s enough for me that He knows about them. That’s why He sometimes shows us things, you know — to tell us that this, too, is in His hands.”

Was she amazing or what? I love this woman! When the evidence around her pointed to disaster, she chose to trust God and to think positively. She really did handle some tough situations without freaking out.

Except maybe once. One time the radio announcer was screaming (interrupting her peaceful heart), and she almost threw herself at the radio to turn it off!

People Matter

I have a written vision statement that includes that I remember people’s names and important details of their lives. My vision statement is about what I am creating – not necessarily what I have already achieved. Just sayin’.

BUT…It is actually very important to me that others feel like they truly have a friend when they’re around me. So I will keep working on this one!

Betsie, on the other hand, always made people feel like she cared. She went out of her way to remember people’s names and the details of their lives. (Maybe Betsie had to work at this too! *hopeful smile*) She would ask after their hopes and dreams and offer strength when there was sadness.

Now here’s something else cool that Betsie did. She always kept a pot of soup on the stove! Why? In case an unexpected visitor showed up! That way she had something to offer them to make them feel welcome.

I need to work on this one too! Peanut butter and jelly anyone?

It’s Okay to Be Different

I think we all recognize prejudice and intolerance in our society. I don’t think it only exists on one side or the other. It shows up with the rich and the poor, women and men, religious and non-religious, political and non-political, and so on.

I grew up in the South and I could never understand why the whole world couldn’t love each other simply because we are all humans sharing the same planet. Being different is okay.

So what about Betsie? Here ya have a Christian lady in her fifties, never been married, and no kids. She could have been pretty set in her ways, but she was tremendously loving toward others.

One instance was during the Christmas season. While hiding Jews, (this isn’t a spoiler – the description on Amazon kinda says this) Betsie wanted them to feel welcome and at home. So she gathered some candles and joined with them to celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah! She embraced the differences and respected their beliefs. Love it!

A Forgiving Heart

When someone legitimately does something to hurt us…not just a little offense but a huge one…it can be excruciating to forgive. Actually – the little ones can be tough too.

But this is one of the things that blew me away about Betsie. Even though she had really BIG hurts and had every reason to be angry and hold grudges, she didn’t. Just two quick examples.

After Betsie was beaten by a soldier, Corrie was pretty worried about her. Betsie’s response to Corrie’s concern was this: “Yes. I feel so sorry for him.”

Is that just crazy!? She’s didn’t even acknowledge the pain she went through. Instead, Betsie was worried about the soldier and the state of his soul. She’s such an example to me!

During their time in the camp, Betsie and Corrie were terribly treated by some of the female guards. One was particularly awful, and the two sisters saw her differently. Corrie “glanced at the matron seated at the desk… [seated in] a gray uniform and visored hat;…[but Betsie] saw a wounded human being.”

Betsie was forgiving, and instead of seeing the aggressors as her enemy, she saw the pain and suffering they must have gone through to treat people that way. She sure gives me a lot to ponder.

Thankful in All Things

This lesson from Betsie is one of my favorites because I’ve been experimenting with it myself. It’s been a really fun process (let us emphasize the word process), but I have already seen some wonderful things happen when I choose gratitude when things aren’t going like I planned.

Betsie and Corrie were sent to one of the worst quarters of the concentration camp, and it was absolutely infested with fleas! Corrie was really upset about it. Betsie immediately turned to God in prayer and asked for help to handle the fleas. The thought that came to her mind was to revisit their Bible reading from that morning. It said, “in everything give thanks.” So after she and Corrie thanked God for being together, for not having their Bible taken away, and for their close quarters where more women could hear God’s word, Betsie thanked God for the fleas. Corrie was at her wit’s end and thought Betsie was nuts.

But…not too many days passed before Betsie got to share why those fleas were a blessing. She overheard one of the guards who refused to come into their quarters because of the nasty fleas! The fleas were the very reason the guards left them alone, which allowed them to offer hope to the others through Bible study.

Heavens to Betsie

So there it is. Peace. Kindness. Tolerance. Forgiveness. Gratitude. So much wisdom from Betsie.

She was truly a woman worth emulating, and I am grateful for her life.

Even from Heaven she is still touching lives. So you gotta read the book. It’s amazing! And we can all learn something from her. Don’t you think the world could use more Betsies?

Are you ready for some support to find the kind of peace Betsie had? I would love to help.

How Do I REALLY Make it Happen? Just Focus!

“You have seventeen seconds of holding a thought, good or bad, before the Universe sets things in motion to bring it about.”

That seemed a little odd to me when I heard it at a recent seminar. Ya know – I really don’t know a thing about the exact time frame, but I do believe that our thoughts cause the momentum.

Our goals are constantly moving in and out of existence depending on the thoughts we choose. That makes sense, right? I mean, if I decide to write a book, I can do it. It goes like this: I consider the topics I want to include, and then I write it down. This brainstorming creates the beginnings of the goal, and I begin to move toward it. But if one of my friends tells me my writing stinks, and I choose to believe her, my dream just kinda fizzles. As soon as I give up on the idea, the goal stops moving toward me. Now the cool thing is that if I ignore my friend’s less-than-encouraging feedback and keep focusing on the end goal, the goal will continue to gather in my behalf.

I learned this law from Leslie Householder. It’s called The Law of Perpetual Transmutation, which states, “that everything is either coming into physical form or going out of it.” Isn’t that awesome? We can be sure that if we set our goal the right way, all the components are moving from a state of thought into a state of physical being.

This law makes a lot more sense to me when I imagine looking through a camera lens as it moves in and out of focus. The more positive thoughts I have toward a goal, the clearer the picture becomes. But as soon as doubt and fear creep in, the picture starts becoming blurry and out of focus.

I recently set a really tough goal with a serious deadline. I wanted ten new customers in just over two weeks. The problem? I had a bunch of things that came up that I couldn’t bypass. To make matters worse, they were scheduled right in the middle of the time set aside to accomplish my goal.

Believe it or not, it was The Law of Perpetual Transmutation that helped me think I could still make it happen. Why? Well, even though I couldn’t work on my goal, I imagined that it was still moving into existence. I simply chose to believe.

Let me explain.

The deadline for my goal came at midnight on the last day of the month. I saw no evidence that I would accomplish my goal until the very end, and all of a sudden I was on the phone the entire day. By 6:30. p.m. I had eight new customers, and I was super excited.

But….dum dum dum…we got a phone call and my husband and I were given an assignment to attend a mandatory meeting that night! By the time we took off and came back from the meeting, I had lost three hours! Who wants to talk business at 9:30 at night? Blah. By this point there really wasn’t enough time for me to compete my goal.

What did I do? I chose to believe my goal was still going to manifest itself. And guess what? It did! The right person to contact came to my mind. And another little burst of inspiration came at the last minute. Even with all the unintended breaks, I got all ten customers before midnight! It was amazing!

So long as we envision our dream with clarity and continue to believe it’s coming into focus, it’s going to show up. For real. Just trust the process!

Need some extra support to hold onto YOUR goals? I’m here to help.

Gratitude: A Secret Weapon

“When gratitude becomes your default setting, life changes.”

I found this on a meme the other day, written by Nancy Leigh Demoss. I took a picture of it, thought about it, set it aside, and promptly forgot about it.

BUT…a day or so later Life happened.

Someone said something that threw me into a bit of a tailspin. They didn’t do anything wrong. There was nothing for us discuss to work it out. I just got hooked by the insecurity fishing pole, and I was ridiculous enough to take the bait. It was never about them. Just me. (Shocker.)

Getting Back on Track

Well, I cleverly invented a necessary trip to the store in order to find some time to sort things out. I thought about it and tried to convince myself that the words were unintentional. I tried to logic my way through it. My time was running out…and I didn’t feel any better.

I prayed. I tried to get mad at the devil for messing with me. I was failing. And I was almost home.

Inspiration

Then I had a flashback. I remembered the “thankful”meme. I wanted my life to change in that moment. Could gratitude work for me?

I began to name things off. I’m grateful for my family; for the mountains; for my God; for my health; for my children…and so forth. And then my gratitude for the one I felt insecure about came up.

Understand…this is someone I love. So I made my thankful list pertaining to this person, and it grew longer and longer and longer.

It Worked!

This did change everything! I was no longer thinking of myself. I was thinking about how much I loved this individual and how grateful to have this association. In that very moment the insecurity left; I felt at peace again; and all was right in the world.

I’m learning that living in a place of gratitude will affect far more than feelings of insecurity. I’m actually looking forward to using this “secret weapon” in many situations and to work on making it my own default.

Will you try it?

What experiences have you had with gratitude? I’d love to hear them below.

Are you ready to learn more about the power of gratitude in your life? I’d love to help.