What Are the Differences Between Soul Needs and Ego Needs?

We are souls in physical form and we have an ego that is meant to serve us in specific ways. Frustration happens when we get their needs confused (or ignore them) rather than have them work together.

Let's look at some ways to differentiate between ego needs and soul needs.

Ego serves us in ways that move us to take actions in our daily lives, actions meant to keep us alive and, ego hopes, thriving. Ego seeks to feel a certain way, often motivated by material and external demands that originate outside of or aside from our soul desires, and this need leads to good choices and not so good ones. It follows logic, and more often than not its own brand of logic that desires to avoid pain or discomfort at all times and at all costs, rather than conferring with our emotional heart. Ego speaks to us in ways like, "This has got to change! Now!" From ego, we may sometimes be forceful in striving for and achieving our aims. Ego does not always act from conscience: it wants what it wants when it wants it.

Soul does not respond to force. It recognizes that painful or unpleasant emotions are facets of all we are capable of feeling, like needed colors in a rainbow or the largest box of crayons. Soul knows we are always in flow at that higher level, that our experiences have specific and significant purposes for us; and its aim is for us to thrive as whole beings (body, mind, and spirit) within the bigger picture of life. It asks us to pay attention to everything we think, feel, say, and do or don't do. It asks us to seek what fulfillment means for us in all things and to listen to what our emotional heart tells us. Soul speaks to us through our emotional heart using intuition and positive and negative feelings. Negative feelings are as much a part of our soul-self's communication system as positive feelings are. Soul always acts from conscience and conscious awareness, and nudges us to strive to do the same.

Mainstream dissuades us from remembering that our emotional heart is another form of intelligence we possess (in fact, our truest form), one that knows us intimately, because it is us; whereas logic focuses on what the (usually fearful) ego wants. Ego wants to fill any void with whatever it believes will make it feel good or better as quickly as possible. Soul wants us to empty out what no longer belongs inside us (to heal our wounded selves) and to feel our way to what it is that truly needs to occupy that space that will allow us to express and be our true selves. What fills our ego’s needs may not fill our soul’s needs. What fills our soul’s needs eventually and inevitably takes care of our ego’s needs, most especially by calming them.

Ego believes power comes from winning, from creating and having positive experiences. Soul knows the Truth of our personal power and its true Source, and seeks to integrate our inner and outer power through learned wisdom into a desired collaboration between soul and ego as a way of life. Soul knows nothing is truly ever lacking (only a belief in lack or believing we deserve it gives lack “life”), and it strives to remind us of this through sadness, frustration, depression, serenity, and joyful appreciation . . . so that we seek the Truth and live from it.

Ego says, "Get rid of any negative feeling immediately." Soul says, "Be with your feelings in a gentle way so you can get quiet and hear my message." Ego pushes us to look outside ourselves to define who we are. Soul asks us to know ourselves and to fearlessly reveal who we are to others through our words and actions, our talents and abilities, our visions and goals. Ego says, "I don't love who I am, so I have to pretend to be what I believe will be acceptable." Soul says, "No pretense ever lasts. Be who you are and who you came here to be. Love yourself just as you are now and are becoming." Ego says, "Fake it till you make it." Soul says, "Start where you are and evolve and expand deliberately with unafraid honesty and integrity."

Ego wants emptiness filled in a hurry because it cannot tolerate it; it is disquieted by the unknown. Soul is not concerned with the unknown; it trusts Source and has the spirit of adventure and discovery. Soul knows that the fastest way to fill perceived emptiness is to allow emptiness, to surrender the ego’s needs about this when emptiness shows up, and appreciate whatever value, guidance, and inspiration it presents. Perceived emptiness is like dark matter in space: we can’t see it but it has its function or purpose for being there. Your soul knows that appreciation of what-is is always responded to with more to appreciate. Balance of soul and ego happens when we align our inner perspective with ego's ability to take action that's in our best interest and for our highest evolution as we take next steps on our personal path.

Explore how you can create collaboration and alignment between your ego and soul, with thriving and flourishing on all levels as their common goal for you, and see what gets created in you and your life from this. It’s a good practice, one you’ll appreciate.      

           

Practice makes progress.

© Joyce Shafer

The Uncomfortable Law of Attraction Truth

Has your experience of using the Law of Attraction felt challenging or impossible? Maybe one particularly important truth hasn’t been clearly understood.

When you first learned about Law of Attraction, perhaps you felt excited about what this could mean for you, and you just had to know more. Then the bloom kind of left the rose when you learned that you’re already using it, because it’s a law of the Universe, like gravity is a law on our planet.

Perhaps your original hope was that you’d learn tools or tricks; in other words, you’d learn how to easily use this Law to easily change your life. Perhaps you didn’t expect that to use the Law deliberately in your favor, you’d have to change, as well; and that was uncomfortable for you. It may have felt uncomfortable to learn that if you observed your experiences and linked them to your feeling-based thoughts, past or present, and your thoughts to specific and even seemingly unrelated events, you’d see how you use Law of Attraction all the time, how you affect your experiences all the time.

Maybe you felt or feel about this as you do a car: you just want to drive it, not understand the mechanics of how and why it works. In some respects about this, you are completely right: you can know how it works or not—it will still work, but you BELIEVE a car will work… as long as everything required is in place. Everything IS in place regarding Law of Attraction, except, perhaps, your willingness to adjust in ways that make it work in your favor.

Earl Nightengale said, “You become (and get) what you think about most of the time.” Ernest Holmes wrote, “If man takes his images of thought only from his previous experiences, then he continues in the bondage which those previous experiences create. If we talk about discord, we shall become more discordant…. People who spend all their time talking about their unhappiness become more unhappy.” What do you think about, or how do your feeling-based thoughts run… most of the time?

It may seem too simplistic that how we use our thoughts and feelings—most especially how we feel—has this much bearing on our results and experiences, but they do. It’s a vital part of the Law, like gravity. However, large jets can fly. They defy gravity through the law of lift. You can defy the gravity of how you feel by choosing to lift how you feel, to feel even just a little better, until you can connect with or allow yourself to feel good or really good. This is so important for you to get, because like always attracts like. Always.

Let’s say there’s something you want. You can’t desire something AND doubt it can or will be yours. You also cannot focus on its absence, because… like always attracts like.

One LOA approach would be to complain to others and think, most of the time, about how and why what you want isn’t happening. This is the vibrational frequency you transmit and that gets matched. As it continues to not happen, your feeling-based thoughts increase in intensity and frequency. You dwell on this as though obsessed. Your wanting something but not allowing it, which is what this approach does, gets matched to the vibration of not allowing, and what you want stays just out of your reach.

The other approach would be to hold feelings of appreciation for what you have now and how good you’ll feel when you get what you desire, but feeling as much of that right now as you can, and expanding this feeling. You hold the thought, “I don’t know when or how it’ll happen; I only know it or something even better will.” Every day and often during the day, you hold this thought and the good or even-better feeling. The vibrational energy of that feeling is transmitted by you, picked up by the creative field and others, and gets matched, which pulls an experience to you… that matches the desired FEELING you’ve transmitted. This is why sometimes results are even better than you asked for.

Abraham-Hicks said, “…come to understand [that] to the degree you feel blessed and expect good things to flow to you, this indicates the level of your state of allowing; and to the degree that you do not feel blessed, where you do not expect good things to come to you, this indicates your degree of resistance.” Blessed, here, means you understand that nothing in your favor is ever withheld from you unless you hold it back from coming to you.

This is important: Your desire and your belief that you will receive your desire must match vibrationally. If your belief is lower, you need to look at this and ask what might have to happen to have them be equal. Maybe you need to work towards your desire in steps or stages because you find that your belief about accomplishing or receiving the first step or stage is more aligned than focusing on the end result. So, either adjust your desire or adjust your belief, initially, and look for what it takes within you to increase your belief. But, they must match.

In the second LOA approach described above, there’s a clear desire based on how you wish or choose to feel (really good, and always, ultimately what you really want anyway); belief it will happen (you have no doubt nor are you focused on the present, temporary absence of what you want); you aren’t struggling with how it will happen or contriving ways to make it happen; and you aren’t concerned about when it will happen. This puts the how and the when in the hands of the Universe, where it is anyway. What the Universe wants to feel from you is your Why. Why do you want what you say you do? You could travel through layers and layers of whys, but the final one is always about how you want to feel. Law of Attraction is clear: feel as much of that feeling as you can right now. If and when action is required on your part, you’ll know; and you’ll feel good or aligned about taking it.

Making these changes in yourself and your approach doesn’t have to be hard work. But, how easy is it for you right now to use your thoughts and feelings as described in the second LOA approach? Any time you learn a new skill, it takes consistent practice—practice doing it the right way—for it to become second nature for you. You can’t cross the finish line without first running the race, so to speak. You can’t be a master at this unless you first learn what this requires of you and put it into consistent practice.

One of the most important things to keep in mind is that you are a transmitter of your own vibrations, as well as a receiver. Every single one of your 10,000-a-day thoughts is a vibration received by the creative field and others, and gets matched in some way and in some measure. Your predominant attitude is your dominant vibration. Like attracts like; always. If you criticize or worry, you get more reasons to be critical or worried sent your way. If you appreciate, especially deeply, and especially if you relax your energy and release attachments to how and when—while allowing that if what you want is in your highest good, it’s yours and will show up on time—you get more to appreciate sent to you. It’s the Law; and it’s always at work in your life.

It’s, likely, not the truth of the Law that’s uncomfortable, but the truth of what you need to change within that is… not that others have to change, not that the economy has to change… but how your use of your own thoughts and feelings as integral creative contributors to your experiences have to change—that is, have to align with the feeling you want. Give it time and consistent practice. You will improve. And, you’ll be learning even more, for as long as you live. Law of Attraction is not a tool; it’s a way of life.

Practice makes progress.
© Joyce Shafer

Two Ways We Contradict Law of Attraction

Law of Attraction is always at work, but we often contradict its ability to assist us the way we’d prefer. Here are two ways we do this and what we can do about it.

Ernest Holmes had this to day about laws of physics, Law of Attraction, and similar means: “We do not create laws and principles, but discover and make use of them. Let us accept this position relative to the laws of Mind and Spirit and see what we can do with them, rather than how we may contradict their existence.” Without realizing it, we contradict their existence by Omission and Commission.

Omission

Most of us are not exposed to the laws of Mind and Spirit until long after we’ve been conditioned by and into the general mindset. That is, we are indoctrinated into beliefs about what reality is from the Mind of Man perspective instead of Mind of Spirit. The general mindset does not consider such laws and principles part of what constitutes reality. We may not be conscious of them, but they are, by their natures, subject to our thoughts. This is why it’s such a challenge to experience them fully, in the ways we desire that is, even after we know about them. Even once we know about them, we don’t, or we irregularly, put them into practice.

Commission

Whether we know about these laws and principles or not, thinking the same negative thoughts over and over will eventually, or more often than we’d like, cause what we think about to show up as our experience. Or, one thought with a huge emotional surge attached to it can have the same result. This works the same for positive thoughts. It is commission to choose negative thoughts over positive ones. This suggestion may seem simplistic, but it works: if a negative thought pops up—or I should say when—say, “Cancel, cancel;” then think the thought you truly want to have and hold, one that doesn’t infringe on anyone, and contributes to the highest good of all involved.

It’s imperative to keep in mind how what you keep in your mind influences how you use Law of Attraction, deliberately or not. Consider the words of two great men of the last century. Earl Nightengale wrote that the strangest secret is, “You become what you think about most of the time.” You can also swap the word become for get. Napoleon Hill said this about the Law of Success: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and bring itself to believe, it can achieve.” The thing to realize about Hill’s statement is that we may assign only one meaning to the word achieve. Let’s reword his statement, without altering its meaning, and see what happens: Whatever the mind of man can imagine (think), either positive or negative, and convince itself to believe (consider as a fact rather than an opinion or hold as a belief despite what the truth might really be), it can pull into the person’s life as an experience or make happen. Law of Attraction, subject to our thoughts, is always at work.

Energy and Attitude

It’ll help you to understand something about energy. This brief and simple explanation isn’t a judgment about higher or lower, just an example.

Say your metaphysical energy is on the slow side (Mindset of Man). It may take months or years for the result of a thought backed by an emotional surge, or the same thought repeated over time, to show up as your experience. If you think about how many negative thoughts you entertain, you may feel relief that you’ve been a bit slow energy-wise. If you think about how often your negative thoughts contradict your positive ones, you can see why your experiences don’t shift the way you’d like. If your energy were faster (Mindset of Spirit), you’d often experience having a thought and appearance of the result either instantly, darn near instantly, or within what you’d feel or know was an acceptable amount of time.

The dilemma is that if you raise your energy but are still challenged by negative thinking, you’ll likely find you create situations you don’t want and didn’t mean to. The ideal “formula” is to raise your energy and manage your thoughts simultaneously. You can do both by expanding your conscious awareness and by choosing a positive or Mind of Spirit perspective as often as possible or eventually, for those times it doesn’t feel possible to do this initially. Sometimes, the best thought for certain situations is, “There’s more to this than I know or see, so I choose to trust.” There are nuances to all of this that are learned through experience and observation.

Attitude, which has all to do with mindset, plays a strong role. Lack and abundance, poverty and prosperity are experienced, but they are not things; they are attitudes, mindsets. It’s the same for any contrast we experience. If we truly grasped this, we’d step into more of the personal power and influence regarding our experiences that we seek, but especially affect how we perceive our experiences. It’s as the other Holmes – Sherlock – says, “You see, but you do not observe.”

We tend to look at life from the ego mindset of man, which is limited because of its beliefs about reality and how it works. We can observe life from the Mindset of Spirit instead and become aware of what reality really is: a grand illusion we help create and have more influence on than we recognize and take ownership of.

All shifts, to be lasting and effective, must happen within you. They must be felt, must become part of who you choose to be. You can’t fake it ‘till you make it. Change must happen on the inside; otherwise, you frustrate yourself by trying to behave one way while being another. Comprehension is needed. Comprehension comes from observation and asking better and deeper questions. Comprehension leads you out of contradiction. Rather than judge so quickly, seek to comprehend. Judgment, which is opinion, blocks. Correct perception and judgment (opinion) cannot occupy the same space.

Begin to notice your attitudes, which reveal your mindset. Begin to observe rather than just see. Begin to use what you know ahead of time rather than after you mis-create. Pay attention to when you’re influenced by the Mindset of Man rather than of Spirit and your unique expression of it. Put this into practice and you’ll gradually notice ways you contradict the spiritual laws and principles, and begin to shift this. Law of Attraction, subject to your thoughts, will respond in kind… as it does to your contradictions. Choose to infuse yourself with wisdom gained from observation and trust, and grace gleaned from genuine and broader understanding.

Practice makes progress.
© Joyce Shafer

Why Do You Pursue Spiritual Evolution?

How long have you been on the spiritual evolution path? Do you feel the way you thought you would, could or should, or do you (still) feel disconnected and discontented?

The inner nudge was to get Ernest Holmes’ book, The Science of Mind, from the bookshelf and find the reading for that particular day. The content was meaningful, but it was the last sentence that got my attention: “Spiritual evolution should make the Infinite not more distant, but more intimate.” This is one of those things that may make you go, “Hmm…”

Evolve means to develop gradually by a process of growth and change, to unfold. Spiritual evolution means we do this—grow, change, and unfold—to, for, and with our spiritual (inner) natures. Why do we aim at this evolution? Why do we get the books or products or do the programs? And why after the time we put into this, sometimes years or decades, don’t we feel and do better?

There’s a lot of attention given to tools, techniques, methods—call them what you will, which are created (we hope) to help us to not feel as helpless as we can tend to feel in the experience of our lives. When we use these tools, we deliberately intend to (and can) engage and develop our spiritual abilities and awareness of them, to support our physical efforts and results. We most often travel this path because we want greater influence over our physical experience. Nothing wrong with that at all. Source wants us to participate in and with universal abundance and creativity, which are aspects of who we are.

But, what about our spiritual (inner) experience? Say you get the parking spaces, receive the needed funds, or whatever you use Law of Attraction or any technique on. That’s terrific, empowering, and fun! But do you also perceive how you can or do evolve spiritually because of such experiences? Does this potential evolution enter your mind to consider, or does getting the desired result seem to be enough?

Holmes had something else to say: “…if we merely think of an abstract Principle [God, Source, Universal Mind, etc.], and a mathematical Law of Cause and Effect, we shall lose all warmth and color. We should be very careful in abstracting the Principle not to forget the essence.” [Bolding and info in brackets are mine.]

I’m all for using the techniques; that’s what they’re there for. But look at that vital puzzle piece Holmes included: When we focus on using the techniques solely for what we can get and leave out how knowledge and use of them can expand our connection with Source, and cause us to feel and be more of our own infinite natures, in alignment with and as part of Source, we lose all warmth and color. We lose or leave out the full “texture” that can be created and experienced in our inner and outer lives.

Without the bigger picture experience (warmth and color) in mind, we focus on how we can get more, not grow more. Because of this we feel “the hour of our discontent” hour by hour, and we don’t know why. We believe stuff or money and more stuff or money will ease the discontent. Yet, we see many examples all around us of how this simply isn’t true; at least, it seems to rarely be the result. In such examples something is missing. That something can only be found within us, like an ember than can be fanned into an illuminating, warming, energizing flame.

The way to evolve, to expand awareness, is to open to it; to put what we learn into practice; to observe and assess the before, during, and after aspects; and to appreciate what we witness, including and especially at the feeling level, because this holistic or multi-faceted process teaches us about ourselves, Source, and what’s possible for us. How we develop an intimate connection with Source is as individual as we are. This relationship, if nurtured and experienced, can calm any and all discontent or insecurity… because we can absolutely know who we are and can behave, act, and create from there… more often than not, and as we evolve. Keep in mind the “gradually” aspect.

What really happens when you use Law of Attraction or a parallel technique? You may think it develops your own consciousness, but that’s not what happens. You develop your personal USE of the Universal Consciousness, which you are an individualized expression of. There is only ONE creative consciousness, and you are free to use it in your individualized way, as a contributing participant in the bigger picture experience. This is what’s meant by, “You are more than you imagine.”

We are individualized because of and by our conscious perceptions, but have the capability to expand our perceptions so that we embrace and live the truth that we are “part and parcel” of the Universal Consciousness, Abundance, Wisdom, and so forth. “Part and parcel” is an idiom that means a necessary part of an experience which cannot be avoided. Discontent is the result of avoiding this truth, whether done deliberately or not. It is also the result of our spirit nudging us to expand in this way, and we resist it.

Here’s something to keep in mind: if your belief system doesn’t create or allow you to return, when triggered, to desired feelings like serenity or trust or joy, either the system or your understanding of it needs reassessment.

You already have within you and in your power every technique and ability you seek to learn. But you are in the process, through Spiritual Evolution, of re-membering this. The more this awareness grows and strengthens in you—that is, the more you deliberately grow and strengthen it, the more you’ll feel, be, and live what you desire to feel, be, and live.

Is it really possible, or desirable, to develop and expand in this way and NOT deepen your relationship with Source? How do you develop, expand, and deepen any relationship you desire (or find yourself involved with)? You engage in conversations and interactions. Replace some of your solo mind chatter with conversations with Source. Ask questions. Ask for what you want. Ask for guidance. And, listen and pay attention with your ears, eyes, and feelings for responses.

Holmes wrote that all law is Mind in action. Law of Attraction, etc., is Mind in Action. We are discontent primarily because of how we put our minds into action. You can decide right now to put your mind-in-action to better practice.

Practice makes progress.
© Joyce Shafer

Maybe It Is All in Your Mind

Where do you experience most of your life? Is the majority of activity outside of you or inside your mind?

I was with a person who, as other times before, talked about what’s perceived as wrong in her life, wrong with others, and recounted past events shared from a negative perspective. Yet, I didn’t have the same experience of this as I’ve had prior times. Instead, I was serene, which allowed me to listen and observe differently (rather than absorb that energy). In fact, my all-round participation was different. It was like being in freezing temperatures, but staying warm because there was a heater hidden in my energy field. While the person complained, I felt cozy inside and out, with no need to engage or judge her “it’s miserable” perspective. Eventually, my inner flame warmed her, as well.

Granted, our time spent together was limited, but when I thought about this, I realized that what I usually experience with this person is not the person herself as much as it is that I experience myself, that is, my perceptions, my judgments, my expectations, and my ego’s inner dialogue that likes to run on and on. It’s called mind chatter, which is one of the biggest wastes of life force energy we self-indulge in.

Mind chatter takes up mental space, which means there’s little room for inspiration, creativity, and intuitive information to communicate with you and lead you along a more joyful, productive, and fulfilling path… one of genuine connection with yourself, Source, others, and your life.

We, understandably, believe we are fully present with others, or with life matters, but we aren’t really as “there” as we might like to think we are. Instead, we’re inside our mind, usually listening to our insecure ego that is busy sniping about how it wants everything and everyone to be a certain way. This bumps us right out of being fully present, where we can be responsive in a productive way, and makes us less prone to remember we are spiritual beings with an inner power more dynamic than we usually allow it to be for us; a power that waits for us to remember it’s there and “plug in” so its energy can flow to us and through us.

Sometimes we get so full of mind chatter we spew it out, believing we’re having a conversation or being productive, when we’re just informing people in which ways we feel out of control in our life. Mind chatter happens; and if you let it have its way, it’ll have you upset more often than not, and possibly doing battle with people in real life or on the battlefield created in your mind.

So, how did I get into and stay in that more serene inner place during that time? I decided to hold silent power, to pay attention differently, to be with the person and the energy instead of in the mind chatter of my ego… kind of like watching a film, or being okay with a minor role instead of being the star or competing for top billing (not always easy, but doable). I allowed and reminded myself to stay connected to the truth of my inner power, as much as possible.

My experience included asking myself questions like: Do I choose to be aligned with my power enough to provide appropriate energetic and other support to this person so she won’t feel so insecure, or worse, judged because of my ego’s as yet unresolved issues? Am I listening with more than my ears and ego? What and how do I choose to engage, and will this engagement be fueled by my personal power and connection to Source… or my ego?

Sometimes the way you can best support or engage yourself and others is through silence; but this requires the energy of serenity from higher understanding and awareness so that your silence isn’t underscored with negative mind chatter and the ego’s resentment about you choosing to keep your mouth shut.

Stuff happens, and we get triggered. Personal power helps you stay stable. If you’re not engaging your power, then anything, even small stuff, can rattle you and you find yourself following your emotions wherever they lead. There are at least two typical ways you might deal with mind chatter, which include either going with it, which puts you in a bad mood you then “share” with others, or self-deprecation because you have the chatter going on, so you tell yourself you have to stop this, which frustrates you if you don’t have a way to do this that works. What’s working for me, as soon as I see this happening (or sometimes before it starts), is I use a few genuinely empowering-for-me statements and repeat them like a mantra, to remind myself to more deeply connect with my personal power and what it really means; and to re-dedicate myself to this every day.

You cannot be strong in your personal power if or when your emotions are out of control. Mind chatter keeps you out of control because you choose to let the needy ego run amok rather than do what it takes to build up and stand in your power.

Personal power requires self-discipline, or self-management, if that’s an easier term for you to accept and allow. Without this, your life is disorganized, messy, and therefore, unfulfilling; and this is true for any area of your life. Any emotional, and even physical, “mess” in your life indicates a weakness in your connection to your personal power, in partnership with Source, and that ego is running the show. Messes are a declaration by ego that it either believes it can make a mess and others will clean it up or that it’s too “special” or “justified” to concern itself with such details. The more you follow either of these paths the more ego will control your life; and, you won’t appreciate the results, including how this affects your confidence, your ability to put your attention and energy towards what you really desire to experience, and your level of success and fulfillment.

If your life or a particular area of it seems out of control, look first at what you’re allowing to happen in your mind. Consider what you’ve read here and put some or all of it into practice, and you will begin to build your life force energy and personal power. This may happen quickly or may feel slower than you’d like; and the building speed may be different for the affected areas of your life. Your progress depends on your practice. Whatever it is that you think you want, personal power and life force energy are what you really want because they are what support you to experience your life the way you really desire to, inwardly then outwardly. Whenever you’re ready, get out of your mind chatter and into your true power. You’ll find Source is ready to assist you.

Practice makes progress.
© Joyce Shafer

Is There A Special Trick for Law of Attraction?

Surely there is one technique that, if you knew it, would make Law of Attraction work every time. Do you believe that?

An ad for a Law of Attraction system arrived in my inbox and got my attention with its promise: a way to make LOA work every time. That promise gave me pause and prompted me to mull over my thoughts and experiences.

The school of thought is that LOA is always working. I accept this, particularly because I liken it to the hidden life force that operates our bodily systems like heartbeat, breathing, brainwaves, digestion, and so on. We don’t have to consciously manage these things; something else does this for us—in our best interest—so we can focus on other matters of living. And, if we decide to get involved with how our body functions, we can be deliberate about using our brain power, diet, exercise, meditation, how much sleep we get, and more.

So, the first thing I want to consider about the ad’s promise is Best Interest. To say you can make LOA work every time prompts several questions in my mind:
Will everything you request be in your best interest so that your soul aspect/expanded self has zero argument with the request?
Or, will you need to have a soul agreement in place that everything requested is to be considered in your best interest as a designated experience—no holds barred.
The ad’s promise must mean LOA will work every time you use it deliberately, and that you will be consistently, consciously deliberate. Otherwise, if we allow that LOA is at work all the time, we’d have to watch that we have absolute control over inner and outer conscious and subconscious feelings, thoughts, and words—which means no “oopsies” ever happen, as can take place when we’re angered or fearful, and negativity-attracting thoughts run amok.

I believe our LOA experiences are tailored to our unique selves and experiences to help us gain conscious awareness, especially about our interconnectedness with all in existence and with the conscious, intelligent creative energy—not just to get something we want or need. We do want to be able to be deliberate about it at times (like eating a certain way to improve digestion, etc.), which is why I suggest looking at your own experiences of LOA in your life, whether or not you choose to use a system.

It’s my opinion that Law of Attraction isn’t as much a technique as it is a label used for the result of a State of Being, which I’ll explain. And, that state isn’t lived in 24/7 (it would be tedious to consciously operate your bodily systems along with every other part of your life 24/7). But, it is a state we find happens naturally at times—without deliberate thought to be in that state—and at other times deliberately, when we apply conscious awareness and thought about something specific. The rest of the time, we do day-to-day life—having the experience of being a human with simplicities and complexities, challenges and wins, voids and fulfillment, frustration and accomplishment.

When LOA has been natural for me, what happened was I had a thought that was actually a decision more than a desire—with no discord attached to it. No massive amount of description and planning was engaged. In fact, it was more a general idea, concept, or image that came to mind for a very brief moment. No attachment to attainment was present because, as I said, it was decided on—a done deal, before its arrival—more than it was felt as a desire. I love these moments, but for me they just happen, with no conscious intrusion or influence on my part.

No energy of fear or need is attached to these natural moments either; and neither do I attempt to amp up faith or the absence of doubt—I’m just “one” with the decision. No time limit or “by this date” is involved. Arrival into my life of what is a decided desire has varied from minutes to years—however long it takes for the timing to be right for me—in my best interest.

And, the word “want” is used. It’s been said that the word “want” should be avoided because LOA will then work to keep you in a state of wanting. That hasn’t been my experience, because I’ve found it’s the energy supporting the word that influences what happens. When I said, “I want a lamp for that corner,” the word was imbued with the energy of a decision with no discord (the perfect lamp was found less than two hours later in the basement of my apartment building—and it was free to take).

When I’ve said “I want…,” and the energy was fear-based need, I had a very different experience. I think the need for deliberate times come my way to help me learn to apply what I described in my “natural” paragraph above, to matters that have sticky or entrenched fearful energy attached. The deliberate ones make me pay attention differently so I can figure out how to be in a natural state of being about something that’s held me in its grip in a negative or limiting way, which may require more than one “visit”.

I’ve also noticed the “deliberate” moments, when my energy is fear- or need-based, allow me to see that there isn’t one trick to use at these times, but it is a good time to see what works for me at a particular moment. Here are a few ways that work when I’m not feeling as “natural” about LOA as I would like:
Deciding to just let go, which often results in my laughing out loud at how ridiculous it can all seem or become at times, which definitely diffuses the energy so something better can happen—and does!
Taking a time-out from fretting to engage a walk, a good book or movie, or doing anything unrelated to where I’ve been focusing my anxious attention.

Do you see what those two bulleted items have in common? Letting go. It almost seems too easy. Letting go helps me move into a this-or-something-even-better frame of mind, which lets me slide into a more open, relaxed state of being—the LOA Natural State, you might call it—where “magic” happens.

Think back to times when LOA worked for you naturally, deliberately, or not at all. What was going on at the inner level when it worked effortlessly? What did you do or not do? What about when you felt you had to be deliberate (because you sure weren’t feeling “natural”)—what did you do that created results? And, what about when it didn’t work—did you later (even if much later) realize that your best interests were being attended to, perhaps in ways that amazed you (once you got over thoughts like “Why me?” and “I’m such a failure”)?

It amazes me to use this “rearview mirror” on my life to see that where I am in life at a particular moment is where I belong (like it or not, at times), and that if XYZ hadn’t happened, even if emotionally painful, I don’t know how I would have arrived where I belonged with the same cleverness the hidden life force employed. For me, this builds and expands trust in the hidden force that looks out for my best interests and the highest good of all involved, and assists or propels me, when I’m resistant, to my next destinations and life phases.

I don’t see LOA as something that fits into the “One size fits all” category. The one-size-fits-all items never fit the same, look the same, or perform the same—because we’re all different. Play with or try any system that grabs your fancy, but give some thought to what I’ve mentioned here.

The crux of what I ask you to consider is whether or not you’ve attuned to what your personal LOA experiences involve and feel like for you. You tap into true personal power if you grasp what this is for you as an individual and follow it—repeat and perhaps tweak—as needed. And that, my friend, is likely the most significant “trick” of Law of Attraction: you, your conscious awareness, and state of being drive it.

Practice makes progress.
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