Awareness

The Law of Attraction dictates that what we think  becomes our experience.  I’m sure you know of people who are always telling you “I’m lucky–I win things all the time,” and go on to list all of their winnings from the past.  This is a simplified but easy example of how the Law of Attraction works.  Because they say, “I am lucky,” and BELIEVE it, then that becomes their reality.  Now think about the opposite belief, that of “I never win anything.”  Guess what happens?  Exactly.

The Law doesn’t care whether what it gives you is labeled “good” or “bad” by any particular culture or lifestyle.  It simply gives you what you’re thinking about.  But thankfully, it has a built-in delay for nearly all of us.  (I say nearly, because I have seen thoughts manifested immediately when I watched an Indonesian medicine man set fire to a bunch of newspaper with his bare hand hovering 12 inches above it–intense and concentrated thought combined with years of practice can allow this in those with strong beliefs).  But for the rest of us, we usually have to wait.

Oftentimes, the wait is necessary for situations and people to be properly placed prior to our desired manifestation.  Other times, the wait is self-induced because of lingering doubts about the validity of the Law itself.  And yet other times, our thoughts are just fleeting enough to be short on the intention necessary to manifest them.  This is a wonderful safety net, for those angry emotions combined with the desire to drown our little sister when she’s crying are probably left unmanifested!  After all, we really don’t mean them, but they arise out of frustration or anxiety, and dissipate just as quickly when  guilt overrides them.

It is my belief that  undesirable situations are manifested by consistent thought– intently focused– over a period of time.  This is often manifested in couples who break up because one spouse dreams of a lover whose traits are far different from those of her partner.  These consistent thoughts– combined with the emotions of depression, desperation, hope for a (possibly) better life, and the belief that the grass is greener–manifest the dissolution of the partnership.  It doesn’t happen overnight, thankfully.  But over time, with repeated replay of the perfect lover sweeping her off her feet and not ever leaving his socks on the bathroom floor, she will begin to look at her spouse as undesirable, and she will begin to search for the lover she’s created in her mind.

Well good luck finding a man who doesn’t leave his socks on the bathroom floor.

The Law of Attraction allows us this lag time, and it doesn’t discern whether the outcome of your intentions is “good” or “bad” for your future.  The Law gives you what you desire, and what you desire comes from consistent thought teamed with emotion.  So if you really don’t want it, don’t focus on it!

More on this in the next post.  I’ll leave you time to pick those socks up.

What makes a moral salesperson?

There are many salespeople who think only in the moment.  Since I am an advocate of awareness, this sounds good.  But living in the moment for these salespeople is merely for monetary benefit.  Take my acquaintance that needed her car fixed.  She took it to a popular autobody franchise, who not only fixed her issue but also presented her with a lengthy list of other things her car “needed.”  Not knowing that these salespeople work on commission, she believed every word–after all, they are the experts, right?  This sort of salesperson, who never knows if he’ll be there tomorrow if she returns with her car, or if she’ll go to a competitor down the street, will do everything in his power to commit her to these repairs NOW, while she is under duress.  But there are the other kind of salespeople, too–those who actually benefit from their honesty.

How many salespeople do you know that talk you out of buying something?  I had this discussion today with someone who says that it is against the better interest of a salesperson to talk a potential customer out of a purchase, even if the purchase will not benefit the buyer.  Upon first glance, this affects the company’s bottom line by limiting sales, but think a step further.  If you were going to purchase a product, and the salesperson advised you that this product does not have a solid history of reliability, would you think that salesperson as ethical?  Of course you would, because he is showing that he has your best interests in mind.  Now if he shows you a more reliable brand and gives you his opinions on that, chances are you would trust his statements more, because he has shown you that he cares.  The product may even be more expensive, or it may not be, so the onus is on the salesperson, and his moral fiber, to explain why the product is more expensive, and then step back to allow you to make your decision.

As a salesperson myself, I have been in both places.  In my younger years, I had no problem selling something that did not benefit the buyer.  “That looks GREAT on you,” I would say, even if it looked like she had thrown a paper bag over her head and stuck her arms through it.  Yet now, after decades of sales, I have learned that I can both make money and properly advise my customers as to the products they really need.  After that, in their eyes I have changed my status–from that of “salesperson” to “friend”–which results in subsequent sales.

I toured a local olive mill today, and the tour guide explained that they never make olive oil from olives that have fallen on the ground.  He said that by the time they fall off the tree, they are either infested with pests or too ripe to use anyway.  Rather, they harvest the olives with a rake before they ripen too much, while they are in their prime.

That got me to thinking that many people follow that same path when it comes to learning lessons.

We are ripe for the learning while we are still on the tree–that is to say, while the lesson is presenting itself, and we have the opportunity to consciously learn from it.  But often we wait until we have fallen from the tree and the pain is upon us to register that it’s a lesson at all.   Perhaps if we could be more aware during the process, we could spare ourselves some heartache and stay up in the sky just a little bit longer.

For those of us who spend an inordinate amount of time on the computer, a word of advice:

Not everyone does.

Just a reminder that people need real love, and that includes taking the time to turn off your computer (yes, Twitter will still be there when you sign back on) and spend the time to actually interact with your loved ones face to face.

I used to think that I was actually spending time with my loved ones; after all, they were in the same room as me and they were just watching TV, so what did it matter if I was playing Mafia Wars while I was with them?  What seemed like simple multi-tasking to me was actually inflicting much more harm than I imagined on my relationships.  I forgot there for a moment that giving full attention to someone means just that–ALL of me, not just the part of me that wasn’t playing Mafia Wars.
Big lesson learned, and thankfully it was before too much damage had been done.  Turn off the computer and interact once in a while.  You will be amazed at how your relationship will flourish.