This week’s blog entry has no corresponding picture for a very specific reason: You will manifest your own imagery based on your own deepest desires! Recently I have endured significant life changes, reminding me of certain Laws of Attraction that I have learned to be true. I will be describing today, to the best of my ability, how I believe it is possible to invite positive changes into your own life. Many of you may be familiar with Buddha’s Wisdom, that explained to his followers that whatever they chose to give their attention, their love, their appreciation, their listening and their affirmation would grow in their life and their world. He states that if we choose to focus our attention on scarcity- acquisition, accumulation and greed, then scarcity would grow in our life and our world. Conversely, if we choose to focus on sufficiency, then we will enjoy a bountiful life. But…specifically, how is this to be done?

Starting early on in life, I faced what I perceived was great adversity for many reasons. Firstly, I was raised by Indian immigrant parents, who choose not to associate with any family back in India, nor did we affiliate ourselves with the local Indian community. The reason this was significant to me is that to the children at school I was the different, Indian girl, and to the Indian community I was the uncultured Indian girl. I never quite felt like I belonged. Also, my father was a stay at home dad, while my mother was the family bread winner. At that time, this was a rarity, and other kids’ parents were weary about letting their daughters come over to visit with me, as only my father was home to watch after us. Lastly, and most upsetting to me, I was significantly over weight. In third grade, I tipped the scales at approx 150 lbs- I remember in math class we were measuring the weight of different objects, and the final weight we had to measure was our own. At that time, I weighed more than my third grade teacher… I was horrified.

One morning, on the way to school, I heard something very interesting on the radio station to which my mother was listening…A journalist was reporting of a new study that demonstrated visualization of one’s self weighing their ideal weight stimulated weight loss! I was taken aback- could this really be? I figured it was worth a shot! I began imagining myself as a thin little girl. I then figured if this theory could work for weight loss, then why not all of my problems? I began picturing myself with blonde hair, and blue eyes, a mother that stayed at home, and a father that went off to work every day with a suit, tie, and briefcase. The feelings that immediately followed were those of desire, which ultimately led to more suffering. Unfortunately, my problems of woe were not resolved that day, but it did open the door to understanding later in life.

There was one integral piece of the puzzle I was missing at that point in my life- gratitude. Oprah, in her book What I Know For Sure, speaks about a time in her life where she was under trial, and she called her friend and confidant Maya Angelou to cry to her- Maya, full of wisdom, answered with clarity: “Say Thank You!” When Oprah asked for clarification as to why she was to say Thank You, Maya responded:

“You are saying thank you because your faith is so strong that you don’t doubt that whatever the problem, you’ll get through it. You’re saying thank you because you know that even in the eye of the storm, God has put a rainbow in the clouds. You’re saying thank you because you know there’s no problem created that can compare to the Creator of all things. Say thank you!”

The power in those words are undeniable. Oprah then writes in her book: “Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It’s the quickest, easiest, most powerful way to effect change in your life-this I know for sure.”

So with this, I began to think… I realized that asking for things from God is very different than being grateful for things that you have yet to have been given. With this, I propose a form of prayer in which one visualizes the life they most desire- whatever that may look like- as specifically as you can, as vividly as you mild allows. Then, thank God for that life-with certainty. No need to figure out the steps towards that picture, but just the picture itself. God will figure out the way. I sense that wanting for something creates a negative space, that will only duplicate in it’s negative shockwaves. On the other hand, I once heard the saying, that which we appreciate appreciates! To thank God for answering your deepest desires before he has done so is a profound demonstration of faith, so long as it is done with the understanding that this will be completed in God’s way, and in God’s time.

I encourage you to write down anything in your life that you would like to see manifested…be descriptive, be brave enough to be audacious! Next, create a vacuum of space between that ideal and where your life is now, and thank God for everything you are blessed with now, and everything you will be blessed with. Finally, continue, my friends, with visualization and gratitude, knowing that the universe will work in your favor to support you, and provide you with everything you may need on your journey.