“Beliefs are just thoughts that you keep on thinking; they’re just a habit of thought.  It’s just sort of the way you’ve always thought it, and so it is the way your are now thinking it.”

This one quote means so much and applies in so many different ways and scenarios.

Right now it’s got me considering the awesomely light and transformative power of those words.

“Beliefs are just thoughts we keep on thinking.”

We make it seem so challenging at times to change our beliefs.
In fact, sometimes we act as if changing our beliefs would be taboo.

We place value on our beliefs.

We act as if they are something engraved in stone that can not be washed away.

How funny is that??

Even something engraved in stone will wash away over time.

I know, this can be a touchy subject.  Some of you reading may be thinking…but my beliefs are important…they’re what shape me, mold me…make me who I am.

And I say, you’re absolutely right!

Do Your Beliefs Serve You?

This is why I’m writing this post.  If beliefs are important to the extent that they shape and mold our very being-ness…then I feel it’s critically important to reveal them for what they are so that we would never, ever think of limiting ourselves because of our beliefs.

When we embrace the idea that beliefs are just thoughts we keep thinking, it becomes apparent that if we change our thoughts we create new beliefs.

If we continue to think the same thoughts, our beliefs get etched more deeply into the stone of our thinking mind…

But if we give ourselves the room to create new thoughts, the etching softens and a new belief is honed.

The Heart of Belief

The beauty in this is that we can shape our beliefs on purpose, consciously, thereby giving ourselves limitLESS room for expansion and possibility to become the fullness of our brilliance in this magical life we’re leading.

Are you wondering what a limiting belief might sound like?

A Few Limiting Beliefs~

1. I could never have that job; I’m way too shy to relate with people that way.
2. I will never have the love of my life; partners never stay with me for long…they love and leave.
3. My weight will always be the burden that drags me down; I’ll never be thin and beautiful.

That will be enough to get most of you saying…

“Oh!!!  Yeah, I’ve had thoughts like that.  Hmphf.  So that’s a limiting belief, huh?”

It is if you keep telling it to yourself over and over again.

Remember?  Beliefs are just thoughts you keep thinking.

Using Your Power to Choose

Come, walk the high road with me and let’s re-shape that stone we’re honing.  Remember when we did some Re-Framing?  This is similar.

• Old belief (old story) #1:

I could never have that job; I’m way too shy to relate with people that way.

• New belief (new story) #1:

**there are as many options for this as your creative imaginings will allow**

I can have any job I choose.  I am confident.  I am comfortable with who I am.  I love myself and I appreciate knowing I have something to offer.  I enjoy relating with others and feel ease and grace in social situations.

Nice, huh?

What?  You’re thinking…a yeah, but that’s a bit of a stretch, one from the other?
Maybe.  Maybe not.

This story only works for you if you’re someone who (deep down in your heart of hearts) wants to have a job where you love relating to people and where worrying about being shy is a thing of the very distant past, not at all relative to your current desires and being-ness.

If you are the person who wants to switch it up and ditch the old belief that’s no longer serving you, then this new story…these new thoughts will serve you well on your way to a shiny new belief about you and your ability to work that job.

Beliefs are just thoughts you keep on thinking.  Get it?

• Old Belief (old story) #2:

I will never have the love of my life; partners never stay with me for long…they love and leave.

• New Belief (new story) #2

I love myself and therefore I know I am worthy of love.  Love finds me easily and it sticks around because I am so fun to love. I attract my perfect partner; the love of my life with grace and ease.  I love myself enough to know that I am never alone.  I love myself even when I’m alone!  My partner adores that about me and he/she stays because it feels so good!

Seriously.  It works.  Find thoughts that are more aligned with what you truly want and think them.  They will become beliefs.  They will become beliefs worth keeping; beliefs that serve you well.

• Old Belief (old story) #3

My weight will always be the burden that drags me down; I’ll never be thin and beautiful.

• New Belief (new story) #4

I love my body.  I love how my body supports and reflects my inner beauty and brilliance.  I feel beautiful.  I look in the mirror and I see beautiful.  My body is the perfect reflection of me.  My body weight gracefully maintains itself at its natural best.  I love myself.  I care for my body’s well-being.  My body is the vehicle for my expression in the world and I love and appreciate my body.  My body is healthy, vibrant and alive.

Notice in this one I chose not to focus on the word thin specifically?  I choose to focus on health, vibrance and vitality…and allow the body to naturally find it’s own brilliant beauty.  We can get caught up on what ‘thin’ looks like…that’s another post for another day!  For now, if this is a new story that’s attractive to you, focus on the aspects that feel good and go for it!  Create a new belief that serves…and in this case suits you better.

Love, Love, Love

There’s one more thing I’d like to point out that is inherent in all of these thought/belief switch ups.  Did you catch it?

They all include, “I LOVE MYSELF”.  There it is again.  That theme I just keep coming back to, and with good reason.

Self Love is and will always be the core foundation to your Joy of Brilliance shining forth for all the world to see and be blessed with.

Is there a belief (thoughts that you keep on thinking) that you could do well with re-shaping?

I’d love to hear about it!  Share your old beliefs and their shiny new switch-ups in the comment stream…

And if you’ve got an old one that you need help re-shaping, bring it on…I’m happy to help you re-shape those thoughts into something that serves you well.

With JOY of Brilliance…

Let’s create together!

Photo Credit

Just recently I was talking with our realtor about creating a new marketing flyer for the house we’re selling in Colorado.  She thought it would be fun to play with the idea of “Seeking the Mystery Buyer”.

While this idea got my creative juices flowing, it stimulated my passion for Re-Framing.

3 Great Words to Re-Frame:

• Desperately
• Seeking
• Mystery

The word “seeking” within the ‘seeking the mystery buyer’ idea reminded me immediately of the movie title, ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’.  And when it did I literally laughed out loud and said, “Oh no, this little conscious creator will not give power to desperate anything!”

I am not desperate.  I have no desire to be desperate.  Immediately the magic of a re-frame appeared across the movie screen of my mind’s eye.

Desperately … Re-Frame … Deliberately

Ah yes!  But of course!  My friend, Deliberate.

Deliberate = Conscious, with intention, in charge, on purpose, with meaning, by choice…Deliberate. Perfect.

My attention then turned to “seeking”.  Hmmm…  “Nope, seeking will not do”, I thought.

Seeking implies I’m looking for something outside of myself…perhaps even something I can’t find, something out of reach, something not readily available to me, something hiding from me.

None of those scenarios give me any FEEL GOOD.  The vibes I feel conjure feelings of hopelessness and despair.  No thank you.

In my world everything I need and desire comes to me.  I am a magnet.  Magnets attract.  Bull’s eye!  My re-frame for “seeking” is “Attracting”!

Seeking … Re-Frame … Attracting

Great!  So now instead of ‘desperately seeking anything’ we have, ‘Deliberately Attracting Everything’.  That FEELS SO GOOD!  Yes?

In life I choose the vibe of deliberately attracting over desperately seeking every time.  Can you feel the difference?  Have you ever felt desperate about anything?  How does feeling deliberate register instead?

Our internal Resonance Barometer measures each of them quite oppositely.  Using our emotions as the indicator, we recognize that desperateness feels yucky and deliberateness feels good, positively charged.

We’ve been talking about Power lately, Authentic Power to be exact.  It’s easy to see that Deliberately Attracting is beautifully grounded in Authentic Power; sourced from the inside with Love.  YAY!

It’s no mystery~

In our realtor’s idea for ‘seeking the mystery buyer’, I felt one more word screaming to be re-framed.  “Mystery”.  I chuckled again thinking, “I may not know the buyer’s name or personal information, but this buyer is no ‘mystery’ to me.”

In fact, there are many things I know about our Perfect Buyer.  **Did you catch the re-frame?

Mystery … Re-Frame … Perfect

As defined by my Mac Dictionary Friend ‘Perfect’ means:  having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be; highly suitable for someone or something; exactly right.

That sounds so…PERFECT!  :0)  Right?

Our buyer is no mystery to me.  I’m perfectly clear who our buyer is.

Our Perfect Buyer loves creative, peaceful environments, enjoys an incredible gourmet kitchen open to entertaining spaces, appreciates mature trees, privacy and being surrounded by nature with local conveniences just minutes away, adores the finer things~attention to detail and gorgeousness, recognizes an incredible deal when they see one, has a ready flow of accessible cash for a clean, smooth transaction, needs this house any time between now and fall of 2009.

Our perfect buyer knows quality, has dreamed of living in a house like this in a gorgeous, mature neighborhood like Fox Hill, and is blown away by the serendipity that drew them to this amazing house at this remarkably great price!  Our perfect buyer knows all about deliberate attraction (consciously or not!) and being in the right place at the right time!

No mystery at all.  Crystal clear.  Perfect.

We are Deliberately Attracting the Perfect Buyer.

The Magic of a Re-Frame~

Re-framing our thoughts and intentions makes an enormous difference in what it is we attract.  Let’s face it…we’re going to get what we ask for anyway…we may as well be conscious and deliberate about it!

Understand that as long as we are clear and deliberate in our wanting, in our asking, in our desiring; then we can go about enJOYing our lives, trusting that what we are attracting is brilliant, most likely surpassing and exceeding our highest imaginings and is already on its way to us.

Get clear.  Get deliberate.  Be BOLD in your declarations of what you want and always be open to being surprised at just how PERFECT, even *beyond perfect* the manifestations that are delivered to your doorstep are.

• What needs re-framing in your life?

• Have you re-framed anything lately?

• How does it feel?

Get your Authentic Power on.  Give your thoughts…and your life…the Deliberate Re-Frame Attention YOU Deserve!!

What are you Deliberately Attracting?  How Perfect is it?  I’d love to hear about it!

And…just in case you’re reading this and you feel like you’re the Perfect Buyer we’re attracting, here’s a link to help you find your way to the most amazing house ever!

View to a Re-Frame Photo Source

Self Love in the purest, more reverent sense is the greatest gift we could ever give ourselves.  In turn, it is also the greatest gift we could give another.

By loving ourselves unconditionally, we heighten our capacity for love in general.  By loving ourselves we are tapped in to our true nature and therefore in access to our greatest authentic power.

Communicating with others from this space of Authentic Power steeped in Self Love is magical.

Sphere of Receptivity~

By focusing first on our self love and then radiating outward, we create an authentic sphere of receptivity for communication to flow through.

When in this space of Self Love related to Authentic Power, we recognize that we have no desire to control another.  Our only wish is that each person finds the deep peace associated with their own relationship with Self.

How the communication is received is not up to you.  It is up to the receiver.  Your only ‘job’ is to come from your inner love and relate from a position of good intention without agenda, without attachment to the outcome.

We can tell the difference between being in our Authentic Power and coming from our Inauthentic Power in two ways:

• how we’re feeling emotionally while communicating
• if we’re feeling attached to the outcome, or not

If the emotion that is flowing feels good, is based in unconditional love, peace, harmony and understanding then you can be sure that you are coming from your Authentic Power.

If the emotion that is flowing is steeped in feelings of anger, frustration, fear and/or judgement you can use caution, recognizing that it’s more likely to be coming from an Inauthentic place when the emotional energy is charged in this way.

The flow of emotion is an ever changing stream of consciousness. At times calm and placid, other times like raging rapids.  In addition, this flow can shift and change at the blink of an eye.

As we commit to bringing our awareness to our emotional flow, we engage another level of our Authentic Power.  We are aware of the shifts and therefore aware of our level of authenticity.

Feeling Powerless?

When I look at the path I’ve journeyed over the years relative to being in my own authentic power I can clearly see the relationship between my journey to self love and my ability to be in my power.  I can see plenty of stops along the path where I felt powerless…and in those moments I was also OUT of love with myself.

Being powerless is a close friend of self-doubt, self-sabotage, self-neglect, self-hate.  Period.  No one can render you powerless but yourself.  Just as no one can give you power but yourself.

An Inside Job~

It’s an inside job.  It always is.  As soon as we externalize *anything* we’re at risk of giving our power away.  Again, when this happens it’s of our own choosing.  Nothing has been taken away.

The inside job here is all about loving and honoring your most Brilliant Source Self and allowing the expansion of that Source Self to fill you up from the inside out.

When we allow our True Nature Self to expand into the fullness of our being-ness we are free.  We feel such joy and elation.  Nothing can stop us.

We are unstoppable in our flow of power in grace and ease.

Being the ‘Look-Out’~

When in conversation or communication that matters to us, it’s our responsibility to bring awareness to where our communication is flowing from.  It’s responsible of us to be our own look-out, our own watch-guard to where our energy is flowing from.

When in conversation we begin to recognize that our emotional barometer has switched from love to fear, we draw ourselves in, call ourselves on it and proceed only when we are back in a centered, loving, peaceful place.

Just imagine how different the world would be if we could self-manage our energy in this way.  And of course we can.  …do we?  That’s the question.

War would be an unknown if each of us committed to this practice, this awareness.  What a commitment this is…and will be to those we love in our near and dear daily lives, as well as to our global family.

When we recognize that it’s only about us, as the individual…that no one else imposes anything on us; it offers a deep sense of comfort and freedom; as well as responsibility–one that we willingly accept because it’s just too important not to.

Calling all Captains~

Accepting this responsibility means we realize that we are truly the captain of our own ship.  We realize that we are in charge of our feelings, our thoughts, and our actions.  We realize that everything we do, say, and be…is a choice.  Everything.

Most of all, we recognize that true power = love…better yet, Love = Power

…and it all starts on the inside. Inside of you.  Inside of me.  …how beautiful when it radiates outward!! LOVE POWER

That’s the only kind of power I’m interested in.  How about you?

Photo Credit

I’ve written  Letting Go & the Power of Happy (…the new Power of Now) and last week’s post, I’ve Got the Power.  This week several people have posed questions around Authentic Power…what it is, how to tap into it and how to know when you’ve got it turned on.

Here’s what I’ve got relative to Authentic Power; in two parts, because I just couldn’t fit all the juicy details into one post!

Part One:

The Heart of Authentic Power~

Communicating from your center, your place of authentic power, will always feel good to you.

That’s your key that it’s working.

If it feels good, it’s working.

If there are any not so good feelings (uneasiness, hurt, anger, resentment, fear, etc.) floating about that’s your key that something is off, not quite right, awry.

The magical key to feeling good and thereby being in your authentic power lies in your capacity for Self Love.

The more in love with your Self you are, the more able you are to relate from your Authentic Power.

I capitalize Self here to denote the real, true essence you.

• Not the you of your personality, job, roles in life, etc.
• Not the you as someone else may define you.
• Not necessarily even the you as you may define yourself if you’ve not yet fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with your Self.

Self is the Brilliance Within.

• Self as God-Given,
• Source-Driven,
• Divine Nature,
• Pure Perfection Self.

Now that’s goooood.  (and oh so easy to love, yes?)

Being in love with your Self automatically ensures great levels of confidence, worthiness, acceptance, peace and joy.

Being in love with yourself in the purest sense means you don’t need anything from anyone else…ever.

You are your own best friend.

From this space, giving is delightful and receiving is magical.

Both are like icing on the cake…not necessarily needed, but oh so appreciated.

The more capable we are of loving ourselves for the pure perfection that we are, the more capable we are of reflecting that ability in others to do the same.

Self Love is the most important gifts we could ever give…ourselves.

Self Love is the foundation by which all else is created.  For when we recognize the greatness of our Source Self…our God-Given Self we recognize the Power Within that is limitless; the power to be, do, live anything we dream or imagine.

• The more deeply we love ourselves, the less likely we are to be swayed by something outside of ourselves that is dissonant.  Thus, we are IN our Power.

• The more sure we are of ourselves, the more likely we are to be able to maintain our center (our Power) when our surroundings seem to be on shaky ground.

• The more steadfastly we love ourselves the easier it gets to relate from our Point of Power in all that we do.

We are designed to be powerful, loving beings.

Love is the Heart of Authentic Power.

Tap in!  It’s yours to claim.  Fall in love with your Self and feel the Power!

In part two we’ll talk about Authentic Power in Communication.  Be prepared to be Power FULL.

Adorable Photo Credit

Using a chant to Lakshmi…or anyone else (including chants or prayers to Jesus, Mary, Buddha, God, etc.) is simply (and amazingly) an empowering tool.

The chant or prayer is an energy ignitor, a connector, a bridge between You and your most Tuned in You; the You that is Source itself.

The power of these chants is not in the chant alone.  It’s in what you activate vibrationally within yourself and in turn in the world around you.

That’s big.  Did you get that?

The power of these chants is not in the chant alone.  It’s in what you activate vibrationally within yourself and in turn in the world around you.

Power Source Inside ~ Inquire Within

It’s important to recognize that true power can only be sourced from within.

It’s tempting to externalize sometimes.  We have a tendency to look outside ourselves for the latest, greatest fix, fad, idea, pill, diet, self-help book, etc.  It’s not to say that any one of these things might not assist; they may.

The bottom line is none of these things work unless and until the ‘Inside You’~your Authentic Source Self is ready and prepared to make the shift.

No matter what the shift is.

When the you that is YOU is ready and says YES!; you’re in your POWER and magic happens.

You’ve Got Mail~

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that when I finish chanting I like to sit quietly in the energy and vibration the chanting created within and around me.  Some days I hear or observe something.  Others not so much.

Today I felt a message coming through.  Here’s what I recorded:

“Chants are meant to empower the power within.  Invoking my energy is meant only to awaken that part of you that is me.

The energy of prosperity and abundance is within you.  It always has been.  It always will be.

It is not outside of you, and therefore cannot be sourced in that way.

Yes, of course physical manifestations will reveal themselves to you outwardly.  You must understand they are the fruits of the inside nurturing you have done to allow them to sprout, blossom and ripen.

They are the outward manifestation of the beautiful inside connection to Source and therefore the aliveness of prosperity and abundance within you.

Can you accept this to be true?  It is so.  Trust in the power within and know that chanting, or any other ‘magical’ tool are only that ~ tools.

It is you alone who is the keeper of your power.  You alone can tap in and turn it up.  It’s easy.  Believe it so.”

I believe this came through me, from within.  From that part of me that is Lakshmi, from that part of each of us that is Lakshmi, from the collective Lakshmi consciousness.

So…What Did You Get??

Many ask, what has manifested for you since you started chanting to Lakshmi?

They want to know in $$$ or things because of course isn’t that what this is all about, they say?

While I have had outer manifestations ‘show up’ in the form of

• more perfect clients (another incredible one just yesterday!),
• unexpected money from the government in the form of tax refunds from years gone by (huge welcome surprise),
• our investments are growing beautifully (in a supposedly yet ‘downturned’ economy~my picture of the economy looks bright and cheery);

I have to say the biggest gifts I’ve received are those that woke me up to my inner knowing of

• worthiness,
• deservedness and
• connectedness.

I’ve been in touch with these qualities my whole life…and somehow over the past 2 1/2 months of chanting I feel the fullness of my worthiness, deservedness and connectedness.

Awakening the fullness of these three qualities within me “set me up” and “got me poised” for major receiver mode.

Receiver Mode Activated!

• I am ready, willing and able to receive.
• I am open!
• There are no blocks to my receiving.
• In fact receiving brings me so much JOY I am blissfully ecstatic!!

This is HUGE for me.  Can you relate?

Many of us are incredible givers; we know how to do that one REALLY well.  We love to give.  We feel SO GOOD when we give.  And…because we’re so good at giving…some of us aren’t that well versed in receiving.

To feel this immense freedom within me now around receiving just completely rocks so deep!!  Receiver Mode Engaged!  Full Throttle!!

• I am in my Power.
• I am Unstoppable.
• I am Happy.
• I am JOY FULL.
• I am Bliss.

• AND ~ I am a powerful manifestor, who is grateful for the energy of prosperity and abundance that is awake, alive and well within me.

Thank you Lakshmi for these gifts ~ and all those I am poised to receive!

Is your Internal Power Source turned on?  Is your Receiver Mode activated?

Tell me about it! 

Photo Credit

I’m awed every time by the thoughtul, caring responses from people who are truly interested in shining their brilliance and thereby helping others to do the same.  (My most favorite thing to do in the whole wide world!)

What if I can’t let go?

This week’s question had to do with the “letting go” step of the Law of Attraction process.  As in, how can I possibly ‘let go’ (release from attachment and trust) when I really, really, really want something?!

Oooo…this one is in the ‘freshy-fresh’ category for me right now!  As always, I’m grateful for the question…and the opportunity to share my happy observations.

Here’s what I’ve got…

When you really, really want something.

• Good.
• Be clear about it.
• Proclaim it from the mountain tops,
• sing, dance and celebrate it’s coming.
• And then…
• Get in the Power of Happy!

Eckhart Tolle talks about the Power of Now…I say the Power of Happy has even more…power.

Happy goes beyond and gives meaning to the Now…it gives it purpose.  (Not to mention, it’s downright FUN.)

When I’m really, really wanting something, I’m getting better and better at being in the ‘every day happy, now’.

When I’m focused on my happy I notice I don’t think about my ‘thing’ I really, really want (much).  And you know what else?

Is *that* what I wanted?  Really?

Sometimes in the course of being in the happy, I look at what I really, really want and notice that it looks different.  I notice that I want it a little different than I thought…a little bigger, a little smaller, a little more, a little less, earthier, bluer…you get the picture.

When this happens I get to celebrate a happy dance all over again!  Oh goodie! Thank Goddess it didn’t arrive yet, ’cause now I get to switch it up to match my new vibe!

**Do you think it’s possible the Universe was one step ahead of me (or three, five, one hundred) and knew better than I that I wasn’t quite ready, quite clear enough?

**Do you think it’s possible the Universe was waiting for my ‘aha moment’ of expanded clarity?

Trust ONE thing~

If there’s one thing I trust after all these years of experience it’s that everything happens on purpose, in right timing.  Everything. Period. If it looks as if, or feels as if it’s wrong…look deeper. Divine Timing is fail-proof. (There’s comfort in there if one chooses it.)

My most recent opportunity to practice what I preach (so to speak of course!) has been with the sale of our house here in Colorado.  (No, it’s not sold yet…and if any of you reading know the new owner, could you tell them the house is ready, willing and able to be theirs?)

Trust me when I tell you, this scenario has put my “Power of Happy” to the test.  And unequivocally I tell you the better I get at being true to my happy the more my attachment to the outcome (the sale of our house) drifts into the recesses of my awareness.

Here’s the key to my Power of Happy:

I’ve found that doing more of what I love, more of what I love, more & more & more of what I love…gives me more & more & more happy.  As a result my neediness and attachment melt away. (…and an abundance of other amazing things line up, manifest…etc.! *Bonus*)

Now, when I think of the house sale I want to happen it’s just a shoulder shrug of,

“I guess it’s not quite time yet.  Boy, the Universe (God) must really be hatching together the most glorious of outcomes!  THIS is gonna be goooood!!!”

Trust, Patience and Happy.

Those are my keys to detachment. Happy is at the top of the list…’cause it just makes everything else easy-peasy.

I like easy-peasy. In more refined terms:  Grace & Ease.

Grace and Ease are my compass…and Happy is my True North.

(Oooo…I like that!  Never came out quite like that before!)

As is always the case when a certain theme is fresh, the theme attracts that which supports it. This week I clicked on one of @kendrathornbury’s links and followed it to her blog where she had posted an especially appropriate Abraham video about happy. I bookmarked it. I posted it to my Facebook page. I made a note to include it in a future post. (Ta-dah! See bottom of post) Yesterday, I clicked on one of Jeannette’s past recent posts and there it was again!

See what I mean? Divine Timing. Serendipity. THIS post, this question. All on purpose. All in harmony. All giving me more HAPPY. :0) Thanks!

What we give power to manifests.

I’m giving power to happy. The way I figure, then everything else just has to bring more happy!

I loved this quote from Sylvia’s comment on Jeannette’s Q&A post:  (…the comment flow runneth over with deliciousness!)

“If the Universe doesn’t grant your heart’s desire maybe it’s because it’s got something even better waiting for you that you can’t even imagine today.”

Have you noticed The Power of Happy at play in your life?  Tell me about it…

Enjoy the video… ” Look for something happy…focus upon it…BE Happy!”

Photo Model~Our Adorable Ashki~”Grabbing JOY”
Gratitude to Jeannette Maw for her gleaming example

In Happy & Harmony… Debra