Learning day by day

Vidya wrote: I was wondering if you could help me. I'm feeling low and just want someone to help me "clear the haze".

I also promised anonymous (previous post) that I'd write more about 'restlessness'. Vidya's mail has prodded me to get off my butt and just do it! I have read three wonderful things recently that I would like to share:

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne: I just can't get enough of recommending this book to people. What I found most useful and appealing was the way Byrne says we should go about getting what we want. It's a three-step process: Ask. Believe. Receive.

She likens it to sitting in a restaurant and placing an order. We look through the menu, choose what we want, tell the waiter about it, and sit back and relax, waiting for it to come with the absolute faith that it will. ASK: look through the menu of the universe and choose what you want to achieve, or what you want to be. BELIEVE: have the utter conviction that sooner or later, you are going to get it. RECEIVE: be as you would be had you already got what you want. If having the wealth of Bill Gates is what you want, believe that you already do, and be as happy and as content as you'd be if you had it.

As an example, as soon as I read the book last month, I decided to follow it. I wished for a great body, and then began behaving that I already AM gorgeous and healthy. Funny thing, it did wonders for my self-confidence and posture! People said I was looking thinner, though frankly, I knew it was merely my own way of holding myself that was being projected. Then, I asked myself, what would I be doing if I had my dream body? My answer was, I'd work out and maintain it and be strong and toned. Guess what, I joined a gym a couple of weeks ago. (It means a lot to me, because I'd been intimidated about it for years.) And I'm feeling great about it though it does take a lot of effort to get up that early in the morning before the kids wake! It's now only a matter of time that I WILL have the dream body, I am sure of it (as per step 2). Actually, going by step 3, I already do.

But I digress. Back to the three things I wanted to share. The second wonderful thing I read carried forward this above point. It was a lecture by Neale Donald Walsch, and he spoke of appreciating the abundance that you have instead of always chasing it. So instead of always judging abundance in terms of wealth, judge it in more holistic terms. What is that you have so much of? Love? Passion? Intelligence? A certain skill, a talent? Give it. Share it. According to the laws of the universe, we are all one. So what you give is what you get back. And you do not lack in anything at all, you are a perfect, complete being in any case, and you have the resources of the whole universe at your disposal. So give what you got generously, and you will receive in return. It may not come back in the form you expected, but accept it with gratitude. It's a gift from you to you!

The third thing I read is lying at home. It's a quote by Sadhu Vaswani in the latest issue of Life Positive. I don't want to quote it incorrectly, so I will get it tomorrow and share it then.