Gratitude, Manifesting and Overwhelm

Last night I led a ceremony celebrating the beginning of spring.  One of the things I did during the celebration was give out plastic eggs with a secret word in them--words like truth, clarity, joy, fun, abundance, etc. Then we did a meditation with our special word and helped it to flower and grow in our lives. When I opened my egg my word was gratitude.  I laughed and talked about how I have been receiving lessons in gratitude for many years and I guessed I was going to be doing some more work with gratitude and then went on to the meditation. The celebration went well and we all had a great time.

But when I got home and was alone with my thoughts I started not feeling so grateful to have gratitude as my special word.  I spend lots of time talking about how important gratitude is in generating the life you want to live.  I say my gratitude list every morning before I get out of bed, and I really am grateful for lots of things in my life.  But when I got gratitude for my word instead of something like fun, play, or laugher, I felt slighted by the universe.  In truth it felt like I was a student who had gotten a failing grade on a paper and was going to have to do it over again to improve my score.  I'm one of those students who only likes getting "A"s, so it didn't sit well.  

Another truth is that I have called all this great stuff to me that I wanted to do and have,  and over the last couple of months I have mostly been whining about all the stuff I have called to me.  Hmmm.  Well that gave me pause.  Was I just losing the spirit of gratitude?  I really do feel grateful for a lot of things in my life, and I do feel grateful for the things the universe is sending me.  So what could possibly be the problem?

When I dug deeper and hit the little button inside my heart that makes the tears come (always a good indicator of finding the sore spot) I realized that I was feeling resentful and whiny BECAUSE I was getting what I asked for, and I was having trouble managing all that wonderful new stuff.  A friend I was talking to on Skype this morning pegged it perfectly by calling it OVERWHELM.  Plus, by bringing these things into my reality I became responsible for them, and that is just a little bit scary.  It's like bringing home your first baby and then realizing you have to take care of it, feed it, change it's diapers, and watch over it for YEARS.  

But just like bringing home that first baby, after a while you settle in and realize you aren't going to kill it when you change a diaper and you will someday sleep again and it becomes okay. In fact it becomes more than okay because it is yours and you are falling in love.  Then feeling a little overwhelmed sometimes is worth it because you know you are doing something worthwhile and meaningful.  And in thinking about the things I have recently manifested in my life I really DO like them enough to give it more time for me to get settled in and know that I CAN do this.   

Once I came to that understanding things began to fall into place around my word, gratitude.  Receiving an egg with the word gratitude in it wasn't about me failing to be grateful or being bad at it somehow.  It was a reminder of the POWER of that word and the energy behind it.  Gratitude is a word of creation, and if I can use it to attract new things into my life I can also use it to manifest a little more ease and grace in becoming accustomed to the "new baby."  And with that realization the angst and fear have fallen away, at least for now, and I am feeling grateful for the word GRATITUDE in my life.

Many blessings to you all and HAPPY SPRING!

Hail, Hard Hats and Acceptance

This morning my Bunnyhunny called me from his work location in Northern Cal to tell me that he was being hailed upon.  When I asked him if the hail had knocked him on his noggin (in West Texas where I grew up our hail is usually really BIG). He laughed and said, "No.  I'm wearing my hard hat. But the hail is all piled up on top of my windshield wipers." I heard him turn on his wipers to move the hail away so he could see where he was going.

Our short conversation about the hail made me think about how often we allow ourselves to be waylaid by the stuff that comes up in life.  But the truth is that we always have our very own invisible hard hat.  It is called acceptance.  By acceptance I do NOT mean abject doormat-style surrender, though we sometimes must surrender things we can't do anything about.  

What I mean by acceptance is that in any given situation we will be much more flexible and able to respond if we have accepted the situation just as it is in the moment.  Refusing to see things as they really are does not make them change any faster.  But when you accept what is, you immediately open yourself to all the possibilities.  

When it hails we don't stand there being pelted and say, "I refuse to accept that it is hailing."  We think, Ouch, it's hailing.  We evaluate the possible solutions and we pop up our umbrella, step into the nearest doorway or race to our car.  

Even in the worst situations, when we accept what is we have more choices in how we are going to respond. Acceptance leads to solutions.  

Can't be hateful when you're grateful

"Can't be hateful when you're grateful."

I had a friend who used to say that alot.  And over the years I have come to believe she is absolutely right.  Something else you can't be when your grateful is fearful and negative.  That's why gratitude is so very important to manifesting.  When you act as if what you have ordered from the cosmos is on it's way and then you feed that energy by looking at all the wonderful people, places and things you have in your life right now, you draw good things to you much faster.  Plus it is almost impossible to be freaked out about what might happen tomorrow, or next week or next year when you are focused on all the goodness of the present.  

Does that mean we have to deny the things that aren't so great, pretend that they aren't happening?  No, but if we feed the negatives with our attention they tend to get bigger and we are likely to draw more of the same to ourselves.  

So develop  your attitude of gratitude in order to stay in the present moment and boost the signal you put out to the universe for the results you desire in your life.  

Happy manifesting!

Making it So Holiday Update

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while since I posted about my manifesting projects.  Tickets for the kids to come for Christmas and the money to get us through the holidays became reality and I have been putting my energy towards my biggest plan, which is, in a nutshell, to use my talents to earn money doing something I love.  I'm still putting my energy towards this bigger project and am excited when I see hints that I am moving forward.  

Manifesting abundance and prosperity is great, and there are so many more wonderful ways to use your manifesting skills.  Have you ever considered manifesting food for the hungry, help for the homeless, or good old fashioned peace?  If not then this is a great time to start.   The best part is that when you focus on these goals you  help draw them to those in need and to the planet at large.  

Can you imagine what could happen if everyone made the decision to manifest goodwill and peace?

Happy Holidays!

Carol Holaday

Are you getting into a crafty mood?

The holiday season is fast approaching.  I can feel it in the coolness of the air, see it in the changing light of autumn and smell it in the baking of gingerbread and pumpkin pies.

It's time for holiday crafting!   

Tonight, November 17th, at Tree of Life Metaphysical Books and Gifts I am holding a Yuletide crafting night.  We are making awesome book thongs, really cute yule log ornaments and cool gift boxes that will hang on the tree.  Come have fun and make as many as you have time for.  There are also instructions and patterns so you can keep up the good craft-work at home! We start at 7PM and the investment is $20.

Tree of Life Metaphysical Books and Gifts
4870 Santa Monica Ave. Suite 1A
San Diego (Ocean Beach)  CA 92107

(619)223-397

I'm still busy Making it So. Are you?

Hi Everyone,

Just checking in to let you know I haven't forgotten you. I have been busy working on my manifesting projects, however, and my efforts are paying off. Tickets for my son and daughter to come to San Diego for Christmas have been paid for, so one of my projects is complete!

I have some news to report about the other two as well. My project to have an extra $2K for Christmas presents and to cover shortfalls in work hours has gotten a start. So far $2K hasn't fallen out of the sky, though my husband came back from a work trip with a raise in travel pay. This means it will be a little easier to set some extra cash aside, which is definitely a start. And since I know that little trickles turn into streams that can become a great flowing river I am encouraged.

My work project is blossoming as well. Every morning I spend a few minutes with my manifesting beads and make my gratitude statement about what kind of work I choose to have and how much I make. In the last two weeks I have had a number of referrals for work that is writing or writing related. While I haven't actually signed any contracts yet I'm encouraged. I see the interest and contacts with others as a sure sign the universe is working things out perfectly.

I hope that you all are spending just a few moments each day focusing on what it is you desire to bring into your lives, saying thank you and using gratitude as ways to attract what you want to you. Imagine it is yours, say it is yours, believe it is yours and make it so!

Make It So Project – Week 3

It is the beginning of Week 3 of the Make it So Project Challenge and I have some great news to report. I had a small technical issue this week that prevented me from posting video but I’m not letting that stop me from posting my first results. My project #2, airline tickets for my son and daughter to come to San Diego for Christmas has now been realized!

Mission accomplished!

I posted earlier this week that I had one ticket by Thursday, and I was still short one ticket.  Now here’s where the universe does things in ways I might not of thought of or chosen.  There was a check that my husband and I had been waiting for that should have turned up at about the same time we started this project, but it didn’t turn up, and it’s always on time.  We simply worked around it and conserved our dollars and did just fine without it.  The check finally turned up on Saturday and it was exactly enough to cover the ticket we were still waiting on. I see this as an example of how the universe knows what we need and desire even before we ask for it.

How are your manifestations going this week?  Did you actually plan what you are going to do to bring your desires into reality?  Are you doing those things regularly?  If not, don’t beat yourself up.  Instead simply redouble your efforts and keep at it.  It takes a while to get into the habit of anything new and using your positive intention and attention to manifest your desires takes a bit of practice as well. 

I think the reason my tickets appeared as quick as they did was because they felt the most important to me in the moment.   I still have two projects I am currently working on, the right work for me and extra money for Christmas.  I am sure I will come up with something to replace project #2.  There’s no limit to what I can accomplish when I put my mind to it, and that statement applies to all of you as well!

This week I am going to start putting more attention into my manifesting prayer beads and project #1

Don’t forget to share your plans and your stories through comments.

Happy manifesting!