Getting the energy moving early in the year is a good thing, especially when the unexpected happens. In 2009 I helped start a charter school. In 2010 I found myself unemployed. Being someone who enjoys her security I wasn't too thrilled with the situation, at least not at first.

After spending some time thinking about everything I came to the conclusion that my experience had taught me a great deal and that the knowledge was invaluable. I also realized that I had yet another opportunity to focus on something I wanted to do, an old dream reborn as a new goal.

One of my favorite tools for setting the energy to attract a number of things into my life is a manifesting map. If you look in Crafting a Magical Life you will see the manifesting map I made for 2009. The one for 2010 has some of the same items to reinforce ongoing goals and also some new additions to support new goals and new directions.

This year my big focus is on writing. I love to write and enjoy producing all kinds of written materials. But my secret dream, since I was in high school, has been to write novels. Even though I felt a bit insecure, I stepped up and put what I wanted on my manifesting map for 2010. This year I desire to be involved in work that is engaging and fun, pays really well, and also allows me free time to write. So, when I planned my map I used the energy of the bagua, placed items in the areas governed by the areas of the bagua, and used the appropriate colors to support and magnify the energy. I paid particular attention to the fame and fortune section (top, red), the career area (bottom, black) and my friends and helpful people section (bottom right, gray, with orange streaks for enthusiasm and motivation). You may notice that I put my own picture in my friend corner. I did that on purpose because I want to remember to be a good friend to myself, and treat myself well.

I keep my manifesting map on the wall above my writing desk so that every time I pass by or sit down to write I see it and am reminded that I am a powerful manifester and that I create my own reality. It will be interesting to see how all of the things I am working on unfold over the course of the year.

If you want to learn how to make your own manifesting map the instructions are in Chapter 3 of Crafting a Magical Life. This is a project that you can really pour your energy into, and one that can really help you focus your intention.

Hi everyone,

One of the fun things about becoming published is that you get to go out and promote your book. During the initial promotion for Crafting a Magical Life I had had several interviews but it was a TV interview on Lightworker.com that made me painfully aware of my appearance and how many pounds I had packed on in the last ten years.

We just don't know what we really look like until we see ourselves in pictures and on TV, and seeing myself on video was such a wake up call. I knew that I needed to do something to make a change happen, so I spent some time looking through all of the mind focusing crafts I had put into Crafting a Magical Life. I felt like weight loss would require daily attention, so I decided on prayer beads to help me focus my energy on eliminating the excess weight, building a lean, trim, healthy body, and feeling great.

In the end I made a bracelet, because I was so busy, and I was concerned I wouldn't take time for a full set of prayer beads. Every morning I spent just a few moments saying the prayers I had created around the my "healthy weight" prayer beads. Then I woud put the bracelet on my wrist and let it all go to the Universe.

An immediate result was that I became acutely aware of how often I was hanging in the pantry cabinets just looking for "something." When I would catch myself I would stop and consider what emotional state I was in. Often it was either boredom or anxiety. When I did catch myself I would drink a glass of water and walk away from the cabinet.

One day I came home from a short trip and discovered that my bracelet was gone! At first I was panicked, but after a few moments of thought I decided that it was probably because the Universe had provided a solution. So, I simply started saying a morning thank you every day. I still do it and it goes something like this.

"Thank you Universal Spirit that I am now a trim and fit 135 lbs, that
I am very healthy and feel wonderful. Thank you that I get to stay at
this healthy weight and positive state of health for the rest of my days."

Shortly after the loss of the prayer beads and the beginning of my daily gratitude prayer, a friend offered to help me and my husband, Chris, start on a Medifast diet program. Seeing this as the opportunity the Universe had provided I jumped at it, believing that it if the Universe sent this to us it would also help us follow through.

At the beginning of October 2009 Chris and I started on our Medifast. It didn't take me long to figure out, that while it did work and it did help us not to feel hungry, eating packets of stuff just wasn't going to cut it for either of us. Besides, I wondered what we would do about learning what foods to eat to build a healthy lifestyle afterward. I added to my morning thank you prayer saying "thank you for the perfect alternative to eating out of packets." Soon I found myself doing lots of research and hunting down a number of great foods that met the basic requirements of the snack meals used in the diet. Just to be on the safe side I added multivitamins into our daily regime.

Over the next several months we substituted more and more carefully planned "real food" snack meals and used less and less of the special diet food. We still lost weight and felt great, and for a lot less money. Plus, by slowly switching to real foods we both began building the skills necessary to eat well and stay fit for a lifetime.

Today we are eating only real food and are about to start the transition of slowly building calories back up over the next several months, with some exercise added to boost metabolism.
Chris has said goodbye to 60 lbs and weight induced diabetes, and I have eliminated 50 lbs from my body and feel fabulous. My back, knees and feet are happy, and I can breathe and wear fun clothes again.

Focusing your intention does work, and I believe that using my prayer bead bracelet to set my intention, then the gratitude prayer to keep the energy moving forward, helped me make the inner changes necessary to see results. My next diet focus will be on making a successful transition to a normal healthy diet and caloric intake while still keeping us both at our trim healthy weight.

What change do you want to make in your life, and how long have you been trying to figure out how to make it happen?

If wishing isn't getting you what you want, look through Crafting a Magical Life and find an intention focusing activity that can help you create what you want. Believe me, if I can manage it, anyone can!