5/7/11

Don't Ask Yourself What the World Needs...

Don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask what makes you come alive because what the world needs is people coming alive.
I love this quote the minister of our church said the other week. It makes me second guess my thoughts in my last post.

By the way, I will probably find new, different, and sometimes even contradicting information from one post to the next because this blog is more of a journal than facts. I try to give advice based on what I believe at the time is the best information I have but it is subject to change. You get to be on this journey with me as I learn & discover the law of the universe/law of attraction and hopefully it will be helpful to you along the way.

I previously thought that in order for you to be able to manifest something, it had to necessarily be beneficial to others also. Some people believe this and when they told me that, it seemed logical at the time. However, as I'm learning more and more about the universal law in the weekly class I'm taking at my church (part of the International Centers for Spiritual Living "religion"), I see that this is not a rule you have to adhere to in order for your desires to manifest.

Each person is unique and has unique talents and abilities. If each person followed their instincts and did what excited them, not what others or society said they should be doing, the world would be full of love and inspiration and therefore it would be a better world for everyone. So, an effect of your doing this, will end up helping others anyway.

Free to Follow the Beat of My Own Drummer
This would be a perfect mantra (or bumper sticker) for me.  In order to utilize the universal law, people need to trust that the universe will open doors and bring necessary others and opportunities to you to help you continue to follow doing what you love. This trust is hard to keep especially when your instincts & heart seem to be calling you to follow the beat of a different drummer.

You will be surprised at how amazing this works when you follow what feels right for you.  The hard part seems to be figuring out what is right for you. As I go along and try to follow the law of attraction/law of the universe, I seem to keep coming back to this same question because new choices always come up and I find myself re-evaluating what is right for me to help me make the right decision for me at the time.  For instance, currently, I'm feeling some resistance when I try to use the law to get a tenure-track, FT teaching position at the college I'm currently adjuncting at that I love. I do love teaching and like the cultural and people at the school but I'm having occasional doubts. I don't know if the doubts are due to fear that I won't get the job because I don't have much teaching experience or due to my instincts telling me it's not quite right for me. It's very difficult to distinguish and a mentor at church recommended I meditate about it to see what, deep down, at my core, I feel about it. Your spirit & body is the best guide (as long as you're in good mental & physical health - this is a whole other discussion I've been thinking about that I'll have to do another post on).  Overall, I think you should follow what feels good to you. I've found that when in doubt, I should meditate to get clarity on what feels good to me.

Another thing that seems to get in the way of following the law is impatience and doubt when it doesn't happen for you in your short timeline.  I like the following analogy to help with this. Desires are like flowers or plants - you plant the seed in the universe and have to keep believing in it to "water" it. It takes time to grow. And, just like when a seedling often encounters some resistance as it breaks through the ground's surface, you might encounter resistance as you continue to follow through with your ultimate desire. Very timely to this concept, I just saw a documentary about Martin Luther King, Jr. I didn't know just how much resistance he encountered throughout his lifetime, but he continued pushing what he believed in.  I think resistance doesn't always come in the form of external resistance from others or society, but also frequently comes from internal forms such as fear, doubt and the many other negative emotions we feel at times. The thing to remember is that these are normal and not a reason to pull up your seedling and give up.  I usually feel a lot of anxiety when I succomb to these emotions and this impatience. It's easy to try to relieve your anxiety in unhealthy ways (overeating, shopping, drinking or doing drugs). If you want any chance at successfully using the law of attraction, you CANNOT relieve your uncomfortable-ness this way! The best way I've found to relieve these negative emotions is to meditate. There are some great (free) guided meditation podcasts in itunes.

Another good solution is to find company in others who support you and have similar perspectives/mentalities and/or are doing similar things.  Seeking out a person(s) or venue specifically for support - those who are able to help you is also very important.

If anyone has any comments, even if you'd like to debate or discuss contrary information, I'd love to hear it. Hearing all perspectives and opinions is helpful to me on my learning journey, so
feel free to post a comment!