Recently, I visited a site that was promoting their strategy to change and become successful. It was an interesting way of creating new patterns of thinking, but the thing that turned me completely off was their way of promoting it. Instead of discussing its value and outcomes, the creator belittled all other ways of creating change. His main push in advertising was saying that his method was better than all others and was the only approach to use to improve.

Whenever a marketer feels the need to make his system better than others as the way to achieve results, it puts my hackles up. This is especially true when they promote themselves as being spiritual. A truly spiritual person doesn’t need to put all other concepts down to sell a product. Every method has value, and when they denigrate those other strategies, they’re trying to make themselves seem superior at the expense of others.

“All roads lead to God,” and some techniques may work for some people and not for others. Or they may work when the person is in a particular mindset, but not at other times. When a particular strategy is promoted as being “the only way” to results, it tries to invalidate all the positive outcomes that have come about from using other procedures. And it reminds me that all too often people take the easy way of trying to make themselves better by putting others down. If they’d recognize the benefits of all methods, and then state that theirs was new and different, and would complement others, then I’d have much more respect for them.

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I grew up in Houston, Texas and visited Galveston many times, played on the beach, ate at restaurants on the seawall. I always marveled at how high the seawall was above the sand. Tonight, as I watch the coverage of Hurricane Ike approaching Galveston and see the waves cresting their seawall, it’s almost unbelievable to me. Watching the places I wandered as a youngster be under water or destroyed is surreal. I wonder how the San Jacinto monument, a few hundred feet from the Houston Ship Channel, is faring? Is the Strand in Galveston going to survive another storm? Most of my friends there live miles inland, so they should be all right, far from the storm surge, but still I hold them in my prayers. It’s going to be a rough few days for them.

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When the nastiness of this political season begins to drive me crazy, I remind myself about a twelve-hour prayer vigil I participated in on Election Day during the 1992 election. People from both sides of the political fence joined in. Each of us spent an hour praying that the Highest Good for our nation would prevail, no matter who was elected. That every voter would be Divinely Guided, and every decision would be directed for our country’s Best Good.

As I prayed, I experienced such a peaceful sensation that all would be well no matter who would be President. Afterwards, we had a meeting to discuss our experience. Every single one of us got the same message/sensation that I had. It didn’t matter who was elected, the Highest Good would happen.

No matter what’s occurring on our national stage, no matter which side of the political fence you’re on, affirm with me that all will be well, no matter who is elected. The more of us who can hold that vision, despite what we believe about the choices, the better our chance will be for it to take place.

inspiration

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Question: Isn’t it better to just ask for my Highest Good, letting the Universe decide what’s best, rather than asking for a specific good, such as prosperity?

Answer: I get this question a lot. Many people seem afraid to ask the Universe for what would bring them joy, harmony, health, and affluence. They’re afraid that they’d be telling the Infinite how to make them happy. However, if you don’t have an idea of what you want, then the Universe simply gives you an average of your thoughts. Everything that happens in your life comes from the ideas and images you have in your mind, anyway. So, you have to have a conception of what you think is best, before the Universe can manifest your Highest Good. You can affirm, “This or something better.”

The Infinite wants you to be happy. It doesn’t conspire to make you unhappy. Therefore, in a specific situation, you can focus on whatever might be your Highest Good. For instance, if you have a problem with a co-worker that you want resolved, rather than affirming a specific outcome, such as “I want my co-worker to quit,” you affirm that you want a harmonious workplace and that whatever happens is for your Highest Good and the Highest Good of all concerned. Any number of things could happen to bring you peace in this situation. Simply focus on the outcome you want, and let the Universe handle the details.

Originally published in “The Cedarfire Newsletter,” July 2000.

Copyright 2000 Linda-Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

inspiration, self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development

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by Linda-Ann Stewart

Many years ago, I used affirmations to increase my business revenue. Within a few weeks, I would have more business than I could handle, and would stop doing the affirmations. I figured that, since things were rolling, I didn’t have to keep up the practice of saying them. Within a couple of months, clients had dwindled and so had my income. I would start saying affirmations again, and once again things would improve. Again, I’d cease my affirmations. By experimenting, I found that as long as I continued saying affirmations, my business would flourish. When I stopped, so did the flow of my business.

I made the same mistake that most people make. Once things begin to improve and I felt that I was over the hump, I thought, “I’ve got this licked and don’t have to do any more.” I felt that I’d permanently improved my prosperity consciousness and didn’t have to work on it any more. That’s not the case. Even after I began to manifest, I had to continue to say positive affirmations.

Once you begin to manifest what you’re affirming, you can’t coast. You have to keep up your affirmations and actions. Just like you have to keep putting gas in the car. The first time you fill up, let’s say you have to put twelve gallons in. If you drive until you let it run out of gas, then you find yourself stranded on the road. But if you keep an eye on the gas gauge, and fill it up whenever it gets only half empty, not only will you have to put in less and take less time doing it, but you’ll always have enough fuel to get you where you want to go.

Most people get impatient with the time it takes to turn around a negative frame of mind. Until your subconscious accepts your goal and begins to manifest it, you have to be consistent with your positive feedback. It’s normal to want things to change immediately, but consider how long you’ve been dealing with the old ideas.

If you’re speeding down the road at 60 miles an hour, would you consider it reasonable to do a U-Turn at that speed? A stunt man couldn’t even do it without using the brakes. If he tried, he would wind up rolling the car. No matter what, you have to slow down, then maneuver the car around to go in the opposite direction.

Every day, you receive both positive and negative messages about you, your job, your relationships, etc. Even if you’re in a positive frame of mind, if you don’t counteract the negative messages, they’ll begin to wear you down. Wealthy people are constantly giving themselves prosperous messages. People with high self-esteem are always reinforcing their sense of worth. If you stop giving yourself positive feedback, then the negative ideas will begin to creep into your consciousness and soon you’ll find yourself on a downward spiral.

Nowadays, I know to use affirmations daily to keep my business flourishing. I need to keep my mental fuel tank filled with positive beliefs about the constant flow of energy. If I forget and stop them for a while, it can take a few days, or a couple of weeks, for things to get moving again. But because of my inadvertent trial and error, I know that they will begin to manifest.

Affirmation
Affirmations are a powerful way to make improvements in my life. Positive statements give my subconscious direction and remind me that I’m worthy of receiving all the good I desire. Through the power of the Universe and the creativity of my inner mind, I can achieve anything I choose. Once my life has begun to change, I keep my momentum going by continuing to focus on my objective and continuing to repeat positive statements.

Copyright 2008 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development, motivation, inspiration

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