Do You Have a Bad Attitude Towards Money?

WEALTH AND PROSPERITY

"Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think."
~ Ayn Rand

Six Thoughts that Program Prosperity

In the last two posts, I talked about how old, engrained beliefs can sabotage fulfillment of our dreams. While we consciously take the attitude that we can have the thing we want, if we doubt that on the subconscious level, the deeper level of our mind will subvert those good intentions and bring us more of the same-old. Wealth creation is one area where this is particularly true, probably because most of us have been programmed to have self-defeating beliefs about money.

What is old programming really? It's a conscious attitude we've held long enough, recited to ourselves often enough, or felt deeply enough, that our subconscious mind has accepted it as true. When this happens, attitude becomes belief. It isn't enough that we want and consciously think we can have more money. We have to get past the surface attitude down to that level of engrained belief, and stir things up down there.

How to Do It

That means, really looking at our engrained beliefs about money. We must see what's been unhealthy in our thinking, perceive the illogic in the old belief, and replace it with abundance-embracing convictions. Take some time to do this, to sit by yourself and contemplate your old beliefs about wealth. Write down the negative thoughts you've been taught to believe in one column, leaving lots of space after each. Then think over each old belief, and in the second column, write down all the reasons next to each one why you now know that old thought isn't true.

When you do this, having new ideas about wealth to work from will be helpful, so we dedicate this week's newsletter to giving you some. Use the ideas below - only the ones that make sense to you - to explain things to the Doubting Thomas within. After you've worked through your old wealth-belief list, write down your current wealth beliefs on a new sheet of paper, and tear up the old beliefs. Next, refresh your affirmations.

Refresh Your Affirmations

After your belief housecleaning, write fresh wealth affirmations to replace any tired ones that haven't been working well for you. The new ones will be stronger and weightier with your subconscious, because you'll have written them after giving your programmed beliefs a listen.

Do you like being told what to do when you haven't been listened to? Neither does your subconscious. Make it a friend by explaining to yourself what's really true about money. When you're in one piece on the subject, in conscious and subconscious agreement, prosperity will become a reality (not just a word on your bathroom mirror).

Read your new affirmations to yourself when you wake up in the morning, before you fall asleep at night, and also whenever negative thoughts about prosperity creep in. Always read the list with real attention. Each time you do this you will remind your subconscious of the things you explained to it, and further fine-tune it to match your desires.

Mull Over This

Here are some ideas to contemplate during your mental "spring housecleaning" session. Use those that you resonate with, and add any ideas of your own:

• You may have a resistance to the words like "wealthy" and "rich." Perhaps they suggest to you things like excess and selfishness. There's nothing wrong with feeling you don't want to be one of the spoiled rich, living higher than the rest of mankind while others suffer in poverty. If that's what "wealth" implies to you, toss out that word in favor of a concept of well-being that's more in accord with your personal values. Many people find words like "abundance," "prosperity," "plenty" better describe what they want in their lives. If that's the case with you, your subconscious will better support your dreams if you word your intentions and affirmations with those more acceptable, less splintery, words.
• "Money is the root of all evil." How often have we heard that expression? But is it really true? First of all, the actual quote is, "Love of money is the root of all evil," and the person saying it was talking about an addictive relationship to money, not money itself. Money itself is no more evil than any other material thing. Money can do great good or great evil. It's all in how it is used. How would you use more money if you had it? Ask yourself if that would be evil or good. Would you be less dependent on others? Would the people in your life benefit? Would strangers benefit? If your answer to those is yes, how exactly would your having more money be evil, or contribute to evil?
• If the economy's got you down, and you're worried if it might "get worse," consider that even in the Great Depression, there was only a 25% unemployment rate. That means 3 out of 4 people were still working in the worst of economic times! We hear all the negative stuff about that era but rarely hear that part of it. Nor do we often hear the stories of many now-departed old-timers about how those years were the best of their lives. People were brought together during the Depression. They learned to be more neighborly and supportive. They grew more self-reliant and resourceful. They discovered that real abundance is not the number of dollars you have, because dollars can become worthless. They came to value more substantial concepts of wealth, like gardens and the ability to grow them, owning your home outright, and living without debt. In an economic downturn, people are prompted to think about what economic security really means, and this can prompt restructuring of spending, earning, and living habits to one's advantage.
• In any economy - booming, recessed, or depressed - people must produce and trade to live. As long as people are producing and trading, there is work, even if you have to create it. Identify the trades, services and industries that people will patronize in a slower economy, knowing that there will always be work in those sectors, and that you can find a place within them if you need to. Your current job is not a permanent fixture that you are glued to for life, and you don't die if your job does. Jobs are coats we put on and take off. Ask yourself if the coat you're wearing right now is right for the weather.
• Maybe you find it hard to really deeply believe you could ever have the dollar amount you list as a goal. But dollars aren't true wealth. Wealth is the things dollars buy. In themselves, dollars are pretty substantial. In Germany's Great Depression, dollars had so little value people papered their living rooms with them. Dollars are unstable, with values that fluctuate with the stock market. So if it's dollars you want, stop feeling they are priceless and mysteriously unattainable. Consider how banks make money. They literally create it, by typing numbers on a sheet of paper when people come in for a loan. For banks, making money is as simple as typing. If that's the only difference between poverty and wealth - a few typed numbers on a piece of paper - how impossible is it really for anyone to shift from one state to the other? Imagine your bank account statement with the numbers you want to see there. How hard is it for the universe to take 1,000 and add two or three zeros?
• Feeling undeserving is another old programmed belief that keeps many of us from enjoying the abundance we desire. Really look at this one. Why are you undeserving? Okay, so you've done some bad things you regret. Everyone has. Does that mean everyone should live in poverty? Would the world be better if everyone was poor? The fact is, we all are better citizens, better neighbors and more agreeable family members when we aren't struggling over our ability to make a living. Being poor benefits nobody. To the extent you are poor, you are dependent. Better to be strong in ourselves financially, if only for the good of the people we then don't have to lean on. Money isn't something we should have only because we deserve it. It's something we should have so we can hold up our own end of things and do good in the world. Don't we all deserve that?

Ask yourself what your old attitudes have been about money. Write them down as you think of them. Then really look at those old beliefs and ask yourself if they are true. As you rewrite your list and revise your inmost feelings about plenty, your openness to abundance will grow. When emotionally it feels as natural and good to you as the other good things in your life, abundance will be part of your everyday experience.

Next Week

Next week: visualization images and other strategies for money creation through the mind! Have fun reprogramming your wealth beliefs this week, and in the next newsletter, we'll send you some ripe seeds to drop into the plowed field of your subconscious, seeds that will grow prosperity.

Wishing every one of you unlimited abundance and happiness,

Richie. (Global Secrets)

Top Photo Courtesy of TW Collins.

How to Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind

THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

"Once the subconscious mind accepts an idea, it begins to execute it. The conscious and subconscious are not two minds. They are merely two phases of activity within one mind."
~ Dr. Joseph Murphy

Self-Doubt - Like an Onion

Last week I talked about the importance of reprogramming your subconscious mind in order to successfully work the Law of Attraction. Old, deep-seated beliefs about how life works, and about your own potential, must be replaced with more truthful beliefs, the kind that support success.

There are a number of strategies a person can employ for doing this. All of them entail the conscious mind (the choosing part of us) impressing our desires and attitudes on subconscious mind (the receptive and creative part of us). To do that, the conscious mind must not only sow the seeds of new thoughts into the subconscious; it must also weed out any doubts that spring up based on old, deeply-held beliefs.

One strategy, I mentioned, is to have a little talk with ourselves when negative thoughts pop up about our ability to achieve our dreams. Sometimes this little talk involves really thinking through and resolving the subconscious objection the negative back-talk has brought to our awareness.

There may be layers to the onion: today you may find one doubt spring up, you think it through and get rid of it, then tomorrow a different doubt starts nagging you. This indicates you’ve reached a deeper level of subconscious resistance, and that’s a very good thing.

Patiently work through the new doubt and get in once piece about your desire again. This back-and-forth process of desiring and objecting will continue between the conscious and subconscious until you are in agreement with yourself about what’s possible and what’s good for you. At that point, both levels of your mind will work together to manifest your dream – no inner resistance.

You may also experience another scenario: you’re certain you’ve resolved the doubt, but the old thought pattern springs up again and again as negative mind chatter. In this case, the muttering doesn’t come from deep-seated hidden beliefs but from simple habit. When this occurs, you’ll know it, because you won’t feel an emotional tug, when the backtalk comes, that maybe the doubt is right. The mental chatter will just seem annoying.

When this happens, get conscious of the chatter, and replace it with a positive affirmation that directly corrects the negative thought. Repeat the new thought several times, with conscious focus, and get back to the business of your day. In time you’ll develop the new habit of thinking the positive thought rather than the negative one. But remember, this only works if you’ve first addressed the deep-seated emotional beliefs that caused that negative thought originally. If you don’t tend to that part of the process, it’s like trying to paste something new onto a dirty surface: the new addition just won’t stick.

Also, if you aren’t doing it already, make sure that when you fall asleep at night you drift into dreamland imagining your wishes coming true. This is another way of reprogramming the subconscious with your new intentions. The subconscious is most open and alert at the “twilight” junction between waking and sleeping (when you drift off at night and when you first stir to conscious awareness in the morning).

Use these times to communicate your vision to your powerful deeper mind. It responds to images, so imagine vividly. Pretend you’re experiencing your dream coming true. Any sights, sounds, smells, tactile images or emotions you conjure up will imprint themselves on your subconscious and start the inner machinery moving toward fulfillment of your dream.

It’s impossible in a newsletter to explain all the details of reprogramming the subconscious, but these are basic tools to get you started. To really get some traction, read Joseph Murphy’s book, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, or check out one of the other products we’re featuring this week – they’re all about working with your subconscious. In the following article, we give you some specifics about this little book, and tell you why we found it so transformative.

Murphy’s Book: Reprogramming Specifics, with Stories

If you never read another book, you’ve got to read this one. In The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, Dr. Joseph Murphy tells how he healed himself of a cancerous sarcoma by reprogramming his deeply held beliefs, and shares all his strategies in detail. This book is not just inspiring, it is full of practical ideas, for how to get your subconscious to accept and manifest your desires.

Joseph Murphy was one of the renowned teachers of the “New Thought” movement of the early 20th Century. That movement taught the Law of Attraction in the language of our grandparents and great-grandparents. This read is like listening to a wise old person tell you the most important secrets for living a successful life. It’s packed with true stories of Dr. Murphy’s clients and students. One of the most helpful features is the prayers and long affirmations the book includes, and the more-than-a-dozen strategies for self-reprogramming.

The “Your Right to Be Rich” chapter addresses old subconscious objections we have to our own wealth, helping a person think through these and remove them. Other chapters address topics like how to use your subconscious mind to remove fear, to develop better relationships, and to overcome illness.

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind is available in hardcover and in paperback. If you want to be a more successful creator, and don’t know why your dreams aren’t all manifesting yet, you can’t afford not to buy this book.

Wishing much success and abundance,

Richie. (Global Secrets)

Photo above courtesy of Darwin Bell.

My Monday Morning Inspiration from The Secret

Inspiration

If you are feeling a bit negative or uninspired on a Monday morning, here is a short video that might help, it never fails to to put shivers down the back of my spine.

I actually posted the video in an article I wrote last year about the Secret Sequel, but I love the clip so much I reckon it's worth of putting up again. It will give you a great start to the day.

Press play, sit back and turn up the music...Planet Earth Forever.

Is This Mistake Sabotaging Your Manifesting?

We received the following e-mail last week from a questioning reader:

"You make it sound so simple. You have your dream, feel grateful for all that happens, etc. After a long while of feeling low because I couldn't make anything positive happen, I changed my attitude 180 degrees and felt great. I wrote down my goals, and when those didn't appear I wrote down a new set with a business plan to show how I was to progress things.

Reprogramming the Subconscious Mind Image Courtesy of Financial Aid Podcast

"Then – nothing. Not a whimper. But I tore my ligaments while skiing and I am still recovering after 8 weeks. I lost clients I could ill afford to lose. I then got the worst flu I’d had in 30 years. My husband blew up the car and we don't have the money for a new one.

"All the time it seems that whatever I dream of, whatever I try, fails. I look at myself in my current predicament and do believe that fortunes will change, but to write a story about a woman whose fortunes changed overnight because her attitude changes, I’m sorry but I don't think so. Believe you me, I have tried.

"I have never been afraid of hard work. I don't actually complain to anyone. I try techniques to change round my moods to embrace another set of thought patterns, but I am truly stuck.

"So if you have any suggestions I would be grateful. Perhaps it is because I don't have the money to buy your products, which I don't, but it would be nice for someone to make sense of this."

F.

First of all, we have been there, too. Maybe it’s a stage of manifestation that lots of us have to go through – “the awkward, acne-teenage phase” of personal development. A person gets the theory fine of how The Secret works, but applying it in real life turns out to be quite another story.

But attitudes are not changed in a day. If you have been thinking negatively about yourself, your life, or your future, the choice to stop those attitudes is only the first step. Just taking it makes you feel great, as our reader experienced. She felt she’d made a 180-degree turn. Then nothing changed in her life. But she didn’t allow herself to whimper. (Notice how negative judgments have already crept into her thinking on a subtle level: “Nothing’s happening. I need results faster. Maybe the Law of Attraction doesn’t work. Maybe I can’t work it. But I mustn’t whimper. I must think positive.”)

Then something bad happens, a skiing injury, and this confirms her fear that maybe nothing works. By now she has already slid far down the hill from feeling fantastic and believing in herself to great self-doubt. She’s still trying not to whimper, but in her heart she is full of hopelessness. More bad things happen, and this convinces her she is a failure and has no control over her life.

It’s Not Just About Not Complaining

What happened is that old, engrained beliefs and programming prevailed over the wonderful new attitude. Doubtful thoughts started emerging, but the reader pushed them down instead of addressing them and working her way through them. She thought if she just didn’t complain, that meant she had a manifesting, results-producing attitude. In fact she was burying part of herself, and that’s what sabotaged her. Now she’s lost faith in herself, saying “It seems whatever I dream of, whatever I try, fails.” So what’s manifesting in her life? That deeply held belief.

The friend we wrote about in our story last week did not suddenly turn her life around with the attitude change we reported. She had been working on taking charge of her life for some time. She would do well for a few weeks or months then slide into another bout of bad things happening. It was when she saw that every slide in fortune was preceded by an unconscious slide in attitude that our friend was able to really notice and route out her habit of dropping back into old thinking. Her success didn’t happen overnight. It happened through applying the Law of Attraction as she understood it, practicing it step by step, and learning through her own experience.

Addressing Old Beliefs

Before we reach the stage of complete personal empowerment, we have to encounter our old beliefs that stand in the way of living it. These are attitudes we harbor, often subconsciously, about our own worth and abilities, about how the world works, about “money being the root of all evil,” etc. Whenever we try to reach for something better, these old attitudes announce themselves in the form of doubtful thoughts. But this is a good thing! Such thoughts are calling cards from our subconscious, telling us about buried programming we didn’t know we had.

When it asserts itself, listen to it. Find a quiet corner and five or ten minutes to deal with the doubt. Let your negative mind-chatter tell you what you really are feeling on the subconscious level – that powerful level of mind that determines what happens in your life. Once you can identify the old belief you’re holding, contemplate it, then ask yourself why you know this former belief to not be true, the reasons why you know it to be false. Don’t grab at some superficial answer. Really ask yourself how your new understanding and life experience cause you on the conscious level to no longer hold that old belief.

Reprogramming the Subconscious

Then explain to your subconscious why that old belief isn’t true, and what is true for you now. Just have a little, sincere talk with yourself, at the time the doubt springs up. Your subconscious is active and aware in such moments and will hear what you tell it. That starts to reprogram your innermost self with your new, empowering beliefs. The subconscious attitude starts to be revised.

Every time you do this, the subconscious mind starts to align more with your current conscious beliefs, and your conscious control of your life becomes greater. You no longer are running on autopilot, victim to old programming that runs unnoticed beneath your conscious awareness and sabotages your success and happiness. Cognitive psychology is a new branch of therapy that applies this very principle. It suggests becoming aware of your negative thoughts, evaluating their truth, then re-stating the thoughts to yourself in a more truthful form.

Getting Yourself in One Piece

In our reader’s case, she might take “Whatever I dream of, whatever I try, fails,” consciously consider the validity of that a few moments, then turn it into a more truthful statement like: “In the past, some of what I tried and dreampt of didn’t turn out as I expected. But I’m learning how to accomplish my dreams, and now my success is growing.”

This is a message the subconscious will recognize as reasonable and be willing to accept. Because you’ve adopted the new belief that there is a Law of Attraction and you can have anything you put your mind to, you have jolted your subconscious to attention – so much so that doubtful, defeatist thoughts are springing up. This is your subconscious saying, “Hey, this doesn’t compute. Which do you want me to take as true: that we’re broke or that we’re abundant?” That’s when you explain to it that in the past, poverty was an experience, but that now good things are here and greater things are coming to you.

The Worst Kind of Poverty

Keep holding up the lantern of your dream, and the things you need to make it real will follow the light until they arrive safely on your doorstep. While you wait for them to show up, don’t be upset when your subconscious shows you a negative attitude. Be grateful for its revealing the infected old beliefs you need to clean out, because if it didn’t do that, those hidden attitudes would completely sabotage your dreams.

One last reference to our reader and her letter. We believe she was correct in thinking success may be harder for her because that she’s never taken a course or really studied the subject. Yes, it costs some money, typically, to really learn to apply The Law of Attraction. But to tell ourselves, “I can’t afford it” is to accept old negative thinking rather than addressing it, questioning it, and turning it into an attitude that’s healthier and more realistic. If we can’t afford to invest a little money in our own happiness, if we don’t think we’re worth some dollars being spent on learning how to achieve our own dreams, then we are poor in the very worst sense of the word. “I can’t afford it” is only an attitude, and it’s only true if we keep on letting it be.

For more information and products that can help you reprogram your subconscious mind go to http://www.the-secret-dvd.net/News/tss/20095.html

Richie (Global Secrets)

The Secret Book Sequel may not be far away.

Update February 2009

After rumors that started way back in early 2007 about a follow up book and movie to The Secret, we recently heard the news from one of the major suppliers that Rhonda Byrnes’ sequel to the Secret Book is not far away.

April 2009 has been mentioned for the release date, although apparently a title has not yet been decided.

According to the Los Angeles Times blogsite, The Secret is nearing it’s 100^th week on the L.A. Times bestseller list, and both the book and DVD have reached over $300 Million in sales since its release in 2006.

Now ….. I’m not sure how long it takes to print a heap of books; but I’m guessing they will be looking at a pretty big print run for the first release considering the success of the Secret Book and DVD so far.

So I guess they’d better get a wriggle on and choose a name so that they can start printing if it’s going to be released in April.

Hey…It’s all rumors anyway, and personally, I will believe it when I see it. Let’s hope its sooner rather than later, I can’t wait to see what the next installment is about.

P.S. The other news that we heard was that the follow up DVD will be released in Sept/Oct; but that’s ages away from now, so I will let you know more when I hear something concrete.

Richie (Global Secrets)

To stay informed, make sure you are on our mailing list, or keep checking the Secret Sequel page on our website.

Does Your Attitude Suck? How to Feel Grateful Again.

GRATITUDE

"If you count all your assets, you always show a profit." ~ Robert Quillen

Does Your Attitude Suck? How to Feel Grateful Again

In last week’s newsletter we talked about “gratitude attitude” – what some call “gladness attitude.” We looked at how our thoughts shape reality, and why that’s worth being glad about.

This week let’s talk about slumps: what to do when you lose your gladness and slip into complaint mode. How does that affect your life and how can you get back to feeling good and positive again?

Photo: " What wrong with my attidude?" (Photo courtesy of rudezombie)

A Cool True Story

Just as gladness attracts to us things of similar vibration, feeling irritated or put out attracts to us negative things. Sometimes the results can be dramatic.

Some years ago, a normally upbeat friend of ours lost her job and fell into a mindset of worry. Though Kara worked unusually hard at finding a new position, no employers were interested. Her fear sabotaged every interview and job application. She couldn’t even get a kid’s job delivering newspapers.

Soon other bad things happened: she got a speeding ticket, developed the cold of her life, and her boyfriend broke up with her. Our friend was really angry – it all seemed so unfair.

One day in a phone call, as Kara narrated her long list of disasters to a friend, the other woman’s cell phone kept bleeping out. Kara’s friend would drive out of the dead zone, phone again, they’d chat a minute, Kara would start complaining, and the phone would go dead again. Kara was so eager to rail about her undeserved experiences, and this just seemed the last straw.

This happened 12 or 13 times, when it occurred to Kara that the moment she started complaining, that’s when they would lose the cell connection. Then it hit her: her own attitude was causing the trouble – not just on the telephone microwaves, but in her life. She had let dramas overtake her faith in herself and the universe. The more she moaned, the more awful her world became.

As soon as Kara stopped reciting her woes, the phone conversation continued without further interruption. That day Kara decided to stop whenever she noticed herself complaining, even if she was only complaining in her mind. Instead she told herself one good thing was about to happen to her. (Right then she felt too low to believe in more than one).

Two days later, Kara received a generous surprise check in the mail from a concerned friend. It was the first nice thing that had happened to her in months.
Imagine a Change in Fortune

Kara saw that her own attitude slump was causing all her problems. She began imagining feeling glad and being relieved of her troubles. Within a couple of days, she felt cheerful, and within a couple of weeks, her “luck” had completely reversed. She went into business for herself and became successful. As an entrepreneur, she was much happier than on her old job. Her new boyfriend was quite an improvement, too.

In the years since, our friend has never fallen into a major downward spiral again. When negative thoughts start to creep in, she remembers that experience, and the power of expecting good (maintaining a gladness attitude) in creating the life she wants for herself.

If you are in an emotional slump, begin to just imagine feeling better. Imagine one nice thing – a surprise – happening to you. When something annoying occurs, tell yourself the pattern you’re in is about to reverse. When you go to bed at night, fall asleep on the thought that something wonderful is in the works. You’ll see an abrupt change in fortune, because your mind is a creator in this universe. What you imagine and expect will come to you!

Jack Canfield’s “Dream Big Collection” – Helping You Stay Glad


We recommend a special product to you this week, something to help maintain your gratitude attitude. Keeping an upbeat focus is so important, since sliding into negativity delays our manifestations. The product is Jack Canfield’s “Dream Big” collection, a set of tools designed to keep you positive.

First in the kit is his book, “Key to Living the Law of Attraction,” which lays out all the mechanics for assuming authorship of your own life. It’s important to review this information regularly, as we are prone to forget it.

You’ll also get a Gratitude Journal, a beautiful book to record in each day just what you have to be glad about. This makes staying glad easier. You’ll also receive a Vision Book, with all the Accessories needed to make an inspiring visual tool that keeps your goals and manifesting on track. This is a story board, deluxe version. Look at your beautiful vision book every night before bed, and drift off to dreamland designing and creating your future.

Visit www.dreambigcollection.com. for more about this cool package by Jack Canfield, co-author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books and one of the renowned teachers on “The Secret” DVD. Any purchase you make helps fund our effort to bring you inspiration and knowledge through this newsletter.

Wishing you a week of gratitude and gladness,

Richie (Global Secrets International)

How to have an Attitude of Gratitude.

Attitude of Gratitude When Things Go Wrong? How to Be Upbeat, Not Phony

We hear a lot in "The Secret" circles about the importance of a "gratitude attitude," but how can we feel grateful when bad things happen? Isn't it phony to pretend you're grateful when things are actually going wrong? And how exactly does gratitude make things better?

What Gratitude Attitude Isn't

A gratitude attitude doesn't mean living in an emotional monotone, where your response to every situation is "I'm so grateful." Nor does it mean acceptance and submission, telling yourself the situation is just as it should be when in fact you know it's atrocious. Speaking up or taking action is important when something is wrong. Is it possible then to be realistic and grateful both, when bad things happen?

It is, because the bad stuff isn't what we're grateful for. We're grateful for the good that is somewhere in there with it. By looking for the good parts in any situation, we find the hope and motivation to work through the nasty stuff and make things right again.

Pollyanna Had It Down

A few decades back, the child star Haley Mills made a wonderful movie called "Pollyanna." She played a charming girl who always saw the cup as half full. No matter how bleak a situation, Pollyanna saw the bright side. This endeared her to everyone, because having her around made their own viewpoints more positive and cheerful.

Pollyanna didn't pretend everything was fine when it wasn't. She cared when people were hurt and things weren't right. But she helped people to a different way of seeing that made lemonade out of lemons.

In one delightful scene, the servants are miserable because it's Sunday. They're required to sit around being prim all day and not allowed to have fun. They challenge Pollyanna to find something to be glad for in that. The little girl's response, after some thinking: "Well, you could be glad because it's seven whole days before it's Sunday again!"

Grat-At: Knowing Your Own Power

That's the gentle focus shift that a gratitude attitude brings (you may like to call it a "gladness attitude"). It means looking for what's good in something and being glad for that part. It's knowing that no matter how bad something appears, your possibilities and resources are endless.

Being grateful means knowing that underneath our physical form, we are consciousness, and that consciousness is power. Consciousness (thought) structures the universe. As long as our inner nature is what thoughts are made of, we can touch the world with our thoughts and change it.

Quantum Physics Weighs In

Quantum physics demonstrates this to be fact. It says that at the deepest level of creation, matter responds to thought. Simply by expecting a light particle to go through Slit A in a screen rather than through Slit B, scientists are able to make a photon go through that slit. Holding an intention and expecting it to manifest is how we create or change things through our mind. No matter how bleak a situation, shouldn't we always be grateful for that?

We can alter anything. That ability of choice, of making things happen according to our desire, is one of the best things about living. Perhaps this capacity of human consciousness deserves our gratitude more than anything else. Once we know how to create reality, we never have to be victims again.

Responses on Gratitude

Congratulations to the winner of our "gratitude" drawing, Gwendoline from Australia! Gwendoline will receive the Dream Big Collection by Jack Canfield as her gift. Want more inspiration? Read all the wonderful entries by our newsletter readers describing what they are grateful for in their lives. "I am so grateful for..."