Did you know that there is a Law of Gratitude?
“The Law of Gratitude is the natural principle that action and reaction are always equal in opposite directions. The grateful outreaching of your mind in thankful praise to the Supreme is a liberation or expenditure of force; it cannot fail to reach that to which it is addressed, and the reaction is an instantaneous movement towards you.” Wallace D. Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich.
What does this mean in practical terms?
Let’s first take a step back and frame this in the context of desire. Now, we have desires all the time. We want more money, more clients, more opportunities, relationships, health, etc.
Gratitude
There a number factors that support your gratitude-mindset.
First you have to be clear of what you want. Can you create a clear picture of what your desire would look like, sound like and feel like? If you can’t make a picture or movie of it, then your desire is not clear enough. In other words your desire needs to be tangible.
Next is to explore why you want it. What will it do for you? How will it enhance your business and life? What is important about that to you? Keep on asking yourself the why question until you are absolutely convinced that you really want this? If you don’t feel the energy of joy wanting to explode in your body, then it’s not that important to you.
Third is while you feel the joy of having your desire, feel immense gratitude for it and give thanks to Source saying thank you for every part of what you want as it is happening now as well as what it is doing for you. Stay in this feeling of joy and gratitude as long as you can and do this as often as you can.
What is absolutely crucial though, is to practice gratitude and develop the attitude of gratitude for everything. That means to accept and appreciate your current circumstances while expressing sincere gratitude for the good that is coming to you.
Not having the attitude of gratitude is what leads to resistance that prevents from what you desire to show up.
Resistance
There are a number of ways you resist what you want and prevent it from showing up in your life.
The biggest one and that the other ways of resistance are related to, is to focus on your current circumstances that is the opposite of what you desire, with dissatisfaction. That means that you focus on lack, of what you don’t have.
What causes the resistance is the meaning and feeling of dissatisfaction, or disappointment, or impatience, frustration, shame, disgust, guilt, etc.
The energy of these states is totally opposite to the energy of what you desire.
Other factors to consider that may cause you to sub-consciously sabotage yourself in this way, are the following.
By you having your desire, who might be affected? Would anybody be harmed if you get what you want? If so, then think again, because chances are that you will sabotage yourself and even if you do get what you want, the joy will be replaced by misery.
Everybody affected may be ecstatic about you getting what you want, but do all the parts of you agree that this is in fact a good thing for you? You have to make sure that it is safe for you to have what you want. If it is too big than it feels comfortable to your ego-mind, then your ego-mind will play up by coming up with excuses, trigger you to focus on your fears, etc.
Do you give yourself permission that you may have what you desire?
Conclusion.
What this all comes down to is your perception of how you experience your circumstances. Your perception is the meaning you give anything that puts you in a mind-body-emotional state and it is from your state that you respond and take action (or not).
When you change your perception you change your experience and you open yourself up to become aware of choices you did not see before.
You change your perception by, first of all realize that the fear or any other un-resourceful emotion you experience, is a result of a false assumption and then become curious and ask yourself:
- What is this about?
- What is the learning?
- What am I assuming?
- Is that really really true? (Work of Byron Katie).
- Find evidence that it is not.
Then ask:
- What is the opposite of the assumption?
- If I choose to believe that, how does it transform the situation, what possibilities open up and what action can I take now?
- Take the action!
The other most powerful way to focus on what you want instead of on your circumstances, is to practice gratitude as described above. Again, when you do this, you step into a mind-body-emotional state of joy and gratitude that aligns with the energy of Source and of what you desire and that also changes your perception. Before you know it, it shows up in your business and life.
This article was previously published on my blog.
To learn more, get Your Guide to a Purposeful Prosperous Business.