Shift - A Game About Love, Fear and Life

Another year is upon us and perhaps it’s a placebo effect, but I’m psyched to make some shifts in the new year. I feel a rebirth the way I do when spring rolls around and I get that unexplainable giddyness. Whatever I accomplished or didn’t last year no longer matters. It’s 2007 and here I am, new again.

My husband and I just did the coolest thing. I wanted us to write our visions for 2007 and I had us start by writing our gratitudes for 2006. What an amazing exercise. Before that, we checked in on our 8 Step Process (it’s a tool for getting clarity in any relationship because you go through your expectations and shift them into goals and operating instructions etc.). We felt as if 95% of the things we put down a year ago where now things we do regularly or things we no longer have an issue with. The one place where we realy needed to continue our work was around money- we decided to put tools into place to get clarity on our budget. I felt myself getting really tense because he’s been supporting me lately and it’s been one of my biggest lessons to learn to receive- especially from a man.

I had been reading A Course in Miracles that morning and it said that we teach everything. We teach how we should be treated in relationship by what we believe about ourselves. If I feel loved and whole and powerful, you bet the person I’m connecting with will get that. And when we feel somehow less than, we’re teaching that person that that’s who we are too. When we started to talk about money, I shrunk into feeling not good enough. I had just read him a line from the course that says,” Who would attempt to fly with the tiny wings of a sparrow when the mighty power of an eagle has been given him?” I joked that I was teaching him that I was the sparrow.

Still feeling a bit uneasy and wanting to avoid more money talk, I switched gears so that we could get on with the Gratitude/Vision exercise. We each wrote our gratitudes and my experience was powerful. By number four I was almost in tears. The feelings I had a second before immediately shifted when I started reviewing the year and all the wonderful experiences I’d had. I got married, went on a honeymoon, created a wonderful home, celebrated with my friends and family in the place my soul loves most…) It was interesting to see what I valued most. My relationship and friends and family were at the top. I didn’t mention work until number 8. We shared our lists and then wrote our visions and shared those.

There’s a quote that says it’s impossible to be upset when we are giving thanks. Gratitude has always been the number one way for me to make a shift. I think my Gratitude list was even more powerful than my vision because it’s based on acknowledging what’s real for me now. Maybe it’s because it’s past and that conveys a more solid reality for me where my vision is a want in the future that I believe I can manifest. Maybe it’s my scientific or egoic mind that wants to base things on what’s concrete, what’s transpired. In reality, both my vision and my reflection of my past and what I’m grateful for all come down to the filters and judgments I place on them. It’s all still a perception that I make real or more real.

Whew- when I see what’s shown up for me in just 2006, I know I am blessed. Gratitude, time and again, squashes all of my insecurities and self doubts. I decided to post my list on the wall behind my computer screen (along with my Bootstrapper’s Manifesto- Seth Godin, Massive collage/treasure map of what I want to manifest and my success meditation by John Randolph Price).

We completed by reading the success meditation. I’m reading it daily. You may want to include in your New Year too.
OK, 2007, BRING IT ON!

Success Meditation
John Randolph Price

All that the universal presence of God has is mine, for God and the expression of God cannot be separated.

I live in the Eternal Now with the Infinite All and nothing is missing from my life.

I am the power of God to have.

I am the fiery strength of God, the living force of vitality that goes forth with divine intention and authority.

My creativity is love in action and everything I do is victorious.

My divine power is the thought that I will and every door swings open before that power.

I have divine aspirations to fulfill my highest destiny, and with enthusiasm I move forward, forever illuminated by my higher vision. I see that which is mine to do and I do it with ease, devotion and gladness and I am blessed with the treasures of the divine for that is what I see.

I walk in the footsteps of my Self and my path is sure. My ideals have been formulated in the crucible of my mind and are forged in divine design in my heart. In joyful freedom I now follow my heart for I have seen my destiny and what I see I know.

“You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it” - Dr. Wayne Dyer

How often have you found yourself in the same old thinking that gets you no where? Your life feels like constant turmoil. You want to join the neighborhood gym, but the $30.00 per month membership means you will have to scrimp somewhere else in your budget like the Mega Channel Cable TV package you have. Maybe you are limiting your “You Time” to a daily shower and wonder why you feel stressed all the time. You want to change jobs but there is just no place that’s a perfect fit for you, so you stay stuck where you are.

We have read and heard that change begins with within ourself, and it’s true. Researchers say that we have about 60,000 thoughts swirling around in our heads each and every day. Many of those thoughts are negative coming from our egos, from fear or from past experiences. Your Aunt Lilly said you would never be able to support yourself as an interior decorator. With a thought like that recycling in your brain, guess what – you will never be able to support yourself as an interior decorator. Sure, this is just an example, but put your own dream occupation in place of interior decorator. Are you able to make changes in your life and move in the direction of your dreams? Or, have you been unable to move towards that dream because of thoughts like your ego saying it’s a lot of work and you will be a failure or maybe you’re afraid that others will think you are not good enough. Or, maybe you think Aunt Lilly was right. You have the power to change all this.

When you change the thoughts that you carry around with you, you can change your life. Your thoughts are creating your life. Think of yourself as a magnet. If you believe your job is lousy, it’s lousy. If you believe that your relationships are awesome, they are awesome. If you believe that you are stuck in a life situation, you are stuck. If you believe that you are loved, you are loved. These are truths based on the law of quantum physics and the law of attraction.

You can change your thinking. You do not need to let negative thoughts control your life. Like any good habit, it just takes some time and practice. You need to exercise your mental muscles. Read a book, play a game or attend a class that will work your mental muscles to know you have the ability to change your thinking. For example, here is an exercise for you - take a moment to “hear” the thoughts in your head before responding. Are they positive thoughts that will move you forward as a loving individual, or are they negative thoughts that will hold you, and the people around you, back from reaching their full potential? For example, your co-worker Bob has just asked you once again to cover for his shift. Your usual response is to just say “yes” without thinking. You never say “No”. You just want to please him and get over any conflict. After the fact how do you feel? Do you really want to work for Bob? How did that feel?

Now stop for a moment before you respond to Bob’s request. This is your practice leading to good habits. Ask yourself when was the last time you said “No” to someone, anyone? Why can’t you say “No”? Are you always a compromiser to keep everyone happy except yourself? Think of what is best for you right now. Is it best to help Bob out again, or is it best to help yourself out by not working his shift and following your own plans even if it was to have dinner with yourself. Now practice in your thoughts saying “No” to Bob. How do you feel? Empowered? If Bob would not take it well, that is not your fault and you cannot take it personally. If you said “yes” would it be for the right reasons? Perhaps you could use the extra money and Bob knew that. In either case, there is no wrong answer and whatever answer you give, you give from love for yourself and Bob. Now, how did that feel?

Here is another example, when you give a gift are there always conditions and expectations or are you giving only from love? Are you a classic underachiever, or the victim or always expecting the worse to happen? Guess what, that is what will happen until you stop to hear your thoughts before you respond to others. Determine where your thoughts are coming from and change them to respond only from love and in spirit.

Next, practice looking at other people from love. When we focus on another person’s negative traits, our thoughts are judgmental. There is no way for us to know that other person unless we live in a science fiction movie and can literally jump into their head. The only way we truly know that person is through our own thoughts. If you only see the negative side of a person, then that is the relationship that exists between you. However, if you change your thoughts to focus on the positive – the love – in another individual you have changed that relationship just by changing your mind.

See how simple this can be? This year, don’t just change your diet. Change your thinking and you can join that gym, move to a different job and say “No” when you need to. It just takes practice to create new habits. Practice changing your thoughts and you can change your life

We’ve had so much going on lately… we had an amazing evening playing Shift with some of Colorado’s top executives from companies such as Crocs, Corporate Express, Bowne, Mclain Finlon, WorldWit, Entercom, Strategize & Organize, Sassy Martini Radio 107 FM, at the owner of SieGal Media, Candy Campbell’s stunning home. Be on the lookout for the upcoming article and series in Colorado Company Magazine.

We just exhibited as a feature presenter at the World Wellness Weekend. There were incredible keynotes from T. Harv Eker and Jean Huston. We got to connect with amazing people including Mark Victor Hansen, Reggie Rivers and Rod Smith. We’ve had so much fun meeting and playing Shift with everyone.

We had our first Shift Circles of the year last night at the Tattered Cover and started to work our mental muscles by conditioning our Gratitude muscle.

LOTS GOING ON… and I have so much to write about… yet there’s much to do… so I’ll leave you with this. It was the closing meditation we read last night. It is our new Shift Meditation that we read to acknowledge the work we’ve done. Enjoy.

The Shift Meditation
I am abundance, joy and peace.
And I acknowledge all that I am.
I Trust, I am open and I live in gratitude.
And I acknowledge all that I do.
I am complete and know I need ask and I’ll receive.
And I acknowledge all that I have.

I am loved and I know that loving is my purpose.
I am a catalyst for change and my shifts start within. I walk in triumph for I have made a choice and the choice I’ve made is Love.