Real Life Magic

Magic has been defined as "The Art of changing consciousness at will".¹ Merriam Webster defines consciousness as "the quality or state of being aware especially of something within oneself".²

So we could say that being able to change our consciousness or awareness is magic or produces magic. Today we are hearing more and more about "the Power of Intention", the "Law of Attraction", the "Power of Positive Thinking", the "Quantum theory of Life". In all of these concepts, the theory goes that by changing the way you think you can change your life and your circumstances in your life. That is, by changing your consciousness or awareness you can have an effect on your physical circumstances. And that, to me, is certainly magic.

All of these concepts are really the same idea expressed in different ways. The main idea is that everything in the universe is connected. That what you do today has an effect on everything and everyone, not just those close to you but others far away that you don't even know. I love this quote from author Dr. Deepak Chopra, "Your choices today will ripple through a thousand tomorrows." ⁴The life you are living today, right now, is the result of all the thoughts and choices you have made in your life up to this point. You are totally responsible for it. And that is great news! Because if you are totally responsible for your life and your circumstances, then you are in control and that means that you can change things.

So how does this work and how can you make it work for you? The concept is that whatever you are thinking about a lot is what you get. This idea explains why when we are having a rough patch in life and all we think about is how bad things are, how we don't have enough money to pay our bills, buy food, or take care of our families, that is precisely when the car engine blows or the roof starts to leak or some other disaster strikes, taking our lives from bad to worse. We were thinking about and radiating outward the idea that we have a terrible life, that we don't have enough money, that things are horrible. And we get back exactly those things. We get more lack of money, more terrible situations. Continuing in these negative thought patterns we get even more lack and negativity in our lives.

If we can stop these negative thought patterns and focus on a more positive way of thinking and being, then we get more good things coming to us. We all know people who seem to live a charmed life. They are the ones that seem to have all the 'luck'; they always win big at bingo or get the best raffle prize. They seem to always be the one to find the $100 bill lying around on the ground where the rest of us might only find a penny. They are the ones that come through the horrendous accident with just a few bruises. So why do all these good things come to them? It's not really luck. Either naturally or consciously they have abundance thinking. Instead of thinking about what they don't have, about the lack in their life, they focus on the good things that come their way. That puts them on the right wave length to attract more good things into their life.

In my own life several things have been happening this year. Last April I went on a lovely and relaxing vacation. I really needed it because my job had been hectic and stressful. I was always being called in at the last minute to cover shifts when other people called off or just did not show up. I really didn't want to go back to work after my vacation and that set up a negative thought pattern of "I don't want to go to work. I hate my job, I just don't want to be here, I just want to get out of here" and on and on. This negative thinking was actually making me more stressed out and making me depressed. To top that off, in spite of the extra over time money it seemed like there was never enough and I was overdrawn at the bank several times.

One night I realized what I was doing to myself. I recalled reading somewhere about thinking your way to a more abundant life and discovered a great website.³ In about 20 minutes of reading I had completely changed my attitude, became much more relaxed and less stressed. I began looking for more information through websites and books. I began applying the ideas I read about to my own life. One of the first ideas is to be grateful for what you already have. Each night I made a list of at least ten things I was grateful for, always starting with "I am grateful for my job. I am grateful I have a job. I am grateful that my job pays me so much when I only have a GED"

The immediate effect of my gratitude was an internal attitude change. This affected my interactions with my co-workers in a positive manner, which reduced my stress. Two weeks later my schedule was changed, more day shifts, no more graveyard and no scheduled overtime hours. A couple of months later when my annual evaluation came up I scored very high marks and even got a raise. With the current state of the economy, that certainly seems like magic to me.

I am an artist and have a dream of making my living from my art. I know that this will be easier to achieve if my monthly living expenses are lower. To this end I must be out of debt so I have really taken control of my finances. I have a spending plan and stick to it pretty closely. I wanted to make larger payments on my car loan so it would be paid off early and the Universe has been manifesting my intention in this area. Looking closely at my spending plan I realized where I could rearrange things and found an extra $50 a month that I could put towards the car. By keeping close track of my spending I am currently under my projected spending for this pay period. If I am still under the limit next payday I will have another $50 to pay towards the car this month. Then the Universe directed me to Associated Content and the opportunity for extra income through this website. I also found two other websites offering legitimate opportunities to increase my income. By recognizing and taking advantage of these opportunities I will have another $50 to pay towards my car loan this month. All together that is an extra $150 on my debt just this month. I believe that this amount will snowball as my intention to pay my loan off early continues, but even if it is consistent at this amount I will shave a year off the life of the loan. That certainly seems like magic to me.

The Universe continues to manifest my intention to live an abundant life, full of joy, happiness and all good things. I believe that my purpose in life is in helping others achieve abundance for themselves. To that end the Universe has been sending many people to me that need to hear about these concepts. While not all of them are ready to believe that they are in control and can change their circumstances now, the seed is planted. Some are ready and have begun their own journeys to a better life. Seeing people once depressed and angry, barely making it, change their attitudes and have more good things come to them is magic to me.

I believe that everything happens for a reason, a purpose. Things happen as a result of someone's intention. Every minute of every day we have the opportunity to make a choice in our lives. That choice can be to react negatively to what is happening to us or to react in a positive manner. We can use that opportunity to better our lives and our circumstances or we can choose to react in a negative manner and bring on more of the same. The choice is yours.

References and Resources for a more Abundant Life

¹ http://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-Dark-Magic-Sex-Politics/dp/0807010375

² http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consciousness

³ http://www.livemoreabundantly.com/ An exciting overview on the Quantum Theory of Life

⁴www.amazon.com/Life-After-Death-Burden-Proof/dp/1400052351/ref=pd_bbs_12

http://thesecret.tv/ The Secret is both a book and a film which will give you an overview to attracting more good things into your life.

http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Canfields-Key-Living-Attraction/dp/0757306586/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222271089&sr=8-2 This book is also an excellent beginning in the Law of Attraction

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Intention-Wayne-W-Dyer/dp/1401902162/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222271270&sr=8-1 The power of intention