Isn’t time a funny thing? You go to bed one night, put in your bite guard and wake up months later only to realize you’ve been neglecting all personal creative outlets in your life for an obscene amount of time. Truly, it’s been an entire season of the Bachelor – maybe longer – since I posted anything. Two humans have formed a connection, met each other’s families, gone to the Fantasy Suite, gotten engaged, cashed in 12 wine delivery and teeth whitening endorsement deals, broken up and booked a seat to Bachelor in Paradise in the time I was away penning things tied to paychecks and project management systems. Pathetic. I’m embarrassed. I don’t recognize myself.
The important thing is to come back to the practice, right? To recenter. The beautiful thing about this space we’ve created here together, is that it isn’t going anywhere. It’s waiting for me any time I need to put some words somewhere, and it’s here for you any time you possibly want to read them. We’re reunited, if only for this one post, and it feels so good.
I wanted to share a bit about a book I’m working through and see if I can entice any of you to give the pages a flip. I’m about a quarter of the way through“Super Attractor” by Gabriel Bernstein. The premise is simple, really. It’s essentially about how good things flow from the Universe to those who are open to receiving them..
To give you an idea of the flavor of what we’re serving up for supper here, I’ve taken the liberty of gathering together some of my favorite lines from the beginning of the book …
“As soon as I allow the Universe to replace my fear-based beliefs with new perceptions, I receive miracles.”
“The ego convinces us that ‘good’ is limited and eventually our luck will run out. We’ve become addicted to suffering because we believe it’s necessary for reward.”
“In order to truly live as a Super Attractor, we must accept that good things can come easily.”
“Our resistance to feeling good is what blocks the good that we want to attract … The moment we let go of resistance and let ourselves feel good, everything we truly desire begins to come to us, naturally.”
“Feeling good is feeling God. When we feel good, we remember the God within us.”
Interesting, right? At first glance, it might feel a little woo-woo, but there’s something so attractive (no pun intended) about aligning with the invisible positive forces, swirling and delivering gifts all around us everyday. There have been so many times things didn’t go the way I thought they would, or something unexpected popped up and I struggled over what to do with it. Reading this book, I’m wondering now if those were all little baubles and trinkets from the Universe. Presents I shook wildly next to my ear and didn’t always open, either because I was unsure or because I was scared to flirt with change.
What would happen if we all stopped over-analyzing and pro-conning and speculating and just opened ourselves up, unprotected, to the possibility of goodness? What if we resolved to break up with pessimism permanently? What if, as Gabby puts it, we opted to “choose again”. To choose to find meaning and trust and hope in the seemingly disruptive introduction of something new or optional or unexpected. I still have a few hundred pages to go, but I think really great things could happen.
If a full vulnerability overhaul isn’t in the cards for you, allow me to offer something else. Something a tad more practical. The real motivator for me to hop on here was to share a practice I picked up from the book. Gabby encourages readers to write down a list of affirmations. Keep in mind that these could change over time. The goal here is not to write down things like, “I am JLo’s body double,” or “I will have a Corvette by Christmas,” and hope the Fairy Godmother shows up in the pumpkin patch. No, these are more general statements that set you up, if you will, for success. They’re declarations to the Universe that you’re here for this whole groovy miracles thang.
Gabby recommends writing them down and then reading them out loud to yourself in the mirror. Then sit and meditate on those affirmations, in silence, for about 10 minutes or so. This gives you the opportunity to really marinate in that feel-good, miracle-conjuring Au jus.
Now, everyone’s hang ups and hurdles are going to look a little different, so your list of affirmations will likely vary a bit from my list. For me, I know that self-doubt, comparison and fear are my biggest bliss blockers. Maybe for you it’s more of a motivation-vision–self-worth-type of barrier. We’re all uniquely wired, for the good and the bad.
I won’t share my entire list of affirmations (I currently have 10 of them), but here are a few of mine to give you an idea …
- My body is capable and my mind is clear
- My heart is open
- I have gifts to offer
- I give myself permission to let go of the things that don’t make me feel good
- I am open to miracles
- I am enough
- All is well
Full transparency, I do not say these into a mirror. I take my notebook down into my basement with me and I read them out loud after I finish a workout. Then, if I feel like I need it, I read through them again. I always end with, “All is well.” It’s just a beautiful, peaceful statement. Especially when, the second I ascend the lowest level of my house, my children, news, social media, strangers and just about everybody and every headline tries their damndest to convince me otherwise. “All is well,” I repeat silently to myself – 2,000 times a day – “All is well.” I find that it has a 43% success rate.
If you’re game, try it out! Find a scrap of paper and pen, a quiet moment and tap into your inner cheerleader. (Oh my gosh, did you watch “Cheer” on Netflix? It’s amazing. Mat talk. All hail, Monica! OK, I digress.) Start with one or two statements. What are the words that comfort and steady your frazzled nervous system? What is the phrase that tames your surging Cortisol? What do you desperately need to let go of? What’s holding you back? Name the odor of that stinkin’ thinkin’. It’s time.
Let’s break out the WD-40® and blow the doors off our self-doubt. Let’s get wide open and see what the Universe has in mind. I just love a good surprise.
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