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Strategies for Success

Prosperity and Abundance
By Dr. Richard Bellamy

Abundance and prosperity, what is it? Many people have different definitions for abundance and prosperity. For one person it might be feeling the freedom to do what they love.

For someone else it might mean having material possessions such as a car, or a house in a certain area of town. For another it might mean having the realization that once food, water and air requirements are met they have all their needs met, so anything else is a bonus.

Our abundance and prosperity are largely a result of the thoughts and feelings we direct toward life. I invite you to understand that our thoughts are like currency we spend or save towards our destiny in life.

Consider for a minute, the word "thought." Being a noun, you can have thought. Now imagine your thought as currency. How do you "spend" your thoughts? Do you purchase with your thought presence that which you love, or do you squander the currency of your thought on what you don’t want?

In our bodies we have a neuro-sensory system (input or attention), and a neuro-motor (expression) system. Within the muscles of the motor system exist what are called "motor units" or "units of bodily expression." I invite you to understand that just as the neuro-motor system has "motor units", the neuro-sensory system has "attention units".

Ultimately, at some level, consciously or other-than-consciously, your "motor units" express or output the quality of your "attention units" in much the same way a binary computer expresses the quality of what is input. You have probably heard the saying, "Garbage in equals garbage out."

We have all heard the law of physics quoted "Nature abhors a vacuum" have we not? Nature fills vacuums if we fail to fill them. We either fill our "vacuum" of life by spending our currency on what we most value or we soon find that nature, AKA universal law, AKA universe has filled in the blanks in the absence of our attention.

You may already be having the thought, "How do I think about not thinking about something without finding myself thinking about it?" For example, if you were already trying not to think about a juicy, yellow and sour lemon in your mouth, right now you might already be experiencing your mouth watering from the imagined juicy yellow lemon.

Realize that you cannot not think about something, at least at some other- than-conscious level, by trying to avoid it, but you can spend your thought on something of a higher order. The more you invest your currency of thought toward what you love, the less currency you have left to spill over into that which you do not want.

How can you more wisely spend your currency of thought? One way is by changing your questions.

Here’s an example: I consulted with someone in New York. Ann was an owner of a property management company that managed properties in the area. She had me fly out to consult with her about her business and to lead a workshop with her employees.

During her initial consultation, I asked Ann what was her most dominant thought? She answered, "I keep asking what I did wrong to make my husband leave. I think about getting even with my ex-husband." I asked her if she felt that having, "What did I do wrong?" and "Getting even with my ex-husband" as her dominant questions was serving her well?

Was it costing her business to be ruminating on what she might or might not have done, and continue to have resentment for her former husband? She agreed that it would be wise to change her questions.

We spent some time doing the Quantum Collapse Process that helped her to find the balance in both "good" and "bad" characteristics and to transform her resentments about her former husband. A detailed description of the Collapse Process and forms are in my book "12 Secrets for Manifesting Your Vision, Inspiration and Purpose."

After some time Ann broke through her frustrations and resentments. She said she felt free for the first time in months, and her dominant question had changed. Her dominant question became, "How can I get my business back on track?" Ann was now able to ask higher quality questions. We then went to work on her business. She went on to have her business double in six months.

Einstein once stated, and I paraphrase, "If I had a problem to solve, and only had an hour to solve the problem and my life depended on solving the problem, I would spend the first fifty-five minutes determining the proper question to ask, because once I had the proper question I could solve the problem in less than five minutes."

Many people are looking for answers to problems they have not asked the proper questions about. Genius appears to be, at least in part, a result of the questions we ask ourselves. If you ask yourself and others trivial questions you will likely find yourself feeling that your life is a tragedy, much like a soap opera.

If you ask yourself great questions, then your life will most likely begin to become very fulfilling and inspiring, with less reaction to the ups and downs, in other words a great life, a classic.

In case you were already wondering what the other important characteristic of genius is, it is the ability to discover a hidden order within apparent disorder, and the ability to have a perception of balance within apparent unbalance, symmetry within apparent asymmetry, a revealed beauty behind the apparent ugliness of life.

One way we waste our mental resources is through what have been called "awfulizing," or exaggerating out of proportion away from the truth about an event, person, place or thing. In awfulizing we tend to make more of a bad thing of something, and less of a good thing of something than it is.

Conversely, "wonderfulizing," or making more of a good thing of something, and less of a bad thing of something than it is, is another way we overspend our attention units.

Another way we squander our attention units is by not directing attention toward what is true and significant in our lives. We squander our attention units by directing them at tangents or trivia. This way we focus the majority our thought currency toward minor considerations instead of major considerations in life.

Why do we squander our units of thought? I believe that at least in part, it is because we fear our own magnificence. More specifically, I believe we fear our ability-to-respond, we fear our responsibility to our unique magnificence, perhaps because we know that to surrender to it means letting go of some parts of ourselves that can no longer run the show.

Fear is usually accompanied by guilt. We sometimes fear the future and regret the past. Having a feeling of guilt about our past makes us feel unworthy of our hidden desires. As a result we are fearful of discovering them, or fearful of making them a reality, or both.

"Nelson Mandela said in his inaugural speech, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.

You playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. And as we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others." He was paraphrasing the Course in Miracles. Some say he was also paraphrasing Marianne Williamson.

Another reason we sometimes unwisely invest our attention units is because we believe that life should be all pleasure and very little or no pain. We believe that in order to be "happy," life must be mostly supportive and pleasurable with little or no challenging and painful events. As a result of this unbalanced expectation we find ourselves "happy" only about half of the time. Even during the time we are "happy," we often find ourselves not present with the feeling because we are already in the back of our mind trying to strategize a way to make ourselves "happy" all the time which de-focuses our attention from our major considerations in life.

I define true happiness as the ability to appreciate both the ups and downs, the pains and the pleasures, the support and challenges of life as we move toward something greater than ourselves, a great purpose that gives us significance and meaning.

One more reason we sometimes squander our attention units is because we simply are not aware of our awareness. When you stop and think about it, we probably have not had much help from schooling and society in learning how to be aware of ourselves spending and saving our units of thought. Usually we have not had anyone to help us to spend and save wisely financially either.

One way we wisely invest our thought is by periodically investing our thought in a purely pleasurable and care free way. This helps us to re-create our creativity and spontaneity of thought, feelings and actions. "Goofing off" or "daydreaming" can be a valuable resource.

Einstein would sometimes get some of his greatest insights while shaving. How many of us have had a sudden discovery or thought while in the shower? This seems to come about best after we have been involved in concentrated and purposeful thought for sometime before our "down time". Once we take the pressure off ourselves, new insights and ideas come bubbling up.

I invite you to realize that by changing the quality of your questions you can change your abundance and prosperity for the better as well. Begin to explore the questions that you can ask yourself and others as you discover the ones that will improve your quality of life. Some examples of questions that you can begin to ask yourself are:

1. What lights me up and inspires me? What am I good at?

2. What gives me and my life the most significance and meaning?

3. What cause that is greater than myself can I devote my life toward?

4. What are the wisest actions I can take toward fulfilling my purpose today?

5. How can I major in what I love, minor in what I need to, let others worry about what I should do, delegate what I have to, and dump what is not necessary?

6. How can I do what I love and love what I do and get paid well doing it?

7. How can I do it by the inch in an cinch, until the yard is not hard, and the mile is not a pile?

8. How can I direct my service more and more, to touch more people’s lives in less time each day?

9. How can I save wisely for my purposeful future today?

10. What is the greatest prayer I can offer my Creator today?

11. What is the greatest meditation I can receive from my Creator today?

Now, as you take a closer look at these questions and ponder them, and really begin to ask yourself them, you can find yourself beginning to experience new thoughts, and new feelings.

New thoughts and feelings that lead to new actions leading to new directions, and to more and more fulfillment deep within you, deep down inside your heart of hearts, at the very essence of your true being.

People, who are "following their bliss" as the great scholar Joseph Campbell called it, are living a life of significance and meaning and are devoted to a cause greater than themselves.

Joseph Campbell followed his bliss as he chronicled the mythologies of the world, leaving a great body of work that lives on. Mahatma Gandhi certainly had a great purpose that changed the course of nations. Mother Teresa certainly lived for a cause greater than herself. The Dahli Lama certainly has a purpose greater than himself. A mother sacrificing herself so that her children can have the hope of a better life is living for a cause greater than herself.

People who are devoting themselves to a purpose beyond themselves are blessed with an abundant heart that attracts resources to fulfill their mission. People who know from whence they have come and to whither they will go, and know that they know that they know what they are here to do, increase their probability curve of finding themselves prosperous.

I had the good fortune to have been invited to a dinner for six where I was introduced to an astronaut by the name of Franklin Chang-Diaz. He has been on many space shuttle missions and spent a lot of time in the space station.

In talking with him over dinner, it was readily apparent that he knew that his purpose was devoted to space exploration. He is one of the most brilliant minds, working toward the day when we will visit Mars.

During the dinner, one of the guests began to inquire about what he did and wanted to know about how he was compensated as an astronaut working for the government. He readily admitted without reservation that he could be making much more money in the private sector, but what I noticed was something else.

He had his own laboratory at NASA and could work until his hearts content on his pet projects to do with space exploration. In many ways he was wealthier than the wealthiest billionaire, for he had unfathomable resources at his command. As this became evident the questions ceased.

As an aside, I began to mention to Dr. Chang-Diaz that I had read an article about plasma propulsion for space travel in Scientific American a few months before. With a very unassuming manner he let me know that he had been the author of the article.

I could clearly see that he was certainly taking the wisest actions he could take toward fulfilling his purpose in life. He was obviously majoring in what he loved to do.

Many years ago, when I was a student, I used be a personal trainer. I would start people with exercise "by the inch in a cinch until the yard was not hard" on a frequent basis. After a while, I increased the intensity to where they found themselves doing it "by the yard until it wasn’t so hard" and still enjoying it.

In some time they progressed in their workouts to where they were doing it "by the mile with a smile." Then I began to train them to do more in less time as they became more efficient in their abilities.

When a patient comes to me to restore their health and rejuvenate their life, I begin to ask questions to help me understand all that has occurred in their lives in the past. Then I begin to examine them, looking for clues as to what has caused their problem.

I begin to ask them questions to help them begin to think about the difference between what they had thought of as health and what truly is health and then tell me what they would love in the way of vitality and rejuvenation. I then begin them with bodywork, then nutrition, then the mind and heart. We do it together "by the inch in a cinch until the yard is not too hard and the mile is not a pile." Just one step at a time gets us to where we want to go.

When I consult with an entrepreneur or athlete, we begin by discovering where we want to improve, then we begin with baby steps at first, leading to giant steps over time.

You can readily realize that when you were a baby you started out on your back. Then you started to flagellate your legs from side to side… then you were on your side… then your stomach...then your back…within a few weeks you started to lift your head "above water" so to speak.

Before long you were on your hands and knees pulling yourself…then you were cross crawling…then you were climbing on things…and finally you were walking. And it is the same way in anything we desire to do. People who attract abundance and prosperity keep moving forward touching people’s lives.

People who are prosperous and experience abundance manage to save some of the energy they have in the way of money. Saving plans begin by "the inch in cinch" as well. It is like building muscle. First you begin to exert yourself a little, then it becomes second nature. Over time with consistent savings compound interest makes your financial well being grow. "To those who have, more is given. To those who have not more is taken away."

Gratitude is the greatest prayer we can ever offer our Creator. Inspiration is the greatest meditation we can ever receive from our Creator. Prosperous people who experience abundance know the importance of unconditional love and gratitude. Learn to look for gratitude in very crack, crevice and cranny in life.

Explore...Discover…Experience…Express…Transform…Now

Focus on your purpose like a laser point of light as you birth your vision and get your calling. Affirm it as you feel the power of love for what you are to Be…Do…and Have. Write what you love. Take action with energy on the matter made available to you. Express your gratitude for what is, as it is in the matter available and be inspired as you find yourself persevering toward your purpose.

© Phi Publishing. All Rights Reserved
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Dr. Richard Bellamy is a chiropractic neurologist, author, speaker, consultant and life coach.

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