Carefully Be Wishful

Evidence of our ability to creatively manifest often reveals itself with a twist of irony. Hence, the admonishing aphorism advises us to be "Careful what you wish for...you just may get it." Unfortunately, a negative tone undergirds this potentially creative affirmation. Instead of inspiration, it delivers a dilatory effect by stifling our inner motivation to wish for anything at all. I prefer to rephrase the statement to a more permissive: "carefully be wishful!"

Be Wishful

The wishing process resembles the planting of a garden. By sprinkling seeds or planting them in rows, you have the intention to create something beautiful and abundant. The seeds sprout and you may thin the seedlings, which is like refining your goals. When weeds sprout, you pull them out, similar to eliminating obstacles that arise when working toward your goals. All of this contributes to the cultivation process. Most importantly, you wait.

Do you see a seedling and then worry about whether you deserve to have the flower bloom or the plant grow? Do you further worry that too many other people have flower gardens already so there may not be enough flowers around for you to grow, too? As ridiculous as those questions seem, consider the self-imposed limitations we create in our own dream process. In truth, we are never given the ability to dream without also being given the possibility to create it. [with thanks to Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull for that wisdom].

Patience [faith] remains the most important ingredient to a beautiful garden. The process of growth also has an imminent beauty. We do not tell a rosebud to hurry up and bloom; instead we let its beauty naturally unfold. This revelation promises to make the dream process possible, beautiful and fun.


Carefully

Our minds, as great creators, can also be great destroyers of dreams. To continue the garden metaphor, a hoe or shovel could destroy weeds as easily as young plants; therefore, we must carefully discriminate how we will implement the tools at hand to achieve the results we want.

Regularly give yourself time to view your garden of dreams and refine as necessary to create the exact results you desire. As we gain experience as gardeners, we can plant with more specificity considering location, the time of year, temperature, soil, and sunlight. Similarly, we can plant our dream seeds with specificity as we become more familiar with unabashed requests for what we truly want and the unfettered use of our minds as a tool to create the optimal conditions for our garden to flourish.


Planting Exercise

Take two to fifteen minutes to write down an unlimited list of things you want in your life. Allow yourself to write down anything without judgment about whether you can afford or realistically have it. Just write it down. Put the date on the top of the list.

Within a week after the first exercise, take out the list and read each thing aloud. "I want _____________!" Allow yourself permission to want and have these things.

Circle three things you want to have in the next year.

On another piece of paper, write out all the reasons you deserve to have each of the three things. Then, write out a list of possible conditions that would impede your immediate manifestation of those items. Next, create possible solutions and a time frame for resolving those obstacles. Finally, think of one thing you can do in the next week to either gain more information or move one step closer to realizing that item.

In the weeks that follow, keep these items in your thoughts and come up with ideas and specific goals each week to get you closer to having them.

Happy Planting!--