You are the Creator

I know some of my religious friends will accuse me of blasphemy for saying this, but if you look beyond the superficial meaning you will see this is true - you ARE the creator.

As it happens, I AM religious and I do believe in God, the Creator.  But I also believe we are each the creator of our own world.  Working in tandem with God we do create the world in which we live.

In what sense?

In a number of ways.

The world around you is simply energy, and it is the way you interpret that energy that determines how that world appears to you.  When I look around me I see God's creation and see that it is very beautiful.  I see the lovely colours.  I hear beautiful sounds - for example the lovely sound of a blackbird singing.  I smell the wonderful perfumes released by so many flowers around me.  I interact with that world and, just like the God of the Old Testament, I see that it is good!

I live in the same world as everyone around me, yet at the same time it is a very different world.  The same energies are there for us all to see, hear, smell, taste and feel.  But we all interpret those energies in different ways.  I choose to see, hear, smell, taste and feel the beauty of the world in which I live.  I see that it is good.  It is very good!  And I always give thanks to God for this wonderful world.  For my Christian readers, remember what St Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:4: "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving!"  I couldn't put it better!

I join with Louis Armstrong in singing this beautiful song by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss:

I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom for me and you

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces of people going by

I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do

They're really saying I love you

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow

They'll learn much more than I'll never know

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world

So no matter what is happening in my life I am always thankful that I live in a wonderful world.  The same world everyone around me lives in, but where perhaps they see only grey colours, threatening situations, missed opportunities, I see the great beauty of this wonderful world and thank God every day for putting me in it.

That is one way I create my world, by tuning my senses so they recognize the beauty that is all around me, living gratefully for the privilege given to me to live in this beautiful world.  This actually creates the beauty, as beauty is simply in the eye of the beholder.  It is the same energy that surrounds everyone else, but I choose to see and enjoy the beauty.  A choice we all have, but one which far too few make.

I also create my world by choosing with what and with whom I will surround myself.  This, too, is at least partly my choice.  Yes, I recognize it is only partly my choice and that I must accept it is a shared creation.  Others may well control some of what surrounds me.  But I do have some choice here.  I can choose to mix with positive people or negative people.  I choose positive.  I can choose to read and watch beautiful things.  I can choose many of the things I have around me.  I choose to be happy by surrounding myself with things and people that make me happy.  And where I have no choice for some of those things and people I see the beauty in them anyway.

And I create my world by allowing those main choices (the choice of recognizing beauty, being thankful for it, and surrounding myself with all that I enjoy) to attract to me all that is necessary for me to continue to have a better life.  The power of manifestation - yet another way in which I am the creator of my own world.

You are the creator of your world too.  What kind of a world are you creating right now?  Do you look at it and see that it is good?  If not, begin working right now to change that world.  You have the power!  Use it!

Negativity

Is there a place for negativity in your world?

On the surface, the answer should be a resounding "no".  I will get to that in just a minute, but first I want to be a bit controversial and say why I prefaced this with "on the surface" rather than outlawing negativity outright.

Life consists of a continuous cycle of creation and destruction.  Without the destruction there could be no new creation.

In the Hindu religion Kali is the destroyer of evil.  The spiritual equivalent of organisms such as funghi, which break down dead organic matter so it can be used to feed new life.

In Islam there is the concept of Jihad.  To me this is pretty much the equivalent of the Hindu Kali.  Jihad is a holy struggle.  This includes finding and destroying those things within yourself that prevent you living a holy life.

I strongly believe in the place for this concept.  We all have things within us that don't belong, and we should search them out and destroy them.  So we should all be involved in Jihad (in its true meaning) whether or not we are Muslims.

But having identified the place in our life for the destructive force, let me come back again to negativity in all its other senses.  I do not see a place for this in anyone's life.  Yes, find and destroy negative traits (which in itself is a negative action), but do not ever allow negativity itself to creep in and take over your life, which is what it will do if you let it.

Negativity is what causes unhappiness.  The situation you find yourself in does not, and cannot, cause unhappiness.  Only your negative reaction to that situation.

When negativity takes over, almost every situation seems hopeless and unwanted, no matter how good it may actually be.

Have you ever found yourself on holiday moaning about the poor quality of the hotel, the bad weather, the inedible food?  It may be true that the hotel is not up to scratch.  Perhaps the weather is not as good as you had wished.  Maybe the food is well below Michelin Star standard.  But you are on holiday in what is probably still a lovely place.  Relax!  Accept that things will be different here from home - in fact, rejoice in that difference! 

Don't allow negativity to take over.  See the good in every situation.  If you focus on what is bad, you will attract more of the same and the negativity will become a vicious circle.  Focus on the good and you will attract more of that instead, and your positivity will become a virtuous circle.

Escape from Prison

"If you want to get ahead, you have to make sacrifices and work all the hours God gave!"

Has anyone ever said that to you?  For that matter, have you ever said that to yourself?

This belief is so common that I am sure, in one form or another, this has been said to you so many times that deep inside you really believe it to be true.  Even if you don't consciously think this way, subconsciously you probably do, without even realizing it.

Many people, on hearing this (or something very like it), have decided that they are simply not going to bother.  They don't want to sacrifice time with their friends and family.  They don't want to work themselves into an early grave.  So they opt out of the race to success.  They know that they are never going to make it without sacrificing more than they are willing to sacrifice.  And so they give up.

Most people I meet fall into one of these two camps.  Either they are working so hard they don't have time to stop and smell the roses, or they have thrown away all the ambitions they had when they were younger because they know they will never achieve them.

Do you fall into either of these two categories?

If so, you are missing a vital trick!

It is simply not true that the only way to become successful is to make unacceptable sacrifices.  You only believe that because you have been told it too many times, and now even repeat the mantra to yourself.  This creates an inner block which makes it virtually impossible for you to be successful.

For as long as you have this inner block it is as though you are in prison.  But in a prison cell you created for yourself.  And a prison cell for which you have the only bunch of keys.

There are several doors you must pass in order to break out of that prison, and you have a key to each of those doors.

The first door you must open is the one to the room that tells you what it is you really want.  Surprising as it may sound, most of us do not know what we really want.  You will need to sit quietly as you reflect on what it is you think you want and see what bubbles up to the surface.  If you do this properly you will probably find what you really want is quite different from what you thought you wanted.  Once you have opened this door you are well on your way to freedom from your self-imposed imprisonment.

The next door is one labelled "It is ok!".  What do I mean by this?  I mean whatever it is you really want, you have to know that it is ok to want it!  Recognize that the Universe (or God, if you prefer) really wants you to succeed.  You have a destiny you can fulfill if only you will recognize it.  Once you really become aware of this you will feel really positive.  And that positivity will propel you forward towards your goal.

Then there is the door labelled "Visualize".  Having found your real goal, and recognized it is right for you to achieve it, you need to find ways to focus your emotions on achieving it.  Some people refer to "affirmations".  As long as you invest those affirmations with a strong positive emotion, and repeat them in the present tense rather than as a hope for the future, then this is a good way to move forward.  Some people refer to a "vision board", on which they put pictures of whatever it is they want to achieve and what their life will be like when they have achieved it.  Again, this is good.  However you do it, visualize yourself having achieved success.  Feel what it is like.  Immerse yourself in it.  Know that you have achieved it.

Unlock these three doors and you are well on the way to escaping from the prison you have made for yourself and achieving the success of which you have always dreamed!