Pray Rain Journal Updates

I am loving the pray rain journals. I have one for work, one for family and one for my writing.

I have seen a lot happen regarding the family journals. I write about how my husband has a first shift shift job now and we're together to eat dinner every night. We watch movies, play games and just talk to each other.

Well, for the past two weeks, he's had to work first shift two or three days out of each week to fill in for a co-worker that's having surgery. It's been an adjustment for us, having him at home in the evenings, but it's been wonderful. And we have sat around the dinner table, enjoying each other and talking. We used to eat dinner watching something on Netflix, but with our new house and a dining room, we have decided that whenever we're together we eat at the table. It's been a wonderful change.

I also wrote about my son getting more hours at work. He's only been working maybe two days a week. He had his eye on a coat he's wanted for a long time and finally had enough money to get it, but wasn't sure if he should because he was concerned about how much money he'd make this month. I did some exercises with him and he obviously wanted the coat, so I encouraged him to buy it. He did, and when he got his schedule he was surprised to find he'd been scheduled for 22 hours. And a manager had said he'd been trying to call him to offer him more hours, but couldn't get him on our house line. So the extra hours had been there all along. There was just a block. But that has been removed now and I'm continuing to write that he will get at least 20
hours a week.

Nothing new has manifested in response to my writing journal, but I know things are happening behind the scenes. I have a short story being published soon in an anthology, I submitted another one to a magazine and I have a couple more I'm working on. I'm happy and optimistic about all of my projects and I'm continuing to write in the journal. There's plenty of paper left still to see my manifestations come to life.

My work journal has typically dealt with people at work and some of the processes that I don't enjoy. Well, those processes have almost taken care of themselves. The phone calls I don't enjoy making -- well, people are calling me now. There are a few holdouts, it seems, and maybe their intention of NOT taking the training classes are overshadowing my intention that they will call to schedule. But I'm starting to write that specific people will call me and I write out what I want their response to be. For example, for someone who hasn't
done their training in some time and keeps avoiding me I will write:

Sally Jo even came by the office and scheduled her training with me today. It was a surprise and a thrill to scratch her off my training list.

Or I'll write:
Sally Jo, the one who hasn't done her training in two months, put in a notice today. She's no longer working here, so I've crossed her off my training list.

We'll see how that goes for November. I'll either get a lot of phone calls from people to schedule their training or we'll get a lot of people quitting. Either way, it works for me.

I highly recommend the pray rain journal exercise. It really helps you see the possibilities all around you. Things will begin to happen.

More LOA awareness

I had told my husband of how I intended each day to go, the affirmations that I've said. I've told my son this too, but he's not sure about it all at this point. At 17, he most likely thinks this is all very strange and weird anyway.

So yesterday my husband told me about how he had prepaved his day. He works security and typically works second shift, but yesterday worked first shift to fill in for a co-worker. He doesn't particularly like
first shift. Typically things always tend to go wrong. But he prepaved his day for this shift.

He'd intended that nothing was going to go wrong, he would be able to sit at the desk and complete his paperwork and training and he wouldn't have to leave the desk unless he wanted to. And to top it off, the Chai tea would flow freely :)

So when he picked me up at work he described to me the perfect day he'd had. He'd gotten most of his training done, his paperwork done, nothing at all had gone wrong in the building, he got free breakfast
AND lunch AND one of the managers made a Starbucks run and brought him back a Chai tea - that the company paid for. I'd have to say that's a pretty good prepaved day.

Finding Our House

Two years ago me, my husband and our son decided to start over again. We had filed for bankruptcy, we voluntarily gave up our house and we decided to move an hour and a half away from our hometown. It was to
be a new beginning.

I remember well the first trip we took to the mid-size town that would be our home. We got lost looking for the big shopping center and ended up in a much nicer area of town, the historic district. We drove through the tree lined streets and enjoyed seeing the large Victorian houses, the smaller brick homes, the large mini-estates. I remember making a comment to my husband --

Maybe we could rent one of the apartments in one of these Victorian homes and actually live in the historic district.

We've always loved old things. They bring back memories of being with our grandparents and great-grandparents. We have owned family homes in the past, selling one and then giving one up. We knew that we did not take care of them the way we should have and we often wished we could have another chance to care for a beautiful home, a home with character.

That was not where we lived for the first two years. We found a smaller house outside of town. It was rural and quiet, which we also liked. But it was soon apparent that we needed more room. We also had a lot to learn. And a year ago was when the lessons truly began - when we made a decision to choose us over our pets and made the hard decision to let most of them go. When we decided to truly discover what made us happy and what we wanted out of life. Then coming back together, choosing to be together. It was a difficult year, but a year of renewal and transition.

So we found ourselves needing a bit more space. Since our lease was coming up I started looking for a new house. Since discovering the law of attraction, we made a list of things we wanted in a house, including the rental price. We did find some land with a mobile home that was for sale. That sidetracked us for a while, but it was soon apparent that we were not able to get it at that moment. It did leave us hopeful for the future, but that is another story :)

So while looking for houses I checked real estate websites. The realtors here do a lot of property management. I checked a website late one night and found three homes they were offering - two duplexes
and one brick home, in the historic district of town. The brick house was the most expensive, about $25 more than we had been affirming, but still less expensive than the rent our current landlord wanted to charge us if we'd stayed.

We went to see each location. The duplexes first, and they were an automatic no from the guys. Then we drove up to the house, and it was a yes.

It's a beautiful, brick home built in the early 1900s, with wood floors and a beautiful den and dining room. It's only one bath, but we haven't minded. We're using the den as a computer room / library. We're enjoying the space we have as well. We're not as cramped as we were in our previous rental. The house reminds us so much of the family homes we've owned in the past. We're looking forward to taking care of the yard, planting a garden in the spring, truly having our new start there.

We had a ton of kids on Halloween, running out of candy by 6:30. We had fun, all of us sitting out in the front yard handing out candy, talking to all the kids that came by. Christmas is coming, and the historic district offers a walking and driving tour around ten blocks. Of course, our house is one of the first on the route, and we're looking forward to participating. There is a church just two blocks down the street that we've begun attending. They have the most beautiful carillon bells. It is so peaceful to come home in the evening and just lean against the car and listen to the bells play.

While we may not have been able to find an apartment in a large Victorian home, we have found a perfect rental. It was not everything we affirmed that we wanted, but in truth it was what our hearts wanted. It has a character that we love. It did not take us long to feel at home there. Not once have I accidentally started driving the old way home out of habit.

We weren't sure about living in town at first. We love living in a rural area and having a bit more room around us. But the neighborhood is quiet and peaceful. For right now it's where we need to be, where we want to be.

We still want to buy a house one day, but we're not set on it being in the county now. We've even found a house down the street we love. But I've also found myself wondering what I would do to fix up our current
house if it was really and truly ours. We even found a loft in the middle of downtown -- selling for $300,000 <shocked>! And yes, we kept the flyer, even though we know in reality that we could not buy it.

But we know about the law of attraction. We know that this is a world of AND, not OR. We know we can have whatever we want. So we are going to use this time to decide what we want. Country or town? Big or
small? House or loft? Yard or no yard? We can create whatever we choose. Who knows what the future will bring? We're going to start a vision board on houses soon. It's going to be a fun project.

Pray for the trees

I have been feeling a very strong urge to pray for these trees in Auburn, Alabama. They were poisoned by a rival college's fan.

http://ocm.auburn.edu/news/oaks.html

I'm not a sports fan in any way, shape or form, but the maliciousness of this act hurts me. But I believe, without a doubt, that they can be healed. Please join me in praying for the trees, in whatever way you feel led, so that their beauty can continue to grace Toomer's Corner.

Is it your button to push?

When I started my job I wanted to please everyone. I tried very hard not to make mistakes and to do well. However, I apparently stepped on some toes with the training director. I had been starting the training videos for the new employees. My justification was the training director was often late, sometimes as much as an hour. So why should everyone wait on her to get there when they could be watching the video and starting on the test?

Well, her response was, "I got it." So I said fine. I then decided to do my part of the job, which was providing the training materials. If she was an hour late, it could no longer be my problem. It was hard for me to accept that, though. I didn't see the big deal. I mean, it was just pushing a button. But then my counselor asked me something - "Is it your button to push?"

How many of us keep thinking that we have to do everything? We have to keep up with a job, kids, housework, paying bills. But do we have to? Is everything truly "our button to push?"

Part of taking care of ourselves and finding our feel good is accepting that there are things we do well and things we most likely need to automate or let someone else take over. I have decided to do just that.

As much as possible, all finances will be automated. Within six months I'm planning that I will only need a cursory look to be sure things are on track. I'm splitting housework with my husband and son. We're all doing a share, not just me. We are also splitting up cooking dinner and arranging for at least one night to be a takeout night. I am using my crockpot more as well. Within the next year, I also plan to have a housekeeping service come in at least once a month, building it to twice monthly, and possibly having someone to do yard work next spring and summer.

Take care of yourself as much as possible and delegate what you can. Do what you do best and let other people push their own buttons.

Loving Glee

Glee is one of my favorite shows on TV right now. Even with issues being faced by the students, I love the music. I love how it makes me feel. And they always seem to have such wonderful, positive songs on the show. They seem to be on a Broadway binge this season, so I've been able to hear songs I've never heard before. My favorite is now Something's Coming from West Side Story:



And I Am the Greatest Star from Funny Girl:



I love listening to positive music. It really gets my day started off right.

Segment Intending, prepaving your day

I have been trying to prepave or do segment intending for some time. I don't always do it the way I feel I should. According to The Law of Attraction by Abraham Hicks segment intending is making affirmations or intentions throughout your day. For example, getting ready for work is a segment. Leaving for work and driving is a segment. Getting to work is a segment. Answering a phone call & ending a phone call is a segment. Lunch is a segment. Leaving work is a segment. Getting started on dinner for your family is a segment. Going to bed is a segment.

Well, I don't have the time or energy or even the memory to segment each time. And I have yet to figure out how to segment a phone call when I don't know one is about to come in. But I have done segment intending
on a smaller scale and I always try to prepave my day. On days I forget, it seems more things go wrong. I start the prepaving the night before. I use this affirmation:

I intend to sleep well and rest well. I will wake on time, feeling refreshed. If I have any dreams, I will remember what I need to remember from those dreams when I wake. Thank you for a restful sleep.

In the morning while getting ready for work, usually in the shower, I will begin to segment my day. Sometimes I don't do this until I actually get to work, but I like to start early.

Affirmation:
I intend to have a good day. It will be steadily busy. I will have plenty of projects to complete. I will be surrounded by people with good attitudes. I intend that J (supervisor) will do her work and allow me to do my work. The day will pass quickly and I will feel a sense of accomplishment about the work I have done.

I have put the part in about my supervisor because she tends to like to hang over my shoulder. Since I've started saying this, many things have happened at work that has helped the day go smoother.

• My supervisor has started leaving the office to work in other areas of the building.
• I stood my ground regarding a process that I was in charge of. She wanted it done a certain way and I held out that my way was easier and more efficient. Upon discussion with another supervisor whose work overlapped this process, my way was chosen. I did segment intend for this particular meeting to go in my favor.
• I have been given more responsibilities.
• The day goes by quickly. Sometimes the day is over before I realize it.
• Whenever I finished my typical assigned duties, there is always another project waiting to be done. Sometimes this happens within minutes of finishing my typical work load.

On days I forget to prepave or segment intend, it seems the days go slower. No new projects come up and I am trying to find things to do to fill my work day. I feel more tired as the day goes on, constantly getting coffee or wanting to eat junk food instead of drinking my water and eating the lunch I brought from home.
You may not be able to prepave or segment intend every minute of your day, but you can do affirmations each night and morning.

If you know a big meeting is coming up, an affirmation for it. Remember
to detail what you want the outcome to be in that meeting and any other particulars. Do this at least a few days ahead if possible. Segment intending can make a big difference in your day.

Positive Thinking and Attitude for LOA success

In a lot of my research and reading about The Law of Attraction it seems that many people immediately latch on to things like what can I get? How much money can I receive? What material goods can I latch onto? Can I win the lottery? Can I win a contest? Can I hit it big in Vegas?

But I never really thought of any of those things. And it seems that now as I'm starting to live the wonderful, beautiful, abundant and creative life that I want the less material things I desire.I believe this is because I studied positive thinking before law of attraction.

I didn't start out to do this on purpose. Reading The Love Dare and drastically changed me. I didn't do it, consciously, from a desire to win my husband back. I wanted to do it because I wanted to obey God. I believe I was told to read the book and I did not. So that was my first step to obedience. And even without my husband at home during that time, I learned a lot about myself and my attitude. I did not like the person I was. So my first step was to confess to God and admit to myself that I was not the kind and generous person I believed myself to be. I accepted my responsibility in how my life had turned out and in doing so found a way to healing. I had to forgive myself and accept, in faith, that I am a person of value. Knowing that God loves me, God is with me and that he loves me unconditionally was a strong part of that process. Knowing that even today is still a big part of me, even after discovering information about the law of attraction. Having material things and wealth just doesn't matter - not without love.

1 Corinthians 13

¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.  ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
 ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

(From Biblegateway.com)

Everything else is going to go away. But love will remain. No one is going to remember how much material things you had. But they will remember your kindness, your graciousness. They will remember what you did with your money. Were you a good steward of all you had been given?

But I would not even have this love, this feeling of peace, without starting my journey with The Love Dare and the positive thinking books I read. I knew that by healing my mind I could begin to heal my life. You cannot manifest change if it feels bad. And if you're coming from a place of greed or hate then you are going to continue manifesting those feelings.

That is why I believe many facets of the law of attraction have come easily. That is why my marriage has been able to heal. It's because all of this has been built on a foundation of positive change, positive love, and most important, faith. I had faith in God that He was there, he is here now, that he loved me and cared for me. Without that foundation I would not be who I am today.

I could have gone another path. I could have chosen to hate. I could have chosen to continue to be a victim. I could have sat at home crying and yelling and cursing my husband and the situation. I could have laid all the blame on him. But I didn't want to do that. I wanted to be a different person. I wanted to learn about myself. I didn't need to know why. I still don't. I just knew there were things to learn. And God is still teaching me those things today.

There are material things I want, things I desire. But more than riches, more than things, more than anything in the world, I want to live a wonderful, happy, abundant and creative life. And I want to live that life with people who are important to me. Thankfully, God has shown me how to do that by using the law of attraction and other universal laws that are in place. And I have been blessed.

Change your story

Everyone has a story. Usually it's about something that happened to you. You're the victim in the story. Someone did you wrong. Someone lied. Someone cheated you. Someone hurt you.

How many times have you told that story? Why do you want to share it? What are you getting out of it? There is always a personal reason that people tell a story. You may want sympathy or understanding. It may be the "one up" game. A friend tells you their story and you feel you have to top it. It goes like this:

"And that's what happened and I hate X and Y!"
"Well, that's nothing. This is what happened to me."

If you want to change your life and your attitudes, you have to change your story.

Refuse to tell it anymore. It's no longer a part of you. It's not going to define you anymore. You will no longer be a victim. Life will not happen TO you because you are going to make different things happen from now on.

A hard thing to accept is that what happens in life has been brought on by us. Our actions, our decisions, our attitudes -- all of that has brought you to the life you currently live. And that is hard to accept. But in accepting it, you can forgive yourself and come to love yourself again. It is very hard to actually forgive ourselves and love ourselves. It's actually easier to love another person and forgive another person than to do the same for ourselves.

That is why the backstory on this blog will be the ONLY time I'll be telling that story. Because that is not my story anymore. I am not a victim. I participate in my life. I create my life. No one does anything TO me. I attract people into my life that I want to be there. People to teach me something. People to care about me and for me to care about. You can do the same.

So stop telling your story. Don't even tell stories about bad customer service or travel delays or any other problem in your life. Don't give it energy. For example, if you have bad service at a restaurant and you tell your friends, your family, you post it on Facebook and Twitter and you keep bringing it up over and over again then you're not going to ever get good service at a restaurant. Stop the story. Change the energy.

Refuse to label yourself. Tell a new story. Talk about the great things in your life. Change your attitude to one of gratitude. As you tell a new story about the wonderful things in your life you will find that things will change. Good things will happen. By doing these things, you will find that no one will even bring up your past story because you will be a different person.

Affirmation:
I am a valuable, worthwhile, and special person.
I deserve to be loved and valued.
I attract positive, happy, energetic people to surround me.
I am thankful for my life, my job, my family, my pets -- continue as needed.

Now start living your new story. 

It's all going to be okay.

It is very hard when people you love are going through hard things. It's hard when you are going through the same things but trying to stay positive. It's hard to look for what feels good when so much is unknown and it seems as if things are out of control.

But as I learn more about LOA and deliberate creation I know that there truly is nothing out of my control. Maybe things don't go as planned. Maybe a water pipe bursts. Maybe a car accident. Maybe an unexpected medical diagnosis. But all of these things are still within our control because WE can control our reactions to them.

Are we going to sit and fume and worry and get upset or are we going to do what we can, and doing all, be still?

When someone we love and care about, whether they are a family member or dear friend, keeps wanting to stay in that place where they sit and fume and worry then we have to care for ourselves. There's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes we need to step away and do what feels good before we end up in that same funky space.

This is where you let them stay in their funk and you CHOOSE to leave that vibration. Do what you can for them, but there has to come a time when you step away, just for a moment, and CHOOSE to find your feel
good.

You are not responsible for another person's health and happiness. It doesn't mean leaving for good. It doesn't mean a divorce or never speaking to someone again or ending a friendship. It just means respecting your space. Find your feel good, get back into our alignment and know that everything is going to be okay.
No matter what the issue is -- It's going to be okay.

Believe that.

My perfect day

One of the exercises in Wishcraft is to write about your perfect day. I would really like to live out this day at least once, even if I can't get it all in exactly. I believe this is a good exercise in contrast, so that you know what you like versus what you don't. 

I wake up around 8:00 with my husband. We make the bed and I shower and dress first while he starts breakfast. He makes my favorite - waffles with sugar free syrup, yogurt, fruit and turkey bacon with orange juice. Our son gets up around 8:30 and we eat breakfast together. 

Around 9:00 our son cleans the kitchen and my husband gets his shower and dresses while I go to our game room / office to begin writing for the day. I work on a couple of fiction pieces first, then around 11:00 I meet with my husband to work on a story we're writing together. We work on that for an hour, then make lunch together. 

We eat a simple lunch and my husband and son head off to work. I walk the dog around the block, then make sure he and the cat have food and water. The housekeeper is coming in soon, so I don't have a lot to do that day for housework. I start some laundry, then go back to my desk for another two hours. I work on blog posts, do some editing of a story that's about to be published, check email, Facebook and Twitter. I take the dog for another walk when the housekeeper comes over. I check my mailbox when I come home and find a notice from my publisher. A royalty payment has been deposited to my checking account. 

After she leaves, I start supper in the crockpot and change into my gym clothes. I head to the gym for a spin class followed by weight lifting. I come home an hour and a half later to a good smelling dinner simmering in the crockpot. I shower and change into some comfortable clothes and wait on my son to get home for supper. I may watch something on TV, read a book or work on a craft. 

My son gets home from work first and we eat dinner and spend some time together. We clean up the kitchen together and have a nice conversation. I call my husband at work and we talk for a little while. He tells me he expects to leave on time. I make sure that his supper is wrapped up for him in the fridge. 

I start getting ready for bed around 10:30. I go over my schedule for the next couple of days. It looks full, but it's actually full of stuff I enjoy doing. I have a phone interview about a new book in the morning, I have a massage in the afternoon and I'll be taking a pottery class the next evening. In between, I'll be writing, cooking, caring for my home and spending time with my family. I set my alarm to make sure to wake me on time the next day. Even though I'm asleep when my husband comes home, he kisses me and holds me close to him when he gets into bed. I have good dreams through the night. 

And that would be my perfect day.