Lake Effect

Day 27

I’m very new to blogging. 27 days new, and counting. For those seasoned bloggers out there, if I had told you that I was planning on blogging daily for a year, I’m sure you would’ve laughed at me and wished me luck. Writers in general, I’m sure would get a kick out of this schedule too. So yesterday, when I came across an article on how to blog and still have a life, it piqued my interest.

For the last 27 days, I’ve been laser focused on getting this site up, writing my daily posts, designing my brand, hiring artists to do the artwork, and setting up and maintaining all the associated social media accounts. That doesn’t even take into account the work that goes into writing just one post; that’s a whole production of it’s own. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Quite the opposite, I’m super charged and love what I’m doing. As a matter of fact, many of my goals and desires have been achieved with the creation of Kurilane. And if you’ve been following along since the beginning, you know that synchronicities and inspired thoughts occur almost daily, confirming that I’m on the right path.

I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. I jumped in as soon as I had the idea, and didn’t have any time to think about how much of my time, and more importantly, my head space this would take. Things have been moving very quickly. I had originally planned to spend January building content, start publicizing on February 1st, and then turn my focus to social media after that. I had all of that done yesterday.

If I had followed the plan, it would’ve given me a month to get my ducks in a row before I had an audience, but I went live on January 7th, and started publicizing on January 13th. My KL Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest accounts all went live in short order after that – and they all require daily management, multiple times a day. So, I’m sure you can imagine, there hasn’t been a lot of time for much else.

My idea to blog was twofold: first, to maintain a positive outlook, and write about how my positive thoughts affect my world and change my life. I was going to share my observations of how positive thinking organically brings about change for the good. The second part was to share my thoughts in real time as I tried to consciously create my desires using the law of attraction. I was planning to write about how I manifested each of my top ten desires for this year by following the steps of the law of attraction. Some of my top ten desires for this year are the common things that most people think they want – financial security, happiness, a beautiful home with ocean and mountain views, good health and close relationships, finding my purpose and passion professionally, and giving back to the community. Sure, there’s some subjectivity to how I define those things, but nothing so out of the ordinary.

For the last few days I’ve been plugging along, engrossed in the writing process. As I’m reading this article about blogging and having a life, it occurs to me that I’m not thinking about, visualizing or trying to consciously create my top ten at all. All I’ve been thinking about is my blog, I’m focused on the topics I’m writing about, finding the perfect feature images, getting my logo design finalized; all things Kurilane. Where’s the time to think about my mansion by the sea and my billion dollars in the bank? I’m too busy happily pursuing something I’m passionate about.  Well shiver me timbers and call me Woody!

Back to this article that will show me how to have a life; the woman that was giving the advice said she’d been blogging for five years and this advice piece was her 300th post. 300 posts in 5 years. That’s about 60 a year, 5 posts per month. And she’s talking about how to have a life with blogging at that rate. I reached my 30th post yesterday, on day 26. I was a bit over zealous in the first week and wrote a few extra posts on a couple of those days. She, and what might be a good estimate of what most bloggers are doing, is about 16% of what I’m doing, and they don’t have a life. So, I guess it’s pretty amazing that I still have a bit of a life. A tiny bit, but still some. Although, Ippa, my cat, who is my shadow, might think differently. She’s been sleeping a lot more than usual lately and has a sudden desire to stomp on my computer every chance she gets. Die weird bright machine that took my mommy away from me, die!

But I’m not doing what I set out to do. Yes, I’m maintaining a positive outlook, and I do my very best to stop negative thoughts in their tracks. I try to find something good in every situation, but I’m not trying to manifest my top ten. I don’t even have a real desire for most of them right now. How can I? I’m not even thinking about them, lofty though they may be.

“. . . ask your higher self whether this is really the best thing for you or whether you truly desire it. The universe may be trying to show you something better that you haven’t even considered. You should be open to accepting the goodness of the universe, to receiving the blessings of this abundant universe.”

– Shaki Gawain

One of the books I read on the law of attraction talked about the dangers of just coasting along, where you are neither feeling negative or positive. The author warned that this was a dangerous place to be because you are not feeling bad, so you’re not motivated to change your situation, nor are you focused on consciously creating your desires, so you’re not vibrating energy in the “manifesting” zone. Coasting is like a lake; stagnant. Things are pleasant, calm and still, but nothing is flowing and moving forward. In order to manifest, you need to consciously focus on your desire, feel it, and believe it. Your thoughts must keep moving like a river, focusing on the goal. Am I coasting? I may not be thinking about my top ten, but I’m definitely thinking about, and manifesting Kurilane, that’s for sure!

There are five main steps in using the law of attraction to manifest your desires.

1. Know what you want, state your intention, and have a burning desire for the thing you want.
2. Create a mental picture of how it will feel, what you will do, where you will be once you have received it. Your thoughts and feelings must be focused on your goal.
3. Give it positive energy. You need to visualize; to imagine with feeling and belief that you have already received your desire.
4. Act and think like you would if you already had it. For example, if you were trying to manifest a job, and believed that you had already received your dream job, you wouldn’t be actively looking for a job, because in your head you already have your dream job. As long as you truly believe you have it, it will manifest.
5. Be grateful for having received.

I had a burning desire to make this blog happen, and all of my thoughts were completely focused on it. I visualized and imagined every step of the way before it materialized, and I believed I had received on January 1st before I did a single thing. I am very grateful.

The universe has its own way of manifesting your desires. When they show up, they may not look like what you expected. They might even be better than you could ever have imagined. The key is knowing what you truly want, that is, what is at the root of your desire. For example, if you want fame, ask yourself why. And keep asking until you don’t have an answer anymore. Do you really want recognition and acceptance? Make sure you recognize when your desire has manifested.

Jacob is a very religious man. One day, a nearby river floods its banks and rushes into town, forcing Jacob to climb onto his garage roof.

Soon, a man in a boat comes along and tells Jacob to get in.

Jacob says, “That’s very kind of you, but no thanks. God will take care of me.” So, the boat leaves.

The water rises and Jacob has to climb onto the roof of his house. Another man in a boat comes along and tells Jacob to get in.

Jacob replies, “That’s very kind of you but no thanks. God will take care of me.” The boat leaves.

The water rises further and soon Jacob is clinging to his chimney. Then a helicopter arrives and lowers a ladder. The helicopter pilot tells Jacob to climb up the ladder.

Jacob replies, “That’s very kind of you but no thanks. God will take care of me.”

The pilot says, “Are you really sure?”

Jacob says, “Yes, I’m sure that God will take care of me.”

Finally, the water rises too high and Jacob drowns. He goes up to Heaven and is met by God.

Jacob says to God, “You told me you would take care of me. What happened?”

God replies, “Well, I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What else did you want me to do?”

Now, when I do think about my desires and my future, I see Kurilane. I see it growing into something bigger, something that I can continue to be passionate about, something that gives me purpose, something that will lead to financial security and the purchase of my dream home, something that will continue to make me happy, and continue to give back to the community and help others. I’ve already started to put some of my ideas for growth into action. I’m acting as if those ideas have already manifested. And I know they will. Positive thoughts, every day, all day. And do I really want the ocean when I can have a view like this at the lake? It’s everything I’ve dreamed of and more!

That sounds a lot like some of my top ten manifesting. It hasn’t even been one full month of focusing on the positive yet, I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year will bring!

Maybe the secret is to just do what you’re doing and see the good in everything along your journey. That’s all you have to do. The Universe will take care of the rest.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!