Week 21 Surfing the Crest
When the going gets tough, do you keep going?
As has been the pattern of my life for the last 9 – 12 months one day or week I feel on the crest of a wave, the next I can feel slam dunked into the sand trying to figure out which way is up!!! 🙂
But the good thing is I know that life is always in motion, and no matter what the external circumstances of my world, they will change again tomorrow. I need to hold my vision with complete attention in my internal world, the world within. What is this ‘world within’ that we keep reading about? This is my understanding: The world within is our imagination, our thoughts, our ideals, our feelings, our consciousness. And the way we know if we are following the right path for our life is through our feelings, or internal guidance system.
You’ve probably heard the old saying ‘When you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got!’ attributed to Henry Ford. Einstein defined this type of behaviour as insanity. So where am I going with this? Bringing things back to the Masterkey, Haanel says. ‘The real secret of power is consciousness of power. The Universal Mind is unconditional; therefore, the more conscious we become of our unity with this mind, the less conscious we shall become of conditions and limitation, and as we become emancipated or freed from conditions we come into a realisation of the unconditional. We have become free! (Haanel 21:1)
Conditions in life are the manifestation of thoughts, feelings and actions we had yesterday, last week, last month or last year, which were based on the assumptions made at the time. The key is to decide if the things you’re getting make you feel happy or not! If things are going well and I feel happy, then I know I am on the right track. But if things are not going so well, and I feel unhappy, then maybe I need to change my thoughts and behaviour? This is easier said than done at times as we are creatures of habit. But with practice and persistence you can change your environment.
‘An illustration of how these mind forces operate is suggested by the methods in which all our habits are formed. We do a thing, then do it again, and again, until it becomes easy and perhaps almost automatic; and the same rule applies in breaking any and all habits; we stop doing a thing, and then avoid it again, and again until we are entirely free from it; and if we do fail now and then, we should by no mean lose hope, for the law is absolute and invincible and gives us credit for every and every success, even though our efforts and success are perhaps intermittent.’ (Haanel 21:18)
We have already learnt through the Masterkey journey that everything has two sides. The opposite of up is down. The Law of Gravity dictates nothing can just stay ‘up’. There has to be a contrasting side, otherwise how would we know what ‘up’ means? So, I can either assume that my wave crashing is some sign of failure on my part to hold my vision, or I can see it as the inevitable swing of the pendulum and enjoy the surf, pick up my board, learn from my experience and go again. I believe it is the ‘learning as I go‘ that is the crux of Henry Ford’s statement and the basis of Einstein’s definition. If I learn nothing and continue to flail around I will keep crashing. When I direct my thoughts, reflect, imagine myself succeeding, practice and persist I will grow stronger and stay on the crest longer. Whooopeee, here’s to another week.
This is my precis and personal spin on Haanel’s paragraph 28 of Chapter 21:
‘……nothing can permanently stand in the way of my perfect success when I learn to apply the scientifically correct thought methods and principles.’
If you want to join the growing number of people who are changing their lives by forming good habits register your interest and I’ll email the next class details as soon as they are available. It’s up to you. How are your current habits working out for you so far?