My sister and I have been visiting my dad this weekend for his surprise 50th birthday party. He lives up in wine country in Sonoma County with his wife and my half brother. The party was a huge success because of all the hard work of my step-mom. Well, on the way back to San Francisco my father, sister, and I drove together and had a wonderful conversation. I would say the subject of the conversation was acceptance. It was an interesting experience for me because I would say that I don’t really discuss a lot of spirituality with my family, except maybe my sister, but this was great to have all of us talking, discussing, questioning what we believed. It was really powerful for me because I was able to clarify what I think about spirituality. My dad had talked about watching THE SECRET dvd a couple of weeks ago and he felt like it was only part of the equation. My sister had said things about how we shouldn’t focus so much on our lack of accomplishments or lack of a certain quality but how we should focus on what we want. I chimed in with my ideas of acceptance. For me, one aspect of my spirituality which has had the most significant impact on my day to day living has been my acceptance of me, acceptance of my situation, and acceptance of others. Byron Katie talks about it all the time, and I think the reason that I am so touched by her message is because the problems we feel we have as people aren’t truly problems. The true problem we have is not accepting what is. Any problem is simply a projections of how we think things should be. Period. I hate to be so cut and dry about it, but ultimately she is right. When we aren’t willing to accept situations in our lives, we start to believe our thoughts that things should be different than how they are. When we start thinking those thoughts, they can cause us pain, frustration, stress, anger, resentment, you name it. What would happen if we stopped for a moment, questioned our thought about a situation that brings us stress and decided whether or not the thought was stressful or peaceful? Inquiring about your thoughts shines the light of your true self onto them. Just the act of inquiry can release your thoughts from you and allow you to be more at peace.

I think when I first introduce my sister to THE WORK, she was very hesitant to embrace it. I might be putting words in her mouth, but I think she thought the if you just completely accept things for how they are there will be no forward momentum, or no impetus to change, you’ll always be stuck in a job you hate, a relationship you don’t enjoy, or a body you’re uncomfortable in. Which brings about the questions of desires VS. acceptance. I’m a huge proponent of the Law of Attraction. I’ve been witness to my own manifestations and I’ve witnessed many people in my life, including my partner, attract situations and things into their lives. So let’s talk about that for a minute….what are the key ingredients to the law of attraction?

• Ask for what you want. Be VERY specific with your desires. Visualize it, breathe it, feel it, imagine it. Associate a wonderful, positive feeling to that desire. Remember, just bask in the desire, not HOW it will manifest in your life. That’s not your job, the universe will make that happen.
• Act as if you already have your desire. Expect your desire to come to fruition. There cannot be an ounce of doubt (which I’ll discuss in a second).
• Be gracious and appreciative all the time. Be humble and grateful when you receive your desires.

Now, I think the key to truly attracting your desires starts with acceptance. When you are in the moment, accepting what life has given you, you don’t have any feelings of anger, frustration, resentment….blah blah blah. Those emotions are like giant road blocks to the law of attraction. They radiate this energy that tells the universe you’re not ready to receive your desires ‘cuz you got some issues. I never really understood that until I read “Loving What Is.” If you cannot accept your current moment, how do you expect to attract a different one? The Law of attraction only knows abundance, positivity, and love-the love of what is. Without those negative emotions, your desires flow more freely into your life. I’d be very interested in hearing your thoughts on this subject. Thanks for reading.

Felipe

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