I won at the casino! I won at the casino! LOA Rocks!

For those of you who have been studying the LOA (Law of Attraction), part of making your manifestations or dreams come true involves "pretending" that you have received what you ask for. It works like this:

1. You ask for something you really want. You have to feel fabulous when you think of this something. The top things asked for are: money, homes, cars, jobs, and someone to love. So, think of what you want. Then ask for it. Ask God, the Universe, your Higher Power, and then move to step 2.

2. Believe you deserve to have it. Yes, I believe you should have it, so you should believe you should have it. You are the child of a King, start acting like it. I don't mean be a jerk and act like everyone should wait on you hand and foot, but just know that good things are coming your way.

2.a. There is a little codicle to this step. You have to let it go. Believe God or the Universe is going to deliver it and let go THE HOW of when it will show up. Everyone has a hard time with this, so this will take some practice. I know, it's hard for me.

We humans want to control how things come into our lives, we want to control those "X" factors that we really have no business controlling. Remember, God is a Creator, and sometimes, creation takes time. There is no failure, just a delay in results, as Helene Hadsell says. She should know. She's won every contest she's ever entered for the past 50 years, including a new home. How? She let go, and let God. Get out of His way so He can do His job.

3. Be ready to receive. If you don't believe you should receive it, you will experience a delay in results. If you have any little inkling of doubt or worry or fear, or have any negative thoughts as to how it's going to arrive, then you will experience a delay in results. Fear, doubt, worry, and negativity, act as roadblocks and will re-route your dreams.

You also have to be ready. Prepare your life for your dreams. If you want more money, make a list of how much and what you will do with it when it gets here. Don't spend it for real until it arrives. Spend it in your head, and then "pretend" you have another installment coming from your own spiritual escrow.

Yes, you have an account that holds all that you desire. The problem is, you are the only one with the "access code". If you are not in alignment with the vibrations of the Universe, then you will be denied access to your account. Think of your thoughts as spiritual "PIN" numbers. :)

If you spend a little time on this each day, you will be amazed at what you can manifest into your life. Make your manifestations good things. If you want to manifest something for someone else, that's ok too, but the results will vary. If it is something they truly desire, your energy with their energy will make it appear faster. But it isn't something they truly want, then you may be disappointed that they aren't excited about their manifestation.You will see faster results with your own desires.

The main key to all of this is gratitude. Be grateful first for what you have. Notice the contrast of what you don't have, but first and foremost, you must be grateful for what you have. If you aren't sure what to be grateful for, start with a list: health, family, friends, job, money coming into your life, money going out of your life (it means money is flowing naturally in and out of your life), your home, your life, the sunrise and sunset, your car, and anything else you love.

But what about those who are struggling or living in poverty? What about those people who have lost their homes and jobs and are going through a really hard time? Be grateful for your circumstances. You have a lot of things to be grateful for, including the struggle. Why? It will make you stronger, it will bring you to what is most important. Remember, "this too shall pass", and it will leave your life faster when you start to feel better.

Feeling better starts in your head. Start with some small thing that makes you smile, or laugh. Look at something beautiful. Remember a time when things were better, then feel how that was. The feeling will bring it faster.

And always, write down what you want. It's like placing your order with the Universe.

And we are going to the casino tomorrow.

Did I tell you, I won at the casino?

Be a part of the Prosperity Experiment. Kits will be available soon. Go to http://www.crawfordwriting.com/ and click on "Prosperity Experiment".

"Thank You God For All The Blessings I Have, and All The Blessings I Am Receiving"

The quote above is my own sort of mantra. I say it when I get up in the morning before my feet hit the carpet and I say it before my head lands on the pillow when I go to bed at night.

I found that little gem in a book called "Spiritual Marketing" by Dr. Joe Vitale. If you have the opportunity, whether you are into marketing or not, I highly recommend reading it, several times. It was a quote that resonated with me and I feel immense gratitude when I say it, twice a day. It forces me to stop, think and reflect on what is truly important in my life and be thankful for all of it.

The reason I am sharing this with you, is this is the season of Thanks, and of Giving. In this time and space in all of our lives, it is not the presents under the tree that will be important this holiday season, no matter what holiday you celebrate. We all have begun to take a moment and decide what is truly important in our lives, and it isn't accumulating more "stuff".

I received a gift on Tuesday evening that was "priceless", as the commercial says.

It was a snowy evening and I had been trying to reach LOML (Love of My Life), QH, for most of that day. I drove to work and knew that with the snow and the wind and the way the roads were shaping up, it was going to be a bad commute home for my honey. I wanted to let him know that there were several cars in the ditches on the way to work, and that the snow was sticking to the roads as the temperatures dropped dramatically. We went from 38 degrees ABOVE ZERO, and would be at MINUS 3 degrees before the end of the night.

Minnesota weather, gotta love it! :)

So, after several tries at the office and on his cell, I thought he might be over helping his Dad plow out, and thought, "I'll call him later," and went about working. Around 8:00 pm, I decided I would try one more time at home and if he wasn't there, his Mom & Dad's house. I was sitting at the table where we trim and inspect parts when I saw QH standing next to me!

"Hi, honey! What are you doing here?" I was thrilled, and felt like the good old LOA (Law of Attraction) was really working!! I had him on my mind all night and here he was!

"I brought you a present!" He said, and I saw a little sparkle in his eye. I followed him out into the warehouse and when I turned the corner...

There he stood, in his Navy Blues, and it took a few seconds for my brain to register it...

My son, Alex, home for Christmas!! And two days early!!!

Or so I thought! Turns out, he and QH and my dear brother (Kudos, to Andy for not letting the secret out!!), had been conspiring about this since the weekend before Thanksgiving when QH and I took Thanksgiving dinner to Illinois for Alex.

"It's Not Thursday!" I blurted out. What the hell was wrong with me? My son is here!! He's Home!!!

"Did I say Thursday? I meant Tuesday!" he said, grinning. I went over and hugged and hugged him and kissed him and hugged him. Was this real? Is he really here? God, if this is a dream, please don't let me wake up yet!!

I looked behind him, and there was QH, and I could see he was trying to look away at us, and I think I saw a tear, but that could have been something in his eyes (like the size of a boulder !) ;)

I went around the plant and introduced him to the other people on my shift, and then they were off to my parents house to give them a heart attack. I hugged QH and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you," and he was gone with Alex out the door.

I made my way back to the clean room, and in the darkness of the warehouse, the tears began to stream down my face. The shock had passed, and the waterworks were going. I looked up and said, "Thank you God for all the Blessings I have and all the Blessings I am receiving." I felt a part of my heart open up, and felt love. Pure love. And Gratitude.

I wiped the tears, blew my nose and went back to work. I knew my Mom would be calling soon, and I was right. The joy in her voice was perfect, and I knew my Dad would be more cheerful now that his "buddy" was back in town. We tried to surprise my sister, but Dad let the secret slip, but that's ok. She was excited to see him on Thursday. Cannon got to see him on Wednesday, and remembered who he was, and was a little shy at first, but by the end of the day, he was Alex's shadow.

It's the best Christmas present I ever received, and I am in awe of QH for pulling it off. The thoughtfulness, the love, he demonstrated, I have no words.

All I know, is that man deserves a Harley!! Some way, some how, I am going to make that dream manifest.

With a big red bow! And then I will be standing back with a "boulder" in my eyes!!

Until then, he has my heart, my love, my undying gratitude.

Thanks, honey.

Change your story and you can change your life

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."— Epicurus

The quote above I got from my friend and fellow writer, Sandy Lender. It was on her blog this morning, http://www.todaythedragonwins.blogspot.com/, and it really clarified for me all the things I have been going through this week.

As all of you know, I have been studying the Law of Attraction and how it works and trying to apply it in my life. It all started with the DVD, "The Secret", a film that has several spiritual teachers telling you how to change your thinking and change your life. It is highly recommended, but it doesn't seem to go far enough in explaining how the Law works and what you specifically need to do to make it work in your life. So, my research for a book I'm working on, has led me to several of the "teachers" and their websites, products, etc., like Joe Vitale, Bob Proctor, and Mike Dooley.

Beth Ann Erickson, my fellow writing friend, mentor/coach, and publisher of Filbert Publishing, informed me that there was a movie made with Jerry and Esther Hicks that was called "The Secret" and produced by Rhonda Byrne. The version I have is the 2nd one. What happened that the first version was redone, why Jerry and Esther were taken out, etc. I have no idea. I would love to see it and compare the two and have not been able to find it. But I always remembered her telling me that the whole Law of Attraction thing started with the Hickses.

So, in my research, I purchased a book by Jerry and Esther called "Money and the Law of Attraction: Learning how to attract Wealth, Health, and Happiness". I started reading it a few days ago, and included was a CD of one of the workshops they held in 2007. I listened to it and read most of the book and it has been very clear what the Law of Attraction is, what it does, how it works, and how to change your life for the better. It clarified for me all the things I needed to know.

Why does this matter and why should you care? Well, I believe that knowledge is power and that we all have the ability to change our lives for the better, regardless of the circumstances. Yes, we human beings have a HUGE control issue. We can't control the weather, the government agencies that wreak havoc on our lives and our stock market, what other people are going to say or do, or who will end up winning an election (we can vote, but we have no control over the results once we have done our part. That's my point.) I believe that if I have this knowledge and it is helpful to you, then to not share it would go against every fiber of my being. I'm a helper. Always have been, always will be. It's who I am.

This week was especially challenging. Without going into too much detail, I had a meltdown at work. I am one of those people who feel great stress and just pile it on until I finally collapse. Not healthy, not productive and really embarrassing when you burst into tears, especially when you can't verbalize what is wrong, why you are crying and how you feel. Unfortunately, I was on the phone during my break with QH to see how things were going. He asked me a few questions and in my overwrought state, it sounded in my head like he was interrogating me. He wasn't. What he asked and what it sounded like in my head were two different things. Not his fault at all.

Let me back up. That particular day, I woke up late, had to go do my errands which amounted to me running around in the car all day with my nephew. I barely had time to feed him, eat something myself, and then rush off to work. I was tired, frazzled, had a killer headache from lack of food and caffeine, and had a ton of stress and worry piled on top. So, he could have said, "Do you think it's going to rain?" and I would have burst into tears. I was just at that point. I also felt that I had accomplished NOTHING that day, but when I wrote it all down, I realized I had actually done quite a bit. But I was focusing on what I DIDN'T GET DONE.

He felt bad for making me cry. I felt bad because I made him feel bad. He didn't know what the hell to think and frankly, neither did I. I just had to cry it out. And I had some explaining to do. I wrote it all out in a 13 page document that I gave to him spelling out everything and that it wasn't him, it was me.

The questions he asked me had to do with my writing sites and in my female DNA, I assumed that he just knew and why do I have to tell you, you should have already read my mind!! Yes, I am a woman and I admitted I was wrong for expecting him to be a mind reader.

I'm sure the feminists will send me hate email.

Bring it on.

I did some reading when I got home and there was a part in that book and on the CD that Esther says, "If you keep telling the same story, over and over and over again, you're going to keep attracting those same things. If you want to change your life, you have to change your story." (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of what I got out of it.)

I decided that, yes, this has been the problem. When I was lonely and wanted someone to share my life with, I was ready to change my life. I wanted someone who would make me laugh, who would love me and my son, and vice versa. I wanted someone responsible, who had a job, who would be there for all the things good, bad and ugly and not hide in a bottle when the crap hit the fan. Age was not a preference.(He's older). Looks were not a preference.(He is the most handsome man I have ever met). I then declared what I wanted and could you make it soon, please? Two weeks later, I met the Love of my Life and the rest is history, as they say.

So, what did I do then that I have such a hard time doing now? Why can't I manifest the things I want like I did 14 years ago? What am I doing wrong?

Back then, I changed my story. I decided I didn't want my life to be the way "it is", I wanted it be what I wanted it "to be". And I surrendered the "how" it would come into my life. I left that up to God. I let it go. I also felt it in my heart and soul that even if it didn't happen, I would be ok. I would live my life to the fullest anyway and be the best person, mother, writer I could be. But I felt good at the time when I was asking. I wasn't asking out of desperation or some neurotic fear of becoming an old maid. I think that was the key.

So, I'm changing my story. I don't want things to stay the way they are,... well, I want to keep all the good things: QH, my son, my writing career, my family and friends, etc. But I want to change drastically what is coming into my life. I want more freedom. I want both of us to have financial freedom. I want to be able to go places and see things and do things and not worry about money. I want more money put away for retirement, for Alex's future and just for a rainy day. And I want more than anything to have fun and share that with QH, the rest of our lives.

I want to live happily ever after. :)

I still have a few things I need to add in there, and QH needs to put his input in for the things we want together, but since I'm a writer, I think I have a good jump on imagining my life to be better. And since life is a work in progress anyway, the story will change as my feelings change.

And in this season of change, I think it's more than appropriate that I start this process now. The colors this year have been spectacular, as the photo above is evidence. I love this time of year. I love the fall colors, the pumpkins, Halloween, the nip in the air, and the bugs going away most of all. There is just that feeling I get in the fall I feel in my deepest core and I can't explain it any better than that, but it moves me.

So, think about it. What do you want to change in your story?

Comment below and let me know.

And enjoy the colors while you can.

Nightmare on Wall Street

I'm not one of those financial wizards that watch the ticker tape go by on CNN to see how my stocks are doing. I'm a writer for crying out loud. I stick to what I know and what I'm good at, and that's trying to offer hope and entertainment in the darkest of days.

I'm interested in the markets for a few reasons, though, and when they show the grim numbers and it makes the news as the top story, over the election and the 2 wars we are in, it gets my attention. I work at a plastics factory to pay the bills. Plastics is affected by the oil prices. QH is in the housing construction field and this winter is looking kind of bleak for new construction. I won't rehash the news from today, we all know what it is, but I want to offer a bit of hope.

If this is truly the bottom, we need to celebrate.

Yes, you read that correctly, CELEBRATE!!

This year has involved me learning the Law of Attraction (I can hear QH groaning right now, please bear with me, honey). What you think about, you attract, whether you want it or not. Why? You put all of your energy behind it and when you think it's the end of the world, what happens? The floor falls out beneath you. So, logically, if this is the bottom, then we may bounce for a little bit up and down, but we will eventually climb out of this and rebound.

"What goes up, must come down," as Newton found out with the apple. We have been heading down, with all of the "experts" predicting the worst was yet to come. Today was that day. It's all up from here.

How can I be so "positive" when the rest of the world is going to hell? It's what keeps me going. I am, have always been, and will always be an OPTIMIST.

The glass is half full and there's plenty more where that came from. We have all been led to believe that there is limitation and lack and limits to everything. But what we have NOT been told is this condition of "not having" is TEMPORARY.

Wait a bit, be patient, ask for what you need or want and then take ACTION. If you are sitting on your couch watching Oprah thinking the Universe, or God is going to just deliver your desires to your lap, well, you may lose the house, the couch and the television set and then proclaim the Law of Attraction is a bunch of crap.

Action is the way. My beloved QH has a saying, "Let's just go DO SOMETHING, even if it's wrong!" Any kind of action is going to take you in the direction of what you want and your goals. Even if you are going in the opposite direction, you will learn something (like maybe you should turn around?) and who knows who you might meet along the way?

A lot of people are going to lose a lot because of this market shift. There are those in Texas and Louisiana who have lost that and more, and are just trying to make it from day to day. I feel their pain. I have felt that loss, that feeling that the world just tipped upside down like a snow globe and you are going to hit the ground hard and it will hurt when the world rights itself again. As I told my son this last week, when he didn't accomplish a goal he set for himself because of some kind of snafu, Life can be disappointing sometimes. Sometimes there is a blessing in not getting what you want right away. It may keep you from some other disaster.

We all need to appreciate what we have, what our priorities are, and find something to laugh about. It will help reduce the stress. It will make you feel grateful and it will bring about a sense of serenity, even if it is just for a moment or two. Make a list of all the things you are grateful for: Your life, each breath you take, your family, your friends, the roof over your head, the job you hate that still pays the bills, the talents God has given to you that will hopefully pay off in a book contract someday (oh, that's mine!). Little things add up, and when you feel the gratitude from your head to your toes, magical things happen.

And turn off the television until the news is better. There is a fine line between being informed and being overwhelmed into depression. Be informed, be grateful, and learn to live with less.

And get a hug from someone you care about. It helps a lot.

If you can, even if it is just a dollar, give to the Red Cross or your local church, or donate to another worthy cause. The feeling you get from it makes you feel like you can make a difference, even in some small way.

Remember, you get as good as you give. We will all get through this together.

Oh, and pray. It can't hurt.