Week 23 – Attention

In The Master Key – Part Twenty-Three introduction Haanel says “Creative thought requires attention and the power of attention is, as we have found, the weapon of the Super-man.  Attention develops concentration, and concentration develops Spiritual Power, and Spiritual Power is the mightiest force in existence.”

I like this video about the power of attention:

We are all capable of creative thought and Spiritual Power as we are the expression of the one perfect, omnipresent, Universal Mind or divine consciousness.

It is such a joy to realize this and observe the differences it has made in my experience.  I’m grateful for these weeks in the MKMMA that have led me to learn so much and to think so deeply.

Week 22A – Emotional Weather

This month’s scroll in Og Mandino’s “The Greatest Salesman in the World” is about controlling your emotions.  In it he says “Trees and plants depend on the weather to flourish but I make my own weather, yea I transport it with me.”  This really hit home for me in thinking about the emotional rollercoaster that seems to be a part of my life.  As he explains, there are days I wake up happy and others not so much.  But, we have a choice as in all thoughts we encounter.  We can choose to have a sunny day and be cheerful or a cloudy day and be gloomy.  There are even some days that start out sunny and then something happens and the “clouds” move in.

The scroll begins with the statement “Today I will be master of my emotions.”  What a great foundation to build our day upon.  We read the scroll three times daily.  The first reading is in the morning upon awaking.  My goal this month has become to keep this sentence in my thought throughout the day.

Mandino offers this advise when negative emotions try to move in:

“If I feel depressed I will sing.
If I feel sad I will laugh.
If I feel ill I will double my labor.
If I feel fear I will plunge ahead.
If I feel inferior I will wear new garments.
If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice.
If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come.
If I feel incompetent I will remember past success.
If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals.
Today I will be master of my emotions.”

“I will master my moods through positive action and when I master my moods I will control my destiny.”

I am in control and successful!  I choose sunny days!!

Week 22 – Thought and Health

It has been reiterated many times throughout The Master Keys that what we think about manifests.  Our thought within governs our experience.  If we think positively we have a good experience and if we think negatively a bad experience or outcome.

In section 22 Haanel applies this to our experiences of disease.  The first 2 study questions explain this.

1. How may sickness be eliminated?  By placing ourselves in harmony with Natural Law which is Omnipotent.      (A definition of Omnipotence is – unlimited power.)

1. What is the process?  A realization that man is a spiritual being and that this spirit must necessarily by perfect.      (A definition of realize is – to understand or become aware of (something))

Line 31 says “You will then more readily appreciate the ideal man, the man made in the image and likeness of God, and you will more appreciate the all originating Mind that forms, upholds, sustains, originates, and creates all there is.”  This says it all.  Mind (to me God) is the grand creator and maintains man in his image and likeness.

By claiming that you are the “ideal man” you manifest all that God (Mind) is and can only experience perfect being.  Does God experience disease?  If God can’t be sick, how is it possible for man “the image and likeness of God” to be sick?

We are becoming better thinkers through this Master Key experience.  Consider these thoughts about man and God and you will be free of whatever negative thoughts or disease that are claiming to be a part of your experience.

One morning I woke up early feeling as though I had a bad cold.  The symptoms of stuffy nose, sore throat, etc. seemed to be present.  I thought about my true being as God’s image and likeness and declared that this cold was not a part of my day.  Soon I fell back to sleep and woke a few hours later with no symptoms whatsoever!

Let’s also remember the story we read about the man that recovered from an incurable disease by repeating “I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious and happy.”

Think on these things and be the free, healthy, spiritual man that God created!

Week 21 – Silence

An important part of this MKMMA experience is to sit still and quiet for 15 minutes or so and think about an assigned thought or idea.  This can be a challenge to the newcomer.  How many people today take time to be quiet and think?  Yet it is quite a rewarding experience.

Recently I was thinking about all of the wonderful inventions we have available today.  For me a calculator was amazing when they first came out.  Look at all that we have now!  When I began my working career I became a Computer Programmer.  PC’s had not yet been created.  We used a green screen and could not even see what we were editing.  It had to be printed out, reviewed and fixed.  This was an improvement to the punch cards I used in College!  Heaven forbid you dropped that pile of cards!

As I considered the advancements in technology it occurred to me that our world has become so much noisier because of it.  Teens walk around with music blasting in their ears.  You can hear their music because they play it so loud.

TV’s are everywhere.  In stores, banks, restaurants, you name it.  When you walk through the mall there is music in the halls as well as in the stores and sometimes you hear both at the same time!

Just this morning I had the TV on to hear the weather report on the news.  (Who hasn’t had enough of this winter?)  After a short while I had to turn it off as they talk so fast and loud.

I found this quote by Jean Arp that says it all:

Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation…. Tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego. His anxiety subsides. His inhuman void spreads monstrously like a gray vegetation.

Let’s take time to be silent, enjoy the peace and think!

Week 20 – Embrace your challenges!

This artist turned a negative experience into a fascinating positive!

Week 19 – Kindness is Everywhere!

This day is full of wonderful examples of kindness!

Here in New England we have been experiencing winter fully.   Currently the end of my driveway is covered with ice.  I first spread salt on the ice but that did not help.  Over by our Department of Public Works there is a sand pile which residents are free to use.  I drove over with a bucket and a garden shovel to get sand.  As I parked a man approached with a bigger shovel and offered to fill my bucket for me.  He even put it in the car!

As I was spreading the sand at the end of the driveway a trash truck came down the hill.  Both gentlemen said good morning with big smiles!

I discovered that I had missed a payment on a bill and called the credit card company.  The woman that I spoke with was very kind.   She helped me make the payment and waived the fee!

While at the grocery store the husband of a friend asked me if I posted on Facebook.
I replied that I did and he told me he enjoyed my funny posts!

I’m so grateful to be on the lookout for kindness and to witness it everywhere!

Love is in the air!

Week 18 – Courage

One of the bonuses of being involved in Mark J’s Go90Grow program is a “live” event in Kauai, Hawaii.  When this was offered for this coming May Mark suggested that we should establish our intention and the method would follow.   I had decided that I would take his advice and signed up to attend.  As time went by it didn’t look like the funds would be available and I contacted them and said I would not be coming after all.

A week or so ago they opened up the invitation again and I watched the video describing the course and activities that would be taking place.  As I considered what we have been learning in this MKMMA class and Mark’s comment mentioned above I decided to go after all.  There is still a bit of concern about finances but I KNOW that abundance is everywhere and available to me.

Charles Haanel mentions abundance often and says something to the effect of  – when we center our thoughts on abundance it will be manifested.

One of the assignments for this week was to watch one of two videos.  The video I preferred was “Finding Joe.”  This video is based on the teachings of Joseph Campbell who studied mythology.  He found that all stories told in all cultures are based on what he calls the “Hero’s Journey.”

I had watched this several months ago with my teenage son and we paused it often to discuss what they were saying.  Since then I have wanted to watch it without interruption and took this assignment as that opportunity.  As I considered the message of the movie I am more and more excited about the trip to Hawaii and the changes that I am experiencing in the MKMMA program.

One of the speakers said “Fear is one thing that keeps us from the mountaintop. “  One of the reasons I had been holding myself back from the trip to Hawaii based on the fear of telling others I was going.  What would they think?  I was especially concerned about my brother who knows that finances are struggle for me at the moment.  But, I want to reach the mountaintop and learn all that I can to be successful and find my bliss.  So, off I go!

In “Finding Joe” they defined bliss as “beingness, consciousness, a deep impulse within us.”  It “does not mean we get addicted to pleasure, it’s not selfishness or escapism.”  We need to “let go and accept the possibilities of the present.”  One speaker suggests that we should “put ourselves in an uncomfortable position at least every seven days.”  So, this trip is my uncomfortable position at the moment and I am so grateful for the challenges it is presenting and will present.

As one speaker says in the movie, I am “taking responsibility for my own adventure” and finding the courage needed to do so.  I am ready to “face fear and grow beyond it and gain power.”’

“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”  Joseph Campbell

I love this story they shared if you’d like to watch one more video.  🙂

Week 17HJ – Hero’s Journey

This week we have been considering the “Hero’s Journey.”  We have been learning so much about ourselves and that in this journey we call “life” there are many factors that would derail us from our true being.  The reading we have done and are doing is teaching us that we must change the world within in order to create a better world without.  In other words, our life experience is an outward expression of our thoughts.

As children we are filled with wonder as we learn about the world around us.  Watch a child encounter something new and they approach it with interest, enthusiasm, and curiosity.  As we grow, go to school, get a job, etc. the wonder disappears.  We are shaped to fit in and live as others think is normal.  So many of us are living lives of “quiet desperation.”  Working daily to have the “good life.”

Am I ready to break from the mold of “normal?” Yes I am.  Is it easy to do?  No, it is a challenge.  There is some comfort in the normal activities of our lives.  We are where we are in this life journey due to our past experiences and how we have been shaped and molded.

Yes, I am ready to break from the mold and do the work required to break free.  At this point in the hero’s journey I am excited and scared about the truths I am learning.  I am working to push through the fear and move forward.  The past truly does not have a hold on me.  The present is the only reality and the future holds wonderful promise!

As Og Mandino says in the scroll we are currently studying:  “I am nature’s greatest miracle.”  “I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand.  Henceforth will I apply all my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.”

Watch me grow!

Week 17 – Concentration

This week’s lesson encourages us to concentrate on the one thing we desire.  He says “Always concentrate on the ideal as an already existing fact;…”

In 17-6 He says “Concentration is much misunderstood; there seems to be an idea of effort or activity associated with it, when just the contrary is necessary.  The greatness of an actor lies in the fact that he forgets himself in the portrayal of his character, becoming so identified with it, that the audience is swayed by the realism of the performance.  This will give you a good idea of true concentration; you should be so interested in your thought, so engrossed in your subject, as to be conscious of nothing else.  Such concentration leads to intuitive perception and immediate insight into the nature of the object concentrated upon.”

I read a story about an actor that performed as actively as the youngest performer on stage but he was so lame that he hobbled to the theater every day.  I would say that was pure concentration!

As I was thinking about this performer I was reminded of an experience I had had while commuting to work in Boston.  One day as I was walking to work from the train I realized I had left my purse on the train!  I rushed back to get it before the train left the station. Part of the rush included having to descend a steep stairway.  I was in such a hurry I did not even think about the steepness and ran down.  At the end of the day when heading back to the train I noticed how steep the stairs were and was amazed that I ran down them safely!  I did not even like walking down them.  I was concentrating so deeply on getting my purse I did not give much thought to the path I was taking only the goal of catching the train before it left the station.

So, for my sit (quiet time) today I am going to remember this experience and concentrate on my desires and think of nothing else!

Week 16 – Kindness

One of our assignments this week was to notice kindness everywhere we were and share at least 2 examples with the MKMMA group.  This has been a fun and heartwarming endeavor.

I found that the more I looked for kindness the more I saw.  It’s similar to the day you buy a new car.  All of a sudden you see that type of car everywhere!  Would you believe there is kindness everywhere around us?

My favorite “sighting” this week happened on my School Bus.  I’ve named it a “kindness collision!”  Four High School students stood up at the same time to get off of the bus.  They all stood in place waiting for the other to go first.  I laughed and they laughed.  As they finally started moving they all got off of the bus with big grins on their faces.

What a joy to see that there is so much good going on around us despite the news that is reported.  I am so grateful for this assignment and to have my eyes opened to see that kindness abounds.