An interesting discussion is taking place at PluginID about the Law of Attraction with many valuable comments. I starting writing a response, but it got too long so I’m posting it here and tracking back to the site.

The blog asked these vital questions:

1. If a baby dies in a mother’s womb does that mean it had been having negative thoughts and actually wanted to die?
2. Isn’t the Law of Attraction basically just positive thinking which makes you believe that it is possible to do something so you try hard and focus on doing it, rather than things ‘manifesting’ for you?
3. Is there any proof of people manifesting their thoughts? If this is happening whether we believe it or not, surely there should be some examples…
4. Can you share some personal experiences and how believing in and practicing the Law of Attraction has affected your life

I’m not a fan of the Abraham/Hicks material or The Secret, but I’m huge fan of Thomas Troward and a believer in manifesting my own reality.

I don’t believe that everything that happens to a person was caused by that person (ala Joe Vitale). The world is full of thought currents and we exist in these currents and can become subject to those who do use their mind purposefully. And I believe that evolution of the species trumps personal desire. (The key is to align personal desire with evolution of the species!)

If powerful people want to make others sick by creating toxic foods, then someone eating those foods might lose a baby, for example, because their body is inadequately nourished and cannot sustain the life of a baby. Or someone preparing to conceive could, having considered all the possibilities, first cleansed their body and then fed it optimal nutrition prior to conception and through weaning. I’ve read this is a common practice in some primitive tribes. Their thoughts would have focused on health and a successful birth and their actions would be been motivated by their thoughts.

The crack addict loves crack and gives birth to a sickly baby. The addict didn’t have to think the baby would be sick. They just had to think crack was wonderful. Nature did the rest by operating within its normal scope.

But our thoughts do create our reality whether we purposefully think them or just float along letting any thought enter our minds.

If I think that I’m never going to be rich and any effort at entrepreneurship will be met with defeat, then I won’t try anything, will I? But if I think anything is possible, then I’ll keep my eyes open for opportunities and my mind open for ideas. I’ll be ready when opportunity knocks.

But there’s a supernatural component to manifesting, which is why we must realize it’s not really us doing the manifesting but something greater than us, what is often called the cosmic consciousness or God. When our minds are focused on a goal and in repose, then thoughts come that can be supernatural in nature. In other words, we receive intuition or knowledge that is outside our experience.

I sat in a coffee shop one day and saw a man across the shop. I’d seen him a few weeks prior in a restaurant and thought it odd I would run into him again. When I saw him again in the coffee shop, I knew he was a preacher and I knew he would become my friend and mentor.

One night walking to the shop I thought to myself, “I sure would like someone to take me out to dinner.” I ended up talking with this fellow and he invited me to dinner, where I learned that he’s a preacher. And he has become my friend and mentor.

I’ve had numerous experiences like this since learning and practicing manifesting my thoughts.

Book references:

The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science by Thomas Troward
Thoughts Are Things by Prentice Mulford

I’ve been seeing 11:11 for a few years now, typically on a digital clock. Lately I’ve been seeing 1:11 as well, so I looked it up on the Internet. I found this quote:

111 – Monitor your thoughts carefully, and be sure to only think about what you want, not what you don’t want. This sequence is a sign that there is a gate of opportunity opening up, and your thoughts are manifesting into form at record speeds. The 111 is like the bright light of a flash bulb. It means the universe has just taken a snapshot of your thoughts and is manifesting them into form. Are you pleased with what thoughts the universe has captured? If not, correct your thoughts (ask your angels to help you with this if you have difficulty controlling or monitoring your thoughts).

I printed that up and taped it to the wall above my desk as a reminder.

The next day at noon I started picking and packing books. I have a lot of negative associations with the book business, so all these negative thoughts kept popping into my head. Each time I noticed them I just released them. But my mind was bugging me!

The sky was dumping a lot of snow on ground already covered with a couple feet, and I kept worrying about being able to drive to the Post Office. Every time I worried I assured myself all would be well. (Oh, it’s 11:11 a.m. right now.)

As I was finishing up packing the books I thought about the number 111. Then my mind said, “Go check the time!” I jiggled the computer mouse to bring my monitor to life and saw 1:11.

I finally got all the books packed and on my way to the PO I looked in the rear view mirror, and this is what I saw!

The number of this truck was 11, and you can see it twice just above and to the right and left of the headlights (intersected by the defroster lines). Bear in mind that I saw this in a small rear view mirror, so I didn’t see 11. I saw 1111 on a big-ass truck filling my rear window. Now that was trippy.

After I dropped the books off I went to Starbucks for a mocha and to chat with a friend. I stayed longer than intended, and when I went out to put a couple more quarters in the meter I looked at the meter next to me. How much time was left? 1:11. I ran back into Starbucks to get my camera and ran back but it had already changed to 1:10. Bummer.

Last night I was on the Internet far longer than I should have been. I got up to go to the bathroom, but headed back to my laptop to see how late it was. It was 1:11 a.m.

The point of this story is…

Think about what you WANT, not what you DON’T WANT, and what you want will come to you.

I’ve continued to read about how to manifest and am having great success, and I wanted to share some more examples with you. Hopefully you already read about how I found the owners of a building I was curious about.

A week later I was sitting at a window seat at Starbucks. It sits on the corner of a four-way stoplight intersection. I noticed across the street and down a few buildings that one of them had a small sign that said Yoga.

In Oregon I wanted to try yoga, but I didn’t have the time or gas money to drive half an hour into town. This studio was within walking distance from my home. I walked over but it was closed, so I took a pamphlet and promptly lost it at home.

Two days later I went to the Starbucks at Barnes and Noble several miles away and saw Jesse and Ricardo again. Shortly after I arrived a man came in and began talking with them about yoga. As the man was leaving I asked him if he owned a yoga studio. He did. In fact, the one I had visited. Imagine that!

I gave him my number to call when the first session was starting. I didn’t know how I was going to pay for it. I ended up selling a bunch of DVD sets on Amazon, which paid me over $500. So I joined a yoga class.

The Infinite Helps Me Find a Book

I was in my library looking for my Herbert Shelton book on fasting. I have 13 bookcases with six shelves each, and I scanned them all looking for this blue book but couldn’t find it. I didn’t want to go through that again, so I lowered my head, closed my eyes, and said, “Mind, you know where this book is. Show me.” I opened my eyes, raised my head, and while I was imagining it behind me I realized I was staring at the book! My body, independent of my conscious mind, raised the head and eyeballs and pointed them at the book.

I Manifest a Schedule of Meetings

I thought I might be able to meet people by attending AA, but I didn’t have a schedule of meetings. At Starbucks I met a man named Mike. I found out he was in the program and asked him where some meetings were. He pulled a schedul out of his pocket and gave it to me. The schedule came to me! (I went to one and realized it’s not for me any more.)

Trouble Manifesting a Dime

The books on manifesting say it’s important to visualize what you want. So as a test I had been visualizing finding a dime, face down, on wet concrete while wearing my coat and gloves. I’d been visualizing it for a month and was frustrated none appeared. How can I teach manifesting when I can’t even manifest a dime? I couldn’t even find a penny!

I found myself looking on the ground whenever I was in a parking lot and had to remind myself, “Don’t search for it. The Universe will tell you when to look down.” I certainly didn’t want to become a scrounge.

Also, I’d say to myself, “There’s snow on the ground. The vision didn’t have snow,” or “This isn’t the asphalt you saw.” I kept finding reasons why the environment didn’t match my vision and therefore why the dime would not be there.

This was confusing to me, because I had found the owners of the building, the yoga teacher, my fasting book and the AA schedule with just a simple thought quickly released, but here I had carefully and consistently envisioned exactly how this dime would come to me and it had been over a month. What gives?

Two days ago while walking home from my friend Tom’s house, I looked down and then reminded myself, “Don’t look down.” “There’s no snow in your imagined picture.” Then I began questioning myself. Why does it matter that the scene exactly match? Why does it matter that the asphalt be a certain size or be wet? Isn’t the whole purpose to find a dime? I found myself agreeing with myself.

At the time that conversation was going on I was passing a bar and a thought entered my mind, “Now this is a likely place for people to drop money.” I looked down and there it was! My dime! Heads up.

Manifested Dinner Last Night

Yesterday I needed to get freezer bags to store rabbit for the cats. I left the house intending to take a long walk to a grocery store. It was so cold though. Within six blocks the fat on my thighs was frozen and my thighs were numb. So I turned left and walked a few blocks, then took another left and found myself heading for Starbucks. I had had no intention of going there.

I was tempted to get two Egg McMuffins for $3 as I passed McDonalds but decided against spending what little money I had on junk food. I decided to stop by Under the Clock and get a crock of French onion soup, but the restaurant was closed until 4 o’clock. So I headed to Starbucks. On my way I thought, “I’d sure like to eat dinner out. It would be great if someone were to treat me to dinner.”

When I originally left the house I didn’t take my purse with me or a book, which I always take because I like reading while enjoying a hot mocha. What to do at Starbucks? I decided I’d find someone to talk to. Maybe Phil would be there. But when I arrived, no one I knew was there. So I squinted my eyes (didn’t have my glasses either) and read the lousy newspaper. Then Phil arrived.

Now here’s an interesting thing about Phil. I first saw him and his wife at a steakhouse clear across town over a month before and thought they were a very interesting looking couple. There was something special about Phil. Then several days later when I went to Starbucks near my home for the first time, Phil was there. I thought that he was going to play a role in my life. I even got the odd idea that he was a preacher. Maybe he was a Unity preacher and had a church and would help me learn manifesting.

I had found out from Phil a couple weeks ago that he had worked in the auto industry, had suffered an industrial accident and was retired. And he was a Christian. So much for him being a preacher, let alone a Unity one.

Last night he told me he didn’t expect anyone to be at Starbucks on a Saturday but he hoped I would be there. I told him when I found myself heading to Starbucks that I hoped he would be there.

After we had talked for a few hours he asked me if I’d like to walk over to Under the Clock and get a steak. Oh happy day! This would be my first dinner invitation since arriving in Erie with the first friend I had made. And I had so been wanting to eat a steak. The last one I had eaten was in that restaurant when I first saw Phil.

As we were waiting to be seated I saw a pregnant woman and just knew she was carrying a boy, which she confirmed when I asked. I saw another pregnant woman but didn’t know what she was carrying. I wanted to guess, but thought, “You either know or don’t. Don’t guess.”

You’re not going to believe what Phil told me at dinner. He told me he was a preacher, ordained and all, with his own church in his home. Isn’t that something? And on the walk back to Starbucks I found three pennies, one nickel and another dime.

I uploaded another book to my Free Library called How the Mind Works by Christian D. Larson. I spent most of the weekend formatting and proofreading it, and now I’m reading it for comprehension. I came across a great paragraph that explains why we should bother with metaphysics:

The purpose of metaphysical methods is to prevent superficial mental action by deepening thought into the understanding of real action; that is, to prevent bondage to the limitations of form by awakening the consciousness of that limitless life that animates all form, and also to prevent the creation of imperfect conditions by producing in the mind the realization of absolutely perfect states. Any method that will tend to promote these objects in view will prove healthful to a degree in producing personal emancipation from sickness, adversity or want; but if the method is not strictly scientific its value will be very limited, and will prove to be nothing more than a temporary aid in the lesser aspects of life.

Now I know it would be quite easy to sleep through that paragraph. But if you can muddle through, it does indeed pack a wallop.

In other words, we have a superficial view of what it means to be human. We see matter, our body, our “form,” and think that’s all there is, and we feel isolated and tossed about by circumstances. We are not aware of our connection to the All That Is, that force which creates and animates all matter.

If we spring from that which is perfect, then with right understanding and consciousness of our connection, we also must be able to become perfect, lacking nothing for the evolution of our souls. And since the All That Is is perfect love, happiness, and peace, then if we draw our sustenance therefrom, we will know love, happiness, and peace.

A master metaphysician named Jesus said, “Be ye perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” So it must be possible, else why would he have said it?

It wasn’t long ago that our species didn’t know anything about electricity. But now that we know about it, we can use its power to our advantage–or to our harm if we misuse it. So we follow certain laws in its use. The same goes for the law of gravity.

Now could manifestation also be a power subject to laws? Of course. We must learn the laws that govern manifestation if we are to have any success.

I recommend reading this book, because it emphasizes man’s use of his mind as the supreme tool for betterment. The mind has certain functions, and to make the best use of it, we must understand what those functions are.

You will be what you think you can be, and it behooves you to think the best for yourself and have confidence that you have access to all you need to have a happier, more fulfilled life.

Since I declared to the universe that I was changing my focus from health education to manifesting, I’ve been contacted by a noncorporeal entity named Dorothy.

She has requested to use my body to teach others on this multidimensional dimension space time continuum upstream corporeal manifested plane.

Without further ado, I’m happy to introduce DOROTHY of the Ruby Slippers Realm. Today we begin our discussion of the nature of God.

Since I’m a nobody, I figure I can become a somebody by being anybody, so I think I’ll start channeling.

“We are Dorothy of the Ruby Slippers.”

Who wouldn’t want to talk to a noncorporeal entity that could tell you anything you wanted? Woo hoo! I’ve finally found my calling. And for $150 per half-hour, I’ll tell you anything you want to hear.

I came across a hilarious video on YouTube that I thought I’d share with you.

Yesterday I described a common example of manifesting. Today I’m going to give you an uncommon one that occurred to me a few weeks ago.

After I’d been in Pennsylvania a couple weeks I discovered a local restaurant that serves bagels and pizza and on Tuesday night they’re the only restaurant in town that serves Pad Thai. On my walk there one day I took an alternate route and came across this building just behind the restaurant:

What a fascinating building. I wondered who would paint their home like that. Who lived there? A couple weeks later I walked by this building again, and I thought that I’d really like to know who lived there and why they painted their building like that. This might be something interesting to blog about. It was so unusual and so well done.

A day later I drove several miles into down and visited Barnes & Noble for the second time. The first time I was there I discovered the fabulous book Thoughts Are Things, and this time I brought my own New Thought book and ordered a hot mocha.

I saw two men dressed in outlandish hats whom I remembered from the last time I visited. I struck up a conversation with them to find out why they were both wearing these odd hats. There had to be an interesting story behind it.

Their names are Jesse (left) and Ricardo and they exhibit art on their bodies. They call themselves Art in Tandem because they use a tandem bicycle to get around.

When I told them I was new in town they asked where I lived. They tried to explain to me where they lived, but I didn’t know any of the landmarks they mentioned.

Then for some reason I said, “I eat at Poppa Joe’s sometimes.” They replied, “We live right behind the restaurant.” “You mean in the painted building.” “Yes, that’s our house.”

Can you believe it? I decided I wanted to blog about whoever owned that house and within one day I met the owners. I was blown away.

You see, I set an intention to find out who lived there. I didn’t think another thing of it. And the universe, god, cosmic consciousness, whatever you want to call it, arranged the meeting. (It gets better, but that’s for another day.)

So about their building. It appears that some young locals were painting graffiti on buildings and got caught. The neighborhood watch wanted Jesse and Ricardo to prosecute but, being artists themselves and not wanting to harm the youths, they said, “No, we want them to finish the job.”

The ringleader of the graffiti artists took on the project with some financial help (paint supplies) and aesthetic suggestions from Jesse and Ricardo and painted the entire house. He then went to art school for two years and came back and repainted it.

So that’s the story behind the house. Aint’ it a hoot?

Manifesting is using thought to manipulate or create reality or matter.

Consider the chair you’re sitting on. At one point it was a concept in a designer’s mind. It was a thought only. She then drew the chair and gave the design to a manufacturer who built it. It was picked up by someone who at some time decided that they’d like to be in distribution. He hired a trucker (who had thought trucking would be a good job) who transported the chair to a retail chain owned by someone who thought he could make a living selling goods to others and filling a need. He rented his storefront from a woman who thought she’d learn how to buy and rent commercial real estate.

One day you thought you’d like to buy a new chair. You shopped around, found a chair you liked, and paid for it. You took the chair home and are sitting on it reading this blog post. Maybe you received the chair as a gift.

These are manifestations with which we’re all familiar and accept without question or doubt. Everything, everything you see around you started out as thought. Thought was mixed with belief and matter was manipulated to manifest the thought.

Thought + Belief = Success

What all these people had in common beyond thought was the belief that they could accomplish what they wanted. The designer didn’t just daydream about designing a chair. She went to school to learn design and business marketing. When she had enough knowledge and confidence, she sat down and drew the chair’s specifications and submitted them to a manufacturer.

If the furniture designer had at some point thought, “I like designing chairs but I don’t know how to sell them. Who would buy my chair? This is too difficult,” then you would not be sitting in that particular chair. It would never have been created.

Build chair + won’t sell = doesn’t sell (was never created).

The initial idea that formed in the designer’s mind had been dissipated by the thought that the chair would never sell, so it made no sense building it. Again you see thought + belief = success.

But then what was manifested from the thoughts of creativity plus doubt and fear of failure? Perhaps a woman who wanted to design chairs working in furniture sales dreaming about building chairs but just plodding along in a job she barely tolerates, her creative urges and talents unfulfilled.

Who did you buy the chair from? A series of individuals who joined thought and belief and created the distribution chain from creator to consumer.

This post provided examples of common manifesting. Read this post for an example of an uncommon manifestation.

The past month I’ve spent most of my time reading books on New Thought. Of all the philosophies I’ve encountered, New Thought makes the most sense and holds the greatest promise, so I’ve chosen to believe it and test it.

New Thought teaches that our thoughts create our reality.

I’ve had trouble in the past defining my blog niche. I wanted to help you improve your health, but health isn’t just about diet and exercise. It’s about life purpose, how we think or don’t think, the role of spirituality, how emotions affect us.

I also wanted to help you learn to be more self-determined and independent. I’d like to encourage you to think for yourself and question things you’ve taken for granted. In so many areas we are fed information that we uncritically accept to make us buy things, live in fear, give up our sovereignty, endure perpetual debt working tedious, unfulfilling jobs. So most of us become sick and tired and hopeless.

We just get worn out with worry and fear. How am I going to pay the bills? What if I get cancer? Who will hire me at this age?

Some of your hurts you have cured,
And the sharpest you still have survived,
But what torments of grief you endured
From the evil which never arrived.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Several days ago while reading a new thought book I realized that that’s what I want to write about. That’s what I want to teach, because it encompasses all of the above.

Our thoughts determine our health, our happiness, our focus and fulfillment. Our thoughts color our emotions. And our thinking must be our own if we are to enjoy sovereignty. I had finally, after seven months of blogging, found my niche. And my purpose.

So if you’d like to be happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise, stick around. Perhaps we can help each other on this fabulous journey called “life.”

I’ve been reading new thought books, which teach that people are divine in origin, that our nature is god manifesting itself through us. In other words, god experiencing life through and as each of us.

Before I dropped off to sleep last night I was thinking about my cat Tiny who died a couple years ago. We knew each other 13 years, and I cried for her loss. Does she remain a cat after she leaves her body? Does she continue to evolve in intelligence and come back as something else?

I’ve read in psychic and life after death literature that our souls survive death. There are even people on this side who communicate with people on that side via phone, fax, computer, tape recorders. It’s a pretty fascinating subject. But if we are differentiated divinity, if we are a drop in the ocean of god, as it were, when we return to the ocean, do we lose our unique “dropness”?

My Dead Neighbor Appears in a Dream

For ten years in California I lived next to a woman named Sandy and her five cats: Billy Bob, Smokey Joe, Whiskers, Dot and Oscar. We grew very close in that time. I had six cats at the time and we served as catsitter for each other. Our doors were only a few steps from one another so we were always in each other’s apartment. When I was late coming home from work, she would go into my apartment, turn on my lights, turn the TV on for the cats. She was a true people person. I loved living next to her.

Sandy and I left California around the same time. I moved to Oregon and she died of cancer. And in the six or so years since she’s been gone, I’ve wondered why I never dream about her. But I dreamt about her last night. She looked great and was very peaceful.

We were sitting at a table and I asked her many questions. I asked her how many times she had come to earth to visit, and she said she’d only been back three times. I asked why so few. She said she didn’t like it here. It was painful for her. She was very happy where she was. I asked about her body, and she said, “We don’t have these there.”

Somehow I managed to ask her about what I had been wondering, about the survival of personality. Do we disappear into the great ocean and lose our individuality? Or does our soul survive? And she said, “Oh, yes, we’re still people over there.”

I think I’ve dreamt about Sandy twice in six years. Odd.

My auntie Darlyce called me on the phone in a dream. She said, “Do you know where I am?” I told her yes. She said, “We’re at your mansion. I’m with the others.” I asked her who she was with, feeling that I was overstepping a boundary. I heard her conferring with someone, but couldn’t make out the words. And then the line went dead and I woke up.

When I was a little girl I lost a dog named Zeus and my first and favorite chicken, Mathilda. They both visited me in a dream to assure me they were all right and to not cry for them. Zeus came three times, and on the third visit he said, “I won’t be able to come visit you anymore.” And that was the last I saw of him.