My guess is that you want to say “yes” to these questions, but you are actually answering “no”. Why is this? Because institutions are deciding these answers for us. Yes it’s true! In all four of these areas of your life you have not and do not choose. You disagree? Let us explore.

When it comes to your health are you choosing what you put into your body or are you allowing the media, the supermarkets and even your family determine what you eat, or allowing your doctor decide what medications you should be taking? How many of those choices have you truly made yourself. In most cases I am sure you would agree you have taken the common route, the path of least resistance, and allowed society to tell you what to eat and what to do when you get a headache. And most likely if you were eating healthier you would not be having any headaches in the first place.

Making your own conscious choices about what you put into your body can have a positive affect on your health. Observe your body. How does it react and feel after certain foods? Avoid those foods that leave you feeling slack and without energy and choose the food that makes you feel good an hour after you eat it.

What about your time? Are you the master of your own time? Or are you the slave of circumstances and habit? How often do we conform to what others want just to keep the peace? It’s bad enough having an employer where we give our time for the money we earn, but what about the rest of our time? How much time do you take for yourself? It is important to pursue your own desires and dreams and satisfy your own pleasures. This is not to say you ought to ignore everyone else around you, particularly those depending on you. But it is important to get a balance and have time that is only for you.

I bet you think you have control of your money. Well apart from taxes (we’ll leave that one as we all enjoy the benefits of roads, transport and trade etc.) how much of your hard earned money do you spend voluntarily on things you actually want or need? Observe again how often you will buy something because the advertisement appealed to you, or the display in the store attracted you, or even because your friend said this is a must. After you buy it you wonder why or it lies around unused. How much food do you throw away becuase you fell for the big sales and specials and ended up buying much too much food?

So are you really in control of your money? Is your money serving you as it ought to? Are you treating your money with respect, because if you do it will return to you. Setting money aside for later is a big plus and a must. Small amounts mount up and you will be grateful for that years from now. I’m not saying to spend sparingly, that could stifle the flow, but spend wisely, and most of all, make your own choices.

One more thing – have you chosen what you believe in? Now when it comes to religious belief the answer is most likely not. You have accepted the beliefs handed down to you. The same is true about how you are currently looking at life, you got educated and got a job and pay into your pension fund because that’s what you were taught and what you subsequently believe in. But these things are nothing more than belief systems passed down to us. But are they the right things and are they serving us today? We need to take a close look at why we believe things and why we do things in certain ways today. Could it be that you are not meeting with success and not fulfilling your dreams because of restricting and limiting beliefs from the past?

We need to take control of our beliefs and choose what is beneficial and profitable for life and discard all that isn’t.

So are you free? Or do you need to make a few adjustments. Remember, everyone around faces the same challenge, so be gentle.

The Subconscious Mind represents our spiritual side. It is the subconscious mind which receives the impressions placed upon the conscious mind thorugh belief and emotion. Hill says it best:

“The subconscious mind receives and files sense impressions or thoughts regardless of their nature.  You may VOLUNTARILY plant in your subconscious mind any plan, thought, or purpose which you desire to translate into its physical or monetary equivalent.  The subconscious acts first on the dominating desires which have been mixed with emotional feeling, such as FAITH.”

We are open to all sorts of input, a lot of it negative: newspapers, TV, radio, magazines, gossip, movies. It is our job, and to our benifit, to block these negative impulses, to avoid reading and lsitiening and watching whatever makes us feel bad. Focus on the positive, that is what you really want, and seek to read and listen to that which brings you closer to your goal. Either we select what effects our subconscious mind or it is fed by default.

Hill mentions the major positive and negative emotions. Did you know that you can only focus on one emotion at a time. So if you want rid of negative emotions then focus on the positive and the things which help you have those emotions. Here is Hill’s list of the 7 major positve and the 7 major negative emotions:

The majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs are, in general, easily influenced by the opinions of others. They permit the newspapers and the “gossiping” neighbours to do their thinking for them…
If you are too easily influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no DESIRE of your own.

p.150

It is so important to be a decision maker. And so important to listen to the right people. Generally those who try to discourage you from achieving your goals, no matter how nice are their intentions, are not those you should be listening to. Find those who think success and are not afraid to make decisions and listen to them. The more we listen the more knowledge we will accumulate.

Now money flows easier. Not we we are over extravagant without reason. But we spend easier knowing that money, as an energy, needs to flow. And as it flows out it flows back. Whereas if money is held tightly it doesn’t flow, either out or in.

Many are setting new goals for the new year, like “glenerd“. We too. In fact this is the first time we actually sat down to define what we want. And whats more, we have learned and know that the goals we set we will reach, providing we take action towards those goals. One of our goals is a set amount of money. But our others goals are activities which will help us reach the financial target.

If you are setting goals for this year, and I recommend you do, then make them high and big enough to scare you. This is a good practice, for even if you miss you still reach more than without a goal. Define your goal precisely and describe it with feeling. Then allow your intuition to inspire you with ideas. Write them all down no matter how crazy or impossible they may seem. Now pick one and go for it.

Can you put the change that must be made into one sentence?

I already have several times.
You must stop seeing God as separate from you, and you as separate from each other.”

“The Complete Conversations with God. An uncommen dialogue”, by Neale Donald Walsh, Book 2, ch.13, p.340-341.

The Complete Conversations with God (Boxed Set)

And with this I wish you all a Happy Holiday and a new dream for 2008.