Your Emotional Guidance System

Your Emotional Guidance System (EGS) is an incredible internal measure of seeing whether or not you are on track with what you desire or not. Our emotions let us know what we are thinking, and since our thoughts are the creative spark for everything we experience, paying attention to what we are feeling and adjusting our thinking truly serves us.

There are lots of emotions, but all of them come down to two primary feelings. One feels good. One feels bad. If you are feeling bad, you're off track. If you feel good, you are on course to manifesting your desires and being true to yourself.

If you are feeling bad (ie. depressed, angry, sad, unhappy), life seems hard, difficult, stressful, and a struggle. Feeling bad consistently creates negative results in your life and in your body. You attract to you more things that feel bad, and even create dis-ease in your body if you don't turn it around.

If you are feeling good (ie. happy, love, gratitude, excitement, bliss), then life flows easily and effortlessly. Living is joyful and fun, and your body responds with vibrant health and energy. You attract to you more good and abundance, and life becomes an amazing experience of being, doing, and having all that you desire.

Most of us go back and forth from feeling bad to feeling good, and think that it depends on what is going on around us. We are "victims of circumstance" and don't take full responsibility for how we feel and what we are getting. We say things like "He made me angry", "She pissed me off", or "That movie made me laugh". Even when we feel good and happy, often we give someone or something else besides us the credit for making us feel the way we feel. When we feel bad, we blame others for it. We even "blame" those that make us happy.

We all have the ability to free ourselves of this emotional bondage by taking total responsibility for our lives and everything in it. It isn't the things outside of us that make us feel something, it is our thoughts and beliefs about what is happening that creates our feelings.

I learned a simple model for understanding this at a place called the Option Institute years ago. It's called "Stimulus-Belief-Response", and basically it means that between what we experience and how we respond is a choice, a thought or belief that determines our how we will respond.

According to this model, all stimulus is neutral. In and off itself, nothing means anything. We are the ones who place meaning on something with our thoughts and beliefs. So there is this opportunity in each moment to decide what we want to think and believe about it, which in turn determines our response. Responses are our feelings and behaviors. If we pay attention to what our reaction is to something, it will lead directly back to a thought we had about it.

Now, to bring this full circle, understanding our EGS (Emotional Guidance System) and using it to trace back to what you are thinking and believing is a powerful process of self-awareness and empowerment. Once we start taking responsibility for how we are feeling, we then have the choice to think differently and have the desired response we want.

Everything is a choice. Every feeling you have is a decision you are making inside yourself to think a certain way about something. If you choose to change your mind and think in a new way, you will immediately experience a new feeling and respond to the same stimulus differently.

For example, let's say someone cuts you off in traffic. Most of us would immediately get angry and blame the driver who swerved in front of us for making us angry. The truth is that what he did was just stimulus and actually was a neutral event. It was our thought about what happened that made us angry. We probably judged the guy as an asshole and made up that he was just trying to piss us off. Maybe he didn't see us and actually had no clue he cut you off.

But here's the miracle about this whole process. Let's say he did cut you off on purpose. You still have a choice in how you are going to respond. You could accept him. You could forgive him. You could even bless him for giving you an opportunity to practice patience. The point is that you are the one who decides what it will be!

So are you going to be the one who decides, or are you going to keep playing the victim? You are the creator of your life. You are in control of your emotions. You get to decide how your life will be from this moment on.

Your EGS was designed to serve you in being a more powerful creator of your life. Master the use of your emotions to guide you towards adjusting your thinking so that you have clearer and more powerful thoughts attracting what you desire, and you'll have mastered your life.

Taking Total Responsibility

I have recently come across a new concept to me. It is one of taking Total Responsibility... not just for yourself, but for everything in your life. As Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len explains to Joe Vitale in their book Zero Limits, "Total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life, simply because it is in your life, is your responsibility. In a literal sense, the entire world is your creation."

Joe Vitale goes on to write "Whew. This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say or do is one thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life says or does is quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in your life."

"This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy - anything you experience and don't like - is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you."

Wow. Pretty deep, huh. It makes sense to me though because I believe that ultimately we are all connected, we are all one and the same, and as Neale Donald Walsch beautifully puts it in his book, Conversations with God: "There is only one of us."

So if we are at cause for all things in our life, if we are the creators of everything we experience and everything that comes into our experience, then we have an awesome responsibility - not only to ourselves, but to everyone we are aware of (because ultimately, they are us) - to heal ourselves and the world we create. This gives whole new meaning to a quote I love by Ghandi: "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Taking total responsibility gives us the power to change anything and everything in our lives that we want to improve. Joe Vitale continues to write: "If you want to improve your life, you have to heal your life. If you want to cure anyone, even a mentally ill criminal, you do it by healing you. I asked Dr. Len how he went about healing himself and his patients. What was he doing exactly?"

Dr. Len explained, "I just kept saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over again. That's it." As I read more about Dr. Len's work with Ho'oponopono, key phrases to say to yourself to release and heal anything are "Please forgive me. I forgive you. I love you. Thank you. God Bless You."

Joe Vitale: "Turns out that loving yourself is the greatest way to improve yourself, and as you improve yourself, your improve your world. Whenever you want to improve anything in your life, there's only one place to look: inside you. When you look, do it with love."

Well said, Joe.

Releasing Resistance

The only thing between you and what you want is your resistance to receiving it. Releasing that resistance is key if you truly want to attract all that you desire.

We live in an abundant Universe of infinite potential and possibility. Perfection is all around us. Well-being flows effortlessly through everything taking the path of least resistance. Grass doesn't strain to grow. Mountains don't struggle to become majestic peaks. The Universe does everything with zero effort.

Our most natural state is one of perfect health, unlimited abundance, absolute joy, total freedom, and unconditional love. Anything that is preventing or blocking us from experiencing this is caused by resistance.

That resistance is in the form of negative thoughts, repressed emotions, tightly held beliefs, false ideas, and illusions we accept as fact. The truth is that we have always had the choice to let all that go and allow the flow of abundance to heal our lives.

Everything is energy. Therefore releasing emotional blocks and resistance is just a matter of getting the energy to move and flow inside us. Letting go and releasing resistance inside you is the shortcut to having all you desire in any area of your life.

I have learned of three methods for doing this kind of releasing energy work through a few of the teachers of The Secret:

Bob Doyle promotes a process called EFT, which stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques. Click this link to watch a video about it: http://www.emofree.com/splash/video_popup.asp
I'm currently reading a book by Carol Look called "Attracting Abundance with EFT", which is highly recommended by Bob Doyle as well.

Hale Dwoskin promotes a process called The Sedona Method. Click this link for more info about it and a sample of how it works: http://www.sedona.com/html/Sample-Of-Process.aspx

Joe Vitale promotes a process called Ho’oponopono in his new book "Zero Limits", which is an ancient Hawaiian art to neutralize and purify ourselves. Click this link to learn more: http://www.hooponopono.org/

At the core of every one of these processes is letting go. Forgiving ourselves and those we have blamed is also an important part of releasing our resistance. Finally, loving ourselves, being grateful, and blessing it all opens us to profound healing.

So as Hale Dwoskin would say as part of The Sedona Method:

Can you let it go?

Will you let it go?

When?

Using The Secret to Lose Weight

I was talking to one of my dear friends today about losing weight and what The Secret says about it. She had just watched the movie again and wants to apply The Secret to lose some extra pounds. The movie doesn't go into detail about it, but the book and audio book do discuss specific suggestions for using The Secret to lose weight.

Rhonda Byrne writes in her book: "The first thing to know is that if you focus on losing weight, you will attract back having to lose more weight, so get "having to lose weight" out of your mind. It's the very reason why diets don't work."

"The second thing to know is that the condition of being overweight was created through you thought about it. To put in the most basic terms, if someone is overweight, it came from thinking "fat thoughts", whether that person was aware of it or not. A person cannot think "thin thoughts" and be fat. It completely defies the Law of Attraction."

When I was talking to my friend today, I suggested that she start with her goal in mind. Think of the weight or size you want to be and focus on that. Think "thin thoughts". Don't be too concerned about how it's going to happen, just stay focused on the end result. I suggested to my friend for her to remember when she was at the weight she liked, to recall how it felt, and if there were any negative feelings associated with that memory, to let them go and just focus on what she liked.

You can even create a vision board of pictures of the body you want. I've even heard of people clipping pictures of other people's bodies and pasting photos of their heads to make it look like it's their new physique. In fact, I did that for a vision board of me on the new ATV I want. I cut out the picture and pasted my head on the rider's body. It's an awesome visualization tool!

The most important factor though in reaching your goal (and any goal for that matter) is to feel good. As Rhonda Byrne points out in her book: "The definition of the perfect weight is the weight that feels good for you. You must feel good about You. This is important because you cannot attract your perfect weight if you feel bad about your body now. Praise and bless every square inch of your body. As you feel good about You, you are on the frequency of your perfect weight, and you are summoning it."

One last tip offered in The Secret book on the subject of losing weight is being completely present and focused when you eat. When you pay attention to the tastes and textures of the food you are eating, focusing on chewing it and enjoying all the flavors, your body is able to assimilate all the nutrients and digest it perfectly. If you slow down and take the time to really enjoy and appreciate your meal, you may notice you don't eat so much and are satisfied sooner.

So be easy with yourself, see your body in your mind at your ideal weight now, focus on feeling good, and be present when eating. That's the real Secret to losing weight.

The Secret to Money

The chapter in The Secret that talks about money starts with Jack Canfield talking about some of the negative beliefs he accepted from his parents when he was a kid. "Money doesn't grow on trees" was a popular one I heard my mother say too. I grew up hearing "We can't afford that" constantly and was taught that you had to work hard just to get by. I often got teased by the kids at school for wearing "Winner's Choice" shoes bought from Wal-mart, and I dreamed of one day being like the "rich" kids who got anything they wanted.

When I was 18, I was introduced to the book "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill when I was in college. I read it over and over, I studied it, and I tried desperately to change my way of thinking so I could become rich. But I made the mistake a lot of people do when they don't see results right away, and I impatiently tossed the book aside saying "This stuff doesn't work!"

As James Ray points out in The Secret, the Universe is always saying "Your wish is my command." When we give up like that and go back to our negative thinking and beliefs, we push what was just about to break through the surface back down. When James explained that, a light went off and I instantly understood why I never saw the wealth I wanted in my life. I was never consistent in changing my way of thinking.

So how do you turn it around and begin attracting all that wonderful prosperity and abundance everyone in The Secret seems to be masters at? Joe Vitale asks all the questions on most of our minds: "How can I attract more money into my life? How can I get more of the green stuff? How can I, with my job, dealing with the credit card debt that I have, and the realization that maybe there's a ceiling on the money that can come in because it's coming to me through my job, how can I bring in more?"

Then he bluntly answers with: "Intend it! Say how much you would like to have." Bob Proctor goes on to say "Most people have a goal of getting out of debt. That will keep you in debt forever. Whatever you are thinking about you will attract. You'll say it's to get out of debt. I don't care if it's get out or get in, if you're thinking debt, you are attracting debt. Set up an automatic debt repayment program and start focusing on prosperity."

I was one of those people. I was over $60,000 in debt, and I was so overwhelmed by it I got nauseous when it came time to pay bills. After watching The Secret, I saw how powerfully I was attracting more debt with those negative feelings. So I shifted my focus from what I owed to being grateful for what I received.

David Schirmer, shares something that I applied immediately: "The Law of Attraction states that what you focus on you will get, so I got a bank statement. I whited out the total and I put a new total in there. I put exactly how much I wanted to see in the bank." So I did the same thing. I took my credit card statements, whited out all the balances, and put zero balances on them with "Paid in full!" written in red. Then I took my bank statements and whited out the balances and put the new amount I wanted to have.

Since I have taken my focus off of the debt and visualized myself having more, amazing things have transpired as I keep my intention to attract prosperity and abundance. So the Secret to money is that wealth is a mindset. But remember that wealth isn't just about money, it's only a part of it. Having all the things that we desire doesn't guarantee what we really want, which is ultimately to be happy. True wealth is a combination of health, happiness, love, and prosperity.

Nathan Wolfe
1-800-656-8561
http://www.experienceprosperity.com/