Purchases What we believe, we are. What are we buying into? If we believe we're failures, we are. If we believe we're successful, we are. This is not the same thing as wishing to be successful. Wishing is like window-shopping. You haven't bought into it yet. You're just wishing. To be successful, you have to be convinced of your success. Or better yet, don't get all tied up in outcomes, just go after what you want to do and see where it leads. There are people who have powerful jobs and big bank accounts that are still looking to become successful. Most of us would think they've already made it. There are others who have very little materially or their tasks are quite menial but they feel fulfilled and content, which is the success that really counts. Regardless of your status in the economy or society, if you radiate a successful satisfaction with your efforts, you will find that opportunities open before you. Putting forth a positive outlook, giving your best effort to any task you undertake, will light you up like a beacon. Set your sights on where you want to go and perform every stage in between with the assurance that you are on the right track. If you desire advancement, try to know what is required on the next level, grow those skills and express your intent to be qualified for that responsibility. Don't lock yourself in though. Sometimes when others see someone like you beaming along, they may offer opportunities you didn't anticipate. Be open to them. Don't get caught up in a precise destination. Do the best you can where you are, using your skills and abilities as you go along. Don't be surprised when you find yourself with multiple options. Be grateful and make your choices based on where you'd most like to apply yourself. As for failure, if you are convinced that you are a failure, then everything you try will work toward that effort. Your will is stronger than you think. No matter how much effort you put out, if there is an underlying belief that you cannot succeed, then you cannot. You've bought into failure. In the context of universal energy, it would appear that what you want is to fail and you will be allowed to do just that for as long as you are trying so hard to bring your own failure to fruition. Consciously or subconsciously, you will do things to undermine your own success. Whether these efforts are acts of subtrefuge or you simply exude an essence of failure, the effects are the same. You and those around you will respond to these effects and help you in what appears to be your goal, to fail. This concept works on a much larger scale too. Look at the US economy over the years. When the citizens of this country feel good about the general state of things, when we feel fairly secure in our jobs and believe that we're not about to dive into some depression or recession, then we spend money. The economy swells as a result. Regardless of what the statistical indicators may portend, the mood of the people drives the market. If we believe that things are going well, then we work and save a little and spend a lot. If we feel that something is about to happen, even before it actually happens, then we start socking away more in savings and cut back on our spending. In effect, our fear of a tighter market is what causes the market to tighten. A reduction in purchases causes a reduction in manufacturing which causes a reduction in jobs and, sure enough, layoffs abound, wages are pinched and economic growth slows to a crawl. Sometimes the media will cause either expansion or contraction of the economy, simply by reporting that either is a possibility. A whole lot of people operate on fear, so reporting that the economy could get tight may cause it to do just that. We may not be buying products because we're buying into the doom we hear on the news. When the forecasts are favorable, then we tend to loosen up on our fears and spend. What else are we buying? Well, we're buying the daily servings of violence. We see it more and more and come to expect it. Our expectations are realized. Every day there are violent deaths from gang warfare, criminal activities, terrorism and so forth. The vast majority of citizens are playing no part in these events directly but we all participate indirectly because we come to expect them. We consider it part of our world and allow it to be part of our collective dynamic. When we are no longer appalled by these events, then we may as well be inviting more of the same to be part of our daily lives. We are accepting it. I'm not saying that violence on TV causes people to commit more acts of violence. However, we allow it to shape our expectations instead of seeing opportunity for change or insisting on what we want to see. What's being reported or played out in drama is history. It's past action or a result of prior thinking. If we change what we expect, then we can change the amount of violence in the world, starting tomorrow. Realize that our acceptance of something causes the maintenance and even the proliferation of it. The presence of violence isn't a result of laws we aren't making or enforcing. In the collective consciousness, if we accept brutal destruction as a fact of life, then it IS a fact of life. We are buying into it. As long as we believe that humanity cannot live peacefully together on this planet, then we cannot. It's all about energy and where our focus is directed. In order to bring about change in our physical world, we have to change our beliefs, individually and therefore collectively. The actions will follow. We have to believe that our species can peacefully exist on this little rock. We have to know that at the base of it, human beings are good and want to be cooperative. Of course there will always be some who think otherwise. That's fine. We don't have to change every mind on the planet to make a change in the collective consciousness. We just have to get the majority behind a concept to make it fly. This will shift the direction of the energy and eventually, the rest will follow. So what can we as individuals do about a thing like that? Well, such changes take place one person at a time. We are already headed in this positive direction. There is a growing movement within mankind to work toward something better than where we've been. Part of that has been the influence of beginning a new millenium. What you can do is work from your own sphere of influence. Begin with yourself. Do not buy into failure, for yourself or anyone around you. Believe in the inherent worth of every person that crosses your path, even the ones you don't like. Concentrate on similarities, on points of connection, rather than disparity. Focus on INcluding people rather than EXcluding people. We get what we expect. We experience what we allow. We are whatever we believe ourselves to be. I prefer to expect the best from people. Yes, I will be disappointed sometimes, but sliding into their mode is not going to help. It doesn't have to change who I am and how I want the world to be. Be the sort of person you want to see in the world. Buy into the sharing of light and love, compassion and understanding. It has to start somewhere. In fact, it has begun already. Add your energy to it. Bring your spark of individuality to the collecting light. Someone will be the one that puts us over the halfway mark. Maybe it's you. In any case, every single one of us counts. (Purchases)

If menu is missing, click here.