When the Power of Attraction Isn’t Enough – Three keys to Permanent Prosperity
publication date: Aug 4, 2009
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author/source: Tom Anderson
By Tom Anderson
You have probably heard about the power of attraction or the process of using visualization techniques to create what you want in your life. You might have heard about the book and movie, The Secret, or some of the other many books about how to go about creating a life of abundance and prosperity. I have read many of them and have used these techniques to great success in my life. But what happens when you create everything you thought you wanted and then find out it isn’t enough?
That moment came for me on the day that my boss walked into my office to give me some good news. He wanted to let me know that he was ready to make me his partner and he had hired an attorney to put the paperwork together. This wasn’t a total surprise for me as we had talked about the idea off and on for about a year. It also wasn’t a surprise for me because I had been visualizing and working toward just that kind of opportunity for years.
“That’s great,” I replied, “let me know when you are ready to sit down and talk some more.” I smiled at my boss as he left my office, but I wasn’t smiling inside. In spite of the fact that I had been dreaming of this day for years, I felt absolutely no sense of excitement in my heart. Nothing inside was saying “yes.”
Have you had a similar experience? Have you spent time and effort to create something in your life, only to find that when it finally showed up it wasn’t what you really wanted after all? Our minds, coupled with the power of the universe, can create anything we can imagine. We live in an abundant universe that every moment is asking us one and only one question: “What do you want?” When we answer that question and then do the work that is ours to do in the process, we will have everything we want, need, and desire. But first, we have to know what to ask for.
What we are all looking for is what I call Permanent Prosperity. Permanent Prosperity comes when we take the tools we have been learning to use for manifestation and hook them to a big idea. It is prosperity that isn’t based on material possessions, but on gifts of the soul. With this kind of prosperity, we have no lack of any kind in our lives because our lives become about so much more that the things – jobs, houses, cars, and money – that we have been spending so much energy focusing on.
I have come to understand that there are three keys to living a life of Permanent Prosperity. These are the keys on which we need to base all of our inner visualization work as well as the work we do in the outer world. Without these keys, we end up just where I was on that day my boss made me that wonderful offer.
Key Number 1 – We need to have a vision.
What is vision? Vision is the greatest dream we can dream for the world. In a sense, we are all like the three blind men touching the elephant. One touches the trunk and says the elephant is like a giant hose. Another touches the elephant’s side and says that the elephant is like a giant wall. The third grabs the elephant’s tail and says that the elephant is like a rope. All of them are right and all of them are wrong because none of them tell the complete story. Whenever we talk about vision, we are attempting to describe something enormous, but are doing so from our own personal and therefore limited perspective. Even so, it is still important to have a vision because it gives us the larger framework on which to hang the rest of our lives. When we seek vision, we are attempting to answer the question: “What kind of world do I want to live in?” Dream a little, and see where your vision takes you.
Key Number 2 – We need to know our purpose.
We are each born with a purpose to fulfill in our life. The lucky ones among us find out what our purpose is early enough in life that we then create work that matches it. For most of us, we end up doing work that we chose by accident or happenstance. But don’t be confused; purpose and work are not synonymous. Purpose is much bigger than the kind of work we do. It’s how we show up in the world. It’s the song that we were born to sing, the gift we were born to give, and the piece of our vision that were are meant to embody. Ask, “Why am I here?” and see what answers begin to come.
Key Number 3 – We need to know who or what we are to serve.
The fuel for the fire of vision and purpose is service. We need to know where and how we are to serve in the world; and we need to know who or what we are to serve. A life of service doesn’t necessarily mean joining the Peace Corps or giving away all of your possessions to the poor. What it does mean is that we deliver our purpose into the world in the service of our vision and in support of something that is bigger than our own personal selves. Service, in this context, means that we see our lives as being part of a bigger plan, a plan that is constantly unfolding and infused with love. Ask: “Who are my people?” and then watch to see who shows up.
Every moment of our lives we are creating the next moment with the thoughts that we hold and the decisions that we make. This will happen whether we consciously participate in the process or not. By creating our lives around vision, purpose, and service, we can assure ourselves of unlimited abundance and Permanent Prosperity.
About the Author
Tom Anderson is a vision quest guide and explorer of the soul whose mission is to awaken and inspire a sense of purpose in those who would lead an evolving world. His book, Live a Mythic Life – a hero’s journey to vision, purpose, and service will be coming out this summer. In the meantime, download his free e-book titled “Three Steps to Living a Mythic Life,” by going here => http://www.liveamythiclife.com/signup
You have probably heard about the power of attraction or the process of using visualization techniques to create what you want in your life. You might have heard about the book and movie, The Secret, or some of the other many books about how to go about creating a life of abundance and prosperity. I have read many of them and have used these techniques to great success in my life. But what happens when you create everything you thought you wanted and then find out it isn’t enough?
That moment came for me on the day that my boss walked into my office to give me some good news. He wanted to let me know that he was ready to make me his partner and he had hired an attorney to put the paperwork together. This wasn’t a total surprise for me as we had talked about the idea off and on for about a year. It also wasn’t a surprise for me because I had been visualizing and working toward just that kind of opportunity for years.
“That’s great,” I replied, “let me know when you are ready to sit down and talk some more.” I smiled at my boss as he left my office, but I wasn’t smiling inside. In spite of the fact that I had been dreaming of this day for years, I felt absolutely no sense of excitement in my heart. Nothing inside was saying “yes.”
Have you had a similar experience? Have you spent time and effort to create something in your life, only to find that when it finally showed up it wasn’t what you really wanted after all? Our minds, coupled with the power of the universe, can create anything we can imagine. We live in an abundant universe that every moment is asking us one and only one question: “What do you want?” When we answer that question and then do the work that is ours to do in the process, we will have everything we want, need, and desire. But first, we have to know what to ask for.
What we are all looking for is what I call Permanent Prosperity. Permanent Prosperity comes when we take the tools we have been learning to use for manifestation and hook them to a big idea. It is prosperity that isn’t based on material possessions, but on gifts of the soul. With this kind of prosperity, we have no lack of any kind in our lives because our lives become about so much more that the things – jobs, houses, cars, and money – that we have been spending so much energy focusing on.
I have come to understand that there are three keys to living a life of Permanent Prosperity. These are the keys on which we need to base all of our inner visualization work as well as the work we do in the outer world. Without these keys, we end up just where I was on that day my boss made me that wonderful offer.
Key Number 1 – We need to have a vision.
What is vision? Vision is the greatest dream we can dream for the world. In a sense, we are all like the three blind men touching the elephant. One touches the trunk and says the elephant is like a giant hose. Another touches the elephant’s side and says that the elephant is like a giant wall. The third grabs the elephant’s tail and says that the elephant is like a rope. All of them are right and all of them are wrong because none of them tell the complete story. Whenever we talk about vision, we are attempting to describe something enormous, but are doing so from our own personal and therefore limited perspective. Even so, it is still important to have a vision because it gives us the larger framework on which to hang the rest of our lives. When we seek vision, we are attempting to answer the question: “What kind of world do I want to live in?” Dream a little, and see where your vision takes you.
Key Number 2 – We need to know our purpose.
We are each born with a purpose to fulfill in our life. The lucky ones among us find out what our purpose is early enough in life that we then create work that matches it. For most of us, we end up doing work that we chose by accident or happenstance. But don’t be confused; purpose and work are not synonymous. Purpose is much bigger than the kind of work we do. It’s how we show up in the world. It’s the song that we were born to sing, the gift we were born to give, and the piece of our vision that were are meant to embody. Ask, “Why am I here?” and see what answers begin to come.
Key Number 3 – We need to know who or what we are to serve.
The fuel for the fire of vision and purpose is service. We need to know where and how we are to serve in the world; and we need to know who or what we are to serve. A life of service doesn’t necessarily mean joining the Peace Corps or giving away all of your possessions to the poor. What it does mean is that we deliver our purpose into the world in the service of our vision and in support of something that is bigger than our own personal selves. Service, in this context, means that we see our lives as being part of a bigger plan, a plan that is constantly unfolding and infused with love. Ask: “Who are my people?” and then watch to see who shows up.
Every moment of our lives we are creating the next moment with the thoughts that we hold and the decisions that we make. This will happen whether we consciously participate in the process or not. By creating our lives around vision, purpose, and service, we can assure ourselves of unlimited abundance and Permanent Prosperity.
About the Author
Tom Anderson is a vision quest guide and explorer of the soul whose mission is to awaken and inspire a sense of purpose in those who would lead an evolving world. His book, Live a Mythic Life – a hero’s journey to vision, purpose, and service will be coming out this summer. In the meantime, download his free e-book titled “Three Steps to Living a Mythic Life,” by going here => http://www.liveamythiclife.com/signup