#GratitudeMagic

[nishp]

🌟✨ Embrace the Power of Gratitude: Happy World Gratitude Day! ✨🌟

On September 21st, we pause to celebrate the incredible force that is gratitude. It's a day to reflect, appreciate, and spread positivity all around us. Join us in this journey of thankfulness and joy! 🙏💖 Gratitude is not just a feeling; it's a practice. Let's take a moment today to express our appreciation, whether through words, deeds, or a simple smile. It's the ripple effect of gratitude that can make the world a better place.

[mxdmagic]

As a kid I would write what I desired in present tense, then read it in front of the mirror as if I was sharing my excitement and news with a friend. 🖤 I still have some of the slips of paper, and all of my desires came to fruition! 🙏 #manifestationmagick #simplemagic #witchtips #mxdmagic #witchylife #crystalmagic #gratitudemagic #witchworking (at mxdmagic) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnzZ43xujVP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[manoasha]

"Thank You Magic: The Simple Secret to Happier Relationships"

The Magic of Saying “Thank You”: Building Happy Relationships with Gratitude Gratitude is like a magic wand that makes relationships happier. Let’s explore how simple words and gestures of thanks can create a magical connection between partners. Understanding the Magic of Gratitude Gratitude means being thankful, and it’s a superpower for making relationships better. 1. The Power of “Thank…

[art-of-slither]

Gratitude Practice #5: Legeremancy

In looking for things to appreciate and feeling gratitide for I have experienced moments where I am blocked from achieving those feelings. Sometimes it feels unnatural to be in gratefulness and other high-energy feelings. They feel like they are alien to me.

One morning I woke up and tried to get into looking for things to feel grateful for. The room was quiet. I laid there thinking hard, my husband sound asleep by my side.

"I am grateful for him being with me" I told myself silently, but it felt weak.

It wasn't that I am not grateful for him to be there with me. It's that the constant reminder of his illness poisons the feeling and makes me feel scared. Scared of losing him.

Still, I laid there quite quiet.

Maybe if I talked to God, the Universe, the Everything, and told him or her everything that worried me I would feel better. Maybe I needed to get things off my chest. So I began my feeble prayer: "God, listen, I want to speak to you..."

And suddenly I was cut down short by a strange feeling. That still voice within myself, that every now and again I get to hear, that is way more chill than me and makes me thinking that it always knows better, was at it again.

I really can't explain why these words occured to me, but in my mind (or soul?) I could understand them: "No. We have done that already. Now it's your turn to listen".

And I laid there, motionless, because it occured to me to just continue to be quiet. It was as if I was waiting for some sort of signal. All that could be heard were my husband's deep breaths and the machine to which he was connected to for his daily dyalisis treatment.

I was waiting for something to happen. What was suppossed to be that? I didn't know. Everything continued to be just as quiet, except my husband breathing, sound asleep, and the machine and suddenly I thought... I thought his breath was what I was supposed to listen to: it was a precious gift for me to wake up to, hear him breath, because it meant that he was still alive, he was still there with me.

It wasn't until I heared again the dyalisis machine that it occured to me that God was speaking through the noises of the machine. Not words. He was the machine to give him life, and he was the lungs of my husband, and his beating heart as well. My husband was blessed and I was as well.

All things were Him. He was the walls that kept us safe. He was also the ceiling that gave us shelter. He is the food in the fridge and he was the bed that kept us lovingly in place until we were well-rested.

He was the car that drove me to my job and brought me back home. He was the money and the bills, the music and the images. He was my husband and then He also was me when life wanted to show my husband that he was loved: I gave him the message every time I smiled at him and held him close to me. And my husband gave me that message when he did the same for me.

God or the Universe or whatever you want to call It, talks daily through everything that surrounds us. He is the chair and the stove, the fire and the gas, the electricity and the windows. He was the door as much as he was the key.

And I powerfully realized, my face stricken with joyful and painful tears, that I always had things to be grateful for and will always have them as long as I were alive, and even after. The powerful feeling that dawned on me at that moment came from catching a glimpse of this mind-shattering, ego-busting, beyond-rationality, neverending, ppwerful and magnificent love that is there, in plain sight and deep within everyday life. I smiled knowing that All-That-Is is always speaking to us, in different languages and sounds and even in silnece, but conveying still the same message time and time again:

I love you.

How to do Legeremancy:

Just realize that everything surrounding you is there to love you. Everything, big, small, mundane, magical, man-made, natural, mind stuff, the smile from others, a token from a friend and the good that comes from you to give, all that you are now and all that others are.

So, whenever you are practicing Gratitude and struggle to find things to feel grateful for, use Legeremancy and read and know the truth: All-That-Is loves you. It always does.

[niurkainc]

I’m so grateful you’re in my life, and in our tribe. In the history of the cosmos there’s never been any ONE like YOU...you’re a one-of-a-kind marvel. And, I appreciate you. :) what are you grateful for? #niurka #powerofgratitude #attitudeofgratitude #niurkaisgrateful #iamgratefulforyou #gratitudemagic #abundancemindset (at Aspen, Colorado) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIBP-Nvj0mE/?igshid=2cr5ba53slgj

[manoasha]

Thank You Vibes

Gratitude Magic: Changing Your Life One Thank You at a Time” Introduction: Ever wondered about a secret ingredient that can turn ordinary days into extraordinary ones? Well, it’s gratitude! This article is all about the simple but powerful art of gratefulness, and how saying “thank you” can sprinkle a bit of magic into your life. Understanding Gratefulness: Grateful Living 101: Gratefulness…

[manoasha]

"Thanks a Million: Embracing Gratitude for a Happier You"

Thanks a Bunch: How Gratitude Makes Life Awesome” Introduction: Ever thought about the magic ingredient that makes life extra awesome? Well, it’s gratitude! Let’s talk about how being thankful can turn your frowns into smiles, create good vibes, and make every day a little brighter. Understanding Gratitude: What’s the Big Deal with Gratitude? Gratitude is like having a special glasses…

[art-of-slither]

Gratitude Practice #2: The Pensieve

Another one of the Gratitude Practices I know of comes directly from Rhonda Byrne's book The Magic and it's called the Gratitude Rock.

The gist of it is that, right before turning in you need to take a moment to grab said rock from near youe bed and think about all the good things that happened to you during the day and decide which one is the best one.

The exercise is meant to lower your defenses, alter your Practiced Vibe, take notice of the nice things that indeed happened to you during the day, actually look for the one that makes you feel more grateful and then say thank you and feel gratitude for it before going off to sleep. This is a required practice to be done all nights.

I want to make it more magical for me.

Practice: Gratefulness Pensieve

I have placed a little journal and pen near my bed.

My intention is that each night I will grab that pen, place it upon my temple and think of the good things that happened to me each day. Upon remembering one I will write it down in my journal. After that, I will repeat the process until I have a list of as many items as I can think of.

After writing the list of good things I will then select the best one, write thank you, feel as grateful as I can and go to sleep. It's that simple.

[art-of-slither]

The Felix Felicis Factor Pt. 4

We are about to analyze Dr Wiseman's Fourth Luck Principle through the lenses of the Practice of Gratitude.

I have shared my insights thus far and I intend to wrap up this series of posts with this one. So, without further ado let us brew us some luck.

Dr Richard Wiseman's Fourth Luck Principle states that "Lucky people are able to transform their bad luck into good fortune."

My experiences with seeing the positive side of anything

If it didn't killed me then it was fortunate. That was for many years during my late teens a thought I had. Sure, I was still single and the boy I had a crush on did not loved me back, but I was still alive. If I was alive then I had more opportunities for good stuff later on.

That was my line of thinking.

Reading that as an adult, with my sets of paranoia, pessimism and anxiety for the future, I know that my worries from those years were simple, childish and look foolish now. Now I come to think that I have real-world adult problems, and my cynism is in an all time high, I feel weary and worried constantly. Does thinking that if this hasn't killed me yet then I am actively fortunate? Somedays I want a piano to drop over my head to put me out of my misery, why would I think I am fortunate?

For starters, positive expectations are everything as discussed previously. Second of all, the first step to ever accomplish anything on this material plane is being alive. So, yeah! I am fortunate, even though some days I can't see it. But with gratitude I get to see it as I did once when I was younger and maybe even wiser.

Which brings me to...

Lucky People:

The see the positive side of their bad luck. Dr Wiseman calls this "counter-factual thinking". Suprisingly, as Dr Wiseman shared with us, this can be illustrated with people that won silver medal vs those that won a bronze medal. Those that won the bronze medal are happier than those that won a silver medal. Why? Silver medal winners feel bad because they were close ontaining a gold medal and they failed, whereas those that won a bronze one are happy they didn't perform any worse or they couldn't have won anything at all! This type of thinking applies when you compare yourself to someone that is truly unlucky. By comparing yourself you see yourself as luckier and feel better because of it. This is seeing the good in every situation. Gratitude: This habit is all about well-placed gratitude, unabashed gratefulness in spite of everything, truly allowing life to fall where it may and coming up on top regardless every single time. This is amazing! Not many people can say they can do that. Many are proud to declare themselves as smarter because they do not give thought to any namby-pamby optimism at all. But at the end of the day, how are you being namby-pamby at all? You are not denying the bad, you are declaring your victory over it and in spite of it and that is why you feel grateful.

Convince themselves that any ill-fortune in their life will, in the long run, work out for the best. We all know what happens when we engage in the mental exercise of dreaming up scenarios about how our life could have turned out for the worst if we had not accepted that job, had turned left instead of right, spoke to the right person, arrived on time, arrived late, etc. Lucky people, according to Dr Wiseman, engage in this mental exercise for the better, thinking about how things, as bad as they may seem right now, could actually be necessary for them to ultimately suceed and win in the end. Same as when we discussed postive expectations last time, lucky people based their assumption on what happened to them once, feeling grateful and happy because the good stuff they have now was possible because of someone else, a decision they made before, a fortuitous accident that gave them what they love nowadays. Expecting goodness in the face of badness does not sound that farfetchd. Gratitude: mood affects memory, a good mood affects it in a good way, a grateful one clearly affects it in a grateful way. Indeed, this is a simple principle. Gratitude helps you recognizing the good in the past and expecting the good in the future.

Do not dwell on their ill fortune. Why would they? Everthing tends to work out in their favor every time. They quickly change the subject, look for the positive aspects of stuff, listen to their intuition and become happy. Sure, they are not positive all the time, but they are postive most of the time. We are talking about tendencies here. Also, please remember, that all Four Luck Principles work in harmony. They enhance one another. Gratitude: coming to feeling grateful time and time again becomes your new identity. You come to believe, as Pam Grout (author of bestselling book E-squared and Thank & Grow Rich) puts it, that the universe is an accomodating place. You just need to decide to look for evidence that it is. Surely, I understand you might fear that you become this delusional dingbat... but filling your head with anxiety and worries makes you miss opportunities and not develop important lucky skills and not tending to relationships and not enjoying your life. What are you willing to lose?

Take constructive steps to prevent more bad luck in the future. Fortunately, it turns out that Lucky people are not delusional. Dr Wiseman describes Lucky People as proactive in their good fortune. An optimistic can-do attitude is a must for them. You come to understand that noticing good things and noticing positive aspects in the bad stuff puts you in a place of actually doing stuff to prevent more bad things from happening to you and your loved ones. Gratitude: again, practicing gratefulness gives you the necessary optimistic can-do attitude needed to becomr proactive in your life, instead of dwelling on your anxieties and worries. And this is nice to know, because Gratitude does not make you a passive spectator of your day, it engages you as well, it gives self-confidence to live life to the hilt.

With that, we are finished with this theory. I did mutliple post on it because I know I had to introduce several concepts at once as oppossed to the theory about the vibrational universe from before.

Even if you suscribe to one theory or the other, I think both make compelling arguments and both benefit each other. They can indeed co-exists. Dr Wiseman makes you adopt new thught patterns, and the Universe responds to the new vibes generated by those new beliefs in turn.

Thank you for reading!

[art-of-slither]

The Felix Felicis Factor (Pt. 1)

I long for a generous dose of Felix Felicis.

That is what I couldn't stop thinking one afternoon a couple of months ago.

As a practicing witchling I looked into everything I could find on the subject: luck practices, luck spells, luck potions, lucky habits, etc. Part of me just sort of refused the idea of luck being something other than a fluke of probability for some, let alone something that could be improved.

But then I stumbled upon a curious book entitled The Luck Factor.

Could luck be improved? Is there a tangible reason some people are luckier than others? What does this have anything to do with Gratitude?

This series of posts are about that other theory about why Gratitude works at all. We discussed about how stuff responds to our Predominant Vibe, our Practiced Vibe, and how vibrating Gratefulness attracts more things to be grateful for.

As stated before, I don't see these two theories canceling each other out. I think they enhance one another as you soon will see.

So, meet Dr. Richard Wiseman, a Psychologist that conducted a reasearch project to look into the matter and who claims that Lucky People engage in unconscious practices to enhance that which we call Luck.

Now, I don't intend to be too detailed here. I do recommend the book, it is thought-provoking indeed and an amazing window into Lucky People's habits, but I want to chew on the bottom line for a bit to show you why Gratitude might enhance Luck as well.

Dr Wiseman boils down all discoveries made into a series of practices that enhance Luck. He calls it Luck School. He presented people suffering "chronic bad luck" who, after practicing the exercies, found themselves luckier than they have ever been.

Now, as far as I know, Dr. Wiseman is not a proponent of the law of attraction, Gratitude practices and such, but I have spent many weeks pondering if Gratitude emulates the exercises and the intended effects he tries to achieve via the Luck School.

I think it does and I think that, barring the explanation of Quantum Physics, Universal Laws, Magic and Mystical Energies, his discoveries actually give us insight into why Gratitude is such a powerful practice.

I will share my theories and observations as I continue to put this information into practice.

Maximise your chance opportunities

Dr. Wiseman writes that "Lucky People create, notice and act upon the chance opportunities in their life." This is the first principle of luck, which I will develope more in the following paragraphs.

He found out that Lucky People were Extroverts, had low Neuroticism and where more Open to new experiences. But the thing is that Extroversion was not a required factor to increase luck. Low Neuroticism and Openess were.

So I will give you an overview about the observations Dr. Wiseman wrote and give you an explanation on why I think Gratitude achieves the same.

Lucky People:

Build and maintain a strong network of luck. They were considered Social Magnets. What this means is that lucky people are nurturing in their relationships, they bond with others and do their hardest to develop those relationships. This makes it more likely that they build an ever-growing network of helpful and influential contacts that can help them achieve their goals. That's it, really. Lucky People are all secretly Horace Slughorn, and it does make sense. It's all about improving your odds at achieving your dreams. Gratitude: Obviously, when you are Grateful you appreciate your relationships, tend to them, let them know what they mean to you, you act nurturing toward them, and others take notice of this as well, and suddenly you have a glowing reputation for being caring. Bonding with others becomes second nature and you end up developing the Luck Network Dr. Wiseman talks about.

Have a Relaxed Attitude towards life. This works in a twofold way: Neurotic people tend to be so inside their heads with worries thay they just fail to notice the opportunities around them; also, when going out to achive their objectives (finding a soulmate, trying to make a person follow a specific agenda; etc.) they fixate on what they wish was there as opposed to showing up to what is actually there and noticing the opportunities to which they have access in that hot minute. Lucky People might want to find a significant other that very same night but they don't mind making great new friends instead. Gratitude: Once again gratitude fits the bill to a T. Gratitude calms you down so your neuroticism goes down over time. Gratitude also enables you to enjoy what is there instead of ruminating of what you wish was there instead.

Are Open to new experiences in their lives (to introduce more chances). Luck has everything to do with going against routine and trying new things: talking to new people, going to new places, changing your usual routes, etc. Doing the same always nets you more of the same, you see. Mind blowing, right? Doing different things introduce more chance meetings and more variables, which makes it more likely something fortunate happens to you. It's not magical happenstance, is the introduction of more chance variables that do the trick. Gratitude: Falling in love with life is a potent side-effect of Gratitude that I can attest to. When you are in love with life you just cannot get enough out of life and you engage with life in many new and different ways, which does net you new and different positive experiences on the whole. Gratitude is a fast track for falling in love with life.

I will touch upon this subject pretty soon again. Maybe Gratitude is the generous dose of Felix Felicis I was longing for.

What do you think?

[art-of-slither]

The Felix Felicis Factor Pt. 3

In this day's installment we are going to dive straight into Dr Richard Wiseman's Third Luck Principle from his famous book The Luck Factor.

Dr Wiseman's Third Luck Principle states that "Lucky people's expectations about the future help them fulfill their dreams and ambitions."

Right off the bat you can see sort of how Gratitude can foster someone to live by this luck principle. But we will dive deeply into this topic nevertheless. Again, I do not intend to be exhaustive here about Dr Wiseman's findings, I encourage anyone that is interested in the topic of what makes a person lucky read his book. It's that good and thought-provoking.

What I am doing here is merely comparing notes and share my thoughts and theories about how Gratitude fosters lucky habits.

The Power of Positive Expectations as lived by me

Obviously, it is far easier to expect good things when good things are happening. I am now in a place in my life where a lot of things are scary, sad and gloomy. Changing my perspective from such a place feels difficult. There you have it! Right now I am expecting hardship and difficulties. My Practiced Vibe, Practiced Thought-Pattern, Practiced Karma, Practiced What-Have-You is at play right now.

So I want to briefly turn my gaze into a time in my life when expecting good things came naturally. Even though I don't come from a rich family or have a high profile status (which was true then as it is true now while I am typing this) I was genuinely happy. Every day I jumped out of bed eager to find out how life was going to play out for me.

So, life played out beautifully. My perspective and willingness to enjoy life always won in the end and ensured I was happy 99.9999% of my days.

Having said that...

Lucky People:

Expect good luck to continue in the future. Hands down, Gratitude clearly applies here. A recognition of the good stuff, the nice stuff, the excellent stuff is indeed necessary to create positive expectations. But do notice this is not a passive habit, it is an active one. A lucky person expects the good to continue, they look forward to it. They acknowledge the good and keep tabs on the good stuff that continues to come. Dr Wiseman also found out that lucky people were into the habit of expecting that the unpredictable and uncontrollable to work out in their favor. How? By remembering and acknowledging when it did in the past. As Dr Wiseman puts it, most people tend to base their expectations about the future on what happened in the past. So then, Lucky people shrug off the bad as it was and will be short-lived. Gratitude: Needless to say, Gratitude is all about recognizing the good stuff, celebrating it and feeling daily happiness for it. Over time, a new thought-pattern is created and new expectations, positive expectations, are born. When bad stuff happens, you tend to not dwell on it (unless you actively do) and you become more resilient as a result (and happier!). As Dr Wiseman says, expectation changes the way we feel, think and act, even how fast we react to things, creating self-fulfilling prophecies that work in our favor. Gratitude gives you, for a change, good self-fulfilling prophecies that joyously come to pass.

Attempt to achieve their goals, even if their chances of success seem slim, and persevere in the face of failure. This takes optimism, which only happens if in your past things have worked out in your favor. Again, expectations play a big part here. Optimism it is therefore a learned impulse that results from things working out for you constantly or frequently enough. Gratitude: Constantly feeling grateful makes you come to expect the good, the gentle, the magic, the wonder of life and recognizing it wherever you are. It makes you more optimistic.

Expect interactions with others to be lucky and successful. Lucky people's body language is more open, they smile more, they establish eye contact more. They come across as genuine, agreeble, warm, happy, peaceful. They are a nice presence to have around. So, positive expectations in this sense elicit the best in others. I think we all can pinpoint glowing people as them and the way we feel good by helping them. Gratitude: In and of itself thanking others generates good-will, makes relationships grow healthy, strong, and ever-lasting. Recognizing actively the good in others makes us such a wonderful person to have around. Positive responses from others become a nice bonus and great side-effect. And the, Gratitude relaxes us enough to actually enjoy being there, to show tjat with our body language and reap the benefits from doing so.

We are almost finished with this analysis of Dr Wiseman's conclusions of his research project through the lenses of gratitude. I hope you are enjoying this ride.

Thank you for dropping by!

[art-of-slither]

Gratitude Practice #4: The Disarming Charm

This spell is to be used to negate anxiety for the future, disempower fears and, thusly, make room for Gratitude. 

As I explained extensively here on why True Allowing is one of the more important things we can do day to day, I have come up with a spell that puts the theory into practice and gives you the power to get out of your head, let things flow, make room for Gratefulness, Love and Appreciation, and give you dominion over your life. In short, it´s a spell that gives you the magic of True Allowing.

Remember, neither Devil´s Snare nor the Boggart hold any power over you if you don´t give it to them. You are free of witholding that power from them any time you like. You are the one running this show. You are the protagonist of your story. 

Practice: the Disarming Charm!

It´s easy, though it will require that you remember what you need to do and be as quick as you can to disarm your opponents. 

Imagine that inside your head a lot of nasty, deranged, dangerous and toxic Dark Wizards and Witches (even Death Eaters) hide within your mind. Those negative thoughts you have are, indeed, one of those villains suddenly jumping at you out of nowhere, brandishing a wand to attempt to jinx, hex or curse you and ruin your day, and ultimately, your life. 

What to do? Grab your wand and shot back, of course! 

You stop the thought in its tracks by thinking quickly “Expelliarmus!”, then you inhale deeply and, as you exhale, allow the anxiety and fear to just be, even embrace it, even go as far as to call it good and bless it. Remember Pam Grout´s words:

“Rather than take steps to flee or change it, you have to first allow it. You have to bless it. You have to go so far as to call it good. Freedom and power come in choosing to bless with gratitude every single thing that shows up. Anything you refuse to embrace and fully bless imprisons you. It puts up a fence between you and your highest good.”

You disarm those thoughts by being quicker than them, just like Harry taught Neville to do in their fifth year. Once you are at peace, those thoughts cannot hurt you for they no longer have power over you. And once you have dealt with them, then you can reclaim your mental peace, then you are free to fill your day with light, gratitude and actually have fun. 

[art-of-slither]

Gratitude Practice #1: The Summoning Charm

The very first thing about Gratitude that everyone swears by is Counting your Blessings, either mentally or verbally EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

At first this reminded me of Nifflers. Those creatures go out of their way to search for everything shiny and pocket it. That is how I intend to practice Gratitude, like a Niffler on crack searching for everthing that shines and pocketing it.

The Wizarding World has such a spell for doing that: the Summoning Charm.

Practice Accio!

First, decide how you are going to register your Gratitude list. Will you write it out, type it out, say it out loud while taking a shower?

All are valid!

I'll do a combination of writing blessings down and saying them out loud whenever I can.

According to all of the books I consulted, it's never about thinking about gratitude, it's about feeling gratitude. That's what gets the magic up and running.

We all project a practiced vibe, which is the thing in charge of coloring your day and making you live certain experiences over and over again each day. Some people call it the law of attraction. Whatever it is, you have a practiced vibe. If it is nice and good and warm, then nice things are summoned to you. Otherwise, you better duck to avoid getting hit by negative experiences.

So when doing your List of Things you are Grateful for, you are going to be looking for an emotional shift. That is the most important step to remembee. Soo enough, Gratitude will become your new practiced vibe and everything will shift with you as well.

Each time to write or say something you feel grateful for, say (and feel!) thank you. Then lift up your wand and summon another thing your are grateful for. Remember, you are a Niffler looking for treasure among the junk. It helos the feeling of Gratitude if you can add the reason that particular Blessing makes you Grateful for it.

I lift my wand and say the magic words

Accio Blessing! I am thankful for the fact that there is food in the fridge, because that is a confort.

Accio Blessing! I am thankful for the fact that I have a job that pays enough, because we are still moving forward.

Accio Blessing! I am grateful for the fact that my husband is stable and still alive, because I love him so much.

Accio Blessing! I am grateful for the way my husband hugs me, it makes me feel so much better.

Accio Blessing! I am grateful for the smartphone I have, because I am connected to my loved ones.

Accio Blessing! I am grateful for my friends and their love, because that makes lige worth living.

Accio Blessing! I am grateful we find moments to laugh everyday, because life is still happening for me.

Things to consider

This is not the first time I have tried making lists of things I feel grateful for. Each time I have started to practice this it feels forced, contrived, fake, etc. I almost feel guilt-tripped into doing so.

I know (because I have been told and have read) that our Practiced Vibes are intially strong and resistant to anything that contradicts them, and the new vibe will feel feeble by comparison. Initially.

But this is the very first spell I have to cast each morning and night, day in and day out. Eventually I have to accio more impressive feelings, right? I know in theory that I will not feel strong gratitude, but if I keep reaching for it, I will eventually feel it strongly.

[art-of-slither]

The Felix Felicis Factor Pt. 2

When we last left our examination of Dr. Richard Wiseman's fabulous book The Luck Factor, we talked about how Lucky Poeple have a knack for Maximising their Chance Opportunities.

Today we'll have a look into Dr. Wiseman's second luck principle which states that "Lucky People listen to their lucky hunches".

Do you remember when Harry took a sip of Felix Felicis and suddenly he knew, he just happened to know what to do, where to go, what to say, how to act, and such and such that he ended up achieving the mission Dumbledore gave him?

Well! Turns out that Rowling was right on the money, that I was not crazy and delusional, and that there might be something deeper inside what we call Intuition.

Dr. Wiseman explains Intuition

Apparently, what we call Intuition is just our brains picking out stuff and patterns we are familiar with. Things that remind us of something else calls us, we feel pushed to them, we picked them up unconsciously. So pur brain keeps making connections until it offers us clues. This is but an interpretation of it. It doesn't explain how sometimes you just know something happened that occured far away, for example. But it does explain why you feel a pull towards an option that tend to be the correct answer or choice: your brain caught whiff of the subtle hints and you feel the pull towards what's right.

Again, I think Gratitude helps you enhance your Intuition. It did for me once!

Lucky People:

They listen to their gut feeling and hunches. Dr Wiseman present cases of people that suffer "chronic bad luck". Every single time, said person would confess that they had a hunch about something, but decided to ignore it every time and ended up in terrible situations. Dr Wiseman tells us that "Without realising it, we all prefer things that we have seen before". This is the basis of our hunches, we all have them, but Lucky people follow them and act upon them with conviction every time. Gratitude: I think gratitude relaxes you enough to listen to your truest hunches. After the magic I experienced during my late teens went out with a whimper, I tried unsuccessfuly following my intuition. That led me into bad decisions until I just stopped trusting my intuition altogether. But now I think that gratitude helps with relaxing you, gives you confidence, writes a new script for your brain to follow like a hound dog no matter where your are to reach for all good stuff: things you brain now knowd tjey will bring you happiness and give you a reason to keep feeling grateful. This leads me to the second lucky habit that Dr Wiseman writes about...

They take steps to boost intuition. Dr Wiseman swears by meditation, which is a well-known good practice for anyone, regardless of their objectives. It is also not for every one. Nevertheless, what meditation ultimately does is reigning in your monkey brain, to sooth it and stop it from jumping all over the place. In time, your brain stops being filled to the brim with worries and useless thoughts and helps you notice opportunities and act on your hunches. Gratitude: I did not meditated during High School, I just walked from home to school and viceversa feeling Gratitude and appreciation all the time. I stand by what I said earlier: that gratitude calms you down enough, brakes the spell of anxiety that traps you inside your own mind and finally (sometimes literally) lets you smell the roses, take in the good stuff that is right in front of you, the good that happened and the good that is waiting for you at your destination. Once in your destination you just don't have time for petty problems, negative chatter, negative gossip, you are just there savoring the good that present to you all day. So when it comes down to listening to that helpful voice inside you, there is no interference and the connection is made.

Thanks for reading my stuff! There are still two more luck principles to discuss and I will get to them pretty soon.

Til next time!

[art-of-slither]

Gratitude Practice #3: I solemnly swear

This one is adapted from Pam Grout´s brilliant book Thank & Grow Rich. According to Mrs. Grout, this is the only gratitude practice you really need. 

She poses the question: what if life actually works better when we stop trying to control everything? Quit thinking; start thanking, she says. 

She admits that she used to look down her nose at Gratitude, and that was because it seemed way too simplistic. Getting “happy” can´t be that easy. Right?

Then one day, she decided to actively look around at all her blessings. It dawned on her that everything is exactly perfect the way it is. I´m exactly perfect just the way I am, she thought. 

She calls it being in the frequency of joy and gratitude, turning in to the Dvine Buzz (her words). She then offers a very concrete practice for connecting to it. 

“It´s so simple that, if I know you, you will be tempted to discount it”, she wrote. “Please do not do that”. “D-Buzz is atually your natural state. It´s the frequency where miracles happen”. 

As I shared before, I know what Pam Grout refers to when she ponders on what happens when you focus on what could go right instead of the usual negative self-talk. When she did that (I did that once), she found out that problems had a way of fixing themselves. The less she did, the better her life worked. 

Her idea has two steps, which I am repurposing for Potter-esque fun: 

Practice: Summoning the Marauder´s Map

First thing in the morning, right after you woke up, proclaim: I solemnly swear that something Amazingly (or Wickedly) Awesome is hedead your way today. I would to so holding one of my wand replicas, even! You know, just for fun.

The second step asks for you to come to believe in blessings and miracles. You must then go about your day obssesively looking for the beauty of the world, to actively be on the lookout for blessings. 

She suggests that your write your your friends first thing in the morning thre blessings (without repeating them between days). Or write them down. And do so after your proclaimed that something Amazingly Awesome your way comes.

Eventually, this becomes you new way of looking at things. And if Gratitude really opens door, the the good stuff must follow. 

[art-of-slither]

The Magical Energy Factor

Why Gratitude is a powerful practice? I mean, a Gratitude Practice sounds at worst as something you should be doing, you ungrateful muggle, and at best something that makes you the ultimate polite person and nothing more.

I subscribe to two theories about why this stuff works. For some, they cancel each other out, but for me they actually enhance each other.

On the one hand, Gratitude fosters the kind of attitude that enhances good stuff happening often and enables you to accept life and enjoy it as it is. This sounds like a mundnae, muggle-based explanation. A psychological one. The magic version of it deals in energies and how stuff surrounding you respond to your vibes and how you are way more powerful than you think you are.

Let's talk about the Magical One: We live in an energy-based universe.

You will see in this blog that I often talk about our Practiced Vibe. What I mean by that is the usual vibrations we put out.

As Pam Grout, Lynn Grabhorn, Rhonda Byrne and Abraham-Hicks tell the world through their books, our thoughts change the world, but they do so by changing our energetic patterns or vibes. To that end they often cite quantum physics, normal physics and scientific experiments and observations to hint at the nature and truth of what they teach us.

Indeed, the quantum realm acts in a frightening way that is contrary to everything we have thought about the universe. We may seem solid, but we are energy first and foremost, vibrating at various levels. Consciousness vibrates as well, our thoughts vibrate so our feelings vibrate.

It's precisely what our dominant thoughts are what colors our Practiced Vibes. Our Expectations, our Beliefs, our Personal Karma, etc, are colored by our predominant thoughts. We then mingle with stuff that matches up with our Practiced Vibe. The good with the good, the bad with the bad. So, in short, there is Law that states that that which is like unto itself is drawn. The Law of Attraction.

I find this an intriguing notion, one that in my opinion explains why certain things happensto us in a certain way daily and, at the same time, it seems it doesn't explain everything. We all know even bad stuff happens to good people, right? Well, yes and no. Yes because life can be unpredictable, and no because it's not about morality but about predominant energy-patterns. We all know bad people that seem to be touched by a magic wand. They expect that to continue happening, so they have a predominant practiced thought-pattern, thus they vibrate success, so that is what it shows up for them.

The best explanation I have found about why bad stuff happens regardless of actual vibe is because we, as spirits having a physical experience, have decided to exist in a material plane where contrast abounds. It is inevitable bumping into things that we don't like, but we need that contrast to form our personal preferences, which become our dreams and goals, which makes us experience happiness. After all, we all know that the Lumos Charm loses its appeal as a spell when there is no darkness to iluminate, right? We cannot experience joy without sadness.

It is a universe of contrast. You cannot experience something without its opposite. And I challenge anyone to think about a situation where you win something without losing something else at the same time in order to win that something. Having a significant other makes you lose some freedom. Having a child does that. Entering a new school makes you lose the old one. Even winning a game requires you to lose time and energy in order to achieve it.

The problem is, then, that we vibrate in response to the bad stuff (as expected) but then we stay stuck in those vibes. Our Practiced Vibe, in short.

So how we change outcomes and attract better stuff?

You can do it by focusing upon your objectives until you begin attracting them. If you read Napoleon Hill, you will learn about this. I even suspect rhis is the reason why witchcraft work in the first place.

Many people jump up at the opportunity for material things, which is not bad per se, but it hints at a deeper problem. You see, each and every one of the people that focus first on material things do so because they expect those material things bring them a happiness they really crave. No one wants things of they will make them feel miserable, right?

Again, nothing wrong with wanting material things, but when applying these magical principles many fall in a trap: we fill ourselves with anxiety. The sudden feel of dread and doubt debilitates anyone that attempts to attract good stuff, and ultimately defeats them. The problem are not the principles, but the general vibe we initially offer then. If we are not happy now, joyous now, and we will only feel positive when we get the stuff we want, then we shoot ourselves wirh our personal wand. Focusing on the abscence of something and focusing on the anxiety we feel because of the process defeats the purpose, that ensures we keep stuck. Is backwards thinking. We feel bad now, we feel bad about the abscence of something, so we will keep feeling bad and we will keep getting the same out of life as a result.

A Gratitude Attitude (A Grattitude?) colors our Practiced Vibe in a way that allow us to match easily with the things we want. The universe knows how to elicit more gratefulness from us: by giving us stuff that naturally elicits gratitude from us (aka, your dreams, wishes, objectives, etc).

Pam Grout, in her marvelous books E-squared and Thank & Grow Rich, vouches for a universe that is way more accomodating and generous and benign than what many have thought (myself included) if you know where to look, how to look and how to vibrate.

If all of those assertions hold water, and the only thing stopping the Universe/God/All-That-Is/Nature from giving us wonderful things is us creating meddlesome static with our worries and negativity, then a Gra-ttitude surely will clear the air for us and open the door to better days, even amazing days.

So, all the spells you will find in this blog are intended to help you and me achieve a better Practiced Vibe. This Magic Universe theory (or stated fact) explains why Gratitude give us our dreams (at least, an improved life).

The funny part is that I know I have lived once by these universal principles. I did so years before I ever read any of these books on that topic. While doing so, I always knew something deeper was going on, but I never understood what it was.

I will share my story in a series of posts entitled: Touched By Magic. Those post are going to be accompanied by new Gratitude Spells to add to our Self-Help Spellbook. After those posts I will share the other worldview about why Gratitude works, the mundane muggle-based one (Those post will be called the Felix Felicis Factor).

Thanks for reading!