The universe will honour your intentions

[alex_beecroft]

by putting obstacles in their way.  Heh, no sooner had I said “I’m going to be around more on social media.  By not having a strict schedule to blog, I’ll actually end up blogging more,” the editing for Poison and Poetry (real title to be announced later) landed on my desk, along with four guest posts to write blogs for, and this while I had also decided that, no matter what, I would still do my 1000 words a day of writing.

I’ve also recently, for the sake of my physical and mental health, determined to walk down to the village church every day (thus getting physical exercise) and spend a while in prayer (thus getting the mental and spiritual benefits of meditation, which frankly I badly need.)

Oh, and I have also added an hour’s whistle practice to my daily schedule, forgetting somehow, that there are only so many hours in the day.  But it’s got to be done – there are dancers depending on me.

So naturally the first thing that got kicked in the teeth was twitter and this blog.  Things with deadlines always come first.  Not that the deadlines are close – they aren’t – but the mere fact that they have deadlines at all means that I won’t be comfortable until they’re done and turned in.

So, off to write another blog post which won’t actually be seen until around the launch of By Honor Betrayed (which is actually not that far off now.)  If only I could positively think the universe into doing it for me.  What’s the point of this pseudo-psychological magic if you can’t snap your fingers and have everything you need appear in a flash of green light?

(/sarcasm.  I’m actually completely in favour of deciding to do something and then doing it.  I’m less in favour of the idea that you only have to think it hard enough and the universe will do it for you.)

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Comments

[lexin]

This idea that if you wish/pray/hope hard enough you'll get what you asked for? I once got into a row on a training course with the trainer who was recommending the book "The Secret" to the trainees, which has that as a basic tenet. I said then it was rubbish, and I still think so.

Visualising it then doing it - yes, I totally get behind that. Visualising it and then it happening without you actually putting effort in, no. Totally not going to happen.

[alex_beecroft]

Yes, I think there's a truth or two which seems to be buried in the positive thinking malarkey, but the trouble is that it's so much easier to concentrate on wishing very hard, and then getting discouraged when nothing happens, than it is to say "I will do it," and then actually do it that (it seems to me that) most people do the first.

I'm very jaded about it, being an expert in wishing hard with no results, who has only just realized after far too long that what counts is your actions, not your thoughts.

[darkemeralds]

It's so tempting--so very human, really--to believe that thought translates to physical reality without any intermediary of action, and of course the best teachers in that realm make no such claim.

Every generation, a Rhonda Byrne comes along and offers an update of the wishful dreaming version, and millions buy in. (I did--I actually loved "The Secret".) It doesn't work, but it gets certain people exercising their creativity about what does work, and ultimately the fundamental message that your life can be better gets out to a certain percentage of people, and they set about raising themselves up in some way.

I've had lots of experiences where changing my thoughts and beliefs--getting out of my own way--let me see possibilities and opportunities that I would have otherwise been blind to. Seizing those moments and acting on them does seem to accelerate progress towards goals.

[alex_beecroft]

Yes, I'm particularly annoyed about this (when my normal attitude would be laid back tolerance) because it was only in 2006 that I had a big attitude shift that has changed everything for me. But that attitude shift was the sudden realization that I had to stop just hoping for/wishing for things and actually make them happen by my own actions - that actions spoke louder than intentions. All the big positive changes in my life since then - being published, learning a musical instrument, losing all that weight, have come because I stopped trying to wish it would happen and started acting in the ways that seemed most likely to bring it about. (Sending out manuscripts/practicing regularly/sticking to the diet.)

So the positive thinking stuff annoys me because it actually seems harmful to me, being the exact opposite of what would actually work.

But I see your point about it at least giving people the hope that they can do something, even if it is ineffective in itself.

[darkemeralds]

I can only speak for myself, of course, but I've found that changed thought preceded the actions that have brought change to my life. A shift in belief from "weight loss is impossible (not worth the effort, too hard for the likes of me, whatever)" to "Maybe I can do this" was the essential precursor to taking action. The action had always been there, available to me, out of reach only because I believed it was.

So I think I'm talking about a shift of belief that actually does give rise to action. Wishful thinking is entirely ineffective, but hope (or perhaps I mean belief) may really be a necessary precursor to the actions that change lives. It has been for me.

[alex_beecroft]

I see what you mean, and if the positive thinking message helps shift people out of "it's hopeless, I'm not even going to try" to "maybe I *can* do it," then I suppose it's a good thing. For me it's been a case of having to untie any attachment to results - a case of "it may be hopeless but I'm going to do it anyway" which has worked. I found the expectation of success was a burden, because actual progress was always so much slower than I wanted it to be. But then I'm a natural pessimist and find that I would much rather have low expectations, which I then exceed, than high ones which then leave me constantly disappointed.

But yes, I should remember that what works for me is generally somewhat different from what works for most people.