The Journey, Part Two: Belief

I urge you to read part one of this three-part series before reading this post. It will give you some context, which might help.

I didn't give much thought to how I thought about goals I wanted to achieve and things I wanted to have until I read Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life and Rhonda Byrne's The Secret.Even once I'd read them, I didn't give much thought to how my thoughts in that vein affected my spirituality, or how my spirituality affected my thoughts in that vein.Recently, I read Tosha Silver's Outrageous Openness, and something clicked.I realized while reading Tosha's book that while I grasped the concepts laid out by Louise and Rhonda, I failed to take those concepts to that spiritual level. In fact, I didn't connect the two at all.

Positivity and Negativity

You've got to accentuate the positive / Eliminate the negative / Latch on to the affirmative / And don't mess with Mister In-Between ~Johnny Mercer

In the comment that birthed this series of posts, Barb said, "What really bothers me though is getting judgmental advice from others about how if I stayed positive and BELIEVE I will win the lottery, be completely healthy... I mean, crazy amazing things will just come to me. Funny thing is, I have been in that place and it is very shocking when they don't come. The Divine says, no. They don't seem to get that if this were true, some of the most negative people I know would be near death and very poor."It's easy to be positive and to believe when everything is hunky-dory. Our job is secure, our bills are paid, our last physical was sterling in quality.Life is good and everything's grand. We're filled with gratitude and happiness. We're a walking billboard for positivity, and what we need seems to appear as though by magic.When things go awry, though, negativity can easily overtake belief.We get laid off, we have no savings, we felt something during our breast self-exam and don't have health insurance. We're filled with doubt and worry. We're shrouded in clouds of negativity, and while we sometimes attract things you want, we don't attract what we need.

Intention and Manifestation... and Action

What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. ~Napoleon Hill, 1883 - 1970, author of Think and Grow Rich

There is, absolutely, something to the concept of setting intentions to provoke manifestation. And there is, absolutely, something to the concepts of "bring it to the Lord in prayer," and "let go, let God." There's great power in thoughts and words - they're both energy, after all.And yet, that's not all there is to it.My understanding from Spirit is this: We can't just "set it and forget it."To create change, to create positive from negative, we need to follow our intentions and prayers with action. The actions needn't be grandiose, but they need to be present, and they need to be steps toward what we wish to manifest.My further understanding is this: Supposing we're in a state of belief, intending and/or praying and acting, we'll receive what we need ahead of what we want. Past need, wants and desires aren't guaranteed.And it's important to note that what is needed or wanted may not look like our expectations when they come to us. They will appear in whatever way, shape and form are for our highest good.That's plenty for us to mull over for today.In part three, we'll look at life lessons and spiritual signposts.