Welcome to the second in a series on Transformation Keys, a weekly series on thoughts you can use to transform the quality and experience of life for yourself, your friends and family, and possibly even the larger community.
Last week, we focused on the power of Gratitude. Gratitude opens us up to receive even more while the absence of gratitude seems to close off our ability to create or receive. This may seem strange, and yet those who have practiced the art of being grateful will attest to the power that lies within an attitude of gratitude.
In light of the current economic roller coaster and accompanying fear many seem to be experiencing, it might be beneficial to move next into another extremely powerful concept - "The Power of Universal Supply."
So what is Universal Supply? Simply stated, everything comes from somewhere and I'm calling that 'somewhere,' Universal Supply.
Take a look around you right now and I'll bet that you can see any number of "things," objects, tools etc that did not exist 200 years ago. In fact, I'll best most of what you can see didn't exist even 50 years ago.
Take that computer screen you are looking at as an example. Did it exist the year you were born? That particular screen? Of course not. How about any computer screen? Depends on how young you are. Just to be safe, let's pick 1493. Did any of this exist in 1493?
However crazy this might seem, I ask you to consider that even the computer screen existed in 1493, just not in its present form.
Oh dear...crazier than you thought, eh? Well, consider this fact: everything that was required to build that computer, the screen, the TV, et al., existed in 1493. The silicon was there - it's a chemical element, with the symbol SI and atomic number 14. Been around for a very long time - as old as the universe you might say.
Not everyone knew about silicon in 1493, yet it was there nonetheless. And so was everything else required to build a computer. It's just that almost everything you needed to build the computer existed in a very primitive state and in a much different form - the combination of ingredients required to produce the chip, the screen, the electricity, etc just hadn't been discovered.
So, if you could imagine being alive in 1493, how many people might have been slogging through a very difficult life, wishing things were better in some way? And what was required in order for life to improve, for things like computers and TV's and internal combustion engines to be invented?
The somewhat strange answer is that the only requirement was the ability to imagine an improvement or solution to a current problem. The odd thing is that as the imagination takes shape, the human mind begins to perceive ways to assemble what the universe has already provided (like the silicon, the aluminum, the titanium, etc) into something entirely different from what it was not too long ago.
One way to think about this somewhat odd ball notion, is to consider that the Universe has already supplied what will be necessary for the next major transformation in how we live our lives. All the Universe needs now is someone with the creative imagination to think up a new way of (fill-in-the-blank).
Consider energy dependence, a favorite political football these days. Could it be that our future energy sources already here? Absolutely. We just need to figure out how to access or harness them. How about those science fiction forms of travel? I guess that depends on who you are and how you think. I'm sure they thought Leonardo da Vinci was nuts when he sketched out the helicopter in 1493.
And yet even back in 1493, the Universe had already supplied everything necessary to not only build a helicopter, but to make it fly. It just took a few more steps beyond Leonardo's sketches to make it come true. Yet, without the imagination in the first place, very little new would come into being.
So, how does all of this apply to the current economic meltdown and how you can transform your life?
If you lost your job, your house, or chose to lock in market losses by selling off your IRA or 401(k) then the down side of the equation is more starkly apparent. I know I have lost significant client work in the past several months and gone through my own forms of panic.
Yet, for all the headlines about market meltdowns, the difference in my life experience from Thursday, when the market lost 449 and Friday, when it gained 494 was, well, I don't think I noticed a difference. Did you?
If you are going to climb out of whatever financial hole seems to be sinking around you, it will be because you choose to do something about it. The most important person in the transforming your life experience is you. The first step is becoming aware of what you are thinking about, and how you are thinking about it.
If you hold thoughts of doom, gloom and other forms of negativity, you will certainly find considerable evidence and company supporting a gloomy outlook. That will make it very hard to get up out of your chair and do anything about your circumstances.
However, if you hold a more positive, forward thinking point of view, you will also begin to find evidence supporting improvement. And if you can engage your imagination sufficiently, you might just discover one of those amazing coincidences in life: precisely what you need in order to make that incredible leap forward, has already been provided (Universal Supply) - it's right around you in some way or another, just waiting for you to think the thought and actively engage yourself in the solution you seek.
So, look around you - the universe is continuously supplying what you need in order to transform your life, be it emotionally, physically, or fiscally. It just takes a strong focus and willingness to engage in your own creative imagination.
Next week we will look deeper into how your imagination and thought process either help or hinder you in your ability to improve your life circumstances.
For now, remember the Attitude of Gratitude coupled with Universal Supply, and you may find yourself moving toward a good outcome sooner than you thought possible.
I'd love to hear from you. Please do leave a comment here or drop me an email at Russell (at) russellbishop.com.
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If you want more information on how you can apply this kind of reframing to your life and to your job, about a few simple steps that may wind up transforming your life, please download a free chapter from my book, Workarounds That Work. You'll be glad you did.
Russell Bishop is an educational psychologist, author, executive coach and management consultant based in Santa Barbara, Calif. You can learn more about my work by visiting my website at www.RussellBishop.com. You can contact me by e-mail at Russell (at) russellbishop.com.