Let A Good Book Do Twice the Work!

Every month, I contribute a portion of my book royalties to the I Am Foundation (http://www.iamfoundation.org/). Get a good book (or two) for yourself or as a gift for a friend and help support a worthy cause -- Literacy.

The books:

"I Don't Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say"

www.lulu.com/content/773467

and

"How to Have What You REALLY Want"

www.lulu.com/content/796351

Reader reviews are available at both links. Books are also available online at amazon, borders, and barnes&noble.

Enjoy a good book and let your purchase help children around the world receive books as well.

Thank you for helping!

Joyce Shafer, Author

Your Wish Is My Command

From fiction-story dialogue to contemporary meta-spiritual reference, this utterance says a lot. But, how many understand its impact on their experiences?

The fictional story most of us are familiar with had Aladdin’s genie grant three wishes. In “The Secret,” it’s stated the original story has no limit on the number of wishes. It’s easy to accept unlimited wishes; but realizing what the genie’s response means as it applies to the Law of Attraction, may take a bit more thought.

This week I spoke with someone who’s fairly new to this type of information. She accepts it; but as soon as any challenge appears in her life, even a small one, old programs bite her on the bumper sticker…only her bumper sticker doesn’t read, “Shift Happens;” hers is missing a key letter.

She insisted she can’t move forward until she has Every. Last. Detail. Detailed (quoting Mike Litman again, “You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going.”). She commented her age is involved (it isn’t), you have to have money (not a lot), have to have flyers (not true); and, her list of have-to-haves went on until I interrupted her.

We discussed how for around $30 she can get business cards printed. Then we discussed the free ways she can advertise her services such as attend networking events, be a guest speaker at local meetings, contact former clients who were highly impressed with her skills and work ethic (all of them), and a few other ideas that came up.

We talked about how every single emotionally-charged thought she has causes her “personal genie,” a.k.a. the quantum field of potential, to respond, “Your wish is my command,” without censoring whatever thought-form she sets into motion. I asked her to write this down and put it where she can easily see it often.

She acknowledged that every time she spins herself into a negative vortex, she gets more of the same. I asked her, if she’s able to do that for experiences she doesn’t desire to have or expand how she would feel about doing it for what she wants to expand more of into her life. And I suggested that instead of focusing on what she feels needs to be changed, she focus on what it feels like to live her dream. It’s interesting that she can accept responsibility for creating negatives in her life, yet assumes responsibility for positives comes from outside her.

When Aladdin tells the genie his wish, he doesn’t ask the genie how it’s going to get accomplished; he knows it will. (If there was anything he needed to do to assist this, I’m pretty sure he’d do it.) It’s the same for us. We muck up the process when we doubt it will happen (nothing good happens to me), doubt how it can happen (I have to control every detail, but I also disclaim my inner power), and doubt we’re worthy to have our wish granted (we place limits on receiving).

When we place limits on what can happen and how it can happen, we simultaneously set limits on allowing it into our lives. It’s a bit like an invited guest arriving, but unable to enter until we grant permission by opening the door.

At one point, the woman said her genie wasn’t doing his job right. “Just remember,” I reminded her, “it’s you who tells your genie what to do.” As you go through the moments of your day, imagine hearing, “Your wish is my command,” after every thought or word from you. Kind of makes you want to pay better attention to this, doesn’t it.


Joyce Shafer is a published author; freelance rewriter, editor, proofreader; and United Press International weekly columnist, also published at various online venues. See the exceptional reviews of her books, "I Don’t Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say," at http://www.lulu.com/content/773467 and "How to Have What You REALLY Want," at www.lulu.com/content/796351. Contact her at jls1422@yahoo.com.

A Dynamite Little Book!

Dynamite comes in small packages, they say.

"I Don’t Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say" by Joyce Shafer only has 54 pages, but it contains the punch of a parcel of dynamite! The really catchy title struck a chord immediately I read it, because there are far too many superstar gurus around today.

When I started reading, I kept thinking: "Yes, good point! I’ll mark this page." Then I’d say the same thing on the next page, and the next. I soon realized that there is a gem of wisdom on virtually every page. Many had more than one!

What I really liked about this story is the easy conversational telling. Here we have a really clever use of fiction to get really important messages across very effectively, devoid of the dogma often attached to booksteaching important life-lessons. This conversation combines age-old teachings with quantum physics making it an up-to-date manual for life. Absorbing Old Bill’s philosophy into our own lives is sure to bring greater happiness and joy. However you use it, you need to read this book. My suggestion: Get it. Read it. Think about it. Blend these principles into the foundation of your being. Repeat as necessary.

David Ambrose

Author of "Your Life Manual: Practical Steps to Genuine Happiness"

Teacher, Coach and founder of The Happiness Minute

www.YourLifeManual.com : www.HappinessMinute.com : www.HappinessLifeCoach.com

Set Yourself and Them Free

The Law of Attraction states that whatever we hold our focus, specifically, our emotionally-charged feelings on is what we get more of even if it’s not what we desire. It’s easy to relate this to a better job, more money, and all the improvements we typically seek to expand into our lives. If you’re familiar with “The Secret,” the law also applies to relationships.

When we’re first introduced to information such as this, and even after working with it for years, we discover we have many issues and areas of our lives we wish to affect. Akin to separating like-colored marbles, we find we have to deal with each “color” one at a time in order to accomplish this.

I’ve been on a diligent path to address my “marbles,” so matters are dealt with as they come to my attention. One in particular is a long-time relationship with someone who’s been considered difficult. In the last several years, circumstances changed and her behaviors escalated to a point that people who needed to interact with her found they couldn’t cope with her and couldn’t get her to understand how she was affecting those around her, so began to avoid her. I was one of them. It was truly challenging for me to engage with her at any level; yet, I wasn’t willing to give up.

One of my affirmations is, “I EXPECT harmonious relationships.” This got my attention during a morning meditation and I asked myself, “How can you expect your relationship with her to be anything other than what it’s been as long as you have her fixed in your mind as capable of only certain behaviors?”

I didn’t give this a lot of thought. I simply chose in that moment to set her free from my imposed belief and expectation that she couldn’t behave any other way. Nor did I envision her behaving as I’d like her to. I Let Her Be. We spoke the following week and what happened might be called a miracle by some. After years of conversations I regarded as tortuous, we had the most pleasant conversation in decades. Within a few days, I received an email from someone whose experiences with this woman matched mine. His comments were that he’d just had a most remarkable conversation with her, unlike any he’d had with her in years; and he was stunned.

Our view of others can be so subtle in our consciousness we don’t realize how we affect our relationship with them. In setting her free, I set myself free, as well. After all, not all of my memories about this person are what we’d called negative ones. There are many, many positive ones. Since I’ve shifted my perception of her, more positive memories float into my consciousness and I embrace them. This is what’s called Changing the Past. We don’t actually change the past, but rather how we perceive or view it. The outcome is that doing this has changed the way I experience the present.

Set them free and you set yourself free.

Joyce Shafer is a published author; freelance rewriter, editor, proofreader; and United Press International weekly columnist, also published at various online venues. See the exceptional reviews of her books, "I Don’t Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say," at www.lulu.com/content/773467, and "How to Have What You REALLY Want," at www.lulu.com/content/796351. Contact her at jls1422@yahoo.com.

Happiness Comes in Bites

Choosing happiness when it’s not your habit is like the old joke about how you eat an elephant…one bite at a time.

A friend shared she finds it challenging to switch from negative, unhappy mode (usual habit) to positive, happy mode (preferred habit) and gets frustrated when she feels anything other than what she desires. My response was to remind her about her fairly recent decision to lose weight. Just as she didn’t decide how much her target amount to lose was then see it happen by the next day, week, or month, neither should she expect to switch “gears” overnight. She’ll accomplish choosing to feel better more readily (and easily) if she chooses to do so one moment at a time just as she approached her new way of eating one bite at a time.

I also reminded her that when an event or situation happens that’s more serious or causes sadness, we have to watch that we don’t judge ourselves for feeling our emotions or resist feeling them in the initial stages. We have a right to feel what we feel. We also have the ability to choose to respond rather than react.

One of her key emotional concerns is anger. Anger is a useful emotion in that it brings our attention to something that’s out of balance and needs our attention. We don’t want to eliminate anger; we do want to learn how to manage and use it productively.

We also talked about emotional “triggers.” Our triggers are ingrained in us by the age of seven. One of the best things I ever did for myself was to be honest about the fact I get triggered into negativity. However, over the years, I’ve been diligent about discovering which tools or new “programs” help me move into a positive state of being faster. We don’t necessarily delete our old programs as we do on computers, but we can install new ones. This process then begins to look like this:

● We get triggered into an emotion.
● We train ourselves to recognize we’ve been triggered.
● Take a moment to honor rather than judge ourselves for these feelings.
● Self-remind that we have a new program installed then engage it.
● Take appropriate action, whether at the inner or outer level or both, that leads to head and heart alignment.

Sometimes the most appropriate action is no action because we feel at a loss about what to do. That’s not a problem or fault, it’s honest. When you experience this, tell yourself you may not know right now, but as soon as you do, you’ll do what’s needed.

My friend has a dog. I suggested she remember to be as kind and understanding with herself as she would with her beloved four-legged family member; to offer herself the same level of guidance and looking out for her best interests as she would for her puppy. She would never treat her pet the way she treats herself.

I recall wise words given to me years ago: Treat yourself the same way you’d polish silver…gently.

Joyce Shafer is a published author; freelance rewriter, editor, proofreader; and United Press International weekly columnist, also published at various online venues. See the exceptional reviews of her books, "I Don’t Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say," at www.lulu.com/content/773467, and "How to Have What You REALLY Want," at www.lulu.com/content/796351.

Shift the White Noise (Self-Talk) of the Mind

Maybe you’re like me and you’ve been diligent about letting go of limitations in an area or areas of your life. You’ve experienced and continue to experience the shift as a result of your focused thoughts, words, feelings, and actions.

Though I’ve been working with this for years (okay, decades), my focus on this really kicked into high gear since June 2006. Certain areas took priority and got and still get my attention.

We know that the best experience of life is when we have balance in all areas of our lives. The iPEC (Institute for Professional Empowerment Coaching) training manual lists the primary areas as (not in any particular order): Personal Development, Spiritual Awareness, Fun and Enjoyment, Intimate and Social Relationships, Health/Aging, Personal Finance, Career/Profession, and Family/Parenting. You rank each from 1 to 10, with 1 being the least satisfied level and 10 the most. This gives you a good assessment about how balanced your life is and which areas need attention.

I’ve known that once priority areas started to progress, I’d turn my attention to a specific area that’s been getting little to no attention from me simply because it hasn’t been the right moment. What I didn’t expect was the self-talk that was going on. One day, I actually listened to myself and asked, “How will this dialogue expand more of what I desire into my life?” Well, it won’t. It’s done a gang-buster job of attracting exactly what my statements have been.

We get so used to playing certain “tapes” in our minds, they become like white noise in a room.

I sat down with pen and notebook in hand and wrote down what I was doing. I noted the statements I was making to myself, and then I wrote their opposites. In order to shift any self-talk, it helps to do what I’ve just described. It helps to pay attention when these comments pop into mind and remind ourselves that’s the old tape playing and we have a new tape. Keep the new statements handy and read them whenever the old ones start to loop. Read them every morning or at least every other morning.

Just like the other areas I’ve been focused on, shifting this one will take as long as I take to shift my inner-level beliefs. Limiting thoughts and feelings will surface and I’ll pause to look at them, but not dwell on them, and I’ll rewrite them so they say what I intend for myself. In the process, I’ll discover hidden facets I possess. I’ll feel myself grow even stronger and witness expansion in my life. That’s how it works.

This is going to be fun!

Joyce Shafer is a published author; freelance rewriter, editor, proofreader; and United Press International weekly columnist, also published at various online venues. See the exceptional reviews of her first book, "I Don’t Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say," at www.lulu.com/content/773467, and "How to Have What You REALLY Want," at www.lulu.com/content/796351. Contact her at jls1422@yahoo.com.

Support Global Literacy

Take a bite of a couple of good books, get a couple of gifts, and Make a Difference.

The I AM Foundation (http://www.iamfoundation.org) is all about global literacy. They supply books to children all over the world and I've been a supporter of theirs and their mission for a while. This is why I decided to try something and I ask you to help me with this.

My books are offered in paperback and e-book, which means anyone with a computer anywhere on the planet can order at least the e-book. Fifteen-percent of my share of either book versions sold through the month of March will go to I AM to buy more books for children and expand more minds.

I ask you to, at the very least, share this message with others and ask them to share it with others. If 5 people contact 5 others and so on, we can really make a difference.

There are also free gifts: The original book on the Law of Attraction, "Thought Vibration," from my friend Michael Murphy (http://www.powerfirmations.com) and "Life is a Pane," written and offered by my friend Stuart "GuruStu" Rosen (http://gurustu.com/liap-bonus.php).

What to do:

1. Share this message with others and ask them to do the same.

2. The books are available at http://www.lulu.com/content/773467 (I Don't Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say) and http://www.lulu.content/796351 (How to Have What You REALLY Want) Remember: Paperback and e-book versions are available for both.

3. Download your gifts.

Thanks! Joyce