What You See is What You Get
Let’s make some ‘cents’ of our thoughts.
What does this image represent to you?
Perhaps…
…if you are a magpie, it’s a shiny thing.
…if you are a kid who earns a dollar a day with your paper route, it’s one percent of your daily income.
…if you are a chemist, it’s basically composed of Cu.
…if you are an accountant, it’s a nuisance.
…if you are an affluent businessman, it’s inconsequential.
Here’s another way of perceiving it. A penny is worth one tenth of a dime, which is worth one tenth of a dollar, which is worth 1/100th of a C note.
Now – what does this image represent to you?
Perhaps…
…if you are a magpie, it’s a shiny thing.
…if you are a second-story man, it’s a score.
…if you are a jeweler, it’s an inspiration for your next piece.
…if you are living on the streets, it’s a miracle.
…if you are a wealthy entrepreneur, it’s a bauble for your Significant Other.
Here’s another way of perceiving a diamond. It’s a (tiny) piece of compressed carbon.
Reality is all in one’s mind—Well, sure it is. Where else would it be? The way our mind perceives everything (everything!) around us—its value to us, what we think about it, how we feel about it—is our perspective, and therefore our reality.
Many of us are oblivious to the fact that our experience of the world (hence our actions and reactions to it/hence the total of all we have manifested) is subject to our mind’s perspective. Those who see the world as a joyful place will naturally live a life of joy. Those who discern misfortune in every murky corner will likely find an abundance of misfortune. By altering our perspective on any ‘unfortunate’ matter so it is perceived as an opportunity rather than a burden, we will find our experience of that matter transformed.
Three steps to altering perspective:
- Become aware that one of the primal functions of the subconscious mind is to ensure survival of the body, thus perpetuating survival of the species. In survival mode, the mind keeps a constant eye out for food, shelter and life-threatening situations. One situation it perceives as life-threatening is the possibility that there might be a deficiency of food or shelter. To avoid this possibility, it looks for (focuses on) ways it might lose what it already has. To avoid injury or death, it looks for situations that posed a threat in the past. (Consider this: As an infant, you may have seen a flame. Fascinated, you may have reached out to touch it. Chances are good you didn’t do that again!) This primal function, while obviously of tremendous value, is not necessarily one you have to ‘buy into’ unconditionally.
- Become aware that there are myriad other facets of the mind (intellect, consciousness, thought, perception, memory, emotion, will, imagination), which you have full access to, and full control over, at any given moment.
- Become aware that You are not your mind. Ekhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, brilliantly clarifies this concept. Excerpted from the book: “Most people are so completely identified with the voice in the head—the incessant stream of involuntary and compulsive thinking and the emotions that accompany it—that we may describe them as being possessed by their mind. As long as you are completely unaware of this, you take the thinker to be who you are.”
In the process of Manifesting Abundance, remember: What you focus your attention on, you attract. (In other words—What you See is What you Get. Ha!) So, choose the perspectives of elation, gratitude, enthusiasm, trusting, health, wealth, freedom, youth, contribution.
“If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money can’t buy.” Proverb
