Change Your Life in an Instant: The Miracle of Perception

Do you ever feel stuck? Or nothing seems to be going your way? Or your life situation is not as good as you'd like?

Although there is no miracle pill you can take to make it all better, there IS something you can do right now to begin to improve your life immediately.

It all has to do with perception -- the way you have decided to define yourself and your situation. There's no blame here. It's simply a matter of cause and effect.

Thoughts (the Cause) create our experience (the Effect.)

How you see and think about yourself and your world colors the choices you make each and every day. And these choices determine what you experience today, tomorrow, next week, and the rest of your life.

If you don't like the results you're getting - the "effect" you're producing - then you have to change the "cause" - your thoughts.

To paraphrase Einstein, you can't solve a problem at the level at which it was created. You have to look at it from a different perspective. You have to get "out of the box" so to speak and look at yourself, your life, or whatever you want to change, from a different point of view.

The key ingredient is willingness.

You have to be willing to let go of judgment, fear, worry, or doubt. And you have to be willing to allow your own Higher Wisdom to give you a new perspective.

How do you do this?

You must let go of the "ego-mind" - that part of the mind that is preoccupied with an endless stream of distractions, conflicts, judgments... the part of the mind that loves to entertain those gripping thoughts of fear, worry, and doubt.

When it all comes down to it, there are really only two emotions: fear or love. Fear is where the ego-mind loves to hang out. It's soul purpose is to keep you under its control. Its constant mind chatter keeps you up on all the reasons why you can't do something, or why this or that won't work. And if you start to get "out of line" it's quick to bring in the heavy artillery: all the shoulds or shouldn'ts or supposed to's and the accompanying guilt feelings that typically go with them.

The good news is that fear is not based in Truth. It has no real power of its own. You give it power by allowing it and feeding it your attention. When you stop and look it square in the eye, it dissolves.

Love, on the other hand, IS Truth. It is based in the Source of All That Is, God, Universe, Higher Self, Holy Spirit... whatever your term for the Life-Force Energy that is in us and all around us.

Getting out of fear-based thinking and stilling the ego mind chatter allows the opportunity for a miracle. And a miracle, as the Course in Miracles says, "... is simply a shift in perception from fear to love."

"Learn to be quiet in the midst of turmoil, for quietness is the end of strife and this is the journey to peace." (A Course in Miracles)

Here is a simple, five-step strategy for changing your life in an instant:

1. Still the Mind Chatter. A good way to get started stilling the chatter is to sit quietly and concentrate on your breathing. You might also want to light a candle or put on some soft, relaxing music in the background. Tune in to your body as you breathe deeply and slowly. Concentrate on how your lungs feel as they fill up with life-giving air. As you exhale, imagine all worry and tension leaving your body. Do this for several minutes.

2. Get a Different Perspective. As you continue breathing and relaxing, begin to look at the situation or upset from different points of view . Look at it from the other person's point of view. What might be going on with them? Is this typical behavior or a reoccurring situation? What in their life might be causing this kind of result?

Then, look at it from a God's-Eye, bigger picture point of view. A good way to do this is to pretend you're a writer and this is part of the story you've written. What would be the purpose of putting these characters into this situation? How might going through this experience change them?

3. State Your Intention. Once you have looked at different perspectives, decide what you want instead. How do want things to be? How do you want to feel?

4. Take Inspired Action. Follow through with any inner guidance you receive. If you get a hunch or any kind of inner urging, follow its lead. That's your intuition, your Soul nudging you into action.

5. Give Thanks. Stay in gratitude that what you ask IS already done. Look for things to appreciate about where you are, yourself, and any other people involved.

When you change your perception, you change your life. Making the shift from fear to love using this simple strategy paves the way for miracles.

(c)2009 Becky Waters