Golden Gate 12 – Follow Up

I expect you found the description Bernard gave of the Bruce MacLelland book, “Prosperity Through Thought Force”, very interesting. The description of how the author moved from a life of “worry, anger, suspicion and hatred”, and “smarting under a sense of injustice” to one of wonderful abundance was a real reminder that these things can be overcome – but they need to be squarely faced.

At one time in my life “smarting under a sense of injustice” would have described me very well. I did have some success with thought bricks at that time. This was probably because I applied myself very readily and enthusiastically to the teachings. However, it was much harder work then than it is now as I was struggling against myself all the time. I was trying to overcome my weaknesses with a barrage of positivity instead of facing up to them. In a sense I was running away from my weaknesses rather than dealing with them.

For example, I might feel a sense of injustice about something. But rather than acknowledge that and then look to how I could lift myself out of it, I tried to push the feeling away. I would judge those thoughts and feeling as “negative” and just push them down again. I would try and put a layer of “positive” thoughts on top of those feelings by thinking only about the good things I wanted in life.

I am sure you, dear reader, can see why this would just not work as I had not dealt with the inner character issues underneath. I needed to accept that I felt a sense of injustice and explore it a little. Then I needed to explore what that part of myself needed in order feel better. It could be that feeling of injustice was telling me something very important – that someone was not treating me fairly and I needed to talk to them about it, or whatever. Or it could be the feeling was an old one from the past and it had nothing to do with present circumstances. It could even be that I was treating myself unjustly and not balancing my own needs with the needs of others. Whatever the cause I could only find it by exploring my inner life rather than running away from it.

What I had failed to see at that time, is that even “negative” feelings have a very positive side to them if handled properly. Facing those feelings, without wallowing in them, helps to bring to the surface the inner causes. Those inner causes, being brought into the light of day, can then be seen for what they are and any truth or value will be revealed and anything not useful can be allowed to fall away.

If you sometimes feel that abundance is not for you, as you are aware that you worry a lot, or feel put upon, or feel angry and resentful much of the time, then take heart. I was once like that too. Be friendly to those parts of yourself and they will respond more quickly to healing and transformation than you can currently imagine. Instead of fighting and struggling against those parts of yourself, smile on them like a kindly parent on a wayward child. You do not indulge them, you do not run away from them, and you do not fear them. You accept them with a sense of adventure – even with a sense of humour.

For some issues just switching attention to something else can work. We do a few affirmations or whatever and our feelings change. But for some things that it is not enough. If there is a strong inner negative belief that “life is hard”, “money is scarce”, or whatever, then that may need to be faced to get resolved. By facing unhappy feelings we can discover the thoughts and beliefs which are behind them. Then we explore how to change the thoughts behind the feelings. It might be enough to just notice the unhappy thought and then we can let it go. You might say to yourself something like, “I notice I am having the thought ‘life is hard'”. Don’t fight it. Just let it be. When ready, take a few deep breaths and just get on with having a good day. If the thought, or similar comes back, do the same again.

Other times it helps to kindly explain to that part of ourselves (in a very simple and friendly way) that life is different now and why it is going to be different from now on. If you feel worried about something then be a friend to this part of yourself and explain to it why you do not have to be worried (you may need to do this a few times). Sometimes exploring such feelings is like sitting beside a pool of water. We don’t have to run away and we don’t have to jump in. We can just sit and notice what comes up, what falls away and what keeps coming up again and again that we might need to work on directly.

In some mysterious way, what might seem “negative” can turn out to be very positive. Uncomfortable, or “negative” emotions, rightly handled, can act as fuel to assist you in your success. Negative feelings can be showing you the parts of yourself which need healing so that you can create the life of abundance you want. Negative emotions can be immature versions of immensely useful qualities. Anger can become your ability to confidently assert what you want and negotiate for it. Worry can become an alertness as to how to achieve your good. Panic can become a passionate dedication to abundance. Learning to convert “negative” emotions into their respective positive qualities can be a wonderful help in achieving the life you want. This becomes possible through being honest with yourself and being kind to yourself about what you discover through such honesty.

Be friendly to your inner self and your inner self will be friendly to you. This will greatly empower you and help you create a truly wondrous life.

William

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