Day Twenty - Are you willing to receive?

Here is an interesting anecdote from "Even Mystics Have Bills To Pay" by Jim Rosemergy.

Often when I speak about prosperity, I begin the lesson by holding up fifty dollars and saying, "Who deserves this fifty dollar bill?" It is amazing, but only a few hands go up. I invite the first person I see with a raised hand to come forward and take the money. Then I say: "Why wasn't everyone's hand up? How do you expect to receive the wonders and riches of the kingdom of heaven if you do not believe you deserve fifty dollars?"

I remember doing the same thing at a direct marketing sales meeting. These people planned to prosper and envisioned themselves becoming rich. Amazingly, when I offered the money no one raised their hand. After waiting in silence for someone to act, my wife, who accompanied me, raised her hand. She received the money.

The truth is that often we do not feel deserving. We think we are unworthy, and therefore, in subtle ways, we say no to God and to the most basic prosperity.

This is interesting isn't it? I wonder what I would have done had I been at that meeting. I wonder if I feel deserving of a million dollars. And if not, how much do I feel deserving of? And what does that mean anyway, to deserve?

Day Nineteen - Planting Seeds

Every idea is a seed, and will bring forth according to its character, modified somewhat by the kind of mind soil in which it is planted. There is a law of growth in mind parallel with that of earth. A thistle seed will always produce thistles, regardless of the character of the soil; a low ideal will likewise work out low conditions in a high type of mind.

You may be a giant in strength today, but if you get into your mind the thought of sickness it will bring you down as surely as if you were a weakling. So with every thought that finds lodgment and at the same time credence in your mind; it will produce fruit of its kind just as surely as will the material seed planted in the earth.

It goes through a similar process of growth also. It does not always spring forth at once and rapidly come to fruition, but it goes through a methodical series of changes, from inertness to tiny sprout, away deep down in the consciousness, where it is not observed by the exernal thinking mind.

In due course it sends out a shoot in the direction of external consciousness, which finally comes to the surface in some discord or some harmony. The time of planting is usually so remote that even he who knows the law of growth from thought to thing cannot remember when he sowed the seeds that are manifest in his consciousness as thistles.

from the Atom Smashing Power of the Mind
by Charles Filmore

Our Spring Garage Sale

On Memorial Day weekend we will be completing our De-Cluttering project by having a garage sale at Melissa's newly vacated townhouse. So lets get busy. If you are participating in the 200 Things Project, here's a perfect opportunity to really make some progress.

If you have any questions about location or logistics, email Shirley or Melissa, or post your question and we'll make sure you get the information.

Day Eighteen - How about this?

Day Seventeen - Receiving

In my inbox this morning was this little meditation about receiving. It felt particularly appropriate for me today, so I decided to share it.

Description:
Let-go of complaining.
Complaining is a desire-obsessed attitude.
Focus on what you receive.
Even if it is only the smallest thing, just a particle of bliss, pay attention.
Be mindful of it.
Isn't this what you would like to see grow? Nurture, keep remembering, rejoice in it again and again.

When and Where:
When you talk about the ray of happiness inside of you, you are also giving the other person an opportunity to search for the same in their life.
When you bring news of happiness it grows, and waves of joy will start rolling in the other person's heart too.

Benefits:
You will be surprised: the more you remember and rejoice, the more it will keep on growing.
And tell others about what you have received, because then your perceptions become more manifest and clearer to you too.

this was my weekly meditation from
http://www.pragito.com

Day Sixteen - Facing the Dragon

Scarcity is one of our deepest fears. It is the mind's experience of the limits that are a natural part of physical reality. No matter how enlightened or conscious - or rich - we may be, we encounter scarcity, naturally and repeatedly, every day.

The infinite pencil may be a great idea, but it's hard to wrap your hand around. Taking away its limits takes away its usefulness.

Limits are a fact of our lives. It could be said that one of the purposes of our lives is to learn how to be masterful with what we have - our limited amounts of time and energy - and to learn to appreciate and respond well to the limits in our lives.

The feelings of stress, distress, and even panic that arise as we encounter a limit are part of scarcity. That fear provokes : "Oh, God! I don't have enough," or even "I don't have enough, I'll never have enough, and I'm going to suffer or die."

Most of us begin to run when this happens, and many of us feel driven to fend off the imposing dragon of scarcity. Let's look at how to face - and learn from - that dragon. Remember that if you are willing to learn from your dragons, you transform them into allies. But you must first ask to see the lessons they bring.

We keep ourselves moving so we never have to stop and look, really look, at the question I'm going to ask you now:

What do you hate most about the thought of not having money in your life? What is the nightmare scenario that keeps you awake when you think about not having enough of that energy?

If you are willing to strip away any theories you have about how you experience scarcity, and if you allow yourself to feel it and look at it and tell the truth about it, you will take its fearsome power away.

Scarcity is a reality in the physical domain. As a minister friend of mine once told me, "It's as though we got bored living without limits. We decided to incarnate - which means, literally, to turn into meat. We further chose to work with the limits of form, time, and finite energy. This was to see how much of the divine we could bring into the mundane before it was time for us to leave."

We reach the infinite through living fully in the finite. The infinite is not reached by trying to ignore limits, as many of us try to do.

from The Energy of Money
by Maria Nemeth

Day Fifteen - Abundance Meditation

Sit in a comfortable position. Be aware of your feet or your buttocks touching the ground. Feel the strength and suppleness of your spinal column and begin to gently breathe in and breathe out.

Allow your breath to flow freely, smoothing out and relaxing your entire being. If you feel any tension or resistance, breathe into that place and gently invite release. You may voice a long "aah" on the exhalation, to assist with the release.

As you release the breath remain aware of all the places in your body where you are holding on, trying to maintain control out of scarcity. Gently release your energy into the ever-present current of life.

You are plugging in to a circulating electric current that fills you and enlivens you. With every breath, feel yourself more deeply in the current. You can now feel yourself being supported by the earth, as if your entire being is rooted and is receiving nourishment.

As the breath drops you down deeper and deeper into the earth, allow your body to be breathed by the rhythm of life itself. Your breath connects you with the flow of the tides and the seas and the movement of the stars.

Your rhythm is the rhythm of life - the changing seasons, the progression from dawn to dark to dawn again. The current is ever present and it fills you, energizes you, permeates your entire being.

You feel the flow of the unlimited life force, the energy that is ever available as you let go and align yourself with its beauty., it's power, it's presence. Feel your being harmonized in this moment. Allow the fullness of existence to enter you and work through you. Feel free, open, and easy in this flow of ever-abundant energy.

From this state affirm to yourself: "This abundance, this flow, is the natural energy of being itself, and I am ever supported by this flow of energy."

Breathing in and out, lightly and easily letting yourself expand to receive the fullness of the life force, allow an image of abundance to arise from deep within and enter your consciousness. Do not force it.

Just ask and it will form within - an image, literal or abstract - a gift from your inner wisdom that shows you a form of abundance. The image need not be understood. Just allow it to form and then hold it in mind, feeling it energizing you.

As you breathe in and out, slowly return and integrate within your physical form, keeping the image alive, knowing that you can return to it at any time to remember the reality of the life force. The image of abundance affirms regenerative trust from deep within.

from Creating the Work You Love by Rick Jarrow

art by Cathy Wood "Wealth"

Day Fourteen - Down time

Ok guys, I'm taking some much needed down time today... How about posting some progress reports. How are things going? Are you making progress? Not making progress? Anybody have unexpected income to report? Money coming in the mail? Money making ideas and opportunities?

Day Thirteen: Welcome your guests

This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor....

... I am so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: Welcome Your Guests

Day Twelve: Do we want to be in debt?

One of the ways we tend to hide what we really want from ourselves, is in connection with our debts. Many of us have one or more debts that seem to remain unpaid or that we pay late each month. This is no accident.

If we have difficulty paying a particular debt, we must assume that we want the debt to be unpaid or to be paid late. Invariably, if we look at the person or company to whom we owe the money, we will notice less than positive feelings toward them. In order to change the result, we must change what we want....

... I am so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: Do we want to be in debt?

Day Eleven - What if?

What if it truly doesn't matter what you do but how you do whatever you do?

How would this change what you choose to do with your life?

What if you could be more present and open hearted with each person you met if you were working as a cashier in a corner store, or as a parking lot attendant, than you could if you were doing a job you think is more important?...

... I am so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: What If?

Day Ten: Internet resource sharing day

Here is a list of websites that we find useful.

Two Feathers recommends:


Art Deadline: I found lots of good ideas and opportunities here. It's a good jumping off place if you are looking to promote your original art.

Hoover Web Design: Lots of really good information about website design and how to optimize and tweak your web pages. This is a great resource that I use all the time.

Auction Supplies: This site has a cool color picker and some eBay auction templates.

ProBlogger: the Blog that helps bloggers to add income streams to their blogs. My name is Darren Rowse and I’m a full time Blogger making a living from this new and dynamic medium from blogs.

5 Star Affiliate Programs: represents a select group of high paying, high integrity affiliate programs. Some of 5 Star affiliates make over $10K per month. Most 5 Star programs offer *FREE datafeeds* and we also datafeed tools that help partners build custom, content-rich pages or complete sites filled with thousands of products quickly and easily.

John Chow dot Com: The Miscellaneous Ramblings of a Dot Com MogulThe following is a list of the Internet’s eight biggest Google AdSense publishers. The information was compiled from interviews and articles found on the Internet. Very interesting and intriguing.

The Inspiration Gallery: where you'll find thousands of unique and original borders, backgrounds, wallpaper patterns, buttons and more. If you are designing your own website or blog, this site is a huge resource. Awesome.

Zero Cash, A Little Talent and 30 Days: "The idea is to try to setup some type of business in my free time and see if I can start to turn a profit in a 30 day period. That shouldn't be too hard, since I'm also going to limit myself to spending zero cash out of pocket. That means that any sales at all will be profit." A very interesting blog, and the catalyst that propelled me into "The Prosperity Project" and my other blogs.

Firdamatic™: If you are looking to create your own customised template for your blog, this is a cool tool that is really easy to use.

I Work in My Pajamas: This is my favorite work at home website. I go here all the time to get ideas about affiliate marketing, websites, and how to make money in my spare time on my computer.

vflyer: "Post Classified Ads Quickly and Easily for FREE. Create "Virtual" Online Flyers - Now with Customizable Themes." A great little site, makes it really easy to make a professional looking flyer to advertise whatever it is that you want to sell.

Melissa recommends:

I subscribe to a sweepstakes newsletter at www.sweepsheet.com. I highly recommend it!

For writing tips, I like Jane Espenson's blog at www.janeespenson.com. She is a working writer and executive producer who gives great advice.

I also use www.inktip.com to find out what types of scripts are being sought currently. It's a great meeting place for producers to find writers and vice-versa. This site averages eight scripts optioned or sold EVERY WEEK!

Michelle recommends:

I used Bravenet for both my kids homeshool website and The Art of Being an Artist site which isn't up yet. (www.bravenet.com)

I used www.grsites.com for things such as buttons and graphics and textures.

For than email flyer I created, I used www.sendblaster.com, and downloaded their free software. All these things were simple and easy even for a blonde like me, and totally free. (which I have been accused of, but I swear it isn't true.)

Shirley recommends:

I have been checking out www.payperpost.com, where you can get paid for blogging about specific products.. this might be especially good for Melissa and Cindy who both have an interest in the travel biz.. you could blog about travel and get paid for posting at the same time and attract potential clients all at the same time..


What about you?

What are your favorite useful sites? Where do you go to find great information that is specific to your projects and goals? Are you looking for information or tools and don't know where to find it? Let's share our internet resources.

Day Nine - Our Goal

Well, here it is, this is what we are all affirming. Wouldn't it be cool to get it in one lump sum?

Day Eight - Taking action

Thought is the creative power, or the impelling force which causes the creative power to act; thinking in a Certain Way will bring riches to you, but you must not rely upon thought alone, paying no attention to personal action. That is the rock upon which many otherwise scientific metaphysical thinkers meet shipwreck - the failure to connect thought with personal action...

... I am so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: Taking Action


I suppose it's kind of like having an apple orchard. You plant the trees, the weather cooperates, and eventually there are apples. But unless you harvest and use them, they are just bird food. And if you aren't ready to go out and get them when they are ripe, and if you don't can, cook, eat, or sell them, those apples will still end up being bird food.

Day Seven - setting goals

Here are some thoughts about goal setting that I found at Steve Pavlina's website:

A major obstacle that prevents people from enjoyably achieving their goals is that they set their goals incorrectly to begin with. This problem occurs because people don’t understand the nature of time well enough. When people consider a particular goal, they often worry about the time commitment: If I start my own business now, it could take years to make it profitable. I’m so overweight it could take years for me to get in shape. If I break off this unfulfilling relationship, it could take years to get back on my feet again. Such thoughts are clearly demotivating, but more importantly they reveal a total misunderstanding of the nature of time....

... I am so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: Setting Goals

Day Six - Getting motivated

Here is a small piece of an article I found at Steve Pavlina's website. It's something that happens to me all the time, so I thought I would share it here and see if we can get some good insights and commentary going.

Do you ever feel there’s a greater being inside of you just bursting to get out? You can feel its presence sometimes, can’t you?

It’s the voice that encourages you to really make something of your life. When you act congruently with that voice, it’s like you’re a whole new person. You feel like a god in a human body. You’re bold and courageous. You’re strong. You’re unstoppable....

.... I am so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: Getting Motivated

Day Five - don't take no for an answer.

This story is from Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich", written in 1937.

One afternoon, Mr Darby was helping his uncle grind wheat in an old-fashioned mill. The uncle operated a large farm on which a number of share-crop farmers lived. Quietly, the door was opened, and a young black girl, the daughter of a tenant, walked in and took her place near the door.

The uncle looked up, saw the child, and barked at her roughly, "What do you want?"

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: Don't Take No For An Answer

Day Four - money in the mail

At work the other day, a friend of mine told me about how one day she just decided that it would be OK for money to come to her without her having to work really hard for it. And so she just started telling herself, "I get money in the mail all the time." They way she said it was just cheerful and upbeat, with the same sincerity and same tone as she might have said, "I go to the movies every saturday." Now here's the interesting thing, she started to get cash in the mail almost right away, and money from unexpected places too....

... This post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be viewed in its entirety here: Money In The Mail

Day Three: My million dollar meditation

This is what I am doing, and it feels really good to me, so I thought I'd share it:

I downloaded the wallpaper from Steve Pavlina's website so that I would have it right there to look at and so I wouldn't forget what it was.

When I sit down at my desk in the morning, I look at the affirmation, and think about how cool it would be to have a million dollars. And if it was as easy as just saying this one thing every day, that would be great.

Then I am breathe in and saying (not out loud) "In an easy and relaxed manner"... and I consciously relax as I think about the concept of easy and relaxed...

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: My Million Dollar Meditation

Day Two: Now what?

This morning I had an idea and acted on it. I am curious to see what will come of it. The idea came to me that it might be beneficial to go to Craig's List and see what opportunities were available for us there.

Here is what I found:

1. Art Magazine Seeks Advertisments From Artists of All Genres
2. Good cause - show off/donate your art
3. East Crossroads Gallery looking for Artists
4. Get Your Work Seen
5. Wanted: Girls Baby Clothes - Sizes 24 Mo. and 2T
6. Newsmagazine Seeking Freelance Writers for our Urban Traveler Section
7. Freelance writer needed
8. Freelance Greeting Card Writers Wanted
9. Painter Wanted
10. Magazine Art & Design
11. Armed Officers Wanted
12. Human Resources Department Openings

There is quite a lot more listed, but I think this makes for a good start. Oh, and I almost forgot, be sure to check this listing out. It's the one I put up this morning. Go see it here.

Day One: How it works

This experiment is based on the intention-manifestation model of reality, where the goal is to generate $1 million of additional wealth for each person who chooses to participate.

If you wish to participate, all you need to do is to decide to put forth the following intention:

In an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, in its own perfect time, for the highest good of all, I intend $1,000,000 to come into my life and into the lives of everyone who holds this intention.

Spend time each day thinking about this intention....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: How It Works

The Million Dollar Experiment

Looks good doesn't it? Wouldn't you like to have one of those in your wallet? I know I would!

Welcome to our next project. We will be participating in Steve Pavlina's Million Dollar Experiment, with a twist. To take a look at the experiment, download some cool desktop wallpaper, and to sign up, you can visit his site at www.stevepavlina.com, or you can go directly to the page by clicking on the title to this post....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: The Million Dollar Experiment.

Million Dollar Experiment FAQ

1. Do we have to sign up on Steve Pavlina's website in order to participate in the experiment?

It is, of course, up to you. Signing up at his site is not mandatory, and the prosperity project police won't come and put you in jail if you don't (smile). If you are hesitant to give your name out, you can sign up there as an anonymous participant. I do think, that if we are doing the Steve Pavlina Million Dollar Experiment, it would make sense to sign up at his website. Otherwise we would just be doing an imitation of his experiment. Personally, I am a firm believer in the power of numbers, and I think that the more people doing it together, the better. So I'm signing up.

2. Who is Steve Pavlina anyway?

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project, and can be found in its entirety here: Million Dollar Experiment FAQ

Wrapping things up

This is the last day of our Ganesh project. So how did we do?

* Did you enjoy working with the Ganesh mantra?

* Which mantra did you use? the long or short form?

* Did you use and enjoy the slide show as a meditational tool?

* Were the goals you set in the beginning achieved?

* Did you make progress?

* How would you rate this months project? successful? unsuccessful? a toss up?

* What, if anything, did you learn about yourself during the course of these last 30 days?

* What was your favorite part of this project?

* Your least favorite part?

* Is there anything you would like to suggest to make our future projects more interesting, informative, interactive, etc?

* Any other comments?