I close all of my emails with “Expect abundance”. It is when you change your mindset from “hoping” and “wishing” to “expecting” that you start to see differences in your life. Of course, this is more difficult than it sounds.
In fact, recently, a Client wrote to me and asked that with so much going wrong in his life for so many years, how was he ever going to be able to EXPECT abundance? Excellent question. The answer is rather simple, but the understanding can be complex.
The simple answer is to simply change the way you are thinking. As Buddha said:
“What we think, we become.”
What I have come to understand over many years of study and practice is that it is not the fleeting thought that affects us (either positively or negatively). It is the thoughts that we keep reciting in our minds that then manifests in our lives. For example, if this gentleman keeps saying to himself – and worse – begins saying it to others thus reinforcing the thought – that his life has been full of disappointments and sorrow over the last several years, then he will continue that experience.
Most of us react and say something like: I keep asking for things to get better, but my reality doesn’t change. For how long do I need to keep asking? Here’s the rub, while you keep asking for things to be better, your dominant thought is that things are bad. Since that is your dominant thought, then that is what is delivered over and over again. In other words, what you are thinking about is being delivered, but what you are thinking about is the same reality that you have been experiencing so your new reality remains the same.
Whew! That is complex! Ponder on that for a few minutes because that is the crux of the whole idea behind expecting abundance. You simply must let go of the past. You must let go of that which you do not want and focus on what you do want. But be careful here.
Focus on what you want, but not on the lack of having what you want!
Whoa, how do I do that – aren’t they one in the same?
Similar, but not the same. If you are coming from a desperation point of view, you will ask for something because you are focused on not having it. All you think about and feel is the not having perspective. Instead, focus on how nice it will be when you do have it. How great it will feel. What you’ll do with it.
Keep your thoughts laser focused on what you want and your feelings on how great it will be. You can tell if your thoughts are in line with your vision by how you feel. If your thoughts make you sick in the stomach, afraid, sad, etc. you are focused on not having. If your thoughts, however, bring you joy and excitement, then you are focused on “having”.
If it is too difficult to think about a topic without having negative thoughts – don’t worry. Simply stay off the topic. As soon as you have bad-feeling thoughts, change what you are thinking about. Find something that makes you happy, and do that.
- Listen to music you love
- Call a friend and tell funny stories to each other
- Dance
- Exercise
- Go for a walk in nature
- Watch a comedy
- Most important – laugh as hard and as often as you can.
Another strategy that really helps is to think about everything that you already have to appreciate. Regardless how bad things are, you still have things to be thankful for. Be thankful and watch how more things to be thankful for enter into your life.
Practice this daily and before too long you will sincerely be Expecting Abundance in your life.
Truly Expect Abundance,
Lou Castillo
