Your Three Wishes

Want to change your life? Here's quick answer: pay closer attention to your thoughts and instructions you give your Genie. If that sounds too simple, just grab your magic lamp and read on...

Sometimes we think what we say to ourselves doesn't matter, that these are just random or fleeting thoughts. The fact is, what you say to yourself (your Genie) really does matter and it will determine your fate for day, this week... your entire life.

Where can you find this Genie? He is your subconscious mind. And here's rub: we don't have an option as to whether or not we give him instructions. He pays attention to our every thought. Our only point of control is type of instructions we provide.

If you're thinking, "Life sucks. This is really lousy," your Genie hears that. You may not think he is effected by this negative self-talk, but Genie takes it all in and attempts to give you what you have requested. He is very disciplined that way. The trouble is... he's not real good at deciphering moods, doubts, and fears. In fact, your Genie has no reasoning capabilities whatsoever. That is your domain. His only job is to obey your commands.

When you tell yourself "today is going to be a bad day because that's way my 'luck' runs," your Genie hears that and says, "Okay... I have received your wish... here is your bad day!" Of course, you didn't mean for him to take that literally, and you may not have even realized you used up a wish when you had that thought.

I Hear You

Think about last time you balled up a wad of paper and threw it across room into trash can. Bull's eye! It felt so good to make a shot of that distance with deadly accuracy that you decided to do it again. This time you give it some thought. That little nagging part of your brain you thought was asleep starts telling you, "That first shot was luck. You can't do that again." And sure enough, your next shot bounces off rim onto floor. You immediately spring up and grab wad of paper, not dropping it in trash, but taking it back to spot from where you missed to try again. It's Trash Can Game and we've all played it. It's also an excellent example of Genie executing commands we provide him.

We must be very careful what we tell ourselves because our Genie–as wonderful as he is–cannot distinguish our real intent. Everything we say passes to him without going through any filters. We may tell ourselves, "This is stupid. I'm not going to try very hard to do my best because I'll probably fail anyway." Our intent may have been to give ourselves a cushion to fall back on just in case we didn't do as well as we hoped. The trouble with giving ourselves that 'out' is that Genie will do everything in his power to grant our request of failure. He is undermining our ultimate desire to be best we can be. He doesn't mean to do this, of course, he is just following orders we gave him.

Thinking is Creating

Everything you see in space you are now in was once a thought in someone's mind. The chair you are sitting in; car you drive; television you watch. None of these would exist had they not originated in mind of their creator. The thing to recognize is that we are all creators. We are creators of our own destiny, authors of our own story.

Sheila discussed twists and turns through past decade with her new friend, Danelle, over a Mocha Java at her neighborhood coffee house. The aroma of baking bread filled room as her hands gestured with her eyes wide. Her hearty laugh rose through room. Danelle stated simply, "Your life has been anything but dull! How do you do it?"

Sheila paused as she allowed her warm drink to fill her throat and chest. Looking contemplative, she softly said, "I would not have it any other way."

Eric Hoffer, twentieth century American social theorist said, "The remarkable thing is that it is crowded life that is most easily remembered. A life full of turns, achievements, disappointments, surprises, and crises is a life full of landmarks. The empty life has even its few details blurred, and cannot be remembered with certainty."

Making most of your landmark experiences will insure your life will be both memorable and filled with meaning.

Here is how to maximize your landmark experiences:

1. Facing a landmark experience with gratitude is sure to energize it towards positive. Being grateful for something which on surface looks contrary to your plan for life is highly unnatural. Perhaps THIS is why it is so effective. As ridiculous as it sounds, practice tiniest gratitude for situation, and grow that gratitude daily. You will notice a difference in a short period of time, guaranteed.