First some background on today’s theme: This last Sunday, I barreled my 70 miles or so up the 405 to Rev. Michael Beckwith’s church, Agape.
I’ve gotten to know and do some work with Michael Beckwith through my work with Bob Proctor, and what a pleasure that experience has been. His church, Agape, was booming even before he was featured in The Secret, and it’s only tripled in size since then. I try to get there a couple times each month, especially when Rickie B’s choir is in the house – what this choir does under her direction is something even THIS writer can’t put into words. You might go into a service there feeling like your life is so dilapidated that it could be the saddest country song in history, but you’ll invariably come outta there with a whole new head on your shoulders. There is NO better remedy for today’s aches and pains than Michael and Rickie Beckwith . . . absolutely none.
Stepping away from my soapbox now …
So, in Sunday’s service, Rev. Beckwith mentioned Lent. Now, I was raised a Baptist kid, so we never took part in Lent because it belonged to those other guys way over THERE. I always thought Lent was an interesting concept, though – give up something (that you already know isn’t good for you, otherwise why would you give it up?) for 40 days.
This year, Lent starts on March 1st. On the drive home, I got to thinking about whether I should participate in this ritual practice this year. What would I give up that is currently detrimental in my life? (Fair warning: This is not a question you should ask yourself if you don’t want to hear the answer . . . my answer came to me in about .09 seconds and I’m betting if you really ask yourself the same, you’ll get your answer in lightning speed, too.)
Now, I like to think of myself as a more conscious being – I’m up each morning to meditate, read specific material, and work through my affirmations and beginning-of-the-day journaling. I work with the greatest minds in the world, and writing for and around their material keeps me on a phenomenal track all the daylong. At night, I write my gratitudes before sleeping. My life is a magical one and continues to improve because of these practices.
Nevertheless, the answer that came to me was this: “Stop COMPLETELY talking or writing about your business being “off” or struggling in any way.” Even with my consciousness where it is, I’m discovering that all the gloom-and-doom talk these days is pulling me down into that conversation much too often. As Michael Beckwith reminds us inThe Secret, whatever we’re interested in will come and sit on our front porch stoop. So, why participate at all in this kind of conversation?
So, there’s my Lent commitment. NO talk or writen emails to friends or whomever that express anything negative about the state of my business. Don’t even try to test me! Lent begins on March 1st and ends April 15th. I figured I’d get a head start (since this Lent thing is new to me), and I’ve already found that I’ve had to stop an email in mid-sentence and hit the “delete” button through several lines of text. I’ve also had to stop and re-direct my comments in more than one conversation.
And that’s Day One, folks. What a fantastic exercise, though!
Just imagine if everyone reading this blog decided to do the same for the next 40 days. Imagine telling everyone in your closest circle that this is your commitment. How many of those people would feel compelled to do the same? Just think what would happen to business at every level and in every direction over the next 40 days if THOUSANDS of us made the same commitment.
Think about it. What, after all, is more detrimental to all of us right now than the stinkin’ thinkin’ we’ve got circling around and in our heads?