Before you say “Nah, I don’t believe in that stuff of asking the universe to give you things so, I’ll skip this read”, please hear my story first (even if it’s just to entertain yourself). I hope to give you a different perspective on how this worked for me and hopefully leave you with new insight into the power of the universe.
I’m sure from my previous posts, most of you already know that I believe in the practice of meditation. That’s nothing new to me. So when my cousin added me to a “21 days of Abundance” meditation group, I will admit, I wasn’t really THAT excited for it. I thought, I already try meditating every morning (by “try” I mean I try to make it a priority, but I don’t always succeed). And for a long minute now, I have not been experiencing any form of any extreme anxiety, so I think I’m doing pretty alright. I don’t necessarily need that “extra” guided meditation help.
However, “ABUNDANCE”?? Hmmmmm…now that’s a fancy dangling shiny object. P.S I’m such a bad compulsive shopper. I just love shiny and cute objects. I don’t care if I don’t need it, but if it catches my eyes, I’m getting it. Don’t worry, I’m working on that. However, back to what this is about…
ABUNDANCE!! This word was so beautiful, sparkling and fancy to me! I wanted it! After all, is there any sane person who would say they don’t wish for more abundance in their life? Yep, I could definitely do with some extra cash in my account right now. (Yes, I know abundance is not only about material things, don’t judge me!)
WEEK ONE
On the day the group was created, we were informed to get ready to begin Day 1 the following day. So on that evening, I did what I would typically do when starting something new: SET YOUR GOALS. I sat for a good minute journaling about all the things I wanted to prepare myself to become more “abundant” in. I set the goal with clear intentions (or what I thought was clear intentions) that after 21 days, this is what I will be more abundant in life with. By the way, we were not tasked to do this. But hey, That’s Just So Magda to make lists about anything and everything even when they’re absolutely not necessary. So here I was, ready with my checklist to journey into ABUNDANCE!
To be honest, the first few days were very cliché for me. Not cliché to say that it was very cynical, but for me, it felt “expected”. I expected to sit and hear that “I behold abundance” or that “my abundance comes from an infinite source” and that “I focus on what I want to attract”. These were affirmations I tried to practice when I remembered to, and have them all over my vision board. None of this was new to me. So, while during my sessions I felt calm and bliss, because c’mon its meditation after all (there’s just no way you can go wrong with meditation). I wouldn’t necessarily say that the “feeling of abundance” carried me through the days. I remember I was particularly experiencing moments of sadness and emptiness in that week that I just didn’t understand where they were coming from. But, I still felt that these guided sessions were an excellent way to try and start the day, so I kept at it.
However, the one thing that I did notice a change within the first week was my work ethics. In the past month or so, I started slacking really behind with most of my work and studying because I’m seriously so over “online” work, meetings and classes. At this point, I believe my laptop is as tired of me as I of it! And to be honest, I was just about done with 2020 and ready to maybe try again this “make something of your life” thing next year. But as cliché as these affirmations and audios were, I definitely felt an energy shift within me that motivated me to work. My mornings turned from lazing around reading novels to “DO NOT DISTURB, I have proposals to finish and lessons to review!”
I don’t know if I can credit these new mornings with Deepak Chopra for my new found motivation or it was just a “coincidental timing”. Still, whatever the force was, something pushed me then because I wasn’t even trying.
Day 7 is when it turned a corner for me. I believe this is the day that set in motion the last two weeks that were just absolutely revamping for me. What was different about Day 7, you wonder? I had to do something I didn’t want to do and absolutely goes against the core of the true “can-hold-a-grudge-for-eternity” nature of Scorpio… I had to “sent blessings” to what you would call “difficult people” in my life.
I thought to myself: Listen Deepak, I tried not to call out your cliché affirmations, but just HOW is sending blessings to people who have made it their purpose to disturb me in life going to bring me more wealth? I did not come here for therapy!
Alas, there was a challenge to complete, and for some reason, quitting has never been my strongest suit in life. Therefore, I had to send a mental greeting and blessings to people I wished I never met in life. What began with a basic “I hope you’re well and don’t get COVID19” turned into a list of blessings I wished upon these individuals. The wildest part was that I actually meant them. I know we are told to “bless your enemies”, but my honest truth, I don’t remember a day in my life that I actually did that. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily have a list of people I call “enemies”. But when a person of a different race walks up to me and calls out “Monkey!”, you’re not someone I would wish existence upon. Back to my blessings, as I was seated there, blessing all these people around me, these unexplainable emotions started rising in me. If I believed in witchcraft, I would probably say it was witchcraft. There is definitely some form of supernatural power that comes from blessing those who curse you. I felt POWERFUL and PEACEFUL all at once. I don’t know what it was, but it was just a beautiful spirit that I don’t think I can find the words to describe.
The therapy didn’t stop there. At this stage, I call it therapy because this had become more than just wanting to gain more money. I wanted to experience life in its full form, with everyone and everything that existed with it.
WEEK TWO
The highlight of my second week was journaling about my shortcomings/flaws that limit me. As someone who tries to live a conscious life, this wasn’t anything too difficult to do. I’m well aware of my flaws and some limitations I have set for myself in life. The challenge for me was what followed it. I had to write down action plans for each of the limitations that I will implement daily or over some time to overcome these limitations. Listen, if I knew this was what followed the following day, I probably honestly wouldn’t have mentioned some of those shortcomings. Because we’re humans, and sometimes we just want to accept some of our flaws because the work it would require to overcome some of our shortcomings is A LOT. And as long as I’m not starving, hey, mediocre is not that bad. Trying to complete the new daily tasks and at the same time, mentally trying to remind myself of the daily action plans, I promised myself, was challenging. Actually, scratch that, it was more than a challenge. I know challenges, I love challenges. This was burdensome and demanding…(and is still to this day).
WEEK THREE
By the time we were into the 3rd and final week, this was a lifestyle for me (the saying is true, all it takes is 21 days to create a habit).
For starters, those 15minutes turned into 2minutes real quick. No, seriously, anyone who has done this challenge, I know I’m not the only one who started complaining about how short the time started to feel halfway through this. Also, the way I did my practices in the first week was different from the 3rd week. During the first week, I took only the first 30minutes of my mornings to meditate on Deepak Chopra’s words and ponder and reflect on the assignment of the day. But, by the 3rd week I was playing his audios over as I’m busy meal prepping or washing dishes. I also started getting in the habit of appreciating my journal entries. I would randomly read over my words during any time of the day, and this kept reminding me to stay “zen” throughout the day.
One notable task I picked up a habit with, is building the courage to see myself in people who upset me/lead me to anger. If I were asked, “what do you think your purpose was to participate in this challenge?” This here was it. Let me tell you a little about myself so you can understand why I say so.
I’m not someone who has a short/bad temper. Not to toot my own horn here, but I’m genuinely one of the nicest people you can ever come across. But boy, when I get upset? (If “When she’s angry even the devil runs for cover” was a person, it would be me). So I’m not necessarily the nicest or most reasonable person around people who make me angry. So to try and see myself in someone who is leading me to anger? Yeah, Nah, at this point he was asking too much from me. It was one thing to make me send my enemies blessings. I could try and do that because I was in the comfort of my home with beautifully scented candles and calming music in the background. But, asking me, in the heat of the moment to seek “what is this person trying to teach me”/”how do I see myself in them”, Nah, not my portion!
But I really wanted to say I COMPLETED 21 DAYS WITH DEEPAK CHOPRA, and I was mere 4 days short in achieving this. To quit now? How is that fair to past me who put in all the other hard work?
Alas, it had to be done! Side note: funny how the universe works though. So I thought to myself, I will just avoid outside (we’re anyways adviced not to go out) and that way, I will not come across anyone who might get me upset. However, the good Lord, strategically assigned the most problematic person he could find as my upstairs neighbour! (I swear, if I don’t get a gold medal for making it through this thing called life, Lord, we will need a serious talk)! So there I find myself, amid confrontation, and all I’m doing is observing this individual’s actions. How they talk, the words they’re using, the tone in their voice, their body language. Sometimes I would even observe the clothes their wearing. And at the moment when I know I may have something more hurtful to counter back with, I find myself challenging myself “What are you trying to teach me at this moment?” “Where do I see myself in you?” It’s not the easiest thing to do. But we often find that strong character is built from difficult places always.
Looking back, I couldn’t help but notice that what started off as a goal to attain more “abundance” a.k.a wealth (money), turned into seeking peace, healing, and forgiveness (for myself and others). And I think I finally understand it now. Abundance is a package. It is packed with love, wealth, harmony, bliss, health, joy and happiness. But none of this can be achieved with all the mental blocks we carry. We have so much clutter that not only limits us from achieving our full potential but also blocks our blessings from returning to us.
That which I thought I wanted/desired to gain felt cliché, but reaped the most from that which I didn’t even consider I needed work in (when we sit and listen, our hearts do really know what they want)!
This will, however, be different from everyone, because we all have different struggles and desires in life. I simply wanted to give a small account of my experience. Maybe you felt you have “enough” and don’t need more of anything, or those who may have been naïve as I was to equate abundance=money, so you don’t need money. Don’t knock it before you try it..
I’ve always believed in vision boards, power of positive affirmations and practice of meditation. And I’ve heard the sceptics all too well “you can’t just IMAGINE success to life, you must WORK for it”. As a workaholic, I absolutely detest slothfulness. But these practices are not just mantras and “wishful thinking”. Take this challenge; for example, it wasn’t about sitting still and waiting for some supernatural miracle to come into your life and grant you all your life desires. It was work, commitment and dedication. It takes real work to influence inner transformation. But first, you will have to challenge the thoughts that control your habits and actions. It’s this sense of dedication and commitment to your life that I believe drives one to succeed at whatever they put on their vision board.
Besides, my job that was affected by the current pandemic contacted me during the 3rd week of this practice. I also got notified that a paper I worked on with my team has been published (I smell $$$$$$)!! Look at that, the universe did after all help me achieve my goal!
I hope the Universe/God/Angels or whatever you believe in will find you too and guide you too on your journey of Abundance:)
Leaving you as usual with all that mental health good good stuff:)
JustSoMagda 