From the Heart

I was taken aback to read a newspaper article about a convention of psychics that had been canceled "due to unforeseen circumstances." Now that got me thinking! If a group of professional psychics didn't know their own future, how can we know that anything we predict will happen?

Your future is not set in stone; it is molded with love. We create and re-create our future in every moment, with every choice we make. When you choose in harmony with your spirit, you draw unto yourself the wonderful things your heart desires. When, out of fear, guilt, or a sense of powerlessness, you bump along with the herd, you find yourself wondering why you are here. You are here to be you; all else is detail, and will take care of itself.

You can either be a statistic or an ecstatic. Statistic-people believe that whatever happens to most people will happen to them, and so they succumb to the tyrant called "normal." I know very few normal people, and I am all the happier for it. (Most of my friends and associates fall toward one end of the bell curve or the other.) If you expect to get a different result than most people are getting, you have to live in the way that is uniquely joyful to you. Reality is not an absolute, but a personal choice. A long time ago I read that more persons have survived cancer than the population of Los Angeles. I am certain that number has increased by many times now. I know of support groups for "former terminal cancer patients" - now there is a beautiful oxymoron!

A psychic, seer or prophet can look down the road and see likely outcomes of actions that are currently in motion. (An Oriental sage suggested, "If you do not change direction, you will end up where you are headed.") But at any moment, a human being can make a new decision and alter the course of events. Because we are imbued by God with the power to create, we are always free to create a new destiny.

On an episode of Northern Exposure, Shelly received a chain letter telling her that if she mailed the letter on to a friend within three days, she would enjoy unprecedented good luck. Believing the prophecy, she copied the letter and mailed the letter at the local post office. To Shelly's delight, all manner of good things befell her: she met a wonderful man, got a raise, and felt healthy, alive and free. A week later when Shelly returned to the post office, the clerk held up her letter and informed her that he did not mail it because she needed to put more postage on it. Shelly's jaw dropped when she realized that the letter did not make her luck. She admitted, "I guess we are in charge of our own lives."

There is no force outside of you that can determine what happens to you. You are the force that engineers your destiny. Walt Whitman declared, "I do not seek good fortune. I am good fortune." The power or help that you have been seeking in the outer world already lives inside you, as you. All personal and world change begins with inner change. Luck is not a capricious gift that whimsically falls into our lap; it is a force we activate with our thoughts, feelings, attitude, words and actions. I saw a Ziggy cartoon in which our hero explains, "I have a rabbit's foot, a four-leaf clover, and a lucky charm. Only problem is, none of them become effective until I do."

If you are waiting for your ship to come in, get into the captain's seat and pilot it yourself. If you are waiting for a particular person to come along and make your life wonderful, that person is you.

If you are seeking a mate, write down all the wonderful qualities you would love for him or her to embody. Then review the list and see if you feel you are lacking in those qualities yourself.

Often we tend to look for someone to fill in the gaps we perceive in ourselves. But every time we give someone else the power to make us whole, we affirm that we are not whole. No one can deliver or take away any more good than you can deliver or take away yourself. A Course in Miracles reminds us, "I am affected only by my thoughts."

Instead of seeking someone to give you what you believe you are not, bring the light back home and find those qualities in yourself. If an ideal of beauty is in your consciousness, the beauty is already in you; we become what we are conscious of. The more you love yourself, the greater your power to draw loving companions and support. At this very moment you have everything you need to set into motion a chain of events that will change your life forever.

Your future is predictable; you can know it now and manifest it quickly by being clear on your intentions, and living as if your heart's desires are worthy of manifestation. As Eleanor Roosevelt promised, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

Alan Cohen is the author of the bestselling The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore. To order Alan's new book I Had It All the Time or request a free catalog of Alan's books, tapes, and workshop schedule, write to Hay House, Post Office Box 5100, Carlsbad CA 92018, or call 1-800-462-3013. For information about Alan's Mastery Training held in Hawaii and focusing deeply with fourteen participants, write to 430 Kukuna Road, Haiku, Hawaii 96708 or phone 1-808-572-0001.