As a positive person, people around me are sometimes surprised to heave that I have “those days”, just like everyone. But the truth is, I have a working spiritual practice. The word practice means that sometimes, it will go really well. Other times, my practice needs more, well, it needs more practice.

From time to time, things will come up that can put you in a tailspin if you aren’t careful. Once something happens that upsets us, often we find that unless something intervenes, the next several things that happen will *also* annoy or upset you. This is the Law of Attraction at work.

The Law of Attraction, as taught by Esther and Jerry Hicks in the Teachings of Abraham, tells us that like attracts like. That means that thoughts attract more thoughts just like themselves. When we experience a negative feelings, that is the universal barometer throwing a caution flag to us. Our feelings are an indicator that our thoughts are out of alignment with our Source (God, Universe, Higher Power) as well as being out of alignment with our life purpose. Positive feelings tell us that we are in alignment: that is, our thoughts are congruent with Source and our life purpose. Any negative feeling: irritation, anger, sadness, etc. is a clear sign that our thoughts are out of alignment and the universe is inviting us to choose again.

Here is an example from my own life last week. I realized, after it was over, I had missed an early morning book club meeting. I was surprised!! We had no reminders, I didn’t have the date in my calendar, and while I’d done the reading the actual book club meeting was not on my mind. The first thing I felt upon learning that I’d missed the meeting was a flash of irritation. I really wanted this to be someone else’s fault! I’m not proud of that, but it’s the truth. If I feel a loss of control and things go badly, I can be what Brene’ Brown calls a blamer. Anyway, after the irritation passed, I realized I should have had the date on my calendar. I’d relied on a pattern of weeks to remember the meeting and had remembered it wrong. The responsibility for the missed meeting was all mine. And that further irritated me.

The next several events mirrored that feeling of irritation. I don’t mean they were similar. I mean they mirrored the feeling of irritation exactly. The people I talked to were irritated with me. More irritating things also happened, too. Then, I snapped out of it, in a pretty humbling way.

I had signed myself up to receive positive texts FROM ME that I’m sending to the participants of the Empowered You winter session. I got a text from myself that read, “It’s Friday. Hooray! What can you choose to see love in?” Oh, boy. I was the one who needed to get that text that day!

Deeply humbled, I took a deep cleansing breath. I chose to see the love in my missed meeting. I saw that because I missed the meeting I was able to work with students who came to school early for extra help. Because I missed my meeting I played with the dogs an extra 5 minutes in the morning. Because I missed the meeting, my house was picked up so I got to go home to a tidy house. Am I still embarrassed? Well, yes, missing meetings is not something I do. But I choose to forgive myself. Forgiveness is an integral part of any spiritual practice. So important, that it will come up over and over in my blog.

By forgiving myself and choosing to see the love over the fear (fear of losing face, fear of embarrassment, fear of making a mistake, etc), I turned my day around. This is a very simple concept. It’s not easy, but its simple.

When you notice a negative emotion, ask yourself what is the cause of that emotion. Most often, it will boil down to some kind of fear. It could be fear of embarrassment, fear of loosing control, fear of not being valued, fear of differences or change, etc. Whether you understand your root cause of the negative emotion or not, choose to see love in the situation.

This simple choice changes everything. You’ll feel different. People will respond to you differently. You’ll begin to experience the love you are sending out in the world coming right back into your life. And that… is a miracle.

I invite you to choose to see the love in your life! See the love in your every day interactions. See love in difficult situations and in difficult people. I invite you to view your own spiritual growth as a practice. Practice every day. Give yourself permission to do the best you can on any given day. Some days, that might mean choosing again. One of my most influential spiritual teachers is Gabrielle Bernstein. She reminds us that “I can choose again.” I invite you to make it ok to choose again and to try to see the love. Then… take time to be kind and gentle to yourself. Take a walk outside somewhere beautiful. Hug your loved ones. Play with your pets. Do something that brings you joy!

If you enjoyed this, please click “like”. If you really enjoyed this, please share it! My goal it so share love and light far and wide.

Oh! Two more things. To learn more about “Empowered You” click here. Registration for the spring series is open through April 8. If you would like to receive daily texts with positive affirmations inviting you to see love, send a text to 810-10 with @bwink in the subject (text body).

Love and light to you.

Brenda