Author: Jean

How to Multiply Your Value? Make Your Bed

As regular readers know, I’ve been pondering value and how to multiply it this month, so it comes as no surprise that a friend shared this insight on her Facebook page today, and it struck home. Make. Your. Bed.

In my early adulthood, I committed to making my bed every day, and I have done so for at least the last thirty-four years. I, too, learned to make the “perfect” bed in basic training and continued to do so through technical training. I backslid for a few months at my first duty station, but I finally decided I liked the way it felt to climb into a made bed at night. The sheets just felt better. I don’t make “the perfect” bed every morning, but I always pull the sheet and coverlet up in a straight and neat manner.

The Admiral is absolutely right, though. Years ago, I thought by completing my workout first thing in the morning started the day with an accomplishment, but even before that, I’d begun multiplying my value — by making my bed as soon as I got out of it in the morning.

As we’ve been learning from the beginning of the Master Key Experience, it’s the little things that pay big dividends.

Week 32: Still Pondering Value

Value is tougher than I thought. I understood it wasn’t just about money. It’s much more than that. I’ve devoted many of my sits to this topic this week.

What is value? How does the genius of man multiply value?

Where is my value? What does it mean to me?

Do I know what my value is, or is my true value yet to be discovered? I looked for synonyms in my dictionary/thesaurus app to help. In the noun category, I found an exhaustive list. Advantage, worth, account, bearing, benefit, caliber, condition, connotation, consequence, content, denotation, desirability, distinction, drift, eminence, esteem, estimation, excellence, finish, force, goodness, grade, help, implication, import, importance, interpretation, mark, marketability, meaning, merit, power, preference, purpose, quality, regard, repute, sense, serviceableness, significance, state, stature, substance, superiority, use, usefulness utility, and valuation. Whew! There’s an equally long list for the verb usage of the word. The good news from this list? Everyone’s value is going to be different, and increasing or multiplying it will be a different process and journey for everyone.

Do I find it in my DMP? My relationships? My travel? My health? My writing? My cats? Where am I most useful? My solitude, perhaps? Is it related to the respect people have for me or I for myself? Does my passion for polar bears come into play?

I didn’t find these answers in my sits this week. I did find my next plan of action entry: “My heart beats strong and steady.” That message came through loud and clear today. The alternative is…troubling, so I’m happy to affirm that message three times a day. The power of thought is gradually becoming apparent, and I’m continuing to improve. In time, I will know exactly how to multiply my value. I trust this.

 

Week 31: Multiplying Value

This month, I ‘m multiplying value. As I study Scroll VIII, I’m seeing a number of interesting things as I compare myself to a grain of wheat. According to the scroll, there are three things that a grain of wheat can do. It can be fed to swine, ground for bread, or planted to multiply. I have a choice. I can be fed to swine, ground to be devoured by others, or grow and multiply. The major difference between me and the grain of wheat? I can choose. So can you.

Think you can’t? Too much bad has happened in your life? Nope. Here’s what Og Mandino says about that. “To grow and multiply it is necessary to plant the wheat grain in the darkness of the earth and my failures, my despairs, my ignorance, and my inabilities are the darkness in which I have been planted in order to ripen.” All that bad stuff? Fertilizer for your growth. You could interpret this to mean that the more bad stuff that’s happened in your life, the more primed you are for richness and bearing fruit.

How? “Now, like the wheat grain which sprouts and blossoms only if it is nurtured with rain and sun and warm winds, I too must nurture my body and mind to fulfill my dreams.” You have the power to choose your destiny by setting objectives for your life. Then plan the years, months, weeks, days, and hours toward reaching those objectives.

A couple weeks ago, I discussed my Plan of Action (POA) card and some changes I made in it. This week, I went through my DMP and listed the key areas discussed that I haven’t actively planned — there are nine. Today, I began mapping out the POA to make those DMP areas a reality. One, traveling all major Amtrak routes by January 2025, looks like it will easily be completed by August 2018. I’m going to leave the later date just in case our plans have to change for any reason. In discussing this with my husband, we distilled it down to three trips. Until we studied the Amtrak timetable with this goal in mind, we didn’t have a clue when this would be feasible to make into a reality for us.

Planning is ongoing, but once the DMP was articulated, I didn’t know where to focus my efforts or where to look for creating a plan. I made progress on five of the nine areas today. Not bad for an initial effort. The tenth area has been my primary focus since beginning the course, and it continues to manifest, so I haven’t mentioned it here except for this. I’m not sure if I’ve used the spinning plate analogy here before, but it’s a common one in maintaining balance in life. The “tenth” area, which is really my primary focus, was the “plate” I had to get balanced and spinning first. I’ll continue to work in the other “plates” as long as I can keep the primary one spinning smoothly.

Everything worthwhile in time takes time and effort. I’m pleased to apply the skills I’ve learned in the Master Keys course. How is this multiplying value? I’m trusting the process, because, honestly, I’m not sure right now.

To Hit the Target, You Have to Aim in the Right Direction

I’m going to presume you know your target. If you don’t know your target, spend some time thinking about what you want in life and jot that down in the most positive terms possible. Got it? Did you catch the qualifier in there? Using the positive terms. Once you find your target, always aim in the positive direction as you move toward your purpose. Want some tools to help you?

Get on the early notification list for the September Master Key Master Mind Alliance course (no obligation), and in exchange, I’ll send you tools to help you find a positive path to achieving your definite chief aim in life.

Week 30: Belated Update

Last week got away from me! Despite that, I have something small but exciting to report. Several years ago, I tried not eating after 8pm. I found all kinds of reasons to be annoyed by this process. My husband didn’t make dinner in time. This, that, or the other interfered. I mostly complied, but I found the whole process troubling and unsatisfying, and eventually, I quit paying attention to it.

Enter this year, as a Master Keys graduate. I learned a few things from the course. When I decided to redo my Plan of Action card at the course completion, one thing I did was remove things I’d put on there that I wasn’t doing (for a variety of reasons). Having things on my Plan of Action I wasn’t acting on was not sending the right message to Subby. One area of my Definite Major Purpose (DMP) is manifesting well. I felt confident enough to begin working on another area of my DMP. I added “I eat before 8PM” to my card.  Notice it is worded in a positive way. We learned in the course that Subby doesn’t understand negatives, so I spoke to Subby in the positive term of what I do.

The first couple weeks, I felt hungry after 8PM, but I kept reminding myself, “I eat before 8PM.” I did not feel anger or deprivation this time. I felt an acceptance of that plan in my head and continued with my activities. After a couple of weeks, I felt less need to remind myself of the plan. In fact, in general, I feel more satisfied.  I’m pretty awed by this effect.

Last week, after some contemplating about what the next step in this DMP manifestation should be, I chose to add “I move in the morning” to my Plan of Action card. This has made it easier to get out and get my yard work done in the morning.

Simple.

Positive.

Steps.

I like this.

Week 29: Integration

I’m continuing to integrate the Master Keys into my life. I’m seeing the benefits of using only positive statements in my DMP. I’ve redone my Plan of Action card to incorporate a few positive statements. I’m devoting sits to trying to find more ways to voice my plans in a positive way.

“I eat before 8PM.” is one that is working very well. Integrating that was challenging for the first two weeks. I felt hungry every night. That little gnaw in the gut that says, “Feed me.” I repeated to myself, “I eat before 8PM.” I drank some water — ice water is my favorite beverage. Actually, on the POA, it’s “Water and Ningxia Red are my favorite beverages.” Both are authorized after 8PM, but I usually go for water.

I chose this phrase because it specifically addresses a concern I have about being deprived of food. I don’t know where that concern came from, but it was a real problem for me several years ago. I’ve been working with Subby on it even before I started the Master Keys, and this phrase really resonates. I’m not deprived. I just eat before 8PM. I’ve been doing it for almost a month, and I hardly ever think about it anymore.

What will I incorporate next? I’m not sure yet. But I love to use my Service card to help me stop procrastinating on decluttering efforts around the house. See you next week. Integration continues.

Week 28 – In the Flow

This week has been “In the Flow” of a wild river with a mild set of Rapids (I need to remind myself how fun that is).

On the bright side, my husband is feeling better. On the dark side, my husband is feeling better. That means he wants to “get stuff done.”  After six months of thinking about how much he hasn’t been able to get done, he is ready to work.

This is a good thing, but my schedule becomes secondary to his, and his is largely dependent upon the weather. Meaning even if he did tell me what he wanted me to help with, it will change.

The Law of Least Effort is my friend. We spent four hours at the ranch clearing fallen trees (at least three) to reach our long-neglected (about ten years) tractor. This photo was taken at the point where we’d cleared the tree that had fallen on the back of the motor home a couple of years ago. flow         On Saturday, we spent about four hours and cleared all the trees and debris from the tractor. We worked together very well, and it was a rewarding day.

On Tuesday, we had a window withou rain forecast, so we went out to remove the shredder from the back and use come-alongs to pull it into the trailer. We expected that would take a couple hours. Six hours later, we were headed to town. Everything went smoothly. We didn’t gauge how much time it would take.

The tractor is now resting in the shop, waiting for my husband to get it running again.

tractor

Week 27: Thought

Thought. We all do it, but how many of us do so consciously? How often? It’s been on my mind this week. Pardon the pun. As I read the Master Keys lessons, the topic has come up repeatedly this week. Yesterday’s gem: “Thought is a spiritual activity and is therefore endowed with creative power.” Today’s gem: “In order to possess vitality thought must be impregnated with love.” And still more, “If we wish to express abundance in our lives, we can afford to think abundance only, and as words are only thoughts taking form, we must be especially careful to use nothing but constructive and harmonious language, which when finally crystalized into objective forms, will prove to our advantage.”

Every where we turn in the Master Keys, we are exhorted to think only positive thoughts. Think with precision about what we want most. What we think about grows. (But if you’re in the US and you’re forgotten about your taxes, you better think about them quickly, because even if you’ve forgotten them, the IRS hasn’t). But normally, what we forget, atrophies, so think about what you want and forget what you don’t.

This is where someone usually chimes in with a comment about something negative they have to deal with, or a remark that you can’t just think something into existence. The negative thing you have to deal with is an opportunity to substitute a positive thought pattern that presents it in a more positive light. And, if you’re not willing to work to make what you think about a reality, then it’s just a daydream. The purpose of thinking about what we want in precise, specific detail, is to make us alert to opportunities to change our lives in a way that will bring our dream in our heads closer to reality. By being aware of what we want, we’ll be more attuned to the opportunities when they appear.

But first, we need to get our minds in order. We need to practice thinking. We need to seek opportunities. They are there. Rarely will what we want just fall into our laps; however, by thinking deeply and regularly, it will be far more effortless than if we aren’t doing the thinking. Quiet your mind, and think.

Week 26: Law Review

Week 26 is, in most ways, proceeding well. Continuation prescribed re-reading the masker keys, which I had planned to do but not this soon. I adjusted. In my personal life, I’m finding a Law Review has been dictated.

I’m glad we ended the course with the Law of Least Effort. That means it has been fresh in my mind. I have needed it. I needed it the final week of the course, and I implemented it with less expertise than would have been optimal (I’m being kind here). I needed it again this week, and I’ve been better. Still sub-optimal, but a significant improvement over two weeks ago.

Indulge me while I keep the law review foremost in my mind:

Law of Least Effort: Acceptance

  1. I practice Acceptance. Today I accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. I know that this moment is as it should be, because the universe is as it should be. I do not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. My acceptance is total and complete. I accept things as they are in this moment, not as I wish they were.

 

Law of Least Effort: Responsibility

2. Having accepted things as they are, I take Responsibility for my situation and for all those events I see as problems. I know that taking responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for my situation (and this includes myself_). I also know that every problem is an opportunity in disguise, and this alertness to opportunities allows me to take this moment and transform it into a greater benefit.

Law of Least Effort: Defenselessness

3. Today my awareness remains established in Defenselessness. I relinquish the need to defend my point of view. I feel no need to convince or persuade others to accept my point of view. I remain open to all points of view and am not rigidly attached to any one of them.

Applying the Law of Least Effort means living each day with:

  1. Acceptance
  2. Responsibility
  3. Defenselessness

 

There’s a lot in there, isn’t there? I’ve had to repeat Acceptance, Responsibility, and Defenselessness over and over and over again over these past few weeks. And that isn’t the only law I’ve needed.

I’ve restarted the Mental Diet so many times, I’ve lost count. The negativity has attacked with a vengeance, and I don’t always laugh at the world as well as I would like to. Even though “this too shall pass” definitely applies, I’ve found myself wishing to apply the Law of Relaxation — having my calm, relaxed state of mind help me access infinite intelligence, because I’ve certainly needed it, coming up short time and again. The Law of Practice is getting a work out. Everywhere I turn, I find an opportunity to practice — these laws, and I perform amazingly because of practice. Well, I need more practice, because amazing, well, I’m getting a lot of practice, and I will perform amazingly because of practice.

I know what I’m going through now in my life isn’t even the dress rehearsal for the real thing yet, so practice I will, because I need to get this right. I’m struggling to apply the Laws of Dual Thought and Substitution — attaching any feeling I desire to any thought (my choice) and instantly replacing a negative thought with a positive one. I’m getting better and better at the Law of Growth — what I think about grows and what I forget atrophies. Without exception.

I’m still not thinking the thoughts I want manifested, and that requires more practice, because the Law of Subconscious is at work, and it’s manifesting (just not exactly what I have planned for it to manifest). Plenty of Sit fodder, that’s for sure. I think I’ve been pretty good with the Law of Forgiveness. How’s your Law Review going?

404 Errors — Sorry!

If you’ve been seeing 404 errors, I apologize. As near as I can tell, they are related to problems I’ve been having with my .htaccess file for the site. I’ve partially resolved the problem by switching to the default permalink structure, which I am not particularly happy with, but I’m more interested in making sure people can navigate the site when they get here, so I’ll do what I have to do.

I think I have the problem fixed, and new subscription notices should go out with the right link. Accessing from Tweets should also bring you to the right place. Maybe I need to make up a custom 404 page? I’ll consider that. In the meantime, I hope you won’t need it.