The Power of Manifestation Through Gratitude

“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse.

You must first be WHO you really are, then, DO what you need to do, in order to HAVE what you want.”

 –Margaret Young

Many of you know that last weekend I had the unique experience of going to a taping of the Oprah show. Synchronicity is a wonderful thing, the theme of the show, which is airing on April 9, was about your bucket list, about the things that you want to do before you die. And this is a HUGE topic to speak about, and for some a huge topic to even think about. So before we get started just close your eyes, and breathe.


Although we are complex beings, there is something very simple about the mind – did you know that you can only have one thought at a time? In every moment that passes we can only have one thought. When your thoughts take you off of your breath, CHOOSE to come back to the breath, releasing the other thoughts that come to you. All you need to do right now, is breathe, CHOOSE to breathe.


Often we get lost in accumulating “stuff”, we get lost in working, making the almighty dollar to have the right stuff, to do the right stuff and be the right stuff – and when we lose ourselves in this way of life and thinking, and we come to find ourselves living a life that isn’t recognizable to ourselves. We find ourselves unhappy, lacking in love, respect and even loyalty…and often we find ourselves overweight. Oh, the torture of it all! Trying to keep up with the neighbours, satisfy everyone else in the house hold, community and family. Why do we do it? Why do we get so buried in life and expectations that we forget to live in the present moment and enjoy it? Why do we worry and fret and stress over things that we simply have no control over? We all do it – we all let stress ROB us of time, joy, love, acceptance, peace…


So, I recently found myself reflecting about the one thing that everyone in the world wants – and I believe that is to be loved. I believe that we are all trying to get to a place of love. Now, when I refer to love, I am referring to self-love. Yes, it is important to love others, but love of self or rather a lack of love, is what has brought us all here – to this journey.


In the last while, I have made a conscious choice to love myself by listening to my body, my spirit, my soul and my God. I have made the conscious choice to NOT let stress ROB me of my time, not dictate to me poor food choices, or steal away my energy and passion for the things that I love. So, I would like to share with you how I came to that place emotionally, spiritually and physically.


Our thoughts are like little magnetic prayers that we send out to the universe, and so what we think we attract. I am sure that many of you have thought something good or bad is going to happen, and sure enough it does…Spiritual teachers call this the Law of Attraction, what we think …we are. You have heard this before…well let’s begin to adopt it.


To do that we need to change the way we “think” primarily about ourselves. The trick of it is though, that as we change how we think of ourselves, we change how we think about the world around us. So let’s start small, I would like you to make a short list of 5 things that you appreciate about yourself. Five things that you are grateful to be. Think about your personality traits, your abilities, your families. Here is my list:


1. Leadership qualities


2. Organization skills


3. Great listener


4. Accurate intuition, follow through


5. Realistic


Now let’s create a sentence around your list. It might be a couple of sentences, or it might just be one. Start with, “I am grateful for…. “or “I am grateful that…” And let’s write it down, as our thoughts written down help us to manifest and attract to us our heart’s desire’s faster. Writing things and thoughts down is very powerful as it makes it “real” and gives it physical energy. Here is my sentence: “I AM a great listener, realistic with strong organizational skills and leadership qualities. I HAVE accurate intuition and I WILL follow through.”


What do we do with these statements now? We begin to use them as affirmations. We can write them on post-it notes, or journal about them or whatever feels right to you. By focusing on those things that you are grateful for, you attract positive energy, positive thoughts around you. It isn’t about being cocky or over confident; it is about being respectful and honouring who you truly are as a human being. Begin reinforcing the things that you like most about yourself and the more grateful that you are about your own person, the more traits that you will begin to notice that you like about yourself.


Now there is a bit of a trick to this – you see when you recognize a quality in someone else, it is because you, yourself carry the similar quality. Often we respect others for their leadership, their organization, their dedications, their ability to balance books…but the honest truth of that is, that we wouldn’t be able to recognize that if we didn’t already carry those traits and know what it takes to do what they do – right?


There is a unique learning opportunity here – and this is where awareness now becomes a powerful tool and catalyst for change. When we recognize traits in others that we despise, that we can’t stand, that presses our buttons and pushes us over the edge…why do you think that is? We respond so drastically with emotional response, it is because that is a trait that we possess – that we DON’T like about ourselves. Now, having the ability to recognize that gives us the CHOICE to change it, to take control over it, so that it doesn’t control us! There are only two things that we have control over in our life – two things – how you CHOOSE to act and how you CHOOSE to react. That is it. So if you are going to overreact know that that is a conscious choice, only you have the power to change. Now, in every negative there is a positive – so look for the positive aspect of that trait, use gratitude to honour that trait, and then allow that to flourish by keeping it in the light, and let the rest of it fall away and CHOOSE NOT to honour that which doesn’t suit your highest and best character.


Now let’s set some goals. Everyone in here has a goal or two. Let’s pick one. For instance, my initial goal when starting my weight loss action plan was to be able to wear my wedding rings again. That became my mantra, “I wear my wedding rings with pride!” And after 6 months, I was able to wear my wedding rings. My goal wasn’t a number; it was tangible… I also had a dream of doing Third World Mission Work one day, and last August, I had an “Ah-ha” moment, as Oprah would say. I realized that the only thing standing in the way of me doing mission work was….ME. I had created boundaries, restrictions and had over time limited my thoughts and beliefs to what I could and couldn’t do - and the truth of it is – if you want it, if you believe it, if you think it…you can do it, have it and live it! We are only limited by our OWN thoughts…


Let’s each of us write down a goal, or a dream that you have had or carried your whole life. It might be something that you have always wanted to do, or have. It might be a personal change in your personality, a fear that you want to over come…it could be a weight loss goal, a relationship goal, or it could be travel? Now, when you write it down, when manifesting, making our hopes and goals real … we always state it in the present tense, so that when we think it and put that magnetic law of attraction out there, it knows that we deserve it NOW…when we use words like soon, if, when, it implies to your God or to the universe that you don’t feel that you really deserve it, that you are not worthy of it – which is a whole different topic of discussion for another day…so for now, when manifesting, lets use the present tense such as “I am ready for third world mission work and the third world is ready for me.” Or, “I am a tall, slender, beautiful blonde bombshell!” etc…


Speaking your statements or affirmations aloud is like a ritual, you have written it, made it real, but speaking it gives it life and it makes you accountable to follow your own dreams…Say it like you mean it! Like you deserve it! Say it again, and again, day after day, until your body starts to resonate with what you are saying, and feel that magnetic pull attract what you truly want in your life, and what you truly want out of life.


I hope that each of you will take your gratitudes, and write them on post-its, put them on your fridge, or on your bathroom mirror, so that every time you walk by you can say it, think it and send the message out, so that you can attract your goals into your life. Try it…you just might be pleasantly surprised when it actually works!!!

The Reiki Affirmation

Just for today,

I will not worry.

I will not be angry.

I will do my work honestly.

I will give thanks for my
     many blessings.

I will be kind to my neighbor and all living things.

I am going to be an audience member for the 3/27 A taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show, and recieved an email regarding the topic of what people have on their "list" of things to do before they die. I am responding to that with my story, what I want to do before I die:


I am a youth coodinator at the Greenbank United Church in Greenbank Ontario, Canada. Working with youth has always been a passion and an integral part of my life. Even as a teenager, I was leading teens, teaching Sunday School etc. I have always wanted to be able to provide a place for youth to come, where they can have good clean fun, no pressures for drugs, alcohol, sex etc. That they can have an oppertunity to be "real" with who they are, and get to know themselves better while making meaningful and deep relationships with others. What I found working with them, listening to them, and identifying with them, was that they were looking for "goals" or projects. Youth ministry seems to be becoming "task-oriented". Now, Greenbank is a very small town of about 150 families, one church, one store, one bakery, one small school (130 kids), one little community hall; so finding goals and projects to help others in the community was never really that hard, because we all grew up together, knowing each other and knowing when someone needed a helping hand. But, what I found with the teens was that they were looking for broader, bigger things, things that would take them beyond our little town. I, myself, as a teen, had always dreamed of participating in Third World Mission work, but small towns often limit dreams.

Last year, the teens and I set a goal to go to Biloxi, Mississippi to work with Habitat for Humanity Gulf Coast, in an effort to help re-build communities that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina over 4 years ago. So, a team of 12 teens from our small town piled into 2 vans and drove 1100 miles down to Mississippi and worked in the sweltering August heat (110degrees, 100% humidity) for a week building a home for a family still recovering from the devestation of Hurricane Katrina.

Let me tell you why this trip was so much more than we anticipated…although our intentions were to go and build homes, we built relationships, and bettered ourselves along the way. This experience was life changing, in the sense that we were able to experience how others lived, how others suffered, how a group of people with different backgrounds, and some who are complete strangers can come together for a common goal, for a greater good to make a difference in a community that isn’t even ours. And yet, after volunteering our time, it will be forever be a part of our history. These teenagers are individuals, who are not afraid to charter unfamiliar territories. They coordinated the heavy lifting of an entire roof of trusses, 2x4’s, and 2x6’s, comforted other volunteers who suffered heat exhaustion. They moved scaffolding, helped educate each other on the difference and the use for several different kinds of nails, screws, power tools and saws. They were a part of building a roof, building a deck and building a shed and other important tasks. They each took on a leadership roll for our team, began projects from scratch, assembled a teams to help and saw it through to the finish. All for a family that they never met.

So, I will admit that I underestimated these youth. When we first arrived at camp, we finished our orientation, I had left to go and sign some papers, when I came back for supper, do you know who was in the kitchen helping to serve the other volunteers their dinner? Our team. Our team, worked hard all day at the job site, came home to work hard serving each other and other volunteers. They did it all week long. They amazed me everyday with their compassion and care for one another. Their willingness to overcome their own personal fears to help and support others.

They impeccably represented themselves, their Church, thier community, this province, this country – and that is a tall order! It was very obvious that our supporters made a sound investment in Habitat for Humanity, AND at the same time, invested in our Youth, in our community, and they WILL go on to do good work, in our community here at home. Even though this was a mission that benefited a community over 1100miles from home, I believe that it had an even greater impact here on our local community, and through our youth we will see these benefits for years to come.

On our long, grueling drive home from Mississippi, a conversation took place in the van that I was driving, about how this could just be the tip of the iceberg for us. That this kind of work is so important, perhaps we should do this again, more often? I remember driving, and thinking back to my dream as a teenager, to have the oppertunity to do third world mission work, and I had an "Ah-Ha" moment. I realized that the only reason I wasn't doing third world work, was....ME! I was the only thing standing in my way. Sure, there are other responsibilities, other limitations, but all of that can be overcome, with dedication, determination and drive. So, upon arriving home, a series of events unfolded to bring me into the Loving Arms Caritable Organization, an organization that works primarily with children and youth in remote, indiginous Guatemala. I pledged to go with Loving Arms this April on a Mission Trip, and when word spread through our little town, I was met with support, interest and desire to participate. Within a few weeks, we had established a team of 15, both youth and adults to embark on our communities very first Third World Mission Trip. Our goals are to teach self-sustainment, and build confidence, and efficiency within their communities. Our intentions are NOT to change the indiginous culture, but to support it and support them in maintaining their culture. We leave on April 30, and will be there for 10 days. These are some of the things that we will be doing:

· Leading 150 women in hygiene and empowerment seminars
· Painting classrooms in a local school
· Holding a soup kitchens where 1000 women and children will be fed a hot meal
· Organizing soccer and hockey games for children
· Assisting in both medical and dental clinics
· Furnishing 8 sponsored homes, including building beds, shelving units, and building brick stoves
· Building a junglegym/playground for the local school
· Launching an agricultural program involving pigs, where fenced in areas will be built
· Hosting a clothing distribution program where children will be fitted for shoes for school
· Their bean and pea harvest will be ready for picking, so we will be aiding in the hand picking of their ripe crops

You asked, what are the things that you want to accomplish before you die? And for me there are many. There are places that I want to travel, certain career accomplishments I want to acheive, and material things that I would like to buy one day. Ask me if they are high on the priority list, and I will tell you that they are there, but they aren't the things that create passion and joy in my life. What creates passion and joy for me, is providing oppertunities, for others to learn, grow and challenge themselves to know themselves, love themselves, and by extension honor their neighbors both far and wide. What I realized coming home from Mississippi, is that small town or not, your dreams can be as big as you ALLOW them to be. We are our own boundary keepers. If we can have the courage to dream, somewhere inside is the courage to follow through with those dreams. My life purpose or goal is to fortify the courage and strenth upon our youth's journey. I commit to support, love and nurture their talents, gifts and purpose for the greater good of humanity. Simply, what I want to do before I die - make a difference.

Thank you for the oppertunity to share.

Blessings,
Juli Conard

Statement of Intention

Statement of Intention

The purpose of this blog is to encourage others to strive to connect body, mind and soul in a way that resonates truth, healing and universal love within oneself.  I believe that whatever happens in the mental. emotional and spiritual body, manifests in the physical body.  We cannot treat the physical body without acknowledging that which exists emotionally, mentally and spiritually. 

My intention is to encourage you to look in the mirror that life is continually holding up to you, to practice 'admission medicine'; be real with what you have cocreated and manifested in your life; and to dig deep and fearlessly break the patterns that hold you in every moment but this one.  To fortify your courage and strenth upon this journey, I commit to support, love and nurture your talents, gifts and purpose for the greater good of humanity. 

Blessings,

Juli