[In this little story, we describe how one fictional character expresses in the course of a single day a number of the key methods of how to evoke "Life Response," i.e. sudden good fortune.]
A New Dawn Rosa Sanchez awoke on a beautiful spring morning in the Central Valley of Northern California. After a few moments gazing out the window at the hills in the distance, it dawned on her that she now has far more energy than she used to have at this time of the day. Normally, it took at least a cup of coffee to get rid of the morning cobwebs. She wondered what it was exactly that was giving her this new-found energy. She thought about it for a moment, and then began to understand. Well, for one, she'd really been energized and excited by her new job. Just a few months ago, Rosa was struggling to find the right type of job. However, at that time she used the evolve! website and made a 30-day personal commitment to move to the next level in her life. In one of the evolve! learning lessons she read about the idea that there was a process of growth that one can follow to take ourselves to the next level of achievement and success in life. She decided to follow this process, focusing on elevating her career to the next level. As a result, life responded with a wonderful new job! In fact, it almost seemed like the position had come to her instead of the other way around! As she gazed out the window, Rosa wondered what it was that enabled her to acquire this job. What did she do that made life respond to her efforts? She then recalled that the first thing she did at the time was to use evolve! to set a 30-day goal to acquire a number of new skills in the areas of business and project management. When she executed that objective, it really energized her. Then after when she fully committed to finding a good position in that field while also making the inner effort to overcome her reluctance to aggressively seek work - - both tracked through evolve!'s Life Planning system -- everything started going right. Life suddenly started moving towards her as work offers began to arrive from seemingly out of nowhere. In fact, Rosa received solicitations for work from organizations she hadn't even made an effort to contact! This response to her efforts -- including the actual job she secured -- gave Rosa an enormous boost. No wonder she felt so energized on this beautiful spring morning! Adding to this was the fact that she had dramatically reduced her carbohydrate intake, lost twenty pounds, updated her wardrobe to match, and looked great. Rosa was operating at full throttle! Now compelled to meet the new day, Rosa turned away from the window, showered, dressed herself in one of her new outfits, and set off to work. A New Attitudes at Work When she arrived at her job that morning at IntegralNet, she noticed her friend Alicia down the hallway, and waved to her. When Rosa first arrived at her new job, she had felt a certain tension with her. There always seemed to be something about Alicia that bothered her. Fortunately, back at that time, Rosa remembered the idea that if one can overcome such negative feelings towards another, good things can suddenly start happening. In fact, on one particular day last month, Rosa was really feeling a bit irritated by Alicia, yet somehow managed to catch herself and control her feelings. She was even able to turn her irritation into the smallest amount of good-feeling towards her friend. On further thought about this incident, Rosa realized that later on that day her boss called her in and told her that she had been named project manager for the company's big product push! That gave Rosa far more responsibility than she ever had in the past. It also placed her in a much higher-level job position, which meant a boost in both her status and her salary. At the time, it was hard for Rosa to equate her change in attitude toward Alicia with the sudden new opportunity that came to her minutes after; but Rosa was now sure there was a direct connection! Changing an attitude and then experiencing a sudden, miraculous-like "life response" was a phenomenon that Rosa had begun to get used to. She had seen this miracle at work at least a few times in the months she'd been working on the new job. For example, she saw that each time she overcame her irritation, something good would happen -- whether a positive development on a project she was working on, or good news on the home front, and in other areas. Often the response seemed to come out of nowhere, as people she hadn't heard from in years would suddenly call; or someone from half way around the world would offer unsolicited new opportunities for the firm; and in other peculiar ways. As a result of her new understanding, Rosa made the commitment to overcome all such negative attitude and feelings in her life, right down to the smallest details of her moment-to-moment existence. She had decided back then that whenever she was bothered or irritated about something or someone, she would catch herself and stop it in its tracks. Rosa then went a step further. She also made the unusual commitment to consider how such negative feelings related to particular aspects of her life -- such as her childhood conflicts with her father, and the problems she had with boyfriends in the past; both areas she had never really dealt with. This overall daring and brave approach to life enabled Rosa to see her own true nature in a new light, while uncovering several negative qualities in her being that needed scrubbing. One direct result of this effort of self-improvement was that she was becoming calmer and more balanced in her being. In fact, the other day, when Tom came into her office and as usual carried on a bit too much, she remembered how she was able to get over her irritation, and just go with the flow of things. In fact, in that meeting she reversed her attitude of impatience towards Tom to such a degree that she actually listened to him very attentively; even encouraging him about his ideas on taking their project in a new direction. Instead of pushing him away in irritation, Rosa's new-found calm enabled her to have a relaxed, friendly interaction with Tom, in which new potentials and possibilities of work suddenly revealed themselves. Now, a week later, Rosa recalled how Tom's suggestions in that meeting were absolutely crucial to the eventual success of their project. If she had remained bothered and irritated, she may have never heard Tom's important suggestions, and their wonderful recent success on the project might never have happened. On reflection, Rosa realized that being calm, balanced, and open to others, devoid of any negative feelings and poor attitudes certainly opened the way to very positive developments in her career and life. Accepting the Givens of Life Speaking of which! In the first stages of the project Rosa was presented with tasks that she didn't exactly find to her liking. As a result, she either put them on the back burner or simply ignored them. It was only later on that she realized just how important these tasks were to the outcome of the project's success. Fortunately, as it turned out, at some point after she visited evolve! and read about the need to overcome one's reluctances in life. She learned about the fact that life presents us with situations we want to avoid and not deal with; perhaps because of a missing skill, or a lack of confidence, or some other insecurity or fear. She read there that what life presents you is often more important than what you would like to happen or do; more critical to life’s outcomes than our own wants and preferences. After seeing how avoiding the givens had put her in a hole in the early part of the project, Rosa became more attentive to, and proactive towards what life presented her, especially in relationship to the project. Instead of demanding what she wanted and fighting the givens before her, she embraced them in full. Most interestingly, she noticed that every time she overcame her reluctance and gave into the demands of the Now, whole new possibilities opened before her! Not only did the work go far smoothly than she imagined, but new, positive, and most unexpected developments occurred on the project. Wonderful things she never thought possible just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Once again, she realized that by overcoming a negative attitude, -- in this case her reluctance to embrace the present conditions -- life miraculously responded in kind. Rosa by now had really been intrigued by these ideas about changing one’s attitudes toward others and life, including the importance of embracing what life presented. Now as she looked down the hall at Alicia, she felt a small shiver as she knew that her life was not only different on the outside, but was also quite different on the inside, within herself. She now understood that these ideas were far more than abstract concepts s, but were practical, hidden truths of life that were having dramatic effects on her life. As a result, Rosa was now beginning to view the world through entirely new eyes. Most intriguing to Rosa was the concept of how taking certain actions -- like a conscious change in one's attitude or overcoming a reluctance -- triggered miraculous "life responses;" where positive things start suddenly happening from seemingly out of nowhere. Rosa smiled and felt a rush of energy just thinking about her experiences of this phenomenon as she made her way toward her office this bright spring morning. Consecration and a New Opportunity When she arrived at her office Rosa sat down on her leather chair, started up her computer, and thought about looking at her email. Then she caught herself, and decided that she would try something different. Instead of clicking on the Connect button on her screen, Rosa paused, and then remembered to "offer" the activity she was about to engage in to the Higher Power. Rosa had read about the spiritual method of "consecration," and thought why not try it now. So she relaxed, concentrated herself, and then thought in her mind "I offer what I am about to do to the spiritual Force. I have faith in Its action to bring about the very best results." Then she relaxed herself, focused her thoughts on the needs of the present, and continued on with her work. A moment or two later, she opened her email and noticed the usual assortment of messages. However, on closer examination, she noticed an email from her supervisor. Rosa opened up the message and learned that she had been invited to a high-level management meeting regarding the strategic direction of her division. She was thrilled by this message, knowing that this meant she was now going to be involved in the decision-making process for her entire division! This was a breakthrough in Rosa’s career, and as a result she was ecstatic and overjoyed. Interestingly, she also had the presence of mind to perceive that this astonishing result was another of those little life responses; this time in response to her "offering" of the act of retrieving her email to the Higher Power a moment before. Dazzled and dazed, Rosa once again shook her head in wonder. Now as her thoughts drifted back to her present situation, she suddenly realized that the meeting was going to start in 30 minutes! A half hour later Rosa was understandably a little anxious about the meeting; after all she had no real experience in the areas that were to be discussed. However, remembering the earlier "offering up" technique, Rosa once again tried it just before walking in the door for the meeting. An hour later when she walked out of the conference room, Rosa was amazed at how well the meeting had gone; how clear and understandable everything on the project had become; how amenable everyone was to one another; and perhaps, most significantly, how much she had actually participated in the discussion! "I guess this opening to a higher Source method really works after all," she thought to herself as she walked down the hall on the way to the cafeteria. It was another startling, even profound moment in her life. Power of Organization After lunch Rosa returned to her office to work on her big project again. She looked for a file on her computer and had a little trouble finding it. She also looked for her project management software manual and couldn't find that either. It turns out that Sherri dropped by the office at that very moment, and saw Rosa in a state of confusion. Rosa looked up and said "I can't find anything around here!" Sherri smiled sympathetically at her friend, to which Rosa said sardonically "Sure it's easy for you, you're organized to the hilt! This place is a mess!" Rosa slumped back into her chair, not knowing where to start. She had to do something about the intolerable state of her desk. Fortunately, she then remembered a series of articles at evolve! where they described different aspects of personal organization. Rosa then immediately wrote herself a note to reread that section when she had the chance. Now after a moment of reflection, Rosa was now committed to changing this aspect of her life as well. An hour later, Rosa told her two aides that she needed a little quiet time. She then walked down the hall and went to the company's business library. She took a seat at one of the high-speed Internet connected computers and went directly to the key Power of Organization article at evolve!. The part of the article that really got her attention was the list of determining factors that indicate whether or not one was organized. It included: --The way we organize physical things around us -- such as our home, our paperwork, our finance, etc. --The way we manage our time, our schedules, and our work --How systematized certain aspects of our lives are -- such as having systems for our finances, schedules, appointments, and to dos. She wrote them down on her highly visible yellow notepad with the understanding that she was going to come up with a plan to right this wrong in her life. When Rosa then lifted her head up a moment later, she saw Tom of all people standing right in front of her. He then told Rosa that he found out she was in the library and so he decided to come over and tell her the good news. "What good news?" Rosa asked. Tom then relayed the fact that the first phase of the project had been completed; three days ahead of schedule! He explained that the programming work had gone much faster than expected. Rosa was clearly elated by the news! Then a little voice in the back of her mind reminded her that she had just made a commitment to better organize herself. "Yes, I remember," she thought, "the evolve! site said that if you change an attitude or make a commitment for improvement, such as I just did to better organize myself, life suddenly responds in kind." This news about the early completion of the first phase of the project certainly seemed like an instant life response to her decision to better organize her life. She then realized that even before she actually made the actual effort to better organize herself she got the response. I.e. just the desire to improve one's self can bring about the life response result. It was another "wow" moment for Rosa; only a few minutes after the previous ones! A New Way of Living A while later Rosa returned to her daily job chores. She was so energized by the turn of event of the day that at one point she began to softly sing to herself. Then a moment later she quickly got up from her chair, but whap!, she banged her leg into the corner of the table. Her first reaction was an expression of pain, followed by a fear that she had done something serious to her leg. However, she caught herself, stayed calm, and pushed the idea of a bone being broken or some other serious damage occurring out of her head. In fact, she decided not to give it all a second thought. Twenty minutes later, she realized that after that initial painful and worrisome moment, she did not remember having a single twinge of pain from her little accident. She recalled reading awhile back that reacting to and thinking the worst about one's physical pain only increases it. In fact, the other day she had a similar situation when she felt a sharp pain in her side. Rather than dwelling on it, giving in to it, having fear about it, which would have surely kept the pain intact, she ignored it, and again, a few minutes later, noticed in retrospect that it had completely disappeared. "What a day!," she thought. On the way home, as she made her way through the traffic spilling out of Silicon Valley, she thought about how she had begun to gain control over her life; how she felt so much more happy, alive, energized, and in control. But what felt best was that she had begun to understand the deepest secrets of life, a feeling which enriched her to the core of her being. Rosa then decided that in addition to exploring ways to better organize herself, she wanted to understand more about those hidden secrets of life and existence that were alluded to at the evolve! site. She was also interested in learning more about why and how life in our universe came into being, how we came to be who we are, what we humans are really up of, and where we are headed in our human evolution; all topics addressed at evolve!. In particular, she really wanted to learn more about those magical "life responses;" how to trigger them, and how to live one's daily life filled with these small and large miracles. As her thoughts drifted to the traffic ahead, she felt a soft peace and tranquility envelop her. She had reached a point beyond feeling and thought, and bathed in what felt to be a higher presence. -by Roy Posner
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