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Guest post by Laina Orlando
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“Sleeping Soundly” Art Print

Pain can be a good thing.

Yes, you heard me right. A good thing.

To soften the impact of the word, I made it a character and began calling him “Mr. Payne”  … sounds harmless, right? “Mr. Payne just pulled up in his purple Maserati.”

This week I was going-going-going. Nothing bad really. Actually pretty wonderful things were unfolding.

I was following inspiration and creating … painting pictures for clients … birthing logos, building books, creating web pages … conspiring from afar with my teammate Steve, superman developer, able to leap tall computer towers in a single … well, you get the picture.

Where was I?

Ah yes.

Going going going.

When I say “going” I do mean “going” … the type of going where you forget to do the self-care thing.

Little things like, well … eating … sleeping …

My friends think I’m nuts when I get into this space. They don’t believe it’s humanly possible to be painting and creating and building and conspiring with superman developers all day and all night and not sleeping.

But any artist will tell you: It is possible. It is so possible!

And when you do that … and your body really needs that self-care … trust me, Mr. Payne will come knockin’ to make sure you remember.

And if you continue not to listen, he knocks HARD.

Last night he busted the door down.

At one point, I typed to Steve, “Ouch!”  By morning I couldn’t even type straight, I was forced to lie down. Literally forced. Mr. Payne was comin’ at me from all directions.

I took the cell phone into my bed and called mom, “I’m totally sick!” After all, if I were to die over here, somebody should know, right? 

My body took over and I passed out. Didn’t wake up til 9:30 pm.

9:30, people!

I woke to a note on my door (and food in my fridge!)

Not a note on the door to my house but a note on the door to my bedroom.

Not a note on the outside of the door to my bedroom but a note on the inside of the door to my bedroom.

Someone had come into my house, into my bedroom, and I didn’t even know it! That is sooo unlike me, the chick who wakes up when the sprinkler goes on outside. I must’ve really needed that rest.

In fact, I know that I did.

I woke up thinking, “My body is *SO* smart! Thank you, body!” (Give credit where credit is due: Mr. Payne is so smart. He gave me no other option but to lie down and get some rest.)

You see, Mr. Payne doesn’t just visit randomly. He stops by to say, “Hey!” with a message to share and he comes bearing gifts. Mostly the message is, “Stop!” Usually it’s that.

And how smart he is when he says that, right? Have you ever noticed when you get sick, it comes at a time when a break and a rest would really serve you well?

I have.

• Have you ever received the gift of forced-rest, right when you could use it most?
• How about the gift of support and deeper appreciation of the people in your world who really care?
• What gifts have you received from Mr. Payne?

Next time he comes knockin’, stop and say, “Well, hello Mr. Payne! What are you here to share with me?”

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Sleeping Soundly Art Print :: Visit We Are THAT Family for more Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas! :: Special thanks goes out to Mr. Payne for his cameo appearance, momma ‘n dad for the gift of their love and support, superman Steve for saving the world with me (or at least the world’s web sites) and to YOU for reading this for sharing a bit of your time with me here. I so love receiving your comments!

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From the film What the Bleep Do We Know!?

“I wake up in the morning and I consciously create my day the way I want it to happen. Now sometimes, because my mind is examining all the things that I need to get done, it takes me a little bit to settle down and get to the point of where I’m actually intentionally creating my day. But here’s the thing: When I create my day and out of nowhere little things happen that are so unexplainable, I know that they are the process or the result of my creation. And the more I do that, the more I build a neural net in my brain that I accept that that’s possible. (This) gives me the power and the incentive to do it the next day.

“So if we’re consciously designing our destiny, and if we’re consciously from a spiritual standpoint throwing in with the idea that our thoughts can affect our reality or affect our life — because reality equals life — then I have this little pact that I have when I create my day. I say, ‘I’m taking this time to create my day and I’m infecting the quantum field. Now if (it) is in fact the observer’s watching me the whole time that I’m doing this and there is a spiritual aspect to myself, then show me a sign today that you paid attention to any one of these things that I created, and bring them in a way that I won’t expect, so I’m as surprised at my ability to be able to experience these things. And make it so that I have no doubt that it’s come from you,’ and so I live my life, in a sense, all day long thinking about being a genius or thinking about being the glory and the power of God or thinking about being unconditional love.

“I’ll use living as a genius, for example. And as I do that during parts of the day, I’ll have thoughts that are so amazing, that cause a chill in my physical body, that have come from nowhere. But then I remember that that thought has an associated energy that’s produced an effect in my physical body. Now that’s a subjective experience, but the truth is is that I don’t think that unless I was creating my day to have unlimited thought, that that thought would come.”

(Dr. Joe Dispenza in What the Bleep Do We Know!?)

Clink! The shaving gel hits porcelain. I pick it up, turn ‘round and … Dink! Wide-tooth comb at 1:00, knocked down off its perch. I laugh, “I’m such a spazz!”

Pause, review, remove.

Because … What was that? Did I hear a label being tossed around? I hate the word “hate” but I apologize in advance, I really must use it here:

I hate labels.

They don’t feel good. Plus when you get right down to it, they’re verbal post-it notes. They never stick.

Think about it:

Guy’s supposed to come fix your cable. Doesn’t show. What a jerk! “Jerk?” Maybe.

Or maybe he’s a cable guy. A cable guy who didn’t come.

Same guy brings home a puppy to his daughter. Sweet! Sweet guy. He now has two post-it’s stuck to his forehead:

Sweet.

Jerk.

What a sweet jerk!

And about a million other things.

Y’see, with labels it’s all or nothin’. Either we acknowledge that he’s everything from dark to light … or we remove his dark label and talk about the action, not the person.  I prefer label removal. Observe:

“I’m such a spazz.”

Or

“I knocked the over the shaving gel. I knocked over the comb.”

Hmm. Feels better already.

Here’s the technique:

Pause: “Hang on a sec, I notice I just labeled somebody.” (Self or other, same rules apply). Not to worry, happens all the time with us humans.

Review: Rewind and look back. What was your misperception? Or what was your over-generalization? What did you think or say that was only a half-truth? Labels usually involve one of these.

Remove: Get real and super-truthful. Talk about the exact action instead of the exaggerated name or adjective.

“I’m an idiot” becomes “I forgot my keys.”

“He’s a player” becomes “He dates lots of girls.”

“She’s a snob” becomes “She didn’t say hi to me.”

It may take a bit of practice but label-removal is both freeing and simple. Like pullin’ off a bandaid, but without the sting. It only hurts if you leave it *ON*.

Look at the action, don’t label the person. Try a week of this and see how you feel. And don’t worry if you come home one day to find yourself covered with post-it’s … We’re all human. It happens. Just go back to the simple instructions:

Pause, review, remove.

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Down here is where I usually “give credit where credit is due” but guess what? Label removal is my own idea so if you tell your peeps, this time YOU’re gonna have to give ME credit, how ’bout that? :: The image you see is a card from the Power Thought Card Deck by Louse Hay :: Visit We Are THAT Family for more Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas! :: Share on Facebook

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Pollyanna gets a bad rap.

The world at large may snarkily label the eternal optimist “Pollyanna.” But y’know what? There’s a big difference … I might even venture to say a bi-hi-HIG difference … between

• calling the gray sky blue

and taking the time to remember that

• the rain sounds nice on the roof
• watering the plants today was already taken care of for me
• the birds look so cute splashing around
• it was hot and sticky before and now it’s not

I’m just sayin’.

We all know (you know this, right?) that what we focus on expands. You think, “I’d really love to drive a VW Bug” and suddenly they are popping up all over the highway. I mean, everywhere, right?

So I say take advantage of that principle and bring some good stuff in. What do you dig about here and now? What floats your boat?

“What we ask you to do is practice moving your gaze. Practice changing your perspective. Practice talking to different people. Practice going to new places. Practice sifting through the data for the things that feel like you want to feel and using those things to cause you to feel a familiar place. In other words, we want you to feel familiar in your joy. Familiar in your positive expectation, familiar in your knowing that all is well, because this Universe will knock itself out giving you evidence of that Well-being once you find that place.”

— Abraham-Hicks

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What a fun picture, right? It’s called Tejados II and you can click HERE to pick one up for yourself! :: The beautiful quote is from Abraham-Hicks. If you like that, you’ll LOVE their book The Law of Attraction :: Visit We Are THAT Family for more Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas! :: Share on Facebook

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Ok, it’s decided. I’ve had a ton of fun dates recently and although I do not know who I am going to marry, I do know how I want my wedding party to behave. And it looks a little bit like this:

When you’re making choices based on joy and high vibrations, everything else sorta falls into place. You don’t need to figure it all out. You don’t need to toil away or try-try-try.

I’ve been making videos for a year now (happy anniversary! ) and more recently, leading teleclasses.

Why? Um … cuz I like it.

That’s really it. I’m just following inspired action and picking up a trail of joy breadcrumbs and boy has it been an awesome ride!

I love to travel and following this trail has brought me on 8 trips this year. Just this month, with no pushing of any sort, I’ve been asked to do a bunch of really awesome joint ventures with people. Next week I’m flying out to California to record and edit video promos for one of my favorite clients in the whole, wide world. I’ve met people I used to watch and admire, have been to their houses and hung out with their families and have come to call them some of my dearest friends.

Inspired action is like that. You may not know why you are doing it, you may not know the end result, but what you do know is that what you are doing feels good. And that’s all that matters.

Drop the thought, “I need to know.”

Drop the thought, “I should only do things that make money.”

Drop the thought, “Where is this leading?”

Drop the focus on what you do not know and begin focusing on what you do know. “This feels good.” That’s all you need to know. Just follow your own particular joy breadcrumbs and your life will unfold in surprising and fascinating and delightful ways. Promise.

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Special thanks so Sonia Miller for pointing me to this joy-filled video. “We attract what we feel about, not what we think about.” :: Visit We Are THAT Family for more Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas! :: Share on Facebook

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Louise Hay’s Wisdom Cards (Beautiful Card Deck)

So here’s the latest scoop on the Col front.

I make mistakes.

I know, I know, shocking huh.

A fascinating thing has been unfolding this week and I felt inspired to share it with you.

First, I didn’t feel well.

Then I judged myself.

Then I got confused.

They say what you think about and talk about you bring about so under that theory, if a pal asks, “Hey Col, how ya doin’ today?” and I answer, “Not feelin’ too well” … which, of course, is the honest truth … am I then attracting more of the same?

On top of that, I used to (note the “used to” … cuz I’m gonna change this stuff ) judge myself.

Why am I not well? I should be fine. Why am I not fine? What did I do wrong to make myself not fine? Have I not been following doctor’s orders? Why have I not been following doctor’s orders, how hard is it to follow doctor’s orders, what’s wrong with me anyway?

Benjamin Zander says … if you make a mistake, throw up your hands and exclaim, “How fascinating!”

He talks about being in the downward spiral vs living the rest of your life in possibility. He also teaches that scarcity and abundance are not assessments of the situation but reflections of attitude.

Towards the end of the week my friend Rant sent me an Abraham-Hicks recording, which I began listening to as I lay down. Funny thing is, I didn’t realize it was on endless loop so I listened to the whole thing, then fell asleep and it began again.

And again.

And again.

The whole night I kept floating back up to semi-consciousness over and over, aware of Esther’s words wafting in around the far edges of my sleepy mind.

And here is what she was saying:

“The problem with you is, you keep wanting to speak the truth. You tell how it is. And if how it is isn’t how you want it to be, why keep talking about it? Tell the story how you want it to be.”

So I decided.

If I have a day that is 10% well and 90% unwell, I am going to voice the well. I’m going to do this for a week, like a game, and see how it goes.

That’s the first thing.

Second thing is:

Dang, girl, quit abusing the only Col we’ve got! If I didn’t do something perfectly and as a result I don’t feel well, I’ll say to myself, “Self, aah, interesting. Not well. Feel like lying down? Yes? Well ok then I guess we’re going to lie down now.”

And that’s it. No judgment, just observe. I made a mistake, how fascinating!

Here is the delightful Benjamin Zander, talking about making mistakes and radiating possibility…

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Special thanks to the peace-inducing Elyse Hope Killoran for pointing me in the direction of the inspiring and delightful Benjamin Zander … to Betsy for magical visions and for reminding me to stop beating myself up … to Rant for giving the amazing and generous gift of wisdom and Abraham … to Christine for always listening and supporting me with daily reminders appreciating who I am and prompting weekly joy recharges … and to Sly for his friendship and for making my friend a beautiful song of her very own! And to all four of you for all of the touching “Col is” appreciations which came in my eggs and made my heart smile real big. See more of Louise Hay’s beautiful card deck, Wisdom Cards.
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Law of Attraction says that everything we desire is already in our vibrational escrow- think of it as an energetic warehouse. (Or a big candy store!)

Phil Giuliano teaches us how to get into vibrational alignment with what’s in our escrow by …

• imagining it so as to feel it
• remembering things from our past which are part of our new desire
• writing a story of how it will be to have what we desire
• finding something to appreciate in our current situation
• moving our focus away from “what is” if we don’t like what is

If we don’t like what’s real, focusing on what’s real will create more of what’s real. The trick is changing the focus from where we are to finding the feeling place of the thing that we desire.

The important thing is that we feel it. Then what’s in our vibrational escrow gets drawn into our reality.

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Want more? Pick up The Law of Attraction by Abraham-Hicks :: Visit Rocks in My Dryer for more Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas! :: Share on Facebook

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There are three types of business. Are you in someone else’s business? If so, bring your energy back to your own business.

Be fully, radiantly YOU … share that with another person and then what they add to your world is not a necessity but an enhancement.

Pick up Loving What Is by Byron Katie for more wisdom.

“If you could get to the place where you no longer feel
a need to push against anything that you disagree with,
you would become in alignment with what you do agree with.”
- Esther Hicks

So tell me what you want.

Is your story full of “I want not-this’s?” How much of what you think and speak of each day is banging the drum of what you do NOT desire? Saying, “I want not this” keeps us stuck.

Let me give you a few examples:

• Talking about something your ex did which you really disliked.
• Thinking, “I don’t want this mess to be here” when looking at clutter.
• Even saying, “I want a different job” … which may carry the energy of disliking your current occupation.

Banging the drum.

It’s time to bang a new drum. Use what you don’t want as contrast, absolutely … in order to clarify what you want … but don’t allow your focus to remain there. Instead, speak of what you *do* want.

So … “my ex did this” becomes …

• What did I learn?
• What can I appreciate?
• What do I look forward to in my next relationship?

“I don’t want this mess to be here” becomes …

• I love it when my place is clean.
• I appreciate organization.
• Look at this little spot of clear floor, ain’t it grand?

And “I want a different job” becomes …

• I’m so lucky to have a job.
• I so look forward to being an artist (or whatever you love!) someday soon.
• Or better yet: What I appreciate about my current job is …

Whenever you’re not feeling so good, ask yourself, “Am I banging the drum of what I do not want?” If so, turn it around. Make sure it’s real and make sure it has positive vibes attached … make sure what you say makes you feel good.

If your husband does something you don’t like, instead of constantly telling people that story, make a conscious effort to tell the story of what you do like about him … even if it’s one tiny thing. That thing will expand and grow and that thing will take on a life of its own, I promise you. You will attract more and more of THAT.

Whatever you speak of and think of, you will attract more of.

Why do I tell you to do this? It’s simple. I want you to feel good. Not just good but REALLY good. And I want you to attract all good things into your world.

I challenge you … for one week make sure you are banging the drum of what you want. I know, I know, somebody cut you off in traffic. Don’t tell that story. Tell the story of the thing that went “RIGHT” instead of the thing that went “WRONG.” I just know if there’s one, there’s also the other.

Think and dream about what you do want. Talk about what you do want often, leaving out the “not this” piece. Talk only of yes’s not no’s.

Do this for one week. Then let me know how you feel. Here’s to feeling better than you ever imagined!

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The concept of banging the drum comes from Abraham-Hicks The Law of Attraction :: Visit Rocks in My Dryer for more Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas! :: Share on Facebook

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