Hey
everyone I wanted to chat about the topic of, "The attitude of gratitude,
thinking positive and the laws of attraction.”
Let
me tell you why. When I started my
school I had no idea that it would flourish into something so huge. Starting off in a 600 square foot school that
had one locker room and only enough room for two people to change at a time
with an office that was so small there was no room for chairs to sit and
talk. Only one chair fit behind my
desk. All the others had to stand. Since then I built and opened branch schools
in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Brewster N.Y., Canton Michigan, Bermuda , Long
Island and now Flordia. When I began I only
had a few students but soon we outgrew our school. Before we knew it we were in the Honbu Dojo –
the headquarters in West Islip, N.Y. and remain in the same place 26years
later. We have taught thousands upon
thousands of students from the ages of 2 years old on up to adults as old as
70.
What
really excites me is the continual contact I have with students that do not
actively train with me any longer, but still consider them- selves
students. I wish there was a way to
continually teach them even if they live far away and some of them have asked
if I could put together an online training regime or class they can attend
virtually. This may be something I do in
the near future. My intention with writing
books, doing this blog and shooting videos is to help reach those that are not
capable of being at the dojo on a daily basis.
It is my goal to continually share with my students, friends,
ex-students and also piers the philosophies that I have developed over my 49 years
of training in the martial arts and my 52 years of life. I remain honored that so many people have
entrusted me with their children, themselves and consider me their
teacher. I don’t take this
responsibility lightly. So thank you for
reading this, I am honored.
What
is “The Law of Attaction and the Attitude of Gratitude.” How can this benefit
you and help enhance your life and your training. What is this all about? As you know I believe in Karma – if you want
to put a theory to it, you can say something like – what goes around comes
around. Life is filled with many
mysteries. The old biblical saying – Ask
and yee shall receive is very true. The
concept of “The Law of Attraction” is very interesting and very real. What you wish for you get. Here are a few key examples.
Have
you ever hummed a song in your head only to find out when you turn the radio
on, the song is at that very same spot on when you hear it? Have you ever thought of some one your care
about and you get a call from them soon after.
Have you ever thought of a friend from the past and bumped into them, or
someone that knows them. Why is it that
people call this coincidence? When in
fact it could be something way more evidident.
The
simple answer is many people who believe in science or proof as the answer
actually now have it. Some may say that
they don’t have an explanation, so it must be coincidence. What if your
thoughts and intention really had a powerful imnpact on what you manifest in
your life. Have you ever been happy and
found that more and more of the people you associate with are feeling the same
way or oppositely have felt sad and found everyone around you or the people
that come to you are feeling similarly. What
is it about energy that draws people to you? Both positive and negative? As a teacher there are times when I walk into
a classroom and everyone is feeling the same way, energized, melancholy or
angry. Why is it that an entire room of
people can feel this way? Did they all speak to each other and make a conscious
decision, this is the way everyone will feel?
Of course not! So is it possible
that this energy lies within all of us and we can sense it and it can serve you. Sometimes we are not in tune enough to
recognize this emotion and act upon it, so we are swept up in it. Other times we just feel odd and have to get
out of the situation or the emotion or simply we dismiss it as a coincidence.
Have
you ever walked into a party and just simply felt out of place. In your head you said “this is just not
right.” Or have you ever had the weird
feeling that someone was starring at you and you found that as you turn you
head you are totally correct. What is
this energy that allows you to sense this? There are a few scientific terms for
this but most of them are considered science.
Too many times scientists have explained this as a hoax a coincidence or
something that simply isn’t real. But you
know as studies go further it is now being proven through scientific
study. So if this is true and it can
benfiit us, then what can you do about it?
The
answer is quite simple: Recognizing - is
the first step. The second step is to
journal your experiences. Keep a record of how it happens, when and where. Once you have written these experiences down for
a long enough period of time, you will find some similarities and you can start
making deductions as to whether this is real or not to you. I have one test you can do I which I use all
the time. When ever I am about to enter
into a parking lot, I start chanting (Speaking) I wish I had a spot close to
the store, over and over again. As I
approach usually a spot is open for me.
If not if I wait just a few seconds and 90% of the time it opens
up. I laugh to myself at how much this
works and have even gotten my daughter to do it with me. I wonder if it will work for you, try
it.
The
more you take on the belief of Abundance and tap into the Law of attraction the
better off your life will be. Life is
designed to be blissful. The belief
system that you hold in your heart is the life you create. Sometimes
people can’t see through this and end up missing out on so many opportunities
and so much happiness. Abundance is
available to everyone, however some chose to live the life of scarcity. Continually making deductions that things are
the way they are because you deserve them or the world is a terrible place. Remember you create your own destiny. You are in total control of the people you
are with, the people you meet, the way your life is and the direction it is
going. If you chose to have a Black
Cloud above your head, then the skies will always be cloudy, no matter how
sunny it is. If you chose to see and experience
great things and open yourself up for the manifestation of greatness then it
will happen. As Forest Gumpf famous
philosopher once said “Life is a bowl of
cherries.” Life is what you make it. Forest thought that way and that is the way it
was to him. Some may say, “sure, Forest was an optimist, because he wasn’t
mentally fit.” But the reality is, what
you believe is what you see.
I
believe in my gut feelings and instinct.
The times when I didn’t trust it, I found that I really lost out. Usually the feeling you have about a person,
place or thing initially is the correct one.
I had this happen to me recently, when two individuals in my circle, made
me feel uncomfortable any time I was in their presence. But I dismissed it as their mood or that is
just the way they are. So I ignored it.
Inevetably it came to a head and turned out exactly how my premonition told me
it would. For example : you meet someone
at a party and you like that individual.
Even though they do silly things and they act inappropriately, you still
have a feeling of kindness for that person.
You are correct in your assumption.
Likewise in the opposite direction, sometimes people may rub you the
wrong way, but how you feel in your gut is usually correct. Learn to trust in your inner feelings a bit
more. Also, remember this doesn’t mean
that this person is a bad person. They
just might not be put on the earth to meld and blend with your energy. Which could be an entirely different topic.
I
remember some years ago, I had just returned from Japan. Things were not going all that well in my
personal life and I went to go to my dojo to teach. For some strange reason from the moment I
started my car, I had a bad feeling. I
ignored that feeling thinking it was a part of what was going on in my
life. No more then 10 minutes later I
ended up in a car accident. My gut knew,
my brain never recognized it. Sometimes
believing in your feelings is a chancy thing. Do you not leave the house when
you feel a specific way? I would say NO, this would be no way to live, but
understanding that the way you feel would be enough to put you on high alert
and that you should be careful or more aware of what is going on in your life
at that moment.
The
law of attraction and abundance is something that we all can easily tap into,
the simple fact is that you need to believe in it in order for it to happen and
benefit from it. As Depak Chopra said in
his book, “The spontaneous Fullfillment of Desire” Think of coincidences as
coded messages from the nonlocal intelligence. Pay attention, watch for clues,
decipher their meanings and eventually the truth will be revealed. In many ways, that’s exactly what
happens. After all, life is the ultimate
mystery.
He
goes on to say “What makes life mysterious is that our destiny seems hidden
from us, and only at the end of our lives will we be in a position to look back
and see the path we followed.”
Life
moves so freely from time to time, age to age and it all seems okay when we
look back. Even if life treated us unfairly with the proper attitude now, you
can make changes that are so blissful.
You can live a fulfilled life. It has nothing to do with money, who you
are with, or what job you have. It is not
about what status you have in your life, in your neighborhood or social ladder,
it is only about you. It is about being
happy. The law of attraction will fill
your life with happiness if you believe you deserve it and work toward it. You can not just wake up in the morning look
in the mirror and say to yourself you are happy, when truly in your heart you
are miserable. You must start feeling
that way a little at a time. If a person
is depressed, movement and a change of scenery sometimes make a difference but
the mind is what controls your emotions.
Sadly
more so now then ever in my life time, it appears to be fashionable to be
pessimistic, negative, confrontational and mean at times. We tend to not think before we speak and if
we speak in written text we seem to not even care, what we say and who it hurts
or offends. We used curse words as if they are now a part of our language in
the most inappropriate times, we think of free speech as being the write to
allow us to put down, be negative and hurt others. We are leaning more toward a violent society
rather than a utopian one.
A
great story I read was about a terminally ill man in a hospital bed. He was positioned in the middle of the room
so he was one bed away from the window.
There was another man that was adjacent to the window next to him and
continually looked out telling the other man all that went on outside his
window. The other man became bitter and
started to resent the other man. Even
though on a regular basis the other man told him of all that was going on and
when he did the other man was brought happiness. The man in his inner mind became more and
more bitter but enjoyed the stories of all that was going on outside the
window. Late at night the man closest to
the window died of a heart attack. The
man in the middle felt sad for the loss of his room mate, but aslo felt happy
that he could now have the spot next to the window. Later that day they brought in another patient
and the man screamed at the nurse. It is
my turn at the window. I am stuck here in this bed and I want to see all that
is going on. The nurse shrugged her shoulders and obliged the old man. When he arrived at his spot near the window
he found nothing but a brick wall. No
view, no people and nothing going on. He
immediately felt sadness and realized the other man was making up those stories
for his benefit and each day shared his love.
He received happiness by making someone else happy. Perception is everything isn’t it?
As the Dalai Lama has said time and time again, you must train your mind. Train it as if it were a muscle. For the muscle to grow strong you must work hard and exercise it daily. A while ago, I was speaking with someone about religion. In our conversation we spoke about subjecting your mind to specific areas. For example: spending time with someone who curses regularly will create a space in your mind for this behavior. I used to curse when I was younger but I never to curse any more. I very rarely slip I my head, but never out loud. I do not use foul language of any type. I think that it is unnecessary with the large vocabulary that is available to us. My life was not always this way. I had to re-train my mind. I eliminated this kind of thought process to the point that it was no longer in my vocabulary. Even when reading books – which I love to do, if they have curses I will replace the word with the letter or glance over it, not even reading it, not subjecting myself even to the thought. It makes it much easier for me not to curse that way. In this day an age, people do this without thinking. Speaking this way in front of children, men and women writing on social media and in my opinion it shows a lack of respect for others. Why do this if you don’t have to? Retrain your mind.
Similarly
you can do this with anything you want, sadness, happiness, violence etc. Why not just retrain the mind to think a
specific way. Think positive thoughts,
happy thoughts and believe in the law of attraction. If you want more from life, then think this
way, and spend time with people, places and things that will enhance this
behavior. Wish for it and it will come, believe in it and it will be there for
you. Ask and yee shall receive.
I
have spoken about this many times in my seminars. The easiest way it is to keep a tally, or if
you can go out and by a bag of black marbles and white marbles and for each
negative thought put in a black marble in a cup and for every positive thought
put in a white marble. It is your goal
at the end of the day to have more white marbles then black. At the end of the day write down how you did
and start from scratch again. The goal is to recognize the way you are thinking
and the things you are doing. Change the
process and retrain how you do it. If
you find your boss to be annoying, do not utter under you breathe what an
idiot, think of something positive about that person. Even when they are mean to you, think of
something positive that you can say or do or feel, maybe thinking he works
harder then anyone I know, or at the least maybe his life is tough at the
top.
Remember
forgiving someone is to forget as well. Many time people say they are going to
forgive but never forget. So later in life they end up bringing up the issues
from the past only to reinforce that of the present. In order to truly forgive you must truly
forget. So think positively and let it
go. Put a white marble in the cup. Think of the abundance of happiness as a thought
process.
Here
is a great scenario. I spoke of this in
my book “The Beginners Guide to Ninpo” and my newer book that is is called “21st Century Ninjutsu.” Your
personal philosophy is your DNA. It will
allow you to be happy or make your sad.
The goal is to think in such a way that will allow you the most
happiness. Remember the song, don’t
worry be happy? Well, if you think about
it, what is it that makes you unhappy? I
taught my daughter from a very young age that she has the power to change her
mood in the snap of her fingers. She has
two choices to either be happy or be sad.
What would she prefer to be?
Being a strong minded young girl she would sometimes point at one of my
others fingers as I held them up saying “Mad.”
I told her it is okay to be mad but do you want to be happy or sad or
even mad. She would always think about
it and chose the finger that represented happiness. She would make the choice and I would then go
on to tickle her into tears. She loved that.
It was our little game. She is
now going away to college to start her life as a young women. As she gets older it is harder for me to shift
her moods, because she is an independent thinker and she has to make that
choice for herself. So I use a method we
use in our schools called “a pattern interrupts.” This is utilized to get the person to think
of an entirely different thing. It works well for children who are grumpy or
crying. I will ask them questions to
take their mind off of the reason that they may be crying or grumpy. It works
99% of the time.
You
can use a pattern interrupt on yourself, by making the decision to be happy you
change your entire physical make up, your “DNA” so to speak. Doctors have found that laughter is a cure
for many illnesses. Why not prescribe
more laughter. Or as an individual spend more time around it, reading about it,
watching it on TV or thinking about it.
I
hope you enjoyed what I had to say so far and I hope that some of the methods
that I recommended you have either written down or burned into your
memory. It is your choice if you want to
live the life of Abundance, because abundance is a decision on your part. There are many people with all the money in
the world and anything they want, yet still miserable. You see this with Rock and Movie stars
continuously. It is not about what you
have it is all about what you appreciate and what you feel. The
opposite rings true when individuals have nothing, yet they are blissful. Humans have only one desire and that is to be
happy. Sometimes short term people may
chose a quick fix, like smoking, drinking or drugs. This will temporarily fix how they feel altering
how they see things. In the long term this will only make the situation worse. So in the end the best choice is the training
of the mind. Re-training the mind to
recognize sadness as a part of life, realizing that you can’t be happy all the
time, but also it is the choices you make and how you perceive things that will
make you happy.
On
a trip to Thailand
some years ago I witnessed people who virtually according to our standards
lived in shacks and had nothing. People
who didn’t have a floor or running water, but I saw smiles on their faces. The
fathers loving their children and husbands and wives hand in hand very
happy. With out all the materialistic
things how did they continue being happy.
It was a conscious decision I am sure and their perception of happiness
was based off of their believe systems.
To a homeless person a roof over their head and a warm meal would be
amazing. To a millionaire with all the
money in the world this would be torture.
What is your perception? What do
you want in life, what will make you happy.
I
want to recommend a few books to you –
1)
The Five Gateways to Happiness – by ME - Allie Alberigo
2)
The spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire – by Depak Chopra.
3)
The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama
4)
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Depak Chopra
5)
Many Live many Master by Brian Weiss
6)
Manifest your Destiny – by Wayne Dyer
7)
Awaken the Giant Within – by Tony Robbins
