The Art of Allowing...

A few years ago I attended a seminar in San Francisco called the Art of Allowing presented by Esther Hicks who is renowned for channelling the age old spiritual Teachings of Abraham.  For those who aren't familiar, the Art of Allowing is simply the process of allowing youreslf to attract and receive the things you want and dream about into your life.  For some it is simple and for others receiving can be a struggle and at this workshop it became apparent to me that allowing is a key aspect of femininity.   By no means am I an expert on the Teachings of Abraham, but I have noticed that although it can be perceived as quite a spiritual approach to manifesting your dreams which I really love, there is clearly also a practical side.  Always remember that allowing in the new takes letting go of the things you are hanging on to and making space in your life for what you truly deserve.  Oprah said it like this “If you want new clothes in your wardrobe, clear out the old ones that no longer serve you and make the space for the new ones”.

“Allowing starts with balanced thoughts, feelings and emotions”

The Art of Allowing starts with balancing your thoughts feelings and emotions to accept your current situation and embarking on the lifelong balancing act and journey of letting of the past to create the space for new possibilities.  Do you find that you seem to be doing all the right things in terms of positive thinking yet you just can’t seem to reach that happy place?  Do you notice that no matter how hard you try to push aside the negative thoughts and emotions you still sometimes end up in states of depression, anger or frustration?  Welcome to the real world and you are most certainly not alone.  Escaping in your mind to a happy place has its purpose, and this is not about discounting positive thinking; it is about accepting there are positive and negative traits in life.  It is about beginning to acknowledge your true thoughts, feelings and emotions to help you love yourself and others wholly while finding a balance. I feel the biggest mistake people make in the positive thinking world is to suppress or ignore negative or undesired emotions covering them over with positive thoughts and affirmations which in turn block them from opportunities.  Positive affirmations and thoughts can be very valuable and effective but on top of a live volcano of fiery emotions, have little or no effect at all.  Often negativity is labelled wrong and bad causing people to pretend they never experience it which totally confuses me because deep down we all know that we do it at times, so why pretend that it’s not real?  Sure, what you focus on determines your outcome and having a positive outlook is priceless but consider for a moment whether you want to build your foundation of life on sand or stone? Balanced thinking can be essential in the process of truly loving anyone, anything and maintaining longevity in what you create.  Too often we discount possibilities because they seem too negative and strive for purely positive life, sometimes referred to as a delusional fairytale that has you chasing your tail.  I believe you can create anything you choose in life and it is important to love all aspects then choose powerfully what is serving you and let go of what is standing in your way.  Allowing what you dream of into your life begins with letting go of the past, knowing what you want, being grateful for the full spectrum of emotions and the entire experience of fully living.

“What we repress, we express” Dr John De Martini

I believe Dr John De Martini says it well when he states that ‘What we repress, we express”.  What this refers to is that suppressing and pretending that there is no such thing as negativity can cause you to explode when the jar of emotions is so full it overflows and you can’t hide it anymore.  By trying to get away from negative thoughts and emotions it can be the very thing that causes people to ride a rollercoaster of depression and happiness or elation and deflation often labelled bipolar tendencies.  This can also cause people to create inconsistent results and a loss of faith in themselves and their ability to produce what they want.  It can cause people to spend most of their time getting back up from knock downs and falls from grace when that energy could be spent clearing the way for new possibilities.  None of us are immune to this and what I have noticed is that we often have an immense fear of facing the negative traits or darkness for varying reasons but letting go of it can be the very thing that sets us free. Releasing the past is not something that happens instantly and will always be a lifelong journey.  Just know that letting go of the past, shifting from negative repression to balanced self expression and clearing the way, although confronting can be a graceful experience.  To build a house on a rocky block of land covered in trees first requires some clearing to enable you to set solid foundations and build your dream home.  It takes time, patience, overcoming challenges and planning to see the end result but you are committed to the outcome.  Your house then requires ongoing maintenance and at times renovations but you love it regardless of its flaws.  Had you not recognised the great opportunity, made a clearing for it, accepted that it would come with positives and negatives, then built your dream on a solid foundation you may never have known what it is like to live your dream.  What does your dream life look like and what is it that you need to clear so you are able to allow it to manifest into your life?

“Rome wasn’t built in a day”

In the Teachings of Abraham Esther Hicks spoke of and demonstrated a process and simple method to help people attract new opportunities into their life.  I feel blessed to have been able to experience this in person and have the opportunity to view the world through new eyes especially after doing a lot of positive thinking seminars and striving for instant happiness and change.  In the Teachings of Abraham, Esther explained that rather than trying to make things better instantly or wanting happiness right this very minute it can be more powerful to simply reach for a better feeling place.  What I perceived this to mean is that instead of expecting to go from depression to happiness in an instant boycotting all other thoughts, feelings and emotions, to be realistic and decide to make a slight shift from depression to other emotions such as anger then maybe reaching for frustration while simultaneously acknowledging these traits.  Once you have owned frustration you are then able to shift into a state of annoyance which may have less of an emotional charge to it allowing you to comfortably and authentically begin to own more positive traits such as acceptance, contentment, gratitude, fun, peace or happiness.  Think of it like climbing a ladder.  It is impossible to get to the top without climbing up one rung at a time.  Any time you try to rush it and skip a rung or a few rungs, you lose stability and sometimes even fall back to where you started in a state of pain.  Whereas when you climb at a pace that is comfortable for you, taking one safe and steady step up at a time you reach the top with power and certainty.  Sometimes you may drop back a few rungs but since you know that it’s a gradual steady climbing process you are fine and know this is just part of life and you climb right back up again.   Eventually it feels normal being at the top of this ladder and setbacks are hardly affecting you anymore so you choose to get a bigger ladder that takes you to much greater heights.  Once again you set out on a similar journey one rung at a time, initially it is a little scary as you are experiencing things that may be unfamiliar but you take on the challenge expanding your horizons and putting yourself in a position where your view of the world has improved significantly.  You congratulate yourself for having the persistence and courage to climb such great heights.  You acknowledge yourself for confronting fear and negative thoughts, feelings and emotions along the way to be able to solidly stand tall ready for the opportunity to take on the next level in life one rung at a time.  Over time the state of depression seems like a distant memory and the solid foundation on which you stand has you know that you won’t go back but also gives you certainty that if you did, you know that you are always capable of climbing out again.

“Aim for the moon and you will at least reach the stars”

In the Art of Allowing I believe it is very important to also reach for a place that leads you to inner certainty that you are capable of creating anything you choose while knowing you are magnificent, worthy and deserving of all things that you value.  They say to aim for the moon and you will at least reach the stars.  I believe this is a great perspective to take as long as you know that it takes time, planning, commitment, action and sometimes hard work to get to the stars or even the moon.  Also it takes a solid foundation with a gradual, steady climb while overcoming challenges to be able to stay there.  Creating space and being a clearing for possibilities can be a fun and rewarding process filled with the magnificence of the ebbs and flows that are part of the beauty of life.  Let go of your attachment to your goals and give up forcing it to happen.  Replace this with certainty, faith and an inner knowing that it may take various forms and shapes before you find the one that suits you best.  Begin to embrace the entirety of the journey with a positive outlook and focus on your destination.  Open yourself up to the gifts life has to offer as the only difference between the ones who get where they want to go and the ones who don’t is the willingness to do what it takes to make it happen, clearing the way for the new and allowing in all that they know deep in their beautiful soul they are worthy of!