The Feng Shui of My Life

I am a firm believer in the power of energy – not in an astrological or “I see dead people” kind of way, but in the power of attracting what you want by not trying so hard.

I wasn’t always this way. I used to worry with the best of them about things I could not control. If there is a book on it, whoever wrote it stole everything from me! But eventually I realized that it was all counter-productive. I’ll give you an example:

You would never have called me “cheap” but I didn’t really make any money until I loosened up on the concept of currency. For a time, a long time ago, I was staying 7 steps ahead of the bill collectors and denying myself any spending on fun. When I gave money less attention, suddenly there was more of it.

I have decided that when I really, really want something and it turns out I can’t have it – whatever it is – when I stop wanting it, it comes. And if it doesn’t come, I can choose to decide that that’s OK. It’s very powerful stuff. Why make part of my life “not” OK? It has to be OK! It is what it is and time ticks away whether I’m happy about it or not, so I choose to be happy.

I was thinking about this today as I took four boxes of household stuff into Goodwill. On Wednesday, the Cerebral Palsy people come to pick up two bags of clothing and linens and my Dad arrives to take away some small furniture for his legion branch. It feels awesome, not only because giving things to people feels good but because to me, clutter makes things stagnant. I really loved some of the things I gave away but now I feel like it has all shipped out to make room for opportunity. In this case, opportunity to design and decorate a small library in a back bedroom. I had to let this stuff go in order to move ahead; it’s a physical representation of the metaphor for the mental exercise of letting go of trying so hard.

Energy flows and what you give out, you get back, whether it’s positive energy (“Great job on that story today!”) a few boxes of stuff you no longer want or the ability to let go of the strangling feeling over something not getting accomplished in your own, perhaps unrealistic, timeline. It’s hard to admit that you, yourself could be the hold-up but once you do, it’s a great relief.