The Magic (2 page)
It’s Universal Law
Gratitude operates through a Universal law that governs your whole life. According to the law of attraction, which governs all the energy in our Universe, from the formation of an atom to the movement of the planets, “like attracts like.” It’s because of the law of attraction that the cells of every living creature are held together, as well as the substance of every material object. In your life, the law operates on your thoughts and feelings, because they are energy too, and so whatever you think, whatever you feel, you attract to you.
If you think, “I don’t like my job,” “I haven’t got enough money,” “I can’t find my perfect partner,” “I can’t pay my bills,” “I think I’m coming down with something,” “He or she doesn’t appreciate me,” “I don’t get along with my parents,” “My child is a problem,” “My life is a mess,” or “My marriage is in trouble,” then you must attract more of those experiences.
But if you think about what you’re grateful for, like, “I love my job,” “My family is very supportive,” “I had the best vacation,” “I feel amazing today,” “I got the biggest tax refund ever,” or ”I had a great weekend camping with my son,” and you sincerely feel the gratitude, the law of attraction says you must attract more of
those
things into your life. It works in the same way as metal being drawn to a magnet; your gratitude is magnetic, and the more gratitude you have, the more abundance you magnetize. It is Universal law!
You will have heard sayings like, “Whatever goes around comes around,” “You reap what you sow,” and “You get what you give.” Well, all of those sayings are describing the same law, and they’re also describing a principle of the Universe that the great scientist Sir Isaac Newton discovered.
Newton’s scientific discoveries included the fundamental laws of motion in the Universe, one of which says:
Every action always has an opposite and equal reaction.
When you apply the idea of gratitude to Newton’s law it says: every action of
giving
thanks always causes an opposite reaction of
receiving
. And what you receive will always be equal to the amount of gratitude you’ve given. This means that the very action of gratitude sets off a reaction of receiving! And the more sincerely and the more deeply grateful you feel (in other words, the
more
gratitude you give) the
more
you will receive.
The Golden Thread of Gratitude
Dating back thousands and thousands of years to the earliest recordings of humankind, the power of gratitude was preached and practiced, and from there was passed on through the centuries, sweeping across the continents, permeating one civilization and culture to the next. The major religions of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Hinduism all have gratitude at their core.
Muhammad said that gratitude for the abundance you’ve received is the best insurance that the abundance will continue.
Buddha said that you have no cause for anything but gratitude and joy.
Lao Tzu said that if you rejoice in the way things are, the whole world will belong to you.
Krishna said that whatever he is offered he accepts with joy.
King David spoke of giving thanks to the whole world, for everything between the heavens and the Earth.
And Jesus said
thank you
before he performed each miracle.
From the Australian Aborigines to the African Maasai and Zulu, from the American Navajo, Shawnee, and Cherokee, to the Tahitians, Eskimo, and Maori, the practice of gratitude is at the very root of most indigenous traditions.
“When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself.”
Tecumseh (1768–1813)
SHAWNEE NATIVE AMERICAN LEADER
History is laden with famous figures who practiced gratitude, and whose achievements put them amongst the greatest human beings who have ever lived: Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, Leonardo Da Vinci, Plato, Shakespeare, Aesop, Blake, Emerson, Dickens, Proust, Descartes, Lincoln, Jung, Newton, Einstein, and many, many more.
Albert Einstein’s scientific discoveries changed the way we see the Universe, and when asked about his monumental achievements, he spoke only of giving thanks to others. One of the most brilliant minds of all time thanked other people over a hundred times a day for the work they had done!
Is it any wonder that so many of life’s mysteries were revealed to Albert Einstein? Is it any wonder that Albert Einstein made some of the greatest scientific discoveries in history? He practiced gratitude every single day of his life, and in return he received many forms of abundance.
When Isaac Newton was asked how he had achieved the scientific discoveries he made, he said that he stood on the shoulders of giants. Isaac Newton, recently voted the greatest contributor to science and humankind, was also
grateful
to those men and women who lived before him.
The scientists, philosophers, inventors, discoverers, and prophets who practiced gratitude reaped its results, and most were aware of its inherent power. Yet still gratitude’s power is unknown to most people today, because to experience the magic of gratitude in your life you have to practice it!
My Discovery
My story is a perfect example of what life is like when a person is ignorant of gratitude, and what happens when you make gratitude a part of your life.
If I had been asked six years ago if I was a grateful person, I would have answered, “Yes, for sure I’m a grateful person. I say thank you when I receive a gift, when someone opens a door for me, or when a person does something for me.”
The truth is I was not a grateful person at all. I didn’t know what being grateful
really
meant, and just saying the words
thank you
on the odd occasion certainly didn’t make me a grateful person.
My life without gratitude was pretty challenging. I was in debt, and it was increasing a little bit more every month. I worked really hard, but my finances never improved. In trying to keep up with the mounting debt and obligations I was living with a continuous undercurrent of stress. My relationships swung like a pendulum from fair to disastrous, because I never seemed to have enough time for each person.
While I was what would be termed “healthy,” I felt exhausted at the end of each day, and I always got my fair share of colds and the latest illnesses going around each season. I had moments of happiness when I went out with friends, or when I went on vacation, but then the reality of having to work harder to pay for those pleasures would sweep over me.
I wasn’t living. I was surviving – from day to day and from paycheck to paycheck, and I would no sooner solve one life problem than more problems would appear.
But then something happened that would change everything in my life from that day forward. I discovered a secret about life, and as a result of my discovery one of the things I began to do was practice gratitude each day. As a result of this, everything in my life changed, and the more I practiced gratitude, the more miraculous were the results. My life truly became magical.
For the first time in my life I became debt free, and shortly after that I had all the money I needed to do whatever I wanted. Problems in my relationships, work, and health disappeared, and instead of facing daily obstacles, my days became filled with one good thing after another. My health and energy increased dramatically, and I felt better than I had in my twenties. My relationships became much more meaningful, and I enjoyed more good times with my family and friends in just a few months than I had in all the previous years.
More than anything else, I felt happier than I thought it was possible to feel. I was blissfully happy – the happiest I had ever been. Gratitude changed me, and my whole life magically changed.
Bring The Magic into Your Life
No matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter what your current circumstances, the magic of gratitude will change your entire life!
I have received letters from thousands of people in the worst imaginable situations who have changed their lives completely by practicing gratitude. I have seen miracles take place in health where there seemed to be no hope. I have seen marriages saved, and broken relationships transform into magnificent relationships. I have seen those in total poverty become prosperous, and I have seen people in depression catapult into joyful and fulfilling lives.
Gratitude can magically turn your relationships into joyful and meaningful relationships, no matter what state they are in now. Gratitude can miraculously make you more prosperous so that you have the money you need to do the things you want to do. It will increase your health and bring a level of happiness beyond what you’ve ever felt before. Gratitude will work its magic to accelerate your career, increase success, and bring about your dream job or whatever it is you want to do. In fact, whatever it is that you want to be, do, or have, gratitude is the way to receive it. The magical power of gratitude turns your life into gold!
As you practice gratitude, you will understand why particular things in your life may have gone wrong, and why certain things might be missing from your life. As you make gratitude a way of life, you will wake up each morning so excited to be alive. You will find yourself completely in love with life. Everything will seem effortless. You will feel as light as a feather and happier than you’ve ever felt before. While challenges may come, you will know how to overcome them and learn from them. Every day will be magical; every day will be filled with far more magic than when you were a child.
Is Your Life Magical?
You can tell right now how much you have actually used gratitude in your life. Just take a look at all of the major areas in your life: money, health, happiness, career, home, and relationships. The areas of your life that are abundant and wonderful are where you have used gratitude and are experiencing the magic as a result. Any areas that are not abundant and wonderful are due to a lack of gratitude.
It’s a simple fact: when you’re not grateful you cannot receive more in return. You’ve stopped the magic from continuing in your life. When you’re not grateful you stop the flow of better health, better relationships, more joy, more money, and the advancement of your job, career, or business. To
receive
you have to
give
. It’s the law. Gratitude is
giving
thanks, and without it you cut yourself off from the magic and from
receiving
everything you want in life.
The bottom line of ungratefulness is that when we’re not grateful, we’re
taking
; we’re taking things in our life for granted. When we take things for granted we are unintentionally taking from ourselves. The law of attraction says that like attracts like, so if we take something for granted, we will be taken from as a result. Remember, “whoever does not have
gratitude
, even what he or she has will be taken from him or her.”
Most certainly you have been grateful at various times in your life, but to see the magic and cause a radical change to your current circumstances, you have to practice gratitude and make it your new way of life.
The Magic Formula
“Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.”
Ibn Khaldoun Al Muqaddima (1332–1406)
SCHOLAR AND STATESMAN
Ancient myths and legends say that to bring forth magic a person must first say “the magic words.” Bringing forth magic from gratitude works in the same way, and first you must say the magic words:
thank you
. I cannot begin to tell you how important the words
thank you
are for your life. To live in gratitude, to experience the magic in your life,
thank you
must become the two words you deliberately say and feel more than any other words. They need to become your identity.
Thank you
is the bridge from where you are now, to the life of your dreams.
The Magic Formula:
- Deliberately think and say the magic words,
thank you. - The more you deliberately think and say the magic words,
thank you,
the more gratitude you feel. - The more gratitude you deliberately think and feel, the more abundance you receive.
Gratitude is a feeling. So the ultimate aim in practicing gratitude is to deliberately
feel
it as much as you can, because it’s the force of your feeling that accelerates the magic in your life. Newton’s law is one for one – what you give you receive, equally. That means that if you increase your feeling of gratitude, the results in your life will expand to be
equal
to your feeling! The truer the feeling, the more sincerely grateful you are, the faster your life will change.