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Copyright © 1997 by Alan Cohen
All rights reserved. Inquiries should be addressed to
Hay House, P.O. Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018
Earthlight Magazine / Books
/ Home
Copyright © 1997 by Alan Cohen
All rights reserved. Inquiries should be addressed to
Hay House, P.O. Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018
In my workshops I lead an exercise called, "My Ideal
Day," which I invite you to do now. Take a piece of paper
and write down your version of the most wonderful day you can
imagine. In the present tense, list every event that would make
your day delightful from arising in the morning to retiring in
the evening. The only requirement for each activity you list is
that it brings you joy and fulfillment. Simply writing down your
ideal day will enliven you tremendously, and reading and meditating
on it daily will make it real in your experience.
In one program a woman read her ideal day. After describing many
colorful experiences, she read, ". . . and then in the evening
my husband and I go into Toronto to see a fabulous opera performed
by our favorite stars. We ride in a long limousine, which allows
my husband to stretch out his arthritic legs."
We must be careful to build our life around our visions, rather
than building our visions out of our history.
When I heard her words, something struck me as being out of tune.
"Why," I asked, "would you include arthritis in
your picture of an ideal day?"
"I guess he has had arthritis for so long that I can't imagine
him without it."
"Perhaps," I suggested "that is one of the reasons
the condition has persisted."
We must be careful to build our life around our visions, rather
than building our visions out of our history. Your history is
not your destiny. Imagine a prisoner doing the "Ideal Day"
exercise.
"I get up in the morning, go out into the prison yard, and
shoot some hoops with the other inmates," he might envision.
"Then I come into the prison cafeteria and find they are
serving meat loaf for lunch . .."
But why include the prison in your vision at all?
If you have been incarcerated (in your thoughts) for a long time,
you may forget what it was like to be free. Then when you are
asked to formulate your dreams, you may build them within the
limited world you have learned, rather then the unlimited universe
you deserve. The spirit guide Abraham teaches, "Do not accept
any reality unless it is perfect in every way."
You do not want to be frozen into what you were. Perhaps you have
had the experience of meeting someone you knew a long time ago,
and feeling uncomfortable because you acted foolishly or immaturely
at the time, and you fear that the other person will judge you
for what you were, rather than acknowledging that you have grown
and changed since that time. We must allow ourselves to be new
and freer with every new moment.
I used to play in a band with a fellow named Ernest, who was a
regular kind of guy. We used to go out for pizza, talk about our
relationships, and laugh a lot. When I saw Ernest after an absence,
he told me, "I've been spending a lot of time in South America.
I went to visit a friend, and one evening a neighbor came for
dinner. She told me she had a headache and I asked her if she
wanted me to pray for her. After I did, she felt better. That
night she came back with her daughter, who was suffering from
menstrual pain. I offered the girl prayer, and she experienced
relief. The next night all of this woman's relatives showed up
at the door! She had told them I was a healer. Hoping I could
be of service, I prayed for them. The next day half the town was
lined up for healing. After I came home I received a call from
a town representative who told me that the people would pay my
air fare back if I returned. So I did, and now I go back regularly;
they fly me from town to town in a helicopter, and the prayers
have had wonderful results."
Upon hearing this amazing account, my first thought was, "Ernest?
A few years ago a bass player, this year a saint?" I had
a hard time reconciling the two pictures, but then I realized
I had a choice: I could freeze him into what he was, or rejoice
in what he had become. It felt a lot better to be excited about
his success than to try to keep him small.
I realized that the cup in which I held Ernest's good fortune
would be the die I cast for my own. "You will be as big as
you allow him to be in your thoughts," an inner voice told
me. "Let him be great, and so will you."
Pray to be wrong about the limits you have accepted. Take a piece
of paper and write down everything that you perceive to be wrong
about you, the people around you, and your world. Then sincerely
pray, "Please let me be wrong about all of this." When
you are open to being wrong about what you think is wrong, you
will be happy to be right about what is right.
Alan Cohen is the author of the bestselling The Dragon
Doesn't Live Here Anymore. To order Alan's new book I Had
It All The Time, or to request a free catalog of Alan's books,
tapes, and workshop schedule, write to Hay House, P.O. Box 5100,
Carlsbad, CA 92018, or call 1-800-462-3013.
For information about Alan's Mastery Training held in Hawaii and
focusing deeply with fourteen participants, write to 430 Kukuna
Road, Haiku, Hawaii 96708 or phone 1-808-572-0001.
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