The Magic Day 3…Or Where I Got Stuck

Last week I started reading “The Magic”. I was feeling pretty good about the gratitude and being grateful. All day long I was feeling mentally good having given thanks first thing in the morning, which kept me thinking about gratitude throughout the day. I found myself saying thank you a lot during those first two days.

Then Day 3 hit and I stopped. Day 3 is all about relationships. And I could only chose 3 people. How do I do that? I thought about teaming people up. Mike obviously gets the number one spot, then my parents, then my two BFFs. So now I’m up to 5. I felt really stressed out (it’s the small things, people) about picking 3 people out of the 5 top people in my life. So instead of just posting something about Day 3 and mentioning that I’m choosing 3 people but not saying who they were, I did what I normally do when presented with something that stresses me out: I stop. Just stop.

Because it’s been a few days between “The Magic” days I’m to go back three days and start from there. Lucky me, I get to go back to day-1. I’m okay with that. I understand why too – the time I wasn’t so focused or in the gratitude mindset things went downhill pretty quickly. I was grumpier, I was more apt to get frustrated easily, people annoyed me and so on. Kind of interesting that is what happens when I’m not focusing on being grateful. I think that is something important to recognize about the real magic of “The Magic”.

I would LOVE for my bills to be magically paid off and surprise money to roll in and gas prices to go down so I can get a truck (Ford F-150 double cab) and buy new carpeting and my hair to grow longer and my finger nails to stop chipping and get that B and C I need in my classes right now – all from being thankful. Right now, though, I am quite happy to just feel good. I liked feeling good after making my list of things I was grateful for and how that kept me going throughout the day.

It doesn’t bother me to start over, and it doesn’t bother me that I haven’t gotten my truck yet. Feeling good is great.

Back to Day 1: My list of 10 things for which I am grateful.

1. I am grateful for Susan who gave me a bag full of the best anti-allergy medicine in the world. It is so nice to not sneeze, have itchy eyes, and feel generally icky all the time.
2. I am grateful for the rain because we always need rain in Florida but also because it means a quiet day at work. My public battery needs to recharge.
3. I am grateful for being able to start over because the knowledge get ingrained just a bit deeper every time.
4. I’m still very grateful for patient people, especially those who try to teach me things, because I’m hard-headed and patient people are truly God-sends.
5. I’m grateful for the pictures my Uncle Jack has posted on Facebook because they are full of good memories and I love to see my grandparents smiling and having a good time.
6. I am grateful for opportunities because it’s just another chance to learn and grow and discover.
7. I am grateful for Fluffy Jane because her purr and meow makes me feel warm and happy.
8. I am grateful for people who make me laugh because laughter is the best medicine.
9. I am grateful for belts because my pants keep falling down.
10. I am grateful for nail polish because my fingernails need some extra strength.

Day 2 Morning Gratitude Post

Day 2 Morning Gratitude Post

1. I am grateful for laughing at the morning talk show with Mike because it helps me start my work day off on a happy note.
2. I am grateful that I got up this morning and went for a walk/drag with Kat because it helped me get moving and exercising.
3. I am grateful for my washing machine and dryer because I love having clean clothes!
4. I am grateful for cleaning my kitchen because a clean kitchen just seems to make a house a home.
5. I am grateful that tonight we are going to have left-over homemade goulash soup that Mike made because it is really yummy and we’re eating at home!
6. I am grateful that I  got a bunch of homework done last night because it means that I am on top of things.
7. I am grateful for the critiques my classmates make on my work because it helps me grow as an artist and challenges me to think beyond my comfort zone.
8. I am grateful for being able to tell someone that I enjoy the work they do because it makes me happy (their work) and I want them to know that they are creating happiness through their hard work.
9. I am grateful for Gmail chat because I like being able to tell Mike “I love you” when ever I want during the day.
10. I am grateful for windows at work because I like being able to see the sunshine throughout the day.

From Day 1:

1. I am truly blessed to have my husband in my life because he makes me laugh at myself when I’m taking myself too seriously.
2. I am so grateful for my current job because it frees up my mind from job stresses so I can focus on school.
3. I am really grateful for school because it has taught me so much about art and my own artistic abilities.
4. I am grateful for my health because it is teaching me how to keep moving and making more healthy changes in my life.
5. I am grateful for my co-workers because they fill the day with a lot of laughter and silliness.
6. I am grateful for my home because it gives Mike and I space but is also cozy enough to call it home.
7. I am grateful for drawing because it helps me relax and free myself of rules and regulations.
8. I am grateful for Sarah and Tina for being my best friends and cosmic sisters and telling me the truth when I need to hear it.
9. I am very, very grateful for my parents living in Pooler because I enjoy being around them.
10. I am grateful for people who are patient with me because they are truly amazing people.

Day 2 of “The Magic” – The Magic Rock

Yesterday’s experiment with gratitude was pretty interesting. I made my list of 10 things I was grateful for and then as the day went on mentally added more and more. I should have written them down because I could have used them for this morning entry of 10 more things I am grateful for instead of having to figure out new things.

Magic Rock!

Part of yesterday’s work was to read the entry for today. The Magic Rock. Say what? A magic rock? Are joking. The idea originated from “The Secret”. One of the contributors told a story of how he carried a smooth river rock in his pocket. Every time he put his hand in his pocket and felt the rock it reminded him to think of something he was grateful for, and then he gave thanks. This concept is nothing new. A few years ago during Lent the church I attended gave us each a smaller scale version of a nail similar to the ones used to nail Jesus to the cross. We were to keep that nail in our pockets and every time we touched it we were to remember Christ dying on the cross for us and give thanks. I still have that nail. It’s about 5 years old. I carried it everywhere. I carried an Over Eater’s Anonymous coin in my pocket for several months. I’ve carried smooth rocks too. All with the same intention – the object is there to remind us of our blessings.

For “The Magic” instead of carrying the rock in my pocket, my Magic Rock (that’s it up there in that photo on my pillowcase – it’s about the size of a quarter) sits on my beside table on my C-PAP machine. Before bed every night I’m to hold the rock in my hand, think back and pick out the one thing I am most grateful for from the events of the day. So I held the rock in my hand and went over the day.

I smiled a lot. I giggled some. When I finally found the one big thing I was grateful for I said it (in my head – or out loud if you wish, I don’t care to) and then said, “thank you, Lord, thank you, thank you” as instructed. It felt good. What was my one big thing I was grateful for Monday evening? The last of all the graduate assistants (GAs)I work with finally gave me access to his calendar. It seems like such a trivial thing but yesterday was the prime example of why its important that the secretary have all the calendars of all the staff. When someone comes in looking for help or someone to talk to I can go to the calendar and either set up an appointment or tell the person when the GA will be in, or in yesterday’s case, tell the person where he can go find the GA. Our GAs do a lot with the students who come into our offices. They’re confidants, supervisors, friends, a big brother or sister. They are, a lot of times, the first person the students see when they need help. So being able to have calendar access to help those GAs and the students is wonderful.

So it sounds silly – especially when I read about how the Magic Rock will open my world to an abundance of things I can have (what’s with all the getting?) – but it was nice to sit for a moment and reflect back on my day and end it with thanksgiving.

Day 1 of “The Magic”

Day 1 Count Your Blessings

Every day I should wake up and count my blessings (or do it as soon as I possibly can). “You will have heard people say to count your blessings, and when you think about the things you’re grateful for, that’s exactly what you’re doing” (Byrne 2012). Okay. I agree, it is pretty good practice to be grateful for the things and people you have in your life. Being grateful for what I have has made me less “needy” for other things. I feel more content with my life and I’m happier.

“When you’re grateful for the things you have, no matter how small they may be, you will see those things instantly increase” (Byrne 2012). This is where my skepticism kicks in, what I’m going to have to fight if I’m going to really give “The Magic” a shot. I’m very grateful for my furkids but I don’t really want any more of them right now. Four is enough!

Today’s instruction is  to count my blessings by writing out a list of things I am grateful for; it is suggested that I keep all my gratitude in one place. That’s not really explained, but maybe I’ll transfer my gratitude list from this post to my journal. I’m also instructed to explain why I’m grateful. So I need to write a list of 10 things I’m grateful for and why. Then after I’m done writing my 10 things I should read them aloud or in my head. At the end of reading each blessing I need to say or “think thank you, thank you, thank you and feel the gratitude for that blessing” as much as I possibly can (Byrne, 2012).

I can also feel more gratitude by giving thanks to “the Universe, God, Spirit,  goodness, life, your greater self, or any other concept” I am drawn to (Byrne, 2012). (This is the second part of my skepticism I have to shed. I’m not one of those people who believe that we all need to believe in God, but I have a hard time seeing Universe, Spirit and my greater self on the same level as God. Again, that is a personal thing.) Byrne writes that when we direct our gratitude towards something we will feel our gratitude even more, and our gratitude will have more power, and “create even more magic!” (2012).

Every day for the next 27 days I’m to add 10 more items to my list of things I’m grateful for. This will help me recognize all the things I have to be grateful for. There is a list of “Magic Gratitude Subjects” to help me get started. They are: health and  body, work and success, money, relationships, passions, happiness, love, life, nature (planet Earth, air, water, and the sun), material goods and services, any subject of my choosing.

Once I count my blessings I should feel happier, and the happier I feel is a measure of how grateful I am. The more grateful and happier I am the more my life will change and see my “blessings magically multiply!” (Byrne 2012)

1. I am truly blessed to have my husband in my life because he makes me laugh at myself when I’m taking myself too seriously.
2. I am so grateful for my current job because it frees up my mind from job stresses so I can focus on school.
3. I am really grateful for school because it has taught me so much about art and my own artistic abilities.
4. I am grateful for my health because it is teaching me how to keep moving and making more healthy changes in my life.
5. I am grateful for my co-workers because they fill the day with a lot of laughter and silliness.
6. I am grateful for my home because it gives Mike and I space but is also cozy enough to call it home.
7. I am grateful for drawing because it helps me relax and free myself of rules and regulations.
8. I am grateful for Sarah and Tina for being my best friends and cosmic sisters and telling me the truth when I need to hear it.
9. I am very very grateful for my parents living in Pooler because I enjoy being around them.
10. I am grateful for people who are patient with me because they are truly amazing people.

The Magic of the Secret

I make no bones about my skepticism about Rhonda Byrne’s “The Secret”. In fact, you can read my review of the book to get my full feelings on at the end of this post.

So when I saw that The Secret has a follow-up workbook, “The Magic”, I decided to check it out and follow the steps of “The Magic” as best as I could. On Goodreads.com the description of “The Magic” is: ONE WORD CHANGES EVERYTHING For more than twenty centuries, words within a sacred text have mystified, confused, and been misunderstood by almost all who read them. Only a very few people through history have realized that the words are a riddle, and that once you solve the riddle—once you uncover the mystery—a new world will appear before your eyes. In The Magic, Rhonda Byrne reveals this life-changing knowledge to the world. Then, on an incredible 28-day journey, she teaches you how to apply this knowledge in your everyday life.

So for the next 28 days I’m going to follow the steps to learn how to apply The Magic to my own life. And we’ll see what happens.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The reason I dislike this book so much is not because of the writing, it’s the idea behind The Secret that bothers me so much. Basically The Secret is that whatever you put out into the universe is what comes to you. So if you’re a positive happy go lucky person you’ll get all this wonderful stuff – be it more friends or cars or more money. If you’re a negative person and you put out negativity you’ll only get negative things back – like continuing to be in debt, never losing weight. The book says that every single person on this planet is in charge of what they get. It’s all about what you can get. Cars, more wealth, love, and weight loss. Better health is secondary.

What pisses me off is how flippant the contributors to the book are about this. They say that while no one deserves cancer or other illnesses (and they never actually come out and say that these people got sick because of their negativity) you could cure yourself from the illness just by being positive. 1) Based on what they have written these people DID in fact make themselves sick with these awful diseases. I don’t believe that, but that’s what hte authors are saying – if you’re a negative person you’re going to get all that negativity back. 2) I believe that positive thoughts, prayer, etc can make a person well, but I also believe that we each have a day and time that we will pass away and you can’t just blatantly say, “hey, be positive and you’ll be fine!”

The other thing I dont’ like about the principle is that it’s all about entitlement. One of the contributors actually says that the universe is a big catalog and you can go through it and pick out anything you want. So if you want a new car all you have to do is visualize that car, then convince yourself it’s already yours and you’ll get it.

Um…yeah. Okay. Why should you do that? Just because you can get something doesn’t mean you should. We are not all entitled to have everything we could ever want. It’s ridiculous to think so.

Also, I don’t like the idea that the universe is just this giant Santa Claus type of thing. Another contributor says that God is the universe and that since we’re all made inthe likeness of God we’re all gods too and so we should be able to do anythin He does and get anything we want.

WHOA! Big WHOA!!! I do not believe I am a god. I don’t believe I am godlike. I’m human. My ultimate goal is to be like Christ, but I never will be Christ.

This book is truly a commentary on our society at the moment. Everyone thinks they deserve respect (I hate listen to kids on MTV yelling at each other about how no one respects them, why should we?) and at least 15 minutes of fame. What happened to just wanting to be happy, have a bunch of friend that you love and they love you in return? To be healthy and whole? To be good to our neighbors and the people who aren’t as blessed as we are? What happened to these things?

The Secret and other books and movies and TV shows like it. It’s all about the individual now and this book just proves it.

View all my reviews

2013 365 Project

2013 365 Project, a set on Flickr.

Well, so far the #project365 is going…well, it’s going. Out of 44 days I have 21 photos. I think though I have more. I’ll have to see because all my photos were moved off my phone and put into the computer.