The Magic (17 page)

I’ve shared this story as an inspiration for you, because no matter how big your desires seem to be, you
can
receive them through gratitude. Even more than that, gratitude will bring a joy and happiness for life that you’ve never felt before, and that is truly priceless.

From the time I began using gratitude and the law of attraction to the time I received my final desire on my original list was four years. To give you an idea of the enormousness of receiving all my desires in that amount of time, when I created my desire list, my company was two million dollars in debt, and I had two months before I would be forced to shut it down and would lose my home and everything I owned. The money I owed on my personal credit cards was a small fortune, and yet on my desire list was to own a big house overlooking the ocean, to travel to exotic places in the world, to have paid all my debts, to expand my company, to restore every relationship to the best it could be, improve the quality of my family’s lives, to be one hundred percent healthy again, and have unlimited energy and excitement for life, along with the usual list of material things. And my number one desire, which seemed like an absolute impossibility to many of the people around me, was to bring joy to millions of people through my work.

The very
first
desire that I received was bringing joy to millions of people through my work. The rest of my desires magically followed, and one by one, as they appeared before my very eyes, I crossed them off my list.

So now it’s your turn to use gratitude’s magical power to make your desires appear before your very eyes. At the start of the day, take your Top Ten Desire List that you created. Read through each sentence and desire on your list, and for one minute imagine or visualize that you have received your desire. Feel as much gratitude as you can, as if you have it now.

Carry your desire list with you today in your pocket. On at least two occasions in the day, take out your list, read through it, and feel as much gratitude for each one as you can, as though you’ve received it.

If you want your desires to come more quickly, I would highly recommend that you carry your desire list with you in your wallet or purse from this day forward, and whenever you have time, open it up, read through it, and feel as much gratitude as you can for each one. When your desires appear before your very eyes, cross them off your list, and add more. And if you’re like me, each time you cross a desire off your list you will be in tears of joy, because what seemed impossible was made possible through the magical power of gratitude.

Magic Practice Number 22

Before Your Very Eyes

1. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write
   why
   you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say
   thank you, thank you, thank you,
   and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
   
2. At the start of the day, take your Top Ten Desire List that you created.
   
3. Read through each sentence and desire on your list, and for one minute imagine or visualize that you have received your desire. Feel as much gratitude as you can.
   
4. Carry your desire list with you today in your pocket. On at least
   two
   occasions in the day, take out your list, read through it, and feel as much gratitude as you can.
   
5. Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words,
   thank you,
   for the
   best
   thing that happened during the day.
   

Day 23

The Magical Air that You Breathe

“It is quite possible to leave your home for a walk in the early morning air and return a different person – beguiled, enchanted.”

Mary Ellen Chase (1887–1973)
EDUCATOR AND WRITER

If someone had told me a few years back to be grateful for the air that I breathe, I would have thought the person was crazy. It wouldn’t have made a bit of sense to me; why on earth would anyone be grateful for the air they breathe?

But as my life changed from using gratitude, the things that I took for granted or didn’t give a second thought about became an absolute miracle to me. I went from sweating the small stuff in my little world and day-to-day life, to opening my eyes and thinking about the bigger picture and wonder of the Universe.

As the great scientist Newton said, “When I look at the solar system, I see the Earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance.”

Those words made me think more and more about the bigger picture. It’s not an accident that there’s a protective atmosphere surrounding us, and that beyond it there’s no air or oxygen. It’s not an accident that the trees give off oxygen so that our atmosphere is continually replenished. It's not an accident that our solar system is perfectly placed, and that if it were anywhere else in the galaxy we would most likely be devastated by cosmic radiation. There are thousands of parameters and ratios that support life on Earth; all of them are on a knife-edge, and their fine-tuning is so critical that a fraction of a difference in any of these parameters and ratios would make life unlivable on planet Earth. It is difficult to believe any of these things could have happened by accident. It would seem that they are perfectly designed, perfectly placed, perfectly balanced,
for
us!

When the realization hits you that all of these things might not be an accident, and that the balance of every microscopic element surrounding Earth and on Earth is in perfect harmony to support us, you will feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for life, because all of it has been done to sustain
you!

The magical air that you breathe is not an accident or a fluke of nature. When you think about the enormousness of what had to take place in the Universe for us to have air, and you then take a breath, breathing air into your body becomes breathtaking in every sense of the word!

We take one breath after another and never give a thought to the fact that there is always air for us to breathe. Yet oxygen is one of the most plentiful elements in our body, and as we breathe, it feeds every cell in our body so that we can continue to live. The most precious gift of our life is air, because without it, none of us would last more than a few minutes.

When I first began to use gratitude’s magical power, I used it for a lot of personal things that I wanted. And it worked. But it was when I began to be grateful for the real gifts in life, that I experienced the ultimate power of gratitude. The more grateful I became for a sunset, a tree, the ocean, the dew on the grass, my life, and the people in it, every material thing I’ve ever dreamed of having poured down upon me. I now understand the reason why it happened that way. When we can feel truly grateful for the precious gifts of life and nature, like the magical air that we breathe, we have reached one of the deepest possible levels of gratitude. And whoever has that depth of gratitude will receive absolute abundance.

Today, stop and think about the glorious air that you breathe. Take five deliberate breaths, and feel the feeling of the air moving inside your body, and feel the joy of breathing it out. Take five full breaths in and out five different times today, and after you have taken each set of five breaths, say the magic words, “
Thank you for the magical air that I breathe,
” and be as genuinely grateful as you can for the precious, life-giving air that you breathe!

It is best if you can do this magical practice outside so you can really feel and appreciate the magnificence of fresh air, but if that’s not possible then do it inside. You can close your eyes while taking the breaths, or you can do it with your eyes open. You can do it while you’re walking, waiting in line, shopping, or anywhere at any time you want. The important thing is to deliberately feel the feeling of the air going in and out of your body. Breathe the way you naturally breathe, because this magical practice is not about your breathing, but about your gratitude for the air you breathe. If taking a bigger breath helps you to feel more gratitude, then do that. If it helps to make a sound or mentally say the magic words,
thank you,
as you breathe the air out, then do that. If you want you can also do a variation of this practice in the future, by imagining you’re breathing in gratitude and filling yourself up with it with every breath you take.

In ancient teachings it is said that when a person reaches the point of being deeply grateful for the air that they breathe, their gratitude will have reached a new level of power, and they will have become the
true
alchemist, who can effortlessly turn every part of their life into gold!

Magic Practice Number 23

The Magical Air That You Breathe

1. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write
   why
   you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say
   thank you, thank you, thank you,
   and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
   
2. Five
   times today, stop and think about the glorious air that you breathe. Take
   five
   deliberate breaths, and feel the feeling of the air moving inside your body, and feel the joy of breathing it out.
   
3. After you have taken the five breaths, say the magic words:
   Thank you for the magical air that I breathe.
   Be as grateful as you can for the precious, life-giving air that you breathe.
   
4. Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words,
   thank you,
   for the
   best
   thing that happened during the day.
   

Day 24

The Magic Wand

Have you ever wished you had a magic wand so that you could just wave your wand and help the people you love? Well, today’s magical practice will show you how you can use life’s
real
Magic Wand to help others!

When you fervently want to help another person you have immense power, but when you direct that power with gratitude, you really do have a Magic Wand that can help the people you care about.

Energy flows where your attention goes, and so when you direct the energy of gratitude toward another person’s needs, that’s where the energy goes. This is the very reason why Jesus said
thank you
before he performed a miracle. Gratitude is an invisible but real force of energy, and coupled with the energy of your desire it is just like having a Magic Wand.

“People who wait for a magic wand fail to see that they ARE the magic wand.”

Thomas Leonard (1955–2003)
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT COACH

If you have a family member, friend, or anyone you care about who is lacking physical health, in financial trouble, unhappy in their work, stressed, suffering because a relationship has ended, lost confidence in him or herself, suffering from mental problems, or feeling down about their life, you can use the invisible force of gratitude to help them with their health, wealth, and happiness.

To wave your Magic Wand for another’s health, imagine that the person’s health has been fully restored, and say the magic words,
thank you,
in heartfelt celebration of receiving the news that he or she is full of health again. You could imagine the person calling you to give you the news, or imagine them telling you in person, and really see and feel your reaction. When you can feel as grateful now as you would when you heard the news that the person’s health had been fully restored, it will guarantee that the gratitude you feel is as sincere and as powerful as it can be.

To wave your Magic Wand to help someone you love with their wealth, follow the same magical practice, and be as grateful as if they had the wealth they needed right now. Imagine their wealth has been fully restored, it is done, and you’re saying the magic words,
thank you,
because you’ve just received the amazing news.