“There is a world within — a world of thought and feeling and power; of light and life and beauty; and, although invisible, its forces are mighty.” (Charles F. Haanel)

Of all weeks to focus on the world within, this 2016 election week is it!

And it isn’t just the election, or the division of our country or the bombarding of opinions every where we go.

It’s the fact that we – collectively and individually – are pushing against resistance. We are changing. Improving. We are doing the hard work on our mind and subconscious.

Work is necessary – labor, hard mental labor, the kind of effort which so few are willing to put forth. (Charles F. Haanel)

We have learned that “Good habits are the key to all success” (Og Mandino) so we purposefully replace bad habits with good habits.

We are defining our purpose through our Definite Major Purpose (DMP)) and our Personal Pivotal Needs.

We are visualizing our future as we desire it to be, making it clear and beautiful and grand, without limitation.

We are focused on love. Love for ourself and love for every person we encounter.

“I promise to give the hope for joy, affluence, kindness and love, consciously with every encounter regardless of the brevity.”

We are stepping onto holy ground and accepting the invitation to partner with God, the Great Architect of the Universe.

We are relaxing and calming our mind. We are practicing and forgiving. We are growing. We are going within and we are returning to love.

And in the midst of all this, we started a diet! The Seven Day Mental Diet, by Emmet Fox

For seven days I must not allow myself to dwell for a single moment on any kind of negative thought. I must watch myself for a whole week as a cat watches a mouse, and I must not under any pretense allow my mind to dwell on any thought that is not positive, constructive, optimistic, kind.

And how do we do this? We use the Law of Substitution:

We cannot think about 2 things at the same time. If a negative thought enters your mind ~ try to think about God instead. If that is too big a reach at the time, use any fond memory or other pleasant thought. Jesus, the Master Teacher, said, “Resist not evil” ~ meaning turn from it and think about something else instead.

As we begin this challenge, we learn that this discipline is strenuous. It is indeed hard work. Because this week, we faced challenges. Regardless of who we voted for. This one thing we have in common: We were challenged. We were challenged with our neighbors, our co-workers, our boss. We fought with loved ones. We discovered our best friend is toxic to our new life. We got a parking ticket. Doubts crept in. We questioned our purpose, our needs, goals, and dreams. We may have even questioned our prayers.

We were challenged.

And Fox assured us that this is a GOOD thing:

“… people often find that the starting of this diet seems to stir up all sorts of difficulties. It seems as though everything begins to go wrong at once. This may be disconcerting, but it is really a good sign. It means that things are moving; and is not that the very object we have in view? If my whole world seems to rock on its foundations, I hold on steadily, I let it rock and when the rocking is over, the picture will have reassembled itself into something much nearer to my heart’s desire.”

So today, we begin a new life.

Let us greet this day with love in our heart.

“I will laud my enemies and they will become friends; I will encourage my friends and they will become brothers. Always will I dig for reasons to applaud; never will I scratch for excuses to gossip. When I am tempted to criticize I will bite my tongue; when I am moved to praise I will shout from the roofs.” (Og Mandino)

I will greet this day with love in my heart.

greetdaylove