Did You Just Throw Away Success?

You might have heard someone tell another that they just “threw away their chance for success”. Have you ever contemplated if this is truly possible? Can someone ever throw away their chance for success? The simple answer is no, but you can definitely waste a good situation.

In most circumstances you can never throw away your chances completely, but you always run the risk of hindering your path and taking the long way to the achievement of your goals. No one wants to handcuff their own future, so how do you ensure your chance for success stays close by your side?

By knowing what success looks like… How do you measure success? How do you know if you are winning in the game of life if you don’t know what winning looks like? How would you be able to spot success if you saw it coming down the road? How do you know that you aren’t successful already?

We often keep our eye towards the horizon of tomorrows achievement while neglecting to celebrate the victories that lead us to where we are today. Not recognizing a good thing when you see it can be a very costly mistake, especially in the case of a loved one or valuable employee.

An old Indian fable told by a good friend of mine illustrates the risk we run by being impatient…

Once a man did a lot of penance and God appeared to him. He asked for infinite wealth and power. God smiled, and granted his wish but with a small rider. He told him that he would have to go to the banks of Narmada river at a certain point where the small spherical stones are strewn about.

God told him that amongst those stones he would find a ‘Parasmani’ – the philosopher’s stone, that can turn metal into gold. The man was overjoyed. He asked God how would he recognize the Parasmani from amongst the millions of identical stones lying on the banks of the river.

God told him that this stone would be slightly warmer to touch than the others and disappeared. Now, this man excitedly went to the indicated spot and was flabbergasted on seeing the multitude of identical stones there. They were all similar looking.

Initially he made piles of the stones that he had checked for the warmth. But he found this to be a futile exercise after a few days, so he decided to start throwing the stones away from the banks, far into the river, after he checked them.

Days passed, weeks passed, months passed. This man kept picking up stones and throwing them into the river. People called him the mad stone-thrower. Years passed and the man kept doing what had become his practice. His actions were practiced until they had become automatic and unconscious.

Suddenly one day he picked up a stone which was slightly warmer than the rest, but before he realized what he had got he had already chucked it into the river! Sometimes our practices become so reactive in the moment that we lose sight of the end-goal.

This is force of habit which stops us from choosing in every moment how we can design our future. There is choice but our hand has already moved and thrown the stone. Habits can be changed. Be patient with your progress! What must you commit to learning, changing or doing in order to be successful today?

Have you stopped to smell the sweet aroma of achievement lately? Have you oriented yourself carefully around your goals so that you know when to celebrate success? It is important to place your vision on the end result so that you know exactly when you arrive there.

The wise believe that the past is destiny and the future can be designed. We can choose at every moment, what we want from our future. Knowledge is power when you realize that there are options. True power comes from the wisdom your receive when you consciously exercise your choice.

Confessions of an Instant Manifestor

Here is a short story about how fast my intentions were manifesting on this particular occasion. It was as if the whole thing played out like a movie, but perhaps it was all just a coincidence? How would you explain it? Read the story below and you be the judge. Be sure to comment and feel free to write me your opinion.

On this night I decided to go out on a late night drive. It was an absolutely beautiful night outside and perfect for driving with the convertible top open. I admit that was a little reluctant at first, not because of the weather, but only because I wanted to keep working. What eventually tipped the scales for me to get out there was that it was Saturday night.

After I left my garage and exited the alley I immediately spotted two white rabbits. Actually, they were a bit more brown than white at this time of year. Anyway, the point here is that whenever I spot a rabbit while driving I feel like it is a sign of reassurance that I am doing what I am supposed to.

I’ve spotted many rabbits in the 12 years since I started paying attention. Keep in mind around my city that spotting a hare isn’t that rare or odd in any way. These ‘Jack’ rabbits are in fact quite common where I live. But since I am free to create my own reality, I have chosen to regard crossing paths with rabbits as a symbol of fate. I view it as a reminder from the unseen that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

Yes I realize that this association is completely fabricated and I don’t care. I had to consciously manufacturer this mental pay-off, but I feel the rewards I can barely describe are well worth it. I’ve been feeding this belief system now for over a dozen years.

On a side-note it is interesting to note that in one of my favorite movies, The Matrix, the main star ‘Neo’ is encouraged by another character named ‘Trinity’ to “Follow the White Rabbit”. Imagine you are me for a minute and you have already been following the white rabbit for years before this movie came out, and all of a sudden you hear that phrase symbolically used in one of your favorite movies. Yeah, I was pretty stoked to say the least!

When I saw the two Rabbits I knew that I was meant to go for this late night drive. Since I knew I was “on purpose”, my thoughts turned to the thought that maybe there was some one ‘out there’ who needed me to be on this drive. I concluded by deciding that if I came across someone I would offer them my business card.

As I continued to drive down the street I came to the stop sign at the end of my block and was shocked to see a young girl on the sidewalk crying. Just 10 seconds ago I decided to help someone and now this girl? Was this a sign? I couldn’t be sure, it seemed a bit weird to manifest an intention so quickly… but since I like to err on the side of caution, I gave her my card and drove off.

As always, it feels good too give, even if it is to a random person. Sometimes kind acts from strangers can change people’s lives. In my case, she was very receptive to taking my card which made things easier. However even though I left with us both smiling, it wasn’t long before my ego had a word to say about it.

My ego started chirping all sorts of negative thoughts, among the noise it had me questioning whether or not I should have done that, I mean what kind of weird coach hands out their business card after midnight anyway? Thankfully my doubts were removed when I saw another rabbit on the next block over. I thought to myself as I spotted the second rabbit “wow! what a great story to tell my readers!”

As I was contemplating the composition of this blog post I had the thought of.. well, what else could top that?” I thought for a moment that maybe I should drive back home because the excitement and adventure for the evening had already manifested. Little did I know the most interesting was still yet to come!

Before the thought of what could top my night could leave my mind something caught my attention. I looked out at the night sky while driving and saw a shooting star travelling parallel above the car. It lasted at least a good one and a half seconds. While it was pretty exciting to see, what was even more interesting to see was the pattern on how quickly things were manifesting right before my eyes.

Continuing on my drive at the top of a hill I spotted a parked dark blue Ferrari, or so I thought… When I actually approached it and drove by I realized that instead it was a blue Nissan 300zx. However, as I verified the car model in my rear-view I approached a stop sign and had to yield to a real blue Ferrari. Keep in mind this was at 2:00am in the morning on an otherwise barren road!

I had enough, this was simply too coincidental to occur by chance. Two rabbits, a girl in need, a falling star and a Ferrari in under 20 minutes was hard to wrap my mind around. I am used to manifesting as a master manifester, but even with my level of belief it usually takes some time. The manifestations were instantaneous and in-sync with my intentions.

I don’t believe in coincidences and have never seen this many manifestations occur so quickly. At first I wondered if somehow I got transported to the Twilight Zone! Have you noticed your manifestations occurring more quickly lately? If you are still learning the process of manifestation how would you like to manifest more quickly? What would you manifest if you could manifest quickly? What are your thoughts and opinions about this story?