Ask And It Is Given - Learning To Manifest Your Desires by Esther And Jerry Hicks - HTML preview

PLEASE NOTE: This is an HTML preview only and some elements such as links or page numbers may be incorrect.
Download the book in PDF, ePub, Kindle for a complete version.

 

Chapter 20

Trying to Hinder Another’s Freedom Always Costs You Your Freedom

When you ask, it is always given, but you must be in vibrational harmony with what you are asking for before you can let it in to your experience. The reason why I so many people do not remember or believe that all that they are asking for is being answered is because they are not consciously aware of what they are doing, vibrationally. They are not making the conscious connection between their thoughts, the subsequent feelings those thoughts evoke, and the manifestations that are occurring. And without that conscious connection, you cannot know where you are in relationship to that which you desire.

When you know that you want something, and you notice you do not have it, you assume that there is something outside of yourself that is keeping it from you, but that is never true. The only thing that ever prevents your receiving something that you desire is that your habit of thought is different from your desire.

Once you are aware of the power of your thoughts, and of your ability to allow in the things that you desire, you then have creative control of your experience. But if you are predominantly focused upon the results of your focused thoughts rather than feeling your way within your thoughts, it is easy to lose your way.

 

Every “Reality” Has Been Focused by Someone into Being

Sometimes people will argue, “But Abraham, I’m only telling you what-is. I’m only facing the reality of the situation.” And we say that you were taught to face reality before you knew you were creating reality... do not face reality unless it is a reality you want to create—for any “reality” only exists because someone has focused it into being.

Someone will say, “But this is a true thing, and therefore it deserves my attention.” And we say that you make whatever you give your attention to... your Truth. And so, it is extremely beneficial for you to focus primarily on the way you feel while giving only scant attention to the manifestations as they are unfolding, for whenever you are giving your primary attention to things as they are, you are hindering the expansion of what-is.

All those statistics that are gathered about your own experiences and about others—are only about how somebody has already flowed Energy. They are not about any hard-and-fast now reality.

Within your current society, there are many who gather the statistics of human experience. They spend lifetimes comparing experiences, and categorizing them as appropriate or inappropriate, right or wrong. They weigh the pros and the cons and the pluses and the minuses of topic after topic, but they seldom realize that their vibrational offerings are not serving them. They have no sense of their own power because they are flowing their Energy in opposing directions. Their lives have become more about labeling the behavior or experiences of those with whom they share their planet than about their own creating.

And so, they find themselves in a very uncomfortable position as they come to believe that their happiness or Well-Being depends upon the behavior of others. They point to people, behaviors, or beliefs and call them inappropriate, saying no to them, without realizing that they are including into their experience the vibration of the very thing they do not want. And so, without the knowledge of how it is that those unwanted things are making their way into their experience, they become increasingly guarded and fearful.

 

Unwanted Things Cannot Jump into Your Experience Uninvited

Freedom from the fear of unwanted experiences will never be achieved by trying to control the behavior or desires of others. Your rreedom can only be allowed by adjusting your own vibrational point of attraction.

Without a knowledge of the Law of Attraction, and without a conscious awareness of what you are doing with your own vibrational point of attraction, it is understandable why you would attempt to control the circumstances that surround you. But you cannot control the many circumstances that surround you. However, once you learn about the Law of Attraction, and once you are aware of the way your thoughts feel, you will never again feel fear about unwanted things jumping into your experience. You will understand that nothing can jump into your experience without your invitation. Since there is no assertion in this attraction-based Universe, if you do not achieve vibrational harmony with it, it cannot come to you; and unless you do achieve vibrational harmony with it, it cannot come to you.

Even the smallest among you, your babies, are offering vibrations that the Universe is matching. And, like you, your little ones are influenced by the vibrations of those who surround them, but nevertheless, they are creating their own reality. Like you, they did not begin the creation of their life in this body once  they were in it. but long before their physical birth they set into motion this life experience that they are now living.

The greatest argument we hear from our physical friends who want to understand their relationship with the Non-Physical and how it is that they are here, living and creating, is: “But how is it possible that this little baby who has really learned very little about our physical world could be held responsible for the creation of its own life?” We want you to understand that this little one is very well prepared for its life in your environment because, like you, it was born with an Emotional Guidance System to help it find its way.

These babies, like you, came romping joyously into your time-space-reality, eager for the opportunity to continually make new decisions and to align with the Energy of their Source. Do not worry about them, or about anyone. Well-Being is the order of this Universe, no matter how your current vantage point may appear.

Remember, your emotions are telling you everything you need to know about your connection to Source Energy: They are telling you how much Source Energy you are summoning in response to your focused desire; and they are also telling you if you are, in this moment of thought and emotion, in vibrational alignment with your desire.

 

Was It Your Speed, or Was It the Tree?

If you were driving your vehicle at 100 miles per hour and you hit a tree, you would experience a very big crash. However, if you were to hit the same tree while your vehicle was traveling at just five miles per hour, the outcome would be considerably different. See the speed of your vehicle like the power of your desire. In other words, the more you want something, or the longer you have been focusing upon your desire, the faster the Energy moves. The tree, in our analogy, represents the resistance, or the contradictory thoughts, that may be present.

It is not pleasant to run into trees, and it is also not pleasant to hold powerful desires in the midst of great resistance. Some try to remedy the imbalance by slowing down their vehicle. In other words, they deny their desire, or they try to release it, and sometimes, with great effort, they are able to diffuse the power of their desire to some degree, but by far, the better remedy would be to reduce your level of resistance.

Your desire is the natural result of the contrast in which you are focused. The entire Universe exists to inspire the next new desire. And so, if you are trying to avoid your own desire, you are attempting to move contrary to Universal Forces. And even if you are able to suppress a desire here and there, more desires are continually evolving within you, for you have come forth into this body and into this wonderful contrasting environment with the clear intent of focusing the Energy that creates worlds through the powerfully focused lens of your perspective. And so, nothing in all of the Universe is more natural than your continuing desire.

 

Behind Every Desire Is the Desire to Feel Good

There is no desire that anyone holds for any other reason than that the believe they will feel better in the achievement of it. Whether it is a material object, a physical state of being, a relationship, a condition, or a circumstance—at the heart of every desire is the desire to feel good. And so, the standard of success in life is not the things or the money— the standard of success is absolutely the amount of joy you feel.

The basis of life is freedom, and the result of life is expansion—but the purpose of your life is joy. And that is why the main event has never been the manifestation. It has always been the way you feel in the moment. In other words, you intended to come into the physical realm of contrast to define what is wanted, to connect with the Energy that creates worlds, and to flow it toward your objects of attention— not because the objects of attention are important, but because the act of flowing Energy is essential to life.

 

In Your Appreciation, You Offer No Resistance

Remember, you are an extension of Source Energy, and when you are allowing your full connection to your Source, you feel good, and to the degree that you disallow your connection, you feel less good. You are pure, positive Energy. You are love. You expect good things. You respect and love yourself. You respect and love others—and you are a natural born appreciator.

Appreciation and self-love are the most important aspects you could ever nurture. Appreciation of others and the appreciation of yourself are the closest vibrational matches to Source Energy of anything we have ever witnessed anywhere in this Universe.

Whenever you are focused upon something you appreciate, since that current choice of thought is so similar to who you really are as Source Energy, there is no contradiction in your Energy. You are, in your moment of appreciation, offering no resistance to who you are, so your resulting emotional indication is one of love, joy, or the feeling of appreciation. You feel very good.

But if you criticize someone or even find fault with yourself, your resulting feeling would not feel good, because the vibration of this thought of criticism is so very different from that of your Source. In other words, because you have chosen a thought that does not match who you really are, you can, in this moment, feel the discord of your choice through your emotions.

If your grandmother, who adores and appreciates you, tells you how wonderful you are, the reason those words feel so good is because they cause you to focus in a way that connects you with who you really are. But if a teacher or an acquaintance chastises you for some action you have offered, you feel bad because you have now been influenced to a thought that does not match who you really are.

Your emotions let you know, in every moment, whether you are allowing your connection to who you are or not. When you allow your connection, you thrive. When you do not allow your connection, you do not thrive.

 

You Must Be Selfish Enough to Align with Well-Being

Now, occasionally, someone will accuse us of teaching selfishness. And we agree. Indeed, we do teach selfishness, for if you are not selfish enough to deliberately align with the Energy of your Source, you have nothing to give anyway.

Some worry, “If I selfishly achieve what I want, wouldn’t I be unfairly taking it from others?” But that concern is based on the misconception that there is a limit of available abundance. They worry that if they take too much of the pie, others will be left with nothing, while, in reality, the pie expands in proportion to the vibrational requests of all of you.

You never say, “I feel guilty about the abundance of good health that I have been living, so I have decided that I will be sick for the next couple years in order to allow someone who has been sick the opportunity to use my portion of wellness for himself.” For you understand that by your being well, you are in no way depriving another of the experience of wellness.

There are some who fear that a selfish person may deliberately intend harm to another, but it is not possible for someone who is connected to Source Energy to wish harm upon another—for those vibrations are not compatible.

Some say, “I saw a picture of a mass murderer, and he looked gleeful. He showed no remorse at all. He said he enjoyed what he did.” But you have no way of accurately accessing what he is feeling. You experience your own emotions because of the relationship between your desire and your current state of thought about the subject, but you have no way of accurately feeling his emotions. It is our absolute promise to you that no one connected to Source Energy would ever cause harm to another. They lash out in their detensiveness, or in their disconnectedness, but never from their state of connection. You must understand that the ultimate act of selfishness is to connect with Self. And when you do that, you are pure, positive Energy focused in this physical body.

If everyone on your planet were connected to their own Source Energy, there would be no assaults, for there would be no jealousy, insecurity, or uncomfortable feelings of competition. If everyone understood the power of their own Being, they would not seek to control others. Any feelings of insecurity and hatred are born from your disconnection with who you are. Your (selfish) connection with Well-Being would bring only Well-Being.

And, most important, we want you to understand that it is not necessary for everyone else (or anyone else, for that matter) to understand what you are learning here in order for you to live a wonderful experience. Once you remember who you are, and once you deliberately reach for thoughts that hold you in vibrational alignment with who you are, your world will also fall into alignment—and Well-Being will show itself to you in all areas of your life experience.

 

If You Are Not Expecting It, You Are Not Allowing It

Remember, each emotion indicates how much Energy you are summoning because of your desire, and how much of that summoned Energy you are allowing because of the predominant thoughts and beliefs that you currently hold relative to that desire. If you are feeling strong emotion, whether positive or negative, that means that your desire is powerfully focused, and you are summoning a great deal of Source Energy toward your desire. When your strong emotions feel bad—like depression, fear, or anger—that means you are offering resistance to your desire. When your strong emotions feel good—like passion, enthusiasm, expectation, or love—that means you are offering no resistance to your desire, so the Source Energy that you have summoned through your desire is not being challenged vibrationally by you—and you are currently allowing the unfolding of your desire.

So it seems obvious that the perfect creative situation is to really, really want something that you truly believe is possible. And when that combination of desire and belief is present within you, things will quickly and easily unfold in your experience. But when you want something that you do not believe is possible, when you hold a desire for something that you do not expect— although a strong enough desire can override a weaker belief—it does not unfold easily, for you are not allowing it into your current experience.

 

The Feeling of a Pure Desire Feels Good to You

Unfortunately, many people think that the uncomfortable feeling of wanting something they do not expect to experience is what the feeling of desire is; they no longer recognize the feeling of pure desire as that fresh, eager, feeling of expectancy that they knew when they were younger. The feeling of pure desire is always delicious, as it represents the vibrations that are stretched out before you into your unseen future, preparing the way for the Law of Attraction to match things up on your behalf.

The value in recognizing your emotions and then consciously working to offer thoughts in order to deliberately produce better-feeling emotions is truly what Deliberate Creation is. It is also what the Art of Allowing is all about.

 

Why Would You Want to Be Over There?

Sometimes a person will say, “I’m not happy over here where I’m standing. I would much rather be over there—over there where my body is not sick, or over there where I’m not overweight, or over there where I have more money or a better relationship.”

And we ask, Why would you like to be over there?

Often the reply is, “Because I’m not happy over here where I’m standing.”

We then explain that it is important to talk about what is believed to be “over there” and to try to find the feeling-place of what’s “over there.” For as long as someone is talking about, and feeling what’s “over here,” it is not possible for them to get “over there.”

If you have been accustomed to thinking and speaking about where you are currently standing, it is not an easy thing to suddenly shift your vibrations and to now begin thinking and feeling something that is very different. In fact, the Law of Attraction says that you do not have access to thoughts and feelings that are very far from where you have recently been vibrating, but with some effort, you could find other thoughts. With a determination to feel better, you could change the subject and therefore find other thoughts with better-feeling vibrations—but vibrational shifting is usually a gradual process.

In fact, a continual attempt, in defiance of the Law of Attraction, of trying to jump vibrational ranges is a major factor in the feelings of discouragement that eventually cause people to conclude that they really do not have control of their own life experiences.