2012. The world was supposed to end, some said. (We knew better.) But things were supposed to change–the energy was supposed to change, at least.  A whole week has gone by. We are being flooded now with the light of the first full moon of this pivotal year, which is supposed to affect our consciousness on every level. Something is supposed to be changing. Or it should be getting easier to create change, right?

I wrote my vision and my goals. I created a vision map or board. I set out with good intentions. Nothing. Same ol’, same ol’.

I could blame it on the fact that my daughter is here visiting. That clients called. I had things that got in the way..projects, the need to learn to podcast, interviews to conduct, old work to get handled and out of the way, bills to pay, shopping to do, emails to answer, social media to attend to, etc., etc., etc.

It felt l like 2012 came in with a rush, driving me forward at breakneck speed. That’s how 2011 went out. Why would the new year be any different? I don’t seem to have brakes on this car I’m in. I’m not sure I’m driving. I’m trying to get control.

Here’s the fact: In the first eight days of 2012, I  didn’t keep to the schedule I set as part of my plan. I didn’t do even one of the things I said I would do. Well…I take that back. I did do one thing. I took a bit of time off to spend with my daughter. I relaxed with family. That is on my vision map and in my goals–to find balance in my life between work and personal.

Yay! I made one change. I made it consciously.

Changing habits can prove difficult. Yet, to achieve some new degree of success we must change our old habits. They’ve only gotten us the degree of success we enjoy right now.

Anything can get in the way and become an excuse. For me, getting up early to complete my client work first is a new goal, a new habit, I’d like to form. It’s easy to say I went to bed too late and simply not get up early. It’s easy to answer the phone when it rings during that time period, or to schedule an activity anyway (like walking with a friend, since that’s a goal, too), and to say that’s why I couldn’t meet my goal, make the change, create a new habit.

I find myself saying all too often I just don’t have the time to change, the energy to change. I’ll do it tomorrow or next week.

Well, a week has gone by of this new year…this year that everyone said would be one of such awesome change…when we could affect change in ways heretofore not possible. I, for one, have not found this year much different. It still remains up to me to make the change. (I hear the refrain of some song…I can’t quite put my finger on it…)

Ah, well…the Kabbalists must right. We are simply in transition. We have a long way to go before the predicted time of peace on Earth or the World to Come. (They say not until the year 6,000 on the Hebrew calendar.) Actually, many other people also say we are simply in a time of transition. And it’s likely our consciousness is changing. We can affect change and do so faster, more effectively if we do it in a conscious and focused manner. We don’t need a new year, a new era, a new anything for that.

The trick is to put that lesson–an old one really (and no “secret” either) to use now to create the desired change. For me, I’m starting small–in my life, with my habits. This helps me achieve what I need to achieve and then has a ripple affect, allowing me to affect others through my work.

I’ll go back and focus again on my vision, my goals, my vision board. I’ll work every day to keep on track, making those little changes that end up in new habits formed. By year’s end, I may have achieved a new level of success based upon those new habits.

What about you? How’s it going after the first week of the New Year? Does the energy of 2012 seem to be supporting you? Is change happening in your life or around you?

I do a lot of things to help make my dreams come true in the physical world. I take a lot of action steps. I do the things I should do. I do the things I’m inspired to do. I seek answers and solutions and I work at achieving my goals many hours a day. I don’t give up. I don’t accept rejection as failure. I ‘m determined. I persevere.

But there are some other things I do, too. These are not necessarily done on the physical plane…or not all of them. They have more to do with using my mental focus to create what I want in my life. Some of you may find these actions, if you will, somewhat woo woo, metaphysical or spiritual, but some of the most successful athletes, businesspeople and creatives I know use these same steps in one form or another. So, today I thought I’d share them with you.

First, I get very clear about what it is I want to create. For some people, this might be a new job or relationship. For others it could be better health or a new car. Because I work with a lot of aspiring writers, I’m going to use a writing example. Maybe you want to create a career as a writer, a published book (a career as an author), a relationship with an agent, an acceptance by a publication, or something else related to your writing. In this first step, write this down in fine detail, but do so in the present tense (as if you had already manifested what you desire). You can write about it in the past tense, too. Create a clear picture of what you want using words.

The second step often is missing from this process. Consider how your creation–your article, book, career as a writer–will serve others? How can you give to others by getting what you want? Will you donate money to charity? Or will your book or article actually help solve an important problem people have? Can you give the gift of support via your writing? Or can you go a step farther than that? Consider how you will share your creation into the big picture of actually creating it.

Third, read this description of what you want aloud. When you do, instil in it all the feeling you can muster. By feeling I mean all the emotion you would have in this moment if you already had what you want. How would it feel to have just gotten off the phone with your agent, to be holding your published book, to see your article in a magazine, to pay your mortgage with the income you make as a writer? Don’t forget to imagine what it will feel like to share your dream come true with others. Muster up these emotions and combine them with your imagined scenario.

Third, close your eyes and consider what actions will bring  your dream into reality. What must you do? More importantly, what do you feel inspired to do? Or what do you feel intuitively that you must do? Create a to-do list and start taking action to help bring your desire into your experience.

I employ these steps all the time. In particular, I use them when bringing my dreams into reality feels difficult, or when I feel things aren’t going as I’d like.

I call this Kabbalistic conscious creation. It’s similar to other deliberate creation processes, but they tend to not include the aspect of giving. When I teach this, I also speak about the four worlds. You can learn more about this in my book, The Kabbalah of Conscious Creation.

Try the process, and then tell me how it works for you. Leave me a comment, and tell me your results.

Over and over again we hear how we must connect our thoughts and feelings to create what we want. Even more important is simply to feel good.

Lately I’ve been having a hard time getting to that feel-good place. Then I watched this video of the Black Eyed Peas singing “I Gotta Feeling” at the kick off of Oprah Winfrey’s 24th season, and I started smiling and feeling pretty good. It wasn’t the singing that did it, though–even though the words of the song are enough to raise my spirits a bit. It started with the lady up front jumping up and down dancing and then the flash mob dance that ensued. Then it was Oprah’s joy and wonder. Wow.

Oprah said it best,”That was the coolest thing ever!” Watch and feel good.

Lately I’ve been feeling stuck. I want to be unstuck. Ever been there?

I’ve tried prayer. I talked to God. I cried to God. I pleaded with God.

I tried counseling. And I got really honest with myself and with others, baring my deepest feelings.

Today in the car I decided to follow Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s advice and sing. I sang along with the songs my son played on my Ipod.

I still felt stuck.

Tomorrow I will get off my butt and start moving my body. I will exercise. No more staying at my desk all day long. I need to get the energy moving.

I also will start doing my own Kabbalistic conscious creation visualization and exercise on a daily basis again.This will help me focus on what I want in my life rather than on what I don’t want–on being unstuck rather than stuck.

Additionally I will implement affirmations into my daily practice–a.m. and p.m. These will help convince me on a conscious and unconscious level of who I truly am and can be.

And I will start using gratitude exercises in the morning and evening, reminding myself of the things for which I am thankful.

And I’ll get one thing knocked off my to-do list each day that gets me closer to my Big Goals.

The point is to change my energy as well as my thoughts and to feel like I am getting unstuck, almost like I’m pushing a car out of a muddy rut.

That’s the problem with getting stuck: All you see is the mud. All you hear is the spinning tires. And all you feel is exhaustion from trying to get unstuck.

You have to do something different. Wait for the mud to dry. Turn the tires. Reverse. Get out of the car and walk…or run.

What do you do when you get stuck? What gets you stuck?

As I wrote in yesterday’s post, we must give as well as receive. The two are integrally connected. Indeed, when we give, we open ourselves to receiving. We also become “like God,” since God is the Giver and we are the receivers. We, therefore, move closer to God, reducing the separation we tend to feel or to believe exists between us and the Divine.

Yet, as I explained yesterday, if we only give we don’t fulfill our Divine purpose, which is to receive. So, today we go on to part two and learn how to be both givers and receivers.

Receiving and then Giving for the Sake of Giving God Pleasure

We are supposed to develop a will to receive in order to give pleasure to our Creator. Of course, we are personifying God, but bear with me. We accept gifts from God, because it makes God happy. That’s all we have to “do.”  The giving is simply in accepting the gift.

Plus, since God wanted to give to us for the sake of giving us pleasure, we achieve true affinity of form with God when we do the same in return. Prior to this, we do, indeed, become givers and “like” God but not in the total sense of what I’m talking about here.

Okay, so the fact that God receives pleasure seems a bit far fetched, I know. This takes us back to this idea of God as a “man” or “woman” with feelings. I don’t really want to go there.

If, however, we simply say that the formula involves a Giver and a receiver, by not accepting what we are given we don’t complete the formula. To better understand how the process works, think of God like a power source and humans like electronic pieces of equipment. If we (the pieces of equipment) don’t receive (allow in) the electrical current, we short circuit the system. We send the electricity back to Source where it goes “ZZZZT!” Now, that probably wouldn’t feel too good at that end, would it? Plus, the flow of electricity would be stopped at our end and sent back. Our equipment wouldn’t run well, if at all, nor would we receive what we need. At the other end, the Source remains unlimited and the energy can be resent, but the circuitry along the way could eventually become damaged if we continued to only give or not to receive. Plus, by only giving and not receiving, eventually, we’d run out of power. Like a battery-run electric item, our battery would eventually run out of juice. We would find ourselves lacking what we need most.  I think you get the idea.

We want to transform our receiving into giving because this “gives pleasure” to our Creator or fulfills the purpose of Creation. As written in In the Shadow of the Ladder,” In Kabbalah, giving to each other is likened to giving to God. By using the will to receive in order to give, we become in affinity of form with the Source. We become one with the Creator. This is a new and complete form of vessel that did not exist prior to the creation of the worlds. This vessel now fulfills the ultimate purpose of creation in that it enables God to give pleasure to His creatures without leading to separation between the vessel and the light.”  In other words, we can receive all that we desire including oneness with God.

And at the end of the day – at the end of our lives – we can’t take any of the “stuff” with us. What we will want more than anything at that last moment is to know we are one with our Creator.

And What About Giving to Others?

So, how does all of this relate to what we Jews call tikkun olam, or repairing the world, and tzedakah, or charity?  Here’s how I understand it.  First we must heal ourselves. The healing (tikkun) we must do on ourselves revolves around manifesting a new desire – the desire for a higher consciousness. This consciousness is one that actually sees or experiences receiving as giving.  In other words, in our minds and in our experience the two acts must become one and the same.  When we accomplish this, we truly become one with God. We tap into the Divine flow of light or energy or “gifts” that constantly flows forth, and enable God to fulfill the purpose of creation. This purpose revolves around God giving us pleasure -desires granted, needs filled, fulfillment in whatever form we conceptualize.

And when we give, we become channels for God’s light and energy. We become that very same constant current of electricity, that ever-flowing river of abundance, that very same Source of all that is, ever was and ever will be.

If that’s not good enough reason to give, I don’t know what is.

If you liked these two posts, you might enjoy The Kabbalah of Conscious Creation.

One of the major premises in my work, both my writing and teaching, revolves around the need to give as well as to receive. The two are integrally connected. Indeed, when we give, we open ourselves to receiving. Yet, we don’t want to give in order to receive.

When we give, we make room to receive, for something else to move into the space we have created. In the Kabbalistic story of creation, God contracting to make space for all of Creation. In the void that was created, God sent a beam of Divine light or energy. From that, everything we know of as the world in which we live–including ourselves–come into being. Each time we create space by giving, Divine light and energy in all its many forms fills the void we create as well. This becomes a constant flow of giving, receiving, giving, receiving, giving, and so on.

In my current work writing The Kabbalah of Conscious Creation in its full length, I have been trying to fully understand the true nature of giving – at least as put forth by Rabbi Yehuda Lev Ashlag. Relying on In the Shadow of the Ladder, a wonderful book on his teachings, as my primary source, I’d like to grapple a bit with this idea here and to ask you to try and implement the concept of giving on a deeper level in your life.

Today, I will give you one part of the equation:

God is the Giver, We are the Receivers

Let’s begin with the idea the God’s nature is to give. The Creator is a Giver and we were created as receivers. Typically, our will has us focused on receiving for ourselves alone. I know that sounds terrible, but it’s true. Most of us are focused on our own desires, and with good reason. First of all, it’s our nature as pure receivers to desire things for ourselves, and in this physical word we often feel we have unfulfilled needs. We need to receive more.

Our goal, however, lies in becoming not only a receiver, but a giver. As I said, giving opens us up to receiving. Ah, the ego, says, “That’s great. I can get more.” However, we want to aim for a more spiritual reason to give. Yes, we want to get more, but not necessarily more material things. We want more spiritual things. You see, as long as you are a receiver and God is a Giver, a separation, albeit possible a perceived separation, exists between you and God. Most people – at least those on a spiritual path – would like to draw closer to God. What we actually want to get from giving is a connection to our Creator.

Giving for the Sake of Giving

So, we begin to place restrictions on how we use our will to receive. Even though it is our nature to receive for ourselves alone, we try simply to give instead of to receive.  We give for the sake of giving. We receive in order to give to others.  This makes us givers. And if we are givers, we are like God. We achieve something called “affinity of form” with God, and the separation between us and our Creator diminishes or disappears. Thus, we feel our Divine connection, and we receive what we desire – a relationship and a connection to our Creator.

However, there’s one problem with this scenario. We aren’t fulfilling our end of the cosmic bargain. God created humans for the purpose of giving us pleasure. Pleasure comes in the form of receiving Divine gifts. (That’s right, the fulfillment of our desires.) God was supposed to give, and we were supposed to receive. If we only give, we can’t receive. If we don’t receive, God receives no “pleasure.”

For today, just consider this concept. Think about how you give and how you receive. Consider if you give more than you receive or if you receive more than you give. Think about the idea that you are born to receive. How does that make you feel?

Tomorrow we will go on to part 2.

During the season of gift giving, it’s easy to get caught up in the commercialism of the holidays. However, you can make the season meaning-full and spirit-full by giving gifts that come from your heart as well as from your soul.

Most people find it easy to give heart-centered gifts. By simply thinking about the people we love and considering the things they love, we can give thoughtful gifts that feel loving, filled with love and that come from a place of love.

Giving soul-centered gifts may feel harder. Doing this involves giving gifts you feel come from your soul purpose. You must, therefore, have a sense of what your soul purpose is. Do you have a passion? Are you good at something? Do you feel you feel gifted in some way? Do you sense that you are supposed to do something while here on this earth? If so, this likely constitutes your soul purpose.

If you can find a way to give from that purpose, you will give a soulful gift. One way to accomplish this involves creating something you can share with others that also fulfills your purpose. To do this, take some time to imagine what you would like to manifest or create that would fulfill your purpose. It could be anything…a book, a garden, a daycare center, a professional speaking job, quilts for the homeless, time for your children, jobs for homeless people, beautiful jewelry, how-to articles, unique meditation spaces, drivers for the elderly…

Now take some time to focus your energy and thoughts on manifesting it.

• Imagine first that you are connected to the Source of all abundance. You are one with the One.
• Then sense your purpose pulsing within you. Get a clear feeling or picture of that purpose.
• Now feel the energy of wanting to create something. What is it you want to create? Focus your thoughts on it. Develop a clear and concise though of what you desire to manifest that will fulfill your purpose.
• See yourself going through the necessary and the inspired action steps required to bring this desire into physical manifestation. Imagine how good it will feel to take those action steps and to see them come to fruition.
• Imagine what it would be like to actually create this desire and fulfill your purpose not only by manifesting it but also by sharing it with others. Feel what it would be like to give what you have created to others and, thereby, to fulfill your soul purpose.

Now, go out and begin doing what it takes to give soulful gifts. If you can create them in time for your holiday (or if your holiday has passed), give the people you love an IOU. They’ll understand and appreciate your intention.

If you enjoyed this exercise, you can find similar ones in my ebook, The Kabbalah of Conscious Creation.

Two weeks ago I attended the San Francisco Writing for Change Conference. There I met an amazing woman: Cami Walker. She authored the book 29 Gifts and started 29Gifts.org. Cami lives with the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. While she suffers from many of the symptoms and for a while could hardly walk, she now mostly walks on her own, manages to work several days a week and even goes to conferences and meets people like me. And she claims this is because she changed her attitude by giving 29 gifts in 29 days. This opened her up to the work of gratitude, the link between giving and receiving, and the fact that God exists in all things.

Pretty amazing stuff, huh? Knew this stuff already?

Either way, Cami’s challenge is worth taking. I started giving my 29 gifts three days ago. If you want to take the challenge you can read about it Cami’s story here or about the origins of the 29 day giving challenge here. You can read the book, you can log in at 29gifts.org and blog about your experience, or you can simply start giving gifts. I’ve read the book and I’m blogging about my experience on the site.

I suggest you read about the challenge and what types of gifts to give. They don’t need to be big gifts. They simply need to be conscious gifts. Even a prayer for someone counts as a gift. A helping action can count as a gift. A kind word a small deed…these count.

I decided to take the challenge not only because I thought it was a great idea, but also because I was intrigued by Cami’s story–both the turn around of her medical condition and the publication of her book. I also was interested in the dovetailing of her book and mine: The Kabbalah of Conscious Creation. In this book I talk about giving from a place of soul purpose. People have a desire to manifest their desires. When our desires stem from our soul purpose and we manifest those desires  with the intention of sharing them — giving them to others — we tap into the Divine flow of giving and receiving. God is the ultimate Giver. We were created as receivers. However, to draw close to God, we must also act as Givers. Then we can be one with the Source.

Cami says basically the same thing in much simpler terms. When we give, we receive. The two acts are part of the same continuum. And when we participate in acts of giving, we feel gratitude and closer to God.

I don’t care whose work you read, the point remains the same. Give. Don’t do it because you want to receive. Just start giving and watch what happens. You’ll be amazed.

The other day I read something interesting: According to Jewish teaching, two types of “good” exist. There is objective good and subjective good.

When we desire good things and long for good things and try to manifest good things in our life–or things we perceive or judge as “good,” fall into the category of subjective good. Our human concept of good is subjective; we are limited in how we see things and we can’t see into the future to know if the things we want are actually good for us. In fact, many of the things we want aren’t good for us. That’s why in the Jewish tradition when we wish for something or try to manifest something “good” in our life we qualify our prayer with the words “for the good” or “l’tovah.” The prayer often said is: May God fulfill all desires of my/your heart for the good.” This refers to the objective good.

What is the objective good? This is what is actually good for us, and only God can know this. Possibly our soul knows this as well. We don’t know what is good for us–at least not often.

While we long for a “good” life, health, job, relationship, finances, car, etc., sometimes these things and conditions lead us down paths that don’t benefit us. We become jaded with wealth and turn to alcohol or drugs or success causes us to become corrupt in our business dealings. Good relationships or an easy life may cause us to forget to appreciate what we have and to take advantage of those we love or for get to care for what we have. On the other hand, sometimes misfortune and a difficult live consisting of what we subjectively deem “bad” causes us to advance, grow, become strong, persevere, appreciate things more, become wiser, become a more giving person, and ultimately achieve more success and happiness.

When we don’t receive the good we want in our lives, when we don’t manifest what we want and think is best for us, maybe it is for our own “good.” Maybe God, or some higher power, knows better and is preventing us from having what we want. Consider that when you think your creative visualizations, the Law of Attraction, deliberate creation, your prayers, or some other technique you are using to manifest good in your life doesn’t seem to be working.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it”? Sometimes the wish is fulfilled in usual ways. You have to be open to seeing the wish fulfilled no matter in what form it appears and to receive it even if it comes in a shape you didn’t expect or in a manner you might not really want. After all, a wish granted is God’s hand at work in your life. It’s not much different than a miracle performed.

At the beginning of the Jewish New Year I said I wanted to pursue my spiritual studies by attending a weekly Torah study class. However, my life, or rather my schedule, once again did not allow this to happen.

I have recently cut back on how much nonfiction book editing I am doing; I’ve hired a staff of editors to do it for me, so I can pursue my writing. Recently, though, a manuscript came across my desk that I knew was meant for me to edit. It’s a year’s worth of Torah commentaries.

Each year Jews read the whole Torah. We also read commentaries on the portions for each week. We study them. We figure out what they mean. We try to apply them to our lives. This book has a special focus on applying the teachings of each Torah portion to our lives.

This book offers me a way back into my religious and spiritual study. I wished for it. I got it…even if it means taking on the editing myself.

Have you wished for something and gotten it?