The Nature of Commitment We live in an incredible world! Each day we have the opportunity to choose from an unlimited amount of experiences, events and things. And if you can accept that we live in a Universe without judgment, then there are no true “right” or “wrong” choices. All choices are correct. All choices bring with them corresponding experiences and consequences. In a world filled with so many choices, it can feel challenging to pick the choices that are good for you and move you towards your Big Desires. We live in a Universe that seeks to grow and expand. The nature of life is to evolve, move forward, expand on what is and has been. All sustainable growth requires a foundation to keep it rooted and strong. Can you build a home without a foundation? Yes, of course. There are homes that are not built on foundations, tents and teepees being good examples. But the nature of a tent is not enduring. A cathedral made of stone and built on a rock foundation has an enduring strength and qualities that remain apparent more than 1000 years later. It is natural for us to want to grow, to want more. Wallace Wattles in his book, “The Science of Getting Rich” says: “The desire for increase is inherent in all nature; it is the fundamental impulse of the Universe. All human activities are based on the desire for increase, people seeking more food, more clothes, better shelter, more luxury, more beauty, more knowledge, more pleasure—increase in something, more life.” One of the primary tenets of prosperity consciousness (The Law of Focused Success) states where you put your energy and attention is where you get growth. What you think about, worry about, pay attention to or do repetitively produces results in alignment with your focus. How many times has something happened “just the way you thought it would”? How many times has the circumstance you worried about come to pass? Your focused attention created the results you were anticipating, good or bad. It’s kind of like your mind is a giant magic wand. When you think about something and focus the “zap” of your mental magic wand on a circumstance or a thing you get what you are thinking. The more you think about it, the more likely it is to come to pass. As humans we are blessed with unique mental abilities. The brain is a marvelously efficient organ. Our brains help us master rote tasks that require little thought so that we can be free to do other things with our minds. Think about this. Do you walk around moving your legs in the direction in which you choose to go and think, “right, left, right, left, right, left—“? Hopefully not. When you were a baby learning to walk over a three or four month period of time, as you focused your mind on walking and experimented with your legs and balance, your brain was busy building a neurological highway. The neurological highway, called a neuropathway, allows the nerves associated with walking to travel easily through your body and helps you walk from your desk to the kitchen, without ever having to think about the physical act of picking up your feet and moving them, step by step. Over time we build neuropathways associated with all kinds of activities. This happens with any kind of brain activity that we do over and over again. The good news is that it helps us become more efficient. The darker side is that if you have repeated negative thoughts, beliefs or worries, you will also construct a neuropathway for those brain activities too. It can become second nature and even unconscious behavior to focus on things we don’t want or things we are worried about. And of course, The Law of Focused Success states that where we put our energy and attention is where we get results. Are you conscious of how much time your mind is easily and effortlessly focusing on the things you don’t want to choose? (I will tell you, personally, when I first started noticing the fleeting, habitual thoughts that zoomed through my brain, it wasn’t pretty.) The good news is that it is possible to build new neuropathways! According to the research of Dr Richard Bandler, a Gestalt therapist, and John Grindler (Bandler and Grindler), a respected linguist who jointly developed the first Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques in the 1970s, with 21 days of consistent application, the brain can build new neuropathways. You can very deliberately and consciously rebuild the neural highways in your brain. Notice that it takes 21 days of consistent application. Have you ever tried to change your thoughts or beliefs about something? It doesn’t usually happen over night. Your biology is at work and needs time to evolve. Your brain requires time and a consistent application of new ways of thinking to rewrite old thought programs. In other words, if you have a habit of creating things in your life that you don’t want or you are ready to create something new, different, and better for your life, you have to change the way you think. You have to consistently focus on the creation of that new thing or experience. And if you have a mental habit (neuropathway) of thinking you can’t get what you want or other limiting beliefs, it takes time and consistent application to rewire your brain to think about how it is totally possible to get exactly what you want and more! You have to COMMIT to consciously adopt new ways of thinking and to making choices that are in alignment with your Big Desires. In this world full of unlimited choices, it is easy to go in many different directions at the same time. It is part of the excitement of life! And, at the same time, if you want to achieve or experience a specific situation or object, it is vital that you focus on it mentally and adopt beliefs of KNOWING that you can have it. (And a little EFT helps as well! For more information about speeding up your new, powerful thinking habits please visit: http://www.joyfulmission.com/articles/article/1975190/26249.htm and download your free copy of “EFT For Everyone”.) It takes commitment to the idea of something to bring it about. To quote Wallace Wattles again: “That clear mental picture you must have continually in mind, as the sailor has in mind the port toward which he is sailing the ship; you must keep your face toward it all the time. You must no more lose sight of it than the steersman loses sight of the compass.” Creating prosperity and abundance in your life can be done by consistently focusing on that which you desire. Prosperity and abundance requires a commitment to maintaining focus consistently enough and long enough to make physiological changes in your brain. In order to be prosperous, you might need to retrain your brain. And once you have the focus and the mindset you desire, it becomes effortless to take the actions required to create what you want. Ask yourself these questions: What am I committed to? What desires do I have that are consistent and truly excite me? What thoughts do I experience regularly? Are these thoughts in alignment with my desires? Are my actions in alignment with creating my Big Desires in life? To grow and evolve and build something enduring with your life, requires a joyful commitment! To quote Paolo Coehlo in his book, Warrior Of The Light, A Manual: “All the world’s roads lead to the heart of the Warrior; he plunges unhesitatingly into the river of passions always flowing through life. The warrior knows that he is free to choose his desires, and he makes these decisions with courage, detachment and-sometimes-with just a touch of madness. He embraces his passions and enjoys them intensely. He knows that there is no need to renounce the pleasures of conquest; they are part of life and bring joy to all those who participate in them. But, he never loses sight of things that last or of the strong bonds forged over time. A Warrior can distinguish between the transient and the enduring.” May all your dreams be built on solid foundations and unwaveringly withstand the test of time! I look forward to watching you prosper! When you prosper, the whole world prospers with you! Love, Karen

Karen Curry and Martin Jordan