Intentional Thinking

By Marilyn Hay

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What if our thoughts had power—the power to bring us what we think about? Sounds like magic … or, perhaps, craziness. But what if it’s true?  

I’ve heard about intentional thinking and the Law of Attraction from a variety of different sources over the past year, only recently stopping long enough to pay attention and learn what they are about. Simply put, everything in the universe is energy and all energy is connected—we are all part of the whole. Our thoughts, like everything else, have energy that resonates with the universe and the universe ‘sends’ us more of what we’ve been thinking about. So, if we’re thinking about what makes us grateful, we get more of whatever that is. If we think about a thing or circumstance we don’t want, we get more of it.

I tested this “Ask, and it will be given unto you,” message out for myself several years ago. I was sitting in the hot sun by the side of a road, hoping for a parking space while waiting for a friend. I looked longingly at the full parking spots across the way, in a shaded circle under a cluster of trees. To make the test valid, I didn’t just ask for a parking spot—that would be too easy. I chose exactly which spot I wanted and asked for it. Less than two minutes later, a couple appeared, got in the car that held that specific spot, and drove away. In the next half hour, no other spot became available. Coincidence? Maybe.

Forms of intentional thought like meditation and prayer, followed by surrender and trust in the power of the universe, have been and are used by people in many cultures as vehicles for expressing one’s wishes. I’m reminded of Mother Theresa, who, with all the good she achieved, only physically worked for two hours a day. She spent the rest of her time in meditation and prayer, asking for help, seeking a power stronger than her own to improve the lot of those around her. The National Demonstration Project of 1993 was a famous experiment proving the power of intentional thought. A group of 4,000 came together over a period of 7 weeks to meditate and pray on reducing the crime in Washington D.C. Crime was reduced so much the police themselves became convinced that it worked.

What if that 96% of the universe we don’t understand, the dark energy and dark matter that doesn’t conform to our laws of science, is intentional? Is something greater than we can imagine, something that wants us to have what would please us and that only requires us to think it?

Can it really be that all we need to do is just ask, believe, and then surrender fear, worry and doubt to allow the change we seek to happen?

I think of this process of asking, surrendering, listening and receiving as a continuum or flow in the universe, rather than as disjointed, separate steps in a process. Not believing there is something around us, something we are part of in an intrinsic way that simply wants us to be joyous in our experience of the miracle of life, something we cannot touch, see or measure, stops the flow. I think the trick is in the surrendering. Doubting we’re worthy enough, not believing anything is truly possible, fretting and holding onto control, believing we need to do everything for ourselves (even though we know we can’t)—surrender means letting go of these. There are infinite opportunities around us—we just have to see them and respond to them. The choice to act, to accept the opportunity presented, is always ours to make.

A woman I know who lives in a nearby town decided she’d had more than enough of the dating scene. If there was a man out there for her, he would have to come to her door. She had a good idea of the sort of man she hoped to have in her life, but had given up hope of ever meeting him. One day, he did, indeed, come to her door—he was a deliveryman. Recognizing an opportunity when she saw it, she decided to go out with him, and now they're happily married.

So what’s happening when we don’t end up getting things we ask for? Perhaps we sabotage our wish by believing it really can’t come true; essentially, our own thinking that it’s not possible stops it before it can happen. Or we may be thinking of the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.” Afraid of what we might manifest, we stop wishing. Stop asking. Stop hoping. And stop believing that miracles are possible.

I challenge you to focus on what you’d really like to have in your life, your community, your world. Think about it every day, visualize how great it would be, and then surrender all doubts and worries. Trust it will happen, and then let go. But watch and listen for opportunities to arise around you. And tell me what shows up….

Written by eldering at Learning
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