The Many Faces of Abundance: Now You See It!

When you hear the word “abundance”, what associations come to mind for you?

For so many of us, the concept of abundance is heavily one-dimensional.  When we hear the word in connection with topics such as the law of attraction and prosperity consciousness, it brings to mind images of wealth, of financial reservoirs overflowing, the kind of cash flow that makes possible the acquisition of dream homes and dream cars, of exotic vacations and impromptu shopping sprees.  Or for some of us, it can mean the money to be able to help those we love so dearly, to enable us to actively make a difference in the lives of our friends and family, in the causes we believe in and the charities and organizations we so passionately support and uphold.

Regardless of what money means for you, looks like to you, abundance isn’t all about having enough money to make our dreams come true.  So often we hear about abundance, and how it is -supposed- to be flowing into our lives all the time.  Yet when we hold it up the measurement of our definition, equating it only with the flow of cash into our -bank accounts-, and we don’t see that abundant flow of money, we can easily start to ask an all too common question…

“Where’s my stuff??”

But is it that your life really lacks abundance?

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Permission to Be Human

I think there’s been a bit of a misconception regarding those who practice the art of abundant living and prosperity consciousness, folks. For the most part, it’s not a prevailing belief, but it is alive and well enough

Do coaches, teachers, speakers and other “experts” on the Law of Attraction and abundant living ever have “real life” problems? Oh, honey, you bet! Being a teacher of the abundant living doesn’t automatically convey infallibility, and it certainly doesn’t mean that we don’t have our bad days, that we don’t forget, that we don’t lose our way temporarily or that we don’t experience the same kind of frustration, complication and failure that everybody else does. This is life, and as long as you’re participating fully in it (and I certainly hope that you are!), then you’re going to run into frustrations, complications, so-called failures and setbacks. Just like anyone else, even those people you perceive to be “gurus” are going to have their bad days, going to forget temporarily, going to lose their way for a little while and going to experience the same kind of contrast and dynamics that all of humanity does.

Why? Because we -are- human beings. It’s just part of what we’re to experience and do. For some of us, though, we can really feel the pressure to look, act and speak “perfect”. We set ourselves up to be quintessential living examples of what it’s like to live fully in the flow, and when we sometimes stumble and wander -out- of it for a moment, it can be doubly hard for us to step back, look at the bigger picture, and let go of that need. …And yes, I am absolutely referring to myself as well, believe me.

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Inspiration in Motion: Video Roundup

Want a little fun and inspiration to flow into your life? This week marks the start of a brand new week segment that will share some of the inspiring and delightful multimedia treasures that grow in abundance all around the web.  Some are chosen from my own favorite collection while others are uncovered and shared by other Ask and Allow family members.  Thank you for helping all of us to make our days sweeter, our thoughts happier, our hearts lighter and our souls ever so much more lovingly nourished. 

If you have some favorite videos that inspire and delight you, why don’t you leave a comment and share them with us? We invite you to also share videos that you have made as well, as you are certainly the very best kind of inspiration there is, so please feel free to share your own content to be featured in an upcoming weekly roundup!

Lastly, if you’d like to see more videos specifically adored by Ask and Allow Online, you can visit our channel on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/askandallowonline and browse favorites as well as playlists of various themed soul food and eye candy.

Now how ’bout we get on to the videos?  Right! Click through to the article and we’ll make with the multimedia goodness right after the jump!
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Giving Too Much? Taking Too Little?

No doubt you have been touched by at least one of them at some point along your journey. They drain you, take from you, frustrate you and leave you feeling off-balance, tired, sometimes even violated, and they can incite you to get angry, not just at them of course, but angry with yourself for allowing yourself to be drawn into the control dramas, into the greed and selfishness that seems to linger around long after they’re gone.

They’re the users, the leechers, the “moochers”, the attention starved, the energy-thieves, the “poor me’s”, the drama-queens, the wanton victims, the selfish and the self-obsessed. They’re our friends, our family, our bosses, our coworkers, our peers and associates and clients… and sometimes, they’re our love interests.

At first the choice is simple; we want to help, gladly embrace the opportunity to give to another, because it’s who we are and who we want to choose to be. For women especially, we’re automatically given to the urge to give of ourselves, to nurture, to help heal, to support and to “feed” the world around us. Sooner or later however, if we have even just a little ability to feel the connection to our larger, “authentic” selves, regardless of gender, it becomes clear that the only help we’re truly providing is in supporting the perpetuation of relationships that are not only dangerous to the people we are enabling, but just as dangerous, if not moreso, to our own sacred peace of mind.

It’s true that sometimes the contrast can be very beneficial to us as human beings. Sometimes there can be precious gifts hidden underneath the darker folds of the relationship that can yield some of the most priceless and unforeseen opportunities for our own growth, self-definition, empowerment and evolution. Sometimes it’s just not that big of a deal; the situation may occur infrequently enough, or our personal attention may simply be focused sharply enough upon our own natural abundance and wellbeing, that it simply has barely an impact upon us in the grand scheme of things.

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Exercise: The Appreciation Board

Since the release of the movie, The Secret, the concept of the vision board is a practice known all over the world for its ability to help the mind focus its energy on calling into one’s life the people, place, things and experiences most desired. From new careers, new relationships, new cars and new money, there’s been a recent explosion of vision board usage to help manifest the life of your dreams.

…And this isn’t that board.

Several months ago, I developed a similar idea, not for manifesting the life you dream of, but for manifesting a healthy heart and mind instead. Using the principle of gratitude and appreciation, it seeks to nourish our thoughts, feelings and beliefs about ourselves and about the people we surround ourselves with in our day to day life. As vibrational beings constantly engaged in the creation of our lives, and the experiences we live, our thoughts and feelings have a -huge- impact.

It’s so huge, in fact, that you can say that all that you have in life is a clear reflection of what you believe about yourself, your life and your world, and this includes the people we have let into our lives and the relationships we have developed with them. While studying the Law of Attraction, one is sure to learn about the power of gratitude and appreciation, and how looking for, and identifying, the good qualities in others will greatly assist us in not only experiencing the best of them in particular, but in other people that we meet and interact with.

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The Freedom of Responsibility

In her book, Eat, Pray, Love, author Elizabeth Gilbert talks about being faced with life altering questions toward the end of her first marriage.  Juggling her responsibility to herself with her perceived responsibility to her marriage, to having a family, to living a life that didn’t seem to fit her and that she didn’t want, she notes a breakthrough that came to her when she finally sat down and did what most any good writer would do – examined the word responsibility and discovered another meaning through its parts.  Elizabeth writes:

“Oh, Lord–responsibility.  That word worked on me until I worked on it, until I looked at it carefully and broke it down into the two words that make its true definition:  the ability to respond.”

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Emotion: The Secret to The Law of Attraction

“What is the absolute key to Law of Attraction? It’s the same key to prosperity, to health and wellbeing, to having the life of your dreams. It is the map that guides you, the engine that carries you, the very stuff from which the totality of your reality is built. That key is emotion. …What? You were expecting pixie dust? Hah!” -Your Loving Source [Jessica Smith, The Love Letters: A (Universal) Love Affair]

It’s the fuel in the engine of creativity. It’s the wind in the sails of the people, places and events you encounter every day. It’s the seeds by which the dreams in your imagination grow wild, bursting through to the physical plane and the soil by which they wither or grow to full fruition.

When most people first begin to study the Law of Attraction, one of the first things they encounter along the way is the idea that the thoughts you think can literally create the reality you experience. This leads to all kinds of reactions, from a deep dive into memorizing positive affirmations that fall terribly short of believability, to desperate attempts to prevent or cancel the flow of negative thinking that now you’re all too aware of having on a regular basis. … Continue Reading

OMG! Ask & Allow Online Is Back!

I know, you thought it would never happen, right?

I don’t blame you. It’s been since October 2009 that I’ve made the time to post here, and since then so much has been going on that it has me positively on edge to get back here, back to what I love best. So enough rambling, right? Let’s get down to the good stuff!

First off, it’s probably obvious by now that the site has undergone a redevelopment.    Actually… it underwent three, but that’s what happens when you have a designer at the wheel who keeps changing her mind… I mean… who keeps evolving… right!  Most importantly, though, the site should load ever so much faster now as all hiccups that were holding up loading times have been chased down and busted, baby!

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[Q&A] The Call of Source: Seek & Ye Shall Find

QUESTION: “Hey Jessie (and IB too)! Loving your posts so keep it up! I liked the quotes the other day too. One of your quotes I saw the other day said something about “there is no guidance wiser than your Source”. Well I wanted you to talk about that? Like by Source were you talking about something like God or a higher “me”?

And you said “you do have to use it”, so I was wondering if you’re referring to things like prayer or meditation? I’ve tried meditating but I always seem to have a problem just “being still” so does that affect my ability to use it? And I think I already pretty much know the answer but I’d like to see what you say about why you stress that Source guidance is wiser than anything else. Ok that’s enough to get you going right? Haha. Thanks Jess. Lemme know when you post this!” — Lainey

Did you miss the first installment of this article?  You can read Part 1, “The Wisest Counsel”, by clicking here!
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[Q&A] The Call of Source: The Wisest Counsel

QUESTION:  “Hey Jessie (and IB too)!  Loving your posts so keep it up!  I liked the quotes the other day too.  One of your quotes I saw the other day said something about “there is no guidance wiser than your Source”.  Well I wanted you to talk about that?  Like by Source were you talking about something like God or a higher “me”?

And you said “you do have to use it”, so I was wondering if you’re referring to things like prayer or meditation?  I’ve tried meditating but I always seem to have a problem just “being still” so does that affect my ability to use it?  And I think I already pretty much know the answer but I’d like to see what you say about why you stress that Source guidance is wiser than anything else.  Ok that’s enough to get you going right?  Haha.  Thanks Jess.  Lemme know when you post this!”  — Lainey
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