I use the word manifesting in my daily vocabulary, and have been since 2006.  That was the year that my nephew Jacob was born.  By the time he was 2 years old, I had already learned how to apply the Law of Attraction to simple situations and was working on mastering the law of attraction for areas where I was particularly “attached”.  In addition, my sister (his mother) had been a long time follower of Abraham, so, we’ll say, Jacob and his younger sister, Sara, grew up in a Law of Attraction household.  I have had a number of humbling law of attraction stories from manifesting my way into the heart of Times Square on New Year’s Eve to getting a contract at Disney, numerous victories with money, manifesting a free Disney cruise, but the story that most humbled me came from my 8 year old nephew, Jacob.

Jacob is very passionate and his passion for the day, was a game called, My Singing Monsters.  I don’t know all the details, but you get points by taking care of your singing monsters, which in turn, allows you to obtain additional singing monsters.  There are tons of common monsters that are easy to obtain and a few monsters that are super tough to get, they are considered rare, and without them you cannot get to the next level of the game.  Jacob really wanted one of these rare monsters and had done all the “do” things he could think of to get them.  He literally jumped out of bed each morning and ran to the game to see if he had the necessary combination of points and monsters to be able to breed the rare monster he wanted to get.

One afternoon, I was laying on the bed next to him reading, while he was working on the game determinedly.  All of a sudden he said to me, “Lala, can you teach me how to manifest?”.  I said, “Of course, what do you want to manifest?”  He explained the Singing Monster desire and we followed my sure-fire manifesting steps. 

 1. Set your intention that anything you manifest is for the highest good of all involved.

• This is a key step that many folks skip.  Be clear of what you want, but also be clear that the Universe always has a plan and the plan is for your greatest good.  You don’t want to manifest below what the Universe has planned for you.  By doing this crucial step, you open yourself to the mystery of life and the remembering that what you are not in control and your desire is just a step to what is even better for you (and everyone else).
• This also addresses manifesting at the expense of others.  By setting this intention, you clearly say, you do not want to “win” if others have to “lose”.  It clears your heart of any energy that is not at the level of that which you want to manifest.

    2. Gratitude breathing – take a few steps in deep gratitude for everything and everyone in your life to  the point, where you know, that this desire is so small in all the goodness that already exists in your life today.
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​​​    3. Visualize exactly what it would look like if you already had that which you want.  In this case, see the monster singing on the screen with your other monsters.

    4. Feel what it would feel like when you see that, the first time, each moment thereafter, get very familiar with the feelings of that already being true.

     5. Take a deep breath and blow ALL of it out.  Completely releasing the vision from Step 3 and the feelings from Step 4.  As you breathe this out, know you have completely removed this desire from your physical body and handed it over to a higher power (the Universe, God, etc). 

Jacob followed these steps with me.  And, I believe in holding intentions for others, so his little sister Sara and I did these steps with him.  And, when he let his breath out, Sara and I did too.  And, then we went out to the playground and we played and we did not look at, nor think about the Singing Monsters for the rest of the day.  We got busy in the living of life and were having a great time doing that!
The next morning, Jacob woke up super early and ran to his iPad.  He came barreling into my room and jumped on the bed with excitement, but  more awe, and said, “Guess What”.  Jacob was the proud owner of not 1 but 2 of the rare monsters he had been working on.  We only manifested the 1 monster, but somehow during that process, he had released more than that one desire, and the Universe responded in turn!

Written with permission from Jacob Marzullo, age 9.

One of my favorite things to do is to manifest  money… I absolutely love coming up with new and exciting ways to manifest money, whether it is finding a $20 bill or manifesting a large chunk of cash!  I decided to put down my TOP TIPS for manifesting money into your life easily and effectively.

Give it away – I tell this to EVERYONE who wants to manifest money.  If you had more than enough money, and someone needed a few dollars, what would you do?  Would you help them?  What if I said… you had a bottle of water and someone was thirsty, would you give them a sip?  Money is no different than water.  Notice what objections your mind is coming up with right now – those are the reasons that you are not manifesting money!  Money is just like water, or just like anything else you have a TON of… it is no different.  What is different is how you feel about money and therefore the energy and attention you give to your money.
 
I helped a dear friend of mine manifest money and we worked on this “give it away” step.  He said, “I really am not in a position to be giving it away”.  I said, “Oh goodie, that’s when it works best!”  So, we found an amount that could be given away without putting him in a bad spot, but that would hurt a little.  That is how much you want to give away.  For some of you that will be a few dollars, for others, a few thousand.  The amount is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT.  The feeling is VERY IMPORTANT.  It should be enough that you would miss it, but still be able to get by.  What we found working together was that his issue was on “who deserved the money”.  So, for him, we added to the challenge by having him give it away to people who “looked rich”.  And, that shifted his money energy and he started immediately getting checks in the mail.
  
For anyone who needs to “why” this works.  The fun parts of law of attraction are coming up with what you want, visualizing it, getting a clear picture and getting totally into the feeling of already having it.  Then, you come out of that warm, happy, place to a place that some like to refer to as reality.  And in this place, what you just spent time “manifesting” does not exist (yet, not yet, it is coming…).  And, that is when the most important step to manifesting comes in, releasing.  That is when you have to release attachment.  The problem with that is you just spent all this time dreaming about how life would be with this thing… i.e., getting attached, very attached!  By activating the “giving it away” step with money, it is a form of releasing.  When you give the money to charity or those in need, it is another type of release, because for most of us, we have more than enough compared to so many others.  It helps release the desire even more.  And, we all know, when you manifest and release, the results can feel instantaneous.

My second tip, enjoy spending money.  Everything is energy.  If you are going to spend the money, might as well spend it joyfully.  That means paying rent for the “dump you live in”, paying taxes to a government whose policies you don’t support, or my personal challenge, paying speeding/parking tickets.  You are going to pay the money…  how you feel about it is your choice.  What I will say is the choice you make directly impacts how much more money you are going to get – so choose wisely.  I found myself complaining nonstop about a $100 parking ticket (come on, can someone really give you a $100 parking ticket – that is highway robbery).  And, I was not even illegally parked!  And, the parking meter ticketer honked at me as I was walking away from my car warning me not to park there, and I went back, re-read the sign, re-checked the meter, determined I was legally parked, and came back to a $100 ticket… good thing I am so over that J  What I found was, that I was fixated on this $100 ticket.  Not the money part, though, that stung for a parking ticket, but the principle, the morale, etc, etc.  And, I was getting really annoyed and angry.  What I know is this is not an energy state that is good for anything and I definitely did not want this energy in my money juju.  I needed to shift this quickly and the way I shift is to find a story that supports me.  I have now decided that I bought $100 in supplies for a DC classroom - you are welcome kids for my contribution!  As I wrote the check, I thought about all those happy kids.  I could have written it for more given how good I was feeling about the whole thing.  It stopped being an unfair parking ticket and became a contribution to the happiness of someone else.  Find a way to find the joy in the money you are giving away!   

Finally, it is fun to have some fun money affirmations.  Come up with affirmations that allow you to enjoy spending your money.  I have a few that I particularly love that I used to say often, but now, they are just part of my daily life and happen (magically) on their own…

1. The more money I spend, the more money I get.
2. For every dollar I spend, I get two dollars back!
3. My bank balance never goes down.
4. I bless this check as it goes out in the world for the good it will do to whomever receives it.

A common occurrence in my life, is to receive checks in the mail the same day I pay my bills.  I normally write my bills on the same day.  When I walk out to the mailbox to send them out, it is common for me to find checks waiting for the same amount (or more) as the bills that I have paid.  By the time I deposit the new checks and they clear, the checks for the bills get cashed and I am left with the same (or higher) bank balance. This has happened so many times that now, I am surprised when it doesn’t happen.  I heard a women speak recently, and she told a story about a song she made up while folding laundry.  It sounded more like a jingle and went like this, Checks in the mail, checks in the mail, I am getting checks in the mail.  She went on to talk about large sums of money through the most random sources that started showing up in her mailbox, including a very large inheritance.  I now sing checks in the mail too and because of her story, I find myself often times singing it while folding laundry.  What a great time to do affirmations!

Here is how you get started today:

1. Determine an amount you will give away in the next week. Make it big enough that you feel it, but no so big that you cannot pay your bills.
2. Start handing out money – this can be online to charities you support, on the street to people you see in need, to friends who you know are struggling (gift cards count), or just walk up randomly to people.My friend who did that was in an airport… what a fun place to have a $20 bill show up out of nowhere!
3. Challenge:Review your “money issue” – they don’t deserve it, there isn’t enough, etc.Then, for #2, challenge yourself to do what you think makes no sense.So, for example, if you think they don’t deserve it, then give it to someone who really doesn’t deserve it (whoever that is in your mind).If you think there is not enough, then just drop it on the ground in a busy place and keep walking with the swagger of someone who knows more is on its way!
4. Bonus:I have a friend, who every Christmas, gives his children gift cards in varying amounts from Walmart and McDonalds with a beautiful letter about how much they have as a family.The intention is to use those cards during the year and just give it to anyone that the kids feel may need them.I love this tradition and have decided to take part this year.I now have a stack of gift cards in my purse and I see people that may be in need, I hand them out.

Happy manifesting and remember, money DOES grow on trees and there is more than enough for you and everyone else!

Through my experiences, I have found an absolutely magical trick that can get you out of any kind of negative feelings towards anyone… quickly.  It is pretty simple… pray for their happiness.  For the sticky, hairy situations of life, you may need to do this for 3-5 minutes every morning for a month, but if you do, you will notice that the person and the situation literally start to magically alter.  For example, your boss gets a lateral transfer to a different office location.  Or your co-worker decides to find a new job after working at the same company for 35 years.  Or, your mother in law for the first time ever compliments your outfit.  I have heard all of those stories, plus tons of magical other ones (your honey randomly walks in the door with long stem roses).

Here is the basic premise - we are all doing the best we can with the resources we have.  Now, you may or may not believe that statement.  But, this is what I will say.  You only hurt yourself by not believing it.  Why walk around thinking people want to harm you?  It may or may not be true.  But, how does it feel if you believe it is true?  Now, how does it feel if you believe it is not true?  Always choose to believe what makes you feel the best.  Here is why – you will never know what the other person’s true intention is, even if they tell you.  Have you ever been in a situation where someone told you their “true intention” and they lied?  Yup – so you will never really know.  Have you ever been in a situation where you were sure beyond a doubt that someone had a bad intention, and then found out you made it all up in your head and the other person never had any negative intention for you?  For this reason, it is best for you to believe the thought that brings you the greatest amount of peace.

For some of us, the best we can do is absolutely atrocious, and that is the truth.  But, all of us know what it is like to be the person who everything you touch falls to pieces.  We have all been there.  And, as such, you can see in the behavior of others, that at that moment, they are that destructive force, that completely lost human being, or someone in great pain to be acting so unkindly, unjustly towards you.  Even the most malicious people have to be in great pain to act out of such malice.

Instead of making someone bad or wrong… which our ego would LOVE for us to do, make them injured and hurt in your mind.  By doing so, you create a very powerful shift.  Instead of someone who has power to hurt you, you make it that person a child who is having a tantrum and you see yourself as the person who is capable and able to manage that.  And, as you would with an innocent child, who is behaving badly, you send them love and hope they get their needs met so that they do not continue to behave poorly. 

This is how it works:  For five minutes every morning, pray for their happiness.  Here is a sample prayer below.

Dear Universe – Please provide _______________________ with the things they need to be  happy today. For I know, as they are happy, I am happy.  For whatever I ask for another, I receive for myself.  

Let __________________________ be happy.  Let them be healthy.  Let their dreams come true.  
Let life show up big and support them in their path.  I know their path is about them and has  nothing to do with me.  I bless them and I bless their path.

May she/he be happy.  May she/he be happy.  May she/he be happy.  May she/he be happy.  
May she/he be happy.   (good mantra to keep saying through the day as well).

Help me see their innocence today.  My mind has found all the ways they are wrong.  Help me see     that they are your innocent creation.  Help me see them the way you see them, dear Universe/God.

Let this difficult situation become a blessing for me.  Let me learn something valuable from this very difficult interaction so that I may better walk my path.  Let me give as I wish to receive.  Let me be the light where there is darkness.  Let me be kind and gentle even in the harshest situations.  Protect and uplift my heart,  so that I can be in this situation and know that I am being the very best me I can be.

Try that every day for 30 days and see the magical transformations that occur in your life.  Comment below – I would love to hear what happened as you tried this process.

Happy New Year, dear friends!  For a few years now, I have been writing a theme for each year that has been directly related to my journey through life.  It has become very clear to me that as we enter into 2016, this is a larger test of many of the life lessons and experiences we have been gathering through the past few years.  It feels like the last few years were practice tests leading up to the SATs or the scrimmages leading up to the big game.  In 2016, for us to truly thrive as a world community, we are going to have to take on our biggest challenge and that is the choice of where we place our energy and focus.

At every moment, you are making a choice about the situation you are in – you choose how you see it (perception), you choose what you think about it (thoughts), and from those choices, you have feelings that arise.  For most of us, this is an automatic process.  We are so used to situations being the same as they were the day before, that we walk into situations with pre-determined perceptions, then we have thoughts, and before you know it we have an emotional response (your emotions follow your thoughts, if you ever want to feel differently, notice what you are thinking and choose a better feeling thought).  An example of this could be a co-worker who we perceive as always being annoying.  Since this our perception of that person, before they open their mouth, we have already perceived what is about to happen, our thoughts are already reminding us of the last 100 times they annoyed us, and our blood pressure is on the rise.  And, that is one of the many automatic behaviors that all of us, as humans, experience.  We do this hundreds of time each day.  Choose automatically, and for most of us, choosing in a way that ultimately harms us and others, rather than lifts us and others up. 

2016 is about our ability to conscientiously choose – choose to see differently, choose to think differently, so that we can choose to feel and create differently.  We have seen what we are creating in the state of the world today.  What is happening on the large world stage is happening in individuals as well.  When I talk to people, there is pain, mistrust, anger, fear and hopelessness.  These are the normal daily emotions I hear about.   When you read the headlines, you see more of the same – pain, mistrust, anger, fear and hopelessness.  This comes from a perception, followed by thoughts, followed by an emotional response.  In order to change the world and to change our life, we have to change our perception of what is happening and choose better thoughts about what is happening around us.

The key to changing this lies in our ability to change focus – to choose to see things as we want them to be versus how we currently perceive them.  This is where the choice comes in.  It is easier to be on autopilot and allow the perception, followed by the thoughts, followed by the emotions to run its course.  It is much harder to see an event, PAUSE, and then make a conscious choice about how you will perceive the event.  This is simply a choice.  But simple does not mean easy.  Using the co-worker example from above, this is what it would look like… you see your co-worker open their mouth, the automatic tape of perception starts to run, you say silently (or, even out loud… I had to do that a lot at the beginning… STOP!).  Then you PAUSE and take a breath.  You make a choice about your co-worker – they are a good person, they are a hard worker, they are a human being like you with good parts and hurt parts, and you listen to what comes out of their mouth with the perception it is going to be good, it is going to be helpful, it is going to be loving.  And, then see what happens.  This practice is magical.  Try it but, start with someone who does not annoy you greatly.  Like all of our practices, it is a habit and takes some time to develop.  Eventually, you can use it in the most trying of situations.

The practice of PAUSING and then choosing differently is not an easy practice.  It requires you to be present in the moment; to be fully consciously aware of where you are and who you are speaking to at any given moment.  It requires you to notice when feelings arise and think back to the perception and thoughts that lead up to those feelings.  And, most importantly, in that moment, it requires humility to choose again.  By the time you have the feelings, the choice was made already.  But, that is ok, because the practice is allowing yourself the gift to choose again.  To STOP where you are, realize you made an automatic choice that is not helpful, and choose again.  This time, choosing to focus on something that uplifts and fills the world with love and light.