Be Less Specific and Get More Happiness!

For years we've all been reading about visualization, and the need to see the specifics of your dreams.  If you want a new car you are supposed to visualize that car down to the color of the trim, the feel of the gear shift in your hand, and the smell of the leather.  In line with the evidence that this technique works, many of us have been applying that same methodology to visualizing more general changes in our lives.  When we want a new relationship or a career change we begin to visualize the specifics of who and what we want.  Seems like a good idea, right?

Well, I'm starting to think that in these cases we need to be less specific in order for the universe to give us what will make us truly happy.  As you'll see in my previous post, I explained how I came to learn that God and the Universe give us exactly what we need, even though sometimes what we need can come in the form of a painful lesson.  At the same time they can give us the life we dream of, if we get out of the way and let them do their thing.

As I mentioned in my last post, a corporate reorganization left me with a new and exciting position.  Following that post something even more wonderful happened.  That re-org had created a vacancy that enabled me to be handed a large promotion!  This promotion is even more perfect for me, and it enables me to help an even larger pool of employees navigate the changes that we need to make in order to stay profitable in this economy.  Since this happened three weeks ago I have been on a huge high.  I eat, sleep, and dream this new role.  I have so many ideas, and so much to learn and I am truly energized.  As I mentioned in my last post, I had really thought that what I needed in order to be happy was a way to work from home as a writer. I certainly didn't think that being a Director in a large corporation was where the happy was at!

Yet here I am, and here's the happy right by my side.  How did that happen?  In early December I stopped visualizing the specifics of my dream. Instead I began focusing on the feeling of happiness.  Even more importantly, I began to note the moments in my everyday life when I felt that happiness.  When I would feel joy or purpose or excitement I would say to myself, "that's what I want more of."  In my prayers each night I would ask God simply to give me continued happiness and fulfillment.  I stopped giving Him specifics on how I thought that might be accomplished.

As I stopped being specific in my visualizations, I began to feel a loosening, both within myself, and in the air around me.  It was as if by visualizing myself working from home each day, sitting at a computer in a space carved out for me in our home office, I had been forcing the fabric of the universe to move in a direction it was resisting.  Kind of like trying to put the round peg in the square hole.  When I stopped pushing, and began having faith in the Universe to take me where I wanted to go, I felt the tension begin to release in my life, and I began to feel a more positive flow of energy around me.

So less than two months after I began my non-specific visualization, I was delivered into a new reality where I love what I do AND I still will have more time in my life to spend with Gracie.  Thanks to having non-center specific duties in my new role, I will be able to take my turn being the parent that stays home to watch Gracie when she's ill.  On snow days, like today, I will be able to work from home and care for her.  Eventually, once I get into a groove I suspect I will even find time to write again on occasion.

So overall, it's a dream come true.

Have you been a little too specific in your visualization about non-material things?  Visualizing a blue car is one thing, but visualizing a blond haired, blue eyed 6ft tall male, when the Universe knows that the dark haired, dark eyed 5'8" guy next door is perfect for you might be a problem.  Try being a little less specific, and focus on the feelings that you want to have more of in your life.  What have you got to lose except a reality that wouldn't have made you happy anyway?

Comments

[jeweledrabbit]

You're talking about focussing on the essence of what you want instead of the specific form what you want should take. For example, many people think that winning the jackpot in the lottery and having all that money would make them happy, but it's not the money itself that would do that. It's what the money would allow them to do or to be that would make them happy. In my case, having a lot of money (not that I buy lottery tickets LOL) would allow me the freedom to do what I want. So what I need to do is focus on feeling free right now in order for what I want to materialize.

Also, you're right when you say that getting too specific may stop the universe from bringing you something even better. That's why you need to end your visualization sessions and affirmations with the sentence "This or better is now mine."

[JB]

Maybe for some people it DOES work to visualize right down to the smell of the leather and the fine stitch detailing of the car, but it hasn't been working for me. When I try to do that, it starts out all right, but I find myself caught up in details then having a debate over whether I'd be happier with the red truck with the tan trim, or the tan truck with no trim and then it all goes to heck.

Truth is, I don't know everything that exists in the Universe, and I don't know what might make me happiest. Ten years ago, I thought I'd be happiest if my music career took off. I never imagined that three years later, after a casual whim lead me on a trail ride that lead me to becoming a horse owner and natural horsemanship enthusiast, I'd subsequently discover a new lifestyle that makes me far happier than being on the road in a band ever did.

I love your simple prayer for continued happiness and fulfillment, and the idea of focusing on the essence of the feeling the experiences will bring rather than the details themselves. This is being put into practice in my life now. (But I'm still buying my lottery ticket just in case! LOL!)

JBs last blog post..Oh, As IF—and, How Do You Deal with Fear?

[Melissa]

@JeweledRabbit - exactly true. It's the essence that we need to focus on, but we start getting hung up on the specifics and lose sight of the end goal, which was more a feeling than a physical reality.

@JB - I'm so glad that you have found such a wonderful and fulfilling path. I'm with you on the lottery ticket though, I'm still buying one. Like the commercial in NY says "Hey, you never know."

Melissas last blog post..Why Does the Universe Give Me Things I Don’t Want?

[Michele Angelo]

Makes so much sense and is so simple and yet we feel we have to fill in every detail in order to achieve our specific dream. We forget, the universe knows what we need without the specifics. I am so very happy for you. Enjoy. You certainly deserve it.