I've had some time off from work this week, and have been able to spend more than my usual amount of daily time focusing on improving my CMI...

I had an "aha" moment today when I realized parts of my CMI lack detail because many areas involve different choices, where I would be equally happy with either/or. That caused me to stop short of really zeroing in on what I want.

Can you really impress the OS with, "I'd be equally delighted with either this, or that."? My guess is, probably not. My guess is, I need to just decide which it's going to be.

In the first place, I was in effect trying to maintain two different images. Each image takes you to a whole different chain of decisions (e.g., build onto the existing home, or buy a new one?).

In the second place, I could envision my home full of new funiture (isn't that on just about everybody's list?), but I see a lot of furniture styles I like, and would be equally delighted with numerous different choices. The vision was fuzzy because I hadn't decided exactly what furniture to get.

So today, I went window shopping and made some of those decisions. And you know what? It's pretty fun to finally decide some of these things. Progress... it's a beautiful thing.


Kate

quote:

Can you really impress the OS with, "I'd be equally delighted with either this, or that."? My guess is, probably not. My guess is, I need to just decide which it's going to be.

The only thing I can say (I'm still fairly new to this) is: make it as perfect as you can. Regarding a home, what would your perfect home look / feel like?

I was thinking about my own c.m.i. and I came up with a little "story" relating to this:

Suppose there's this little child who wants a cookie. So her mother goes to the kitchen to fetch one. But upon her return, the child says: "I want a candy bar". The mother goes back to the kitchen to get that. When she comes back to the room, the child has decided she'd rather have chocolate milk. As this goes on, the Mother keeps providing anything the child wants, but because of her indecision the child ends up with -nothing-....

Hope this helps.
Any thoughts from "the old hands" here?

You can select this or something better!

That's IT!

FormlessMusic, you have come up with a perfect allegory and a metaphor to describe how this works. I love it.

quote:

Originally posted by FormlessMusic:
I was thinking about my own c.m.i. and I came up with a little "story" relating to this:

Suppose there's this little child who wants a cookie. So her mother goes to the kitchen to fetch one. But upon her return, the child says: "I want a candy bar". The mother goes back to the kitchen to get that. When she comes back to the room, the child has decided she'd rather have chocolate milk. As this goes on, the Mother keeps providing anything the child wants, but because of her indecision the child ends up with -nothing-....

And that is pretty much how I imagined the results from my indecision... Initially, I thought it was enough to identify the need for new furniture - I figured I could decide exactly which pieces to get when it's closer the time to receive it. But then I realized, even if it could be one way or another, either/or is not clear, definite, or detailed, which Wally says it must be.

Also, some of my old beliefs were creeping in... it used to not be much fun to think about or decide things like this when I didn't believe I could afford it.

But now I realize that deciding exactly what to get is part of the process of receiving it, and it's way more fun to think about these things when you know they're already yours.

Also my CMI is so much more vivid in my mind, now that I have picked exactly what is going where. It's a much more compelling image!


Kate

quote:

I figured I could decide exactly which pieces to get when it's closer the time to receive it.

As I understand it, this would be working backward and prevent you from receiving, but it looks to me you already figured that out!

But I'm also learning to rely on trust if you don't know what you want. For example: part of my c.m.i. is a new laptop. I know what I want from it, but since I have some very specific requirements, I don't know yet which make / model. I can see myself using it very clearly, so I know it is coming, but I trust the Formless to bring the right one to me - or at least point me in the right direction.

Still, I'm not just sitting and waiting but research actively all the features and hardware of the various laptops available to find the perfect one. It's more like relying on "team support".

Ah, us & original substance - what a team we make!

Excellent topic Kate. I agree with Rasheed about FormlessMusic's comment about the mother and child. I have two daughters and can relate to your story - which really brings the image to life.

The point I would like to add is: be willing to be surprised! It is sort of related to Tom Strong's comment about "this or something better".

The way I have explained it to others is...

Suppose part of your CMI is a red Ferrari. Let's suppose what shows up for you is a black Lamborghini. When you are willing to be surprised, you can recognize and be grateful for what shows up - regardless of appearances.

Disclaimer for car enthusiasts: I am not saying what is better - Ferrari or Lamborghini. They are both great! And by the way, I am ready to receive - this or something better!

This is a wonderful thread. I love the allegory of the little girl. I had a very similar "aha" moment recently. A big part of my c.m.i. is a house. I had not been very specific about it. A few days ago I was talking with a coworker and we were discussing local real estate and I said, "Well, if I could just write my own ticket I'd..." I then spelled out in great detail what type of house I wanted and exactly what part of town I wanted it in. As I was speaking the light bulb went off and I realized that 1. I can write my own ticket and 2. I had just described my cmi better to a co worker than I had to the universe.

Its kind of funny how life shows us what we need to know.

Best wishes,
Bill

quote:

"I'd be equally delighted with either this, or that."?

hee hee .. I can relate. My solution? Imagine BOTH

Hence, I have a list of about 5 houses in 5 styles in 5 areas for my CMI

In addition to my little story about the girl, yesterday I saw what happened to a little boy who wasn't grateful:

I was looking for something in a drugstore where they had a display with lots of sweets, you know the kind where you can mix and match yourself and pay for the weight. Mum told the kid he could choose 2 flavours. So he did. His mother did quite a few of them in a bag and started to go to the cash register. The boy started whining he wanted more. Moaning. Crying. Yelling. In the end his mother was so embarrased and mad she took the boy and left the sweets behind...

Ah, the lessons children teach us (and the Mother, if we will only listen...).

quote:

Originally posted by FormlessMusic:
Ah, the lessons children teach us (and the Mother, if we will only listen...).

How wonderfully observant you are! Thanks for sharing. I found this story quite compelling and figure I must be like this for it to mean so much to me. Thank you Thank you - off to do some more appreciation and gratitude fun stuff!

Paix, Carolyn

quote:

How wonderfully observant you are!

Thanks! Though this one was hard to miss: the kid threw such a tantrum. But seriously: since I started in the certain way, I see all kinds of valuable "lessons" or gifts in situations I used to dismiss as "annoying". This in turn enables me to put more detail in my c.m.i. And boy, am I grateful for that!

Good old mr. Wattles has enriched my life in many ways beyond material wealth!

The cookie story is great, and works well to help us understand how we need to form opur CMI, but as for the candy story, I dunno.

Why couldn't the kid have more flavors? I mean, if the mother put quite a few of them in the bag, why could he only have two flavors?

I could understand it, if she was only going to buy two candies and told him to pick two, but why on earth could he only have two flavors when she was putting 'quite a few' in the bag?

Seems like a pretty strict and mean Mommy to me. As for the kid, well I'm with him.

This is how I see it (from the kid's perspective):

Mommy says I can only have two flavors and I agonizingly choose two flavors, but I really want four flavors - and oh, wow, would I ever like to have one of THOSE too! But Mommy says I can only have two flavors, okay - I'll take this one and that one.

Then I see Mommy put a whole bunch of candies in the bag and I can't understand why I can only have two flavors, so I start screaming. (Afterall, I am a kid!)

Mommy then gets all red in the face because she realizes it was stupid to restrict him to two flavors when she was buying a bagful of candy - and runs out of the store because she really doesn;t know how to deal with the situation.

Of course, I don't know the kid and his history with Mother and candy. But from where I sit, the universe offers many flavors.

I realize as a metaphor for refining our CMI - this is good. Yet I don't think the universe tells me I have to have either or, I think if I tell the universe I want both, I'll get both. Maybe I'll have to wait a bit longer - but according to SOGR and Wally's principles, we can have both.(in my humble opinion)

Hi metoo!
There is a difference between the two stories in that I made up the cookie-story to clarify a point. The candy-story was something I witnessed myself and made me think about gratitude - not so much to clarify a point.

I didn't know the mother either, so I can't tell if she's mean or stupid. Ma was patient with her child at first though. I only witnessed the kids change from gratitude to being discontented which triggered my thoughts. I didn't mean to say the universe restricts our options in any way! So I'm completely with you on that one.

Yes, it works very well as a gratitude story, or 'lack of' gratitude story. I wonder what would have happened if the kid had been all gushy "thank you Mommy".

quote:

Originally posted by METOO:
This is how I see it (from the kid's perspective):

...

Then I see Mommy put a whole bunch of candies in the bag and I can't understand why I can only have two flavors, so I start screaming. (Afterall, I am a kid!)

... But from where I sit, the universe offers many flavors.

I realize as a metaphor for refining our CMI - this is good. Yet I don't think the universe tells me I have to have either or, I think if I tell the universe I want both, I'll get both. Maybe I'll have to wait a bit longer - but according to SOGR and Wally's principles, we can have both.(in my humble opinion)

This is my own humble opinion, as I'm not an expert on this, either, but from what I do understand:
- Yes, if you want both, you'll get both.
- But you're not going to get it by whining and throwing fits about what you don't have. You get it by including it in your CMI and trust that it IS yours, despite all appearances of not having it. And yes, by also being profusely, profoundly grateful for everything (said: every.thing.) that you currently have possession of.

In my particular case, I really don't want both. I just want one or the other, and would be equally happy with either. So deciding which it will be helps me to make a more definite and detailed image of where I'm headed.


Kate

quote:

Originally posted by METOO:
Yes, it works very well as a gratitude story, or 'lack of' gratitude story. I wonder what would have happened if the kid had been all gushy "thank you Mommy".

I have to say, METOO, I don't understand you using the word "gushy" with the Thank you.

I wonder if this kind of goes with Rebecca's lesson about the man on the bus who didn't understand a father's actions with his children.

Basically, we don't know "why" mom acted as she did, but it's not our business.

The fact is the chld went without due to lack of gratitude for what he was given.

My CMI will come at different times and I will be (am) grateful for each manifestation as it arrives.

I'm not sure if this fits, but my daughter came to mind with the candy story concerning my granddaughter who is four. Last year my daughter and husband started teaching Larissa to make choices. For example, they will be in a store and Larissa will see something she really wants. If birthday is coming up, Bev will remind Larissa that she can put that on her bithday list. Then Larissa will see something else at another store that she really wants. Bev will ask her, "would you rather have that more than ..." Larissa will stop and think and decide no.

Then Oma (me) sends her money for her birthday (or whatever occasion) to buy what she really wants the most. If the other item is still something she wants, she'll get it another time.

Like I said, I'm not sure this example fits, it's just that the candy story made me think of it. I guess I can see Bev doing that to have Larissa makes choices.

SharonSS

I am so glad this discussion came up! I have been struggling with getting my CMI clear regarding the house I want. Similar to the furniture issue, I am having a lot of trouble visualizing the exact details. I know what it feels like to live there, it's a feeling of freedom, creativity, space and room to breathe, to relax, to grow things....but the visual keeps changing. I am beginning to think that I should start where I am. There are many improvements I want to make in my present home, for which I need funding. That, I CAN visualize, since I am here, and haved lived here for 15 years. I know exactly the changes I'd make, right down to the flooring, wall colors and furniture arrangements. I believe it's in keeping with SOGR to care for the home I am in, while at the same time wanting a larger one. But I wonder if, in concentrating my CMI on my present home, although it's a visually 'sharper' image, I am falling into the trap of 'not asking largely enough', like the man who only asked for a rug and a coal stove, instead of a whole new home.....any thoughts for me? I really need to get this one straight. I feel that, the longer I linger over this, the more fuzzy is the impression I am making on the universe.

Joyce

Joyce, it seems to me that to add, "This or something better!" is the way to go. Rebecca and others have suggested this.

I have done this myself. I'm not sure where I would like to live - house, condo, another apt. - whatever. I know if I moved I'd like a three bedroom whatever for family members to visit. At the same time, I'm a senior citizen and would kind of like to live around others more my age.

So I just put it in the higher power hands. My CMI includes my present apt., but if something better happens, I'll take it.

SharonSS

Joyce,

Doing all you can in your current house, If you do that it is possible that you will increase the value of your home or make it more plesant and may sell quicker when you are ready to take step to a new house. It may be that the people doing the remodeling have some insight into your CMI house. One just never knows.

As we all become aware of these teachings we become aware of situations around us that prove the vadility of the teachings. Little things like the candy story should convince you even more that the law of attraction works.

When I was writing this I thought of a situation about being aware. There are times when you want or buy a car and at the time it seems unique in style or color. But once you buy it and drive around you seem them all over. They probably were still there you just didnt notice them but now that you are aware you seem to spot them all over.

Bill