What is risk,
exactly?
In my
contracting work I sometimes get into unusual situations.
One day I was 25 feet in the air working on some molding at
the top of a house. I had to position my ladder awkwardly in
order to avoid a decorative stone pool and fountain
underneath. I was feeling a little vulnerable, even though I
have been that high before. I thought to myself "I could get
killed doing this. I'll just tell Ed I can't do it."
Halfway down
the ladder I changed my mind, for I had had a realization.
I had been
working away for half an hour before without any problem.
Now all of a sudden it was too risky. What changed?
I told myself
"Before, your ladder was well placed. Now it isn't and you
might fall."
But that wasn't
true at all. That was just the story I was telling myself.
What had
changed was my alignment of energy to the task at hand. For
some reason I had made the decision that I didn't want to do
the work, then I found reasons to support that decision.
My realization
came after I reviewed why I was up there in the first place.
It was a
pleasant autumn day, and the house itself was a historic old
brownstone in a great neighborhood. I liked the people I was
working for as well. As I looked around the property at the
beautifully designed and well tended gardens and
landscaping, I began to rediscover my purpose.
I raced up the
ladder and completed the rest of the work in less than an
hour, even though there were two more difficult ladder
placements.
This experience
crystallized my thinking on the subject. Since I am a fellow
who likes to ponder the big picture, I am always observing
my life and comparing to previous experiences, trying to
come up with greater comprehension. I now understood that
risk is simply the misalignment of thoughts, beliefs and
feelings toward a goal.
If something
feels risky, then either you do not have a clear idea of how
to proceed, or you have not fully committed to the activity.
When putting
together some credit card software for my web site, I had a
number of product choices. I could get a credit card
terminal and deal with the local bank, or choose from one of
several internet software packages. Being a neophyte, I
considered that ALL of the choices were risky. What if the
software didn't work? How was I going to get help from some
faceless company I'd never dealt with before? What if the
bank was uncooperative? (I've had some experiences along
that line). What if I got a lot of fraudulent orders? What
if nobody wanted my stuff? After wallowing around in that
for a while I finally decided to just apply the stuff I'm
always preaching to others.
I made up my
mind on one of the internet products and aligned my energies
to that. I told myself that this software looked good and it
could do the job. Mostly I contemplated why I wanted the
software in the first place: because I wanted to offer
products to my readers. Because I wanted to enhance the
website. Because it was an expansion of my reach to the
world at large. Because I wanted to inspire and help others.
And mostly because the general idea felt fantastic! All of a
sudden the risk evaporated.
Did the
riskiness of the operation change? I was still dealing with
the same uncertainties. But it FELT like the risk was gone
and I've learned to trust those good feelings.
An objective
observer, however, would determine that statistically I was
no better off than before. "Just another guy using the
internet to hawk products," he might say.
The only change
was my conscious decision to go ahead, and to focus on the
desired result. But that was enough.
Risk is often present when you go into action before you're
ready. Sometimes this happens because you have a goal you
want so much to reach that you just don't feel like waiting
around, and so you plunge in. This often works because once
you dive in it's either sink or swim. You have to keep your
attention exclusively on the goal, or you drown. But often
it just leads to a lot of hard work and struggle as you
desperately try to make things go right.
You’re coping
and struggling so much that you never find the time (or
never think) to relax and vibrationally envision the future.
You are continually creating your life from what you see
around you.
So I define
risk this way: your degree of uncertainty as to the outcome.
Notice this
definition has nothing to do with the amount of money or
resources you presently have. It has nothing to do with your
present reality, or the 'dangers' others may describe to
you.
How can you
lessen or eliminate risk?
The traditional
way is to get the resources and the environment lined up
around you before you begin. "Know before you go," as the
saying goes. That is certainly one way to go about it. But
what you're really doing here is aligning your energy toward
your desire. Looking at all of that stuff gives you a
feeling that it's OK to proceed.
But you can be
confident without ever gathering two pennies to scrape
together. That's why it's possible for anyone to change in a
positive direction no matter what the present reality. It's
the reason behind the so-called 'American Dream.'
We have all
been taught that reality does not at least somewhat resemble
our goal, then we are at risk of failure.
"You want to
start an internet business in this economy? You're crazy
right? Don't you know that dot-coms are going bust all over
the place?"
Well maybe
that's true. But if it is true that the physics of the
universe responds to each conscious being on an individual
basis (and I believe it does, based on my experiences) then
all that is required is self-alignment.
Some might say
that is a very reckless statement.
"You're just
encouraging people to go out on a limb and you're doing them
a disservice."
What I'm
encouraging is a little less focus on the 'risk' and a
little more focus on the visualization of the end product
and the reasons for undertaking the activity in the first
place. There's a good reason for this.
All doingness
is proceeded first by inspiration. This inspiration could be
something very minor, like "boy it sure would be nice if
those dishes were done." Or it could be something huge like
"wouldn't it be nice if the people of the world could find a
way to live in peace." What I'm saying is, concentrate more
on that inspiration, and less on the reasons your project
might not come off.
(I'm not
advising that your should go blindly forward without lining
up the resources and support you feel you need to get
started. I’m saying that if you focus on that beautiful and
powerful kernel of inspiration you can't go wrong. I don't
care what anyone says).
"But what if
I’m starting with nothing? It’s a lot harder.”
Is it? But it
might be more rewarding! It's just that most people don't
think you can be successful if the current reality is at 0.
That's because
human beings have confused cause and effect. Cause is
consciousness. The result of the decisions of consciousness
is the physically manifested reality.
In order to get
the ball rolling you have to start somewhere. It makes
absolutely no difference if you start from scratch or if
you're Rupert Darbyshire Bentley III and have a million
dollars at your disposal. The success of your operation will
depend mainly on how you align yourself to it. Rupert
Bentley may start with a million and be able to set up his
music business right away, but if Rupert does not have
strong, clear and positive feelings about his venture, he is
not aligned to success. Whereas Downtown Freddie Brown may
have a killer rap that just won't quit. Freddie may find
himself as rich as Rupert one day, if that is his desire.
But the manifestation of that desire is dependent only upon
Freddie, not on the state of the economy, the disdain of
people like Rupert, the disbelief of others, or anything
else.
Rupert is
probably used to the idea of success because he has been
raised rich. Rupert's reality reflects the success he has
been born into, but that reality was in place before Rupert
was born. In other words, Rupert has done nothing to create
the prosperity around him, so his vibration may or may not
be oriented toward success. A person may have the money to
set up a business, but the success of that business is not
dependent upon the money. It's dependent upon the people,
resources, and design of the operation and that is always a
direct reflection of the person in charge.
Guys like
Freddie are told so often by parents, teachers, peers and
society that their chances are very few, and then they begin
to believe it. "You have nothing," they will say, "and you
are severely handicapped because of the circumstances of
your birth. Get used to a life of scarcity right now." This
idea then becomes their platform of attraction. "Statistics
show that only 1.5% of inner city residents will ever start
a successful business…" blah blah blah.
The amazing
thing is that Freddie has an equal chance as Rupert of being
successful. Universal law applies equally to everyone.
Risk is
proportionate to your misalignment of energy toward your
goal.
If there is
perfect alignment, there is no risk, for things just open up
smoothly for you at every step along the way. And even if
they don’t, you don’t let circumstances bother you. You
cheerfully pick yourself up and go after it again. If you're
Freddie you may have to attract a lot more resources, but
that's just a few extra links on the vibrational chain.
I'm finding
that out with my writing career. I started at zero; and I
mean absolute zero. Five years ago I had the desire to write
down some of my experiences. Gradually I found myself
working less and writing more, and having a lot of fun with
it. I write when I'm inspired, not because I feel I should.
Now I've got a website up and I'm going to get an internet
shopping cart to make it easier for people to read what I
have to say.
Is it going to
be successful? Who knows?
Does it matter?
For me, it doesn't. If I don't even sell one thing, I'll be
happy. Because I'm not doing it to make money. I'm doing it
because I'm fired up about the idea of enhancing my website
and making my stuff more widely available. I like the idea
of being able to inspire others. I also like the idea of
being a player on the internet. I've spent half my salary at
Amazon.com, and now I'm going to be on the other side.
It's taken me a
long time to get to this point but it sure has been fun. To
do something just for the fun of it regardless of the
outcome. Like Freddie, I don't have a lot of
present-time-reality resources, but I know it doesn't
matter! My success is guaranteed if I just keep my vibe in
high gear.
Some people
might say I'm a fool for paying good money to print books
people might never buy. Some might say I'm a double fool for
paying even more money to set up shop on the internet. But
it feels good, so I'm gonna do it. One thing I'm sure of:
there's no risk involved!
So how do you
eliminate risk? By staying confident and maintaining your
vision. If this is accompanied by a feeling of well being,
things will begin to line up for you.
How do you stay
confident if you don't know whether you will succeed? By
paying attention to the inspiration which was the launching
of all of your activities. By staying in contact with the
good feelings that made you want to reach your goal in the
first place. By doing your research and going into action
when you feel inspired to do so. Your positive attitude is
the ultimate guarantor of success, for it sets up the proper
vibrational orientation to the goal. This is the same thing
as saying, "matching up vibrationally with your desire." The
Law of 'like attracts like' guarantees that if your signal
is a match to that of your goal, manifestation will result.
Here's an
example: I was thinking about how to get a lot of CD's made
in case I had a lot of orders. The very next day my
brother-in-law Victor tells me about an acquaintance who has
a professional CD duplicating machine that he's not using.
This guy was going to start a big project but it never came
off. So Victor is going to see about buying the thing for me
(at a discount!). I found this to be astonishing. In the
first place, I had no idea how to even duplicate CD's, other
than shoving them in a CD writer. I didn't research CD
writing, nor did I investigate products and compare prices.
The thing has basically shown up in my lap, just like magic,
in less than 24 hours.
You might say,
"Yeah but what if this thing is a piece of junk? How do you
know you've got the best product for your needs? How can you
know it's the very best deal you can get?" These are all
questions the intellect must ask, because it cannot feel the
vibration connected to the undertaking. But I can just feel
that it's the right thing for me. That feeling is priceless.
It's worth more than a dozen professional analyses and
hundreds of hours of research. And if the thing turns out
not to be the perfect fit, so what? If I can create a window
of opportunity for something like that in 24 hours, it'll be
a piece of cake to create another one. That's what it feels
like anyway.
You are always
manifesting. You might be manifesting the same stuff over
and over, but you are always dynamically creating the
conditions of your life. A lot of people see the same old
stuff around them and think that they can never get out of
the rut. But you are always at source–point, even if you
don't realize it!
That is a
strange statement, for if you don't realize you're at cause
point, are you really at cause point?
Well, the Law
of Free Will states that you always have the choice to
change your point of focus and the Law of Vibration and the
Law of 'like attracts like' guarantees that the mechanism to
bring the desired thing to you always exists and is always
enabled.
The funny thing
about consciousness is that it can always pull the wool over
its own eyes. The laws of the universe work so that you can
have any experience you want. So you inherently have
complete control over your life, but you can also play the
game so that you are a victim. It's a beautiful system.
Risk occurs
when you overreach your feeling of alignment with the goal.
Risk has little
to do with the available resources.
Have you ever
seen or read about a person who plowed ahead almost
recklessly yet still achieved success? We often hear that
such people were just lucky. "Joe caught a few big breaks.
YOU can't count on that." But you can. Because those big
breaks were simply windows of opportunity that opened
because of Joe's vibrational orientation.
Why did the
'reckless' person succeed?
Because he
lined himself up with a vibration of success, and was smart
enough to follow those inspirational nudges he or she
received at the appropriate times.
What appears
reckless, or lucky, to an observer is a personal vibrational
alignment to the goal, and action cycles along the path of
least resistance. When you line yourself up with success,
in other words, the actions you take cut through the muck of
resistance.
When the lucky
or reckless person is asked how and why he or she succeeded,
very often they will not be able to give a precise answer.
Because the intellect cannot understand a series of what
appears to be coincidences, it assigns the end result to
good luck.
In the
vibrational universe model, any manifestation is a result of
a matching of signals, leading to co–incident events.
So any
manifestation you receive is never luck, or chance.
What most
people consider as risk is actually a physical comparison of
the present reality with the desired reality, but it's
really an energetic gap between a desire and a belief. A
belief of inadequacy to the task itself creates the
conditions that result in failure, and in the feeling of
risk. It generates more reasons to consider failure and
looks to the manifested reality in support of these
limitations. The belief then composes the dominant vibration
in your signal to the universe at large.
Freddie says:
"I have a great rap but how am I going to promote it? Oh
what's the use of even trying." Because people like to feel
that their decisions are appropriate, Freddie will now look
around at his current reality for confirmation. And he will
find lots of 'facts' to support his new decision.
All of your
creative power is in the pre-manifestation phase. This is
the phase where you are creating and envisioning and
planning your campaign toward the successful accomplishment
of the goal. The current reality merely represents the
result of your vibrational signal so far. The current
reality, therefore, really has very little power unless you
continue to create your future from it.
Once you
understand that risk is self created, you can change your
orientation from one of uncertainty to one of confidence.
To the degree
that you understand the powerful role of consciousness in
the creative process, the risks on your road to
manifestation will lessen.
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