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Allow the gravity of your intention work with you, for you.

One morning, a master asked his student to fill a small wooden bucket of water as quickly as he could for their morning tea. The student hurried out to the well, placed the bucket on a small platform on the ground under the spigot and began to lever the pump’s handle. Since the pump was old and rusted, it required two hands and took several minutes before giving any water. By the end of these few minutes, the student was working furiously, exasperated at the amount of effort required for such a small bucket of water and mindful his master was waiting.

Finally, the well began to sputter and spit as water rose to the top of the pump. The student continued to work the pump and the water burst forth with such force it arched over the bucket and landed on the stony, uneven ground beyond. Crying out in frustration, the student tried to slow the water’s flow by closing the pump halfway, however as soon as he stopped working the handle, the pump sealed itself and the water slowed to a trickle. When the student then tried lifting the handle halfway, there wasn’t enough force to produce any water.

Watching this, the master said, “If you work the pump halfway, your results are ineffective. Similarly, if you work the pump too intensely, your efforts may give much fruit, but still you may miss the mark. Try lifting the handle all the way, then pause and see what happens.”

“Master, I lifted the handle all the way and the water flew past the bucket!” the student replied.

The master simply looked on, saying nothing. The student turned back to the pump and followed the master’s instructions, lifting the pump’s handle all the way as before, but waiting after each lift. As it had before, the water flew past the bucket, but as the stream ran down, much of the water fell into the bucket. Pleased, the student pushed the lever down and raised it again to the same effect.

After several such cycles, the bucket was full. Closing the pump, the student walked the full bucket of water over the master. The master said, “Often, in our seeking to fill our days with as much as we can, we may find our efforts offering little fulfillment. If we periodically take time to replenish ourselves, bringing balance to intense activity, we accomplish more than if we move through our days at full speed or with half-spirited effort.”

“The important part is to decide your direction, move in that direction with clarity and allow the gravity of your intention to work with you, for you.”

See, not with the eyes, but with the heart.

One day, two flower merchants set up shop next to one another. They opened for business on the same day, carried the same lovely selection of aromatic flowers, and maintained similar prices for their marvelous plants. Both merchants took great care with raising their plants and both were kind and courteous to their customers. In fact, their stores appeared to be equal in every way.

At first, the merchants even received equal traffic through their shops, but–as time went on–the first merchant’s shop became more popular among the people. The second merchant noticed this and became concerned. One particularly slow day, he decided to look into the matter. As he stepped out his door to visit his neighbor, he passed one of his regular customers leaving the first merchant’s shop carrying their weekly purchase of flowers. In disbelief, the second merchant hurried into the next store.

Indeed, the store was teeming with customers. The second merchant noticed his competitor wasn’t taking the money himself, as he always did. The first merchant was out among the aisles, talking with his customers. To his amazement, the second merchant watched as the first would chat at great length with the customers and even would occasionally talk to the flowers themselves! The second merchant prided himself on being a serious store owner and could not understand this leisurely approach to running a shop. Yet this behavior seemed to be working for the first merchant, as his thriving store would attest.

When the second merchant could stand it no longer, he approached the first and politely asked to interrupt the conversation. The first merchant smiled, handed his customers to one of his clerks, and turned his attention to his exasperated neighbor.

The second merchant asked, “Brother, I am your humble student. Our stores are nearly the same in all ways, yet your results are doubling while mine are halving. I do not understand.”

“Brother,” the first merchant said, “We are the same in most ways, this is true. The difference lies in what we see with our hearts. You see your store as a store, your plants as plants, and your customers as customers. I see my store as a beloved home and my cherished friends are my customers, clerks and plants, all present to be adored. In that way, we are very, very different.”

You are you, no matter when or who.

One day, a little water droplet awoke to find herself surrounded by the great blue Ocean, reaching out from her as far as her eyes could see. At first, she delighted in exploring all the sights, sounds and sensations the Ocean had to offer, but after a time she became restless.

The droplet went to the Sun and said, “Sun, I would like to become a Cloud. I wish to soar the sky and be adored by all the World.”

The Sun said, “Imagine soaring the sky and you will be.”

So the droplet climbed to the top of her Ocean, closed her eyes and thought soaring thoughts. When she looked again, she was flying high in the sky. She looked down at the great blue Ocean and asked, “Sun, what is the Ocean made of?”

“Water,” Sun replied.

The droplet seemed satisfied with this and enjoyed soaring the sky and being adored by all the World. After a time, however, she became restless.

She went to the North Wind and said, “North Wind, I would like to become Rain. I wish to fall to the Earth and bring life to all the World.”

North Wind said, “Imagine falling to the Earth and you will be.”

So the droplet climbed to the bottom of her Cloud, closed her eyes and thought falling thoughts. When she looked again, she was falling to the Earth. As she fell, the droplet looked up at her Cloud and asked, “North Wind, what are Clouds made of?”

“Water,” said North Wind.

“Oh,” said the droplet, a little confused now.

Once she landed upon the Earth, however, she busied herself with bringing life to all the World and forgot about what the Sun and North Wind had said. She was quite happy for a time, but—after a while—the droplet became restless.

She went to the River and said, “River, I would like to know who I am. I have been the Ocean, and the Clouds, and the Rain and now I even bring life to all the World, but I still don’t know what I am supposed to be.”

River said “Follow me.”

The droplet joined River and soon found herself returned to the Ocean. The droplet was dismayed by this and cried, “River! I don’t understand! I have already been the Ocean!”

River said, “When you were Ocean, you wanted to be Cloud.
When you were Cloud, you wanted to be Rain.
When you were Rain, you brought life to all the World and yet,
you still became restless and wondered what you were to do.
Know you are Water and—in being Water—you are the Ocean, the Cloud, the River and the Rain.”

And, from that moment forward, the little droplet knew she was Water and felt peace, no matter what she decided to be.

Question: If you believe God is limitless, where does that leave you?

Answer: In line with the Divine. The notion that we are separate from God, that we have to appease or fear God, that we are not God, is a fallacy. If we are not God, then there is something God is not. If there is something God is not, there are limits to God.

Do you believe God has limits? Or do you believe in God’s infinite love, infinite nature, infinite connectedness and abundance? Meditate on this.

So I walked out of the house one frozen morning last Tuesday thinking, “I’m going to be in meetings until 2PM today–I should grab some apples.” Well, we didn’t have any apples to grab on this particular day. We almost always have some in stock at our house and on most days I eat two, but alas, we were out on this day. So what’s a guy (who is already running late for his networking meeting) to do? Well, I wistfully daydreamed of having one of those monster-sized Michigan-grown honeycrisps and made a soft resolution to stop by Kroger’s on the way back to the office after my last meeting ended. Then I forgot about the whole apple affair and drove to my first meeting.

Wouldn’t you know it, but as I sat down for the second meeting (the Mental Makeover class, led by Dr. Christopher Henley,) Dr. Christopher reaches over the table and places a monster-sized apple in front of me!!! I shouted in surprise, held the apple over my head in victory and exclaimed, “I’VE MANIFESTED!”

I mean, how often do you get given an apple during the normal course of your day? Never.

Unless, of course, you call it in.