Category Archives: Positive Thinking

ASK and Ye Shall RECEIVE? Not Necessarily!

Posted on by
Reply

“Ask and ye shall receive!” Can it be that easy?  If this statement is true then what you are receiving must have been what you asked for, right?  Or, there must be something more to it.  Let’s go down the list: work, family, health, relationships, wealth, service, and soul.  What are you receiving in each of these life areas? Is it what you asked for?

What has manifested from your request or a lack of a clear, specific request?

What you see is an indication of what you must have been asking for.  Keep in mind that you do not just ask for things in words only, for words often lie and contradict what you really think, feel, expect, or believe.  We ASK or show the universe our desires by where we place our energies.  Our desires are reflected in what we think about, talk about, worry about, pray about, love or hate,  and fear or trust.  Think about your most recent conversation, what was it about?  If you are not conscious of asking for what is now present in your life, then it must have been an indirect request to the universe.  Reflect on how you feel right now.  What is it likely to show up or manifest in your life if those feeling were a magnet?  Many are probably doubting that you get what you ask for.  You’re thinking, I did not ask for this layoff, this breakup, or this illness.  But, perhaps you did, not realizing it.  There has to be something more to it than just asking and I believe that something is even more important! Click to read about the profound realization that changes everything!

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Are You On Purpose?

Posted on by
Reply

“Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment,” wrote James Allen, author of ‘As a Man Thinketh.’  There have been times in my life that my excitement and energy were so pronounced that people have asked, “What are you on?”  I’d respond with, “I’m on purpose!” At those times I was undoubtedly thinking about things that excited me, motivated me, and uplifted me. My vision and perspectives were uplifting and clearly I was thinking about meaningful things, purposeful things, or things that brought me or someone else joy.   At those times, I tended to have absolute hope in the future, faith in people, and understood that divine grace was guiding and protecting me.

Elevate Your Thoughts and Elevate Your Reality

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote: “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”  I can say for sure when my energy, vision, and excitement are high that I am most certainly NOT thinking about events or gossiping or complaining about people.  When my thinking was skewed, I’d fear the future, distrust people and their intentions, and feel all alone and hopeless in my doldrums.  But when my thinking is right, that faithful feeling of knowing and of being connected sparks my creativity and solutions to whatever problems I have become clear.  The right person, thought, idea, or circumstances seem to appear before me.  I’ve learned that if I listen to my guidance and act immediately, that solving whatever problem is before me becomes an exciting journey rather than anxiety driven mission.  Even more importantly the “problems” are no longer debilitating but instead become opportunities for growth.  Just changing my perspective changed my focus and changing my focus changed my reality.   You are the driver and your thoughts can take you anywhere, so be careful and stay alert.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Listen for Your Inner Wisdom

Posted on by
Reply

We each have an inner knowing that we must learn to trust and rely upon. On Sunday afternoon I got the inspiration to call my stepmother who is recuperating in a nursing home.  It was just a spark in the middle of the day, at a time that thought she’d be at the church service and I almost talked myself out of calling right then.  But the impulse was strong and I listened.  I called her and she didn’t sound good at all.

She said, “Make the nurses stop drugging me.  They are giving me too much medicine. They have me in the hall.”  I asked her did she want to be there and she said, “No.”  I told her my sister and I would work on it.  Then there was silence.  The last few conversations we’d had she’d fallen asleep in the middle of the conversation or just asked me to call back because she was tired or sleeping, no matter what time of day it was.  When I questioned the nurse I found out she was not in the hall at all, but something was wrong.  She was obviously disoriented.  I reminded them of her bad heart.  They ended up sending her to the hospital for evaluation and deduced that she had had a heart attack.  In addition as a dialysis patient she also had elevated calcium and potassium levels.  And if that were not enough, she had a bladder infection.  So many things were wrong and yet had I not called, they perhaps would have been calling me with that final dreaded call.

I am so grateful that I listened.  I had a few deadlines at the time and it was not the best time to stop and spend the afternoon on the phone with nurses, caretakers, doctors, and family.  But I’ve learned that when we care, we are guided.  When we listen, the eternal source of wisdom speaks to us.  When we are “interrupted from our mundane reality,” it’s because something MORE important needs our attention right then.  It’s so great to not have to live with, “I wish I would have….”  Today’s lesson is to listen, appreciate the intuition, trust it  and act on it.  Now she’s recuperating in the hospital and on the road to health, we hope!

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Memorial Day: Befittingly Remembering

Posted on by
2

 Who has passed on in your history, in the past few years, or even since the last Memorial Day?

Memorial Day is not only a time to remember deaths, but more importantly a time for us to remember the lives and contributions of those that have served, sacrificed, or meaningfully touched our lives and passed on.

If you truly valued the life of someone now departed, stop right now, write down their names, say a prayer for them, and REMEMBER them befittingly. What lessons can be savored, internalized, and used as a guide to make us better humans, employees, friends, spouses, students, neighbors, citizens, parents, children, and stewards of this beautiful planet?

Take a lesson from Sharon Parker of ROASA, Remembering Our Ancestors Synergistic Association who pulled together a local community to repair a leaking roof on the home of an elderly couple’s home or Judith Clark of Women Who Care Ministries whose non-profit brings together young and old volunteers who stand out in the scorching hot sun or freezing snow to collect food to feed hungry children.  And, remember those who are not traditionally remembered.  Remember the Buffalo Soldiers and women who have served our country.

Wikipedia defines a memorial as, “an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person (who has died) or an event.”  The key words for me are “a focus for memory of something.”Let’s reflect on the old adage, “If we don’t learn from the past, we are condemned to repeat it!”   Let’s not forget the true meaning of the day.  Part 3: Honoring Respecting, and Valuing ALL Life

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

The Energy of an Oprah Possibility.

Posted on by
2

I was just reflecting on the amount of energy and hope I got from a simple call from a producer putting together a pilot for the Oprah Winfrey show.  In sharing this possibility and asking for prayers, this simple possibility spread energy and excitement to my family and friends as well.  That got me to thinking.  I have no idea of the outcome, and yet in the present moment I was excited and energized.  Since the opportunity has not yet been manifested physically, then it is not the outcome only that produces the energy, but the hope of a possibility does the same thing.

Energy Has Attraction Power

That being the case, then we should dream hopeful dreams and set exciting  goals all the time.  Like Jessie Jackson always said, “Keep hope alive.” What are you hoping for and what are you doing to “keep hope alive.”  It is that hope and faith that generate energy.  When there is no hope, there is no energy.  When there is no energy, we lose the power of attraction.  When we are feel hopeless we may be pushing away the very people who could help us and attracting the company of those who are also in misery.   Both hope and fear are contagious.  At any given moment, we are either spreading joyful energy or sucking energy out of everyone we connect with, so we must be very careful of our power.

We live our lives one moment at a time and if we have the power to influence the current moment and make it joyful, exciting, and hopeful, then we should do it habitually.  I also believe strongly that it is the energy of anticipation that helps to attract things to us.  Whether it is anticipating the realization of an exciting goal or the fearful anticipation of a calamity or negative outcome, our focus (energy) draws whatever we are thinking about to us.  I guess that’s why the Bible teaches us:  “As a man thinketh, so is he.”