Magic Practice Day 12

Magic Practice Day 12

Magical People Who Made a Difference

1. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
2. Find a quiet place alone sometime during today, and make a list of three people who made a difference in your life. 
3. Work through the list one person at a time, and while talking out loud tell each person the reason why you’re grateful for them, and exactly how they affected the course of your life.
4. Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during the day.

Day 12 Magical People Who Made a Difference

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each one of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those
who have lighted the flame within us.”
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965)
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE–WINNING
MEDICAL MISSIONARY AND PHILOSOPHER


Every one of us has received help, support, or guidance from other people at particular times in our life when we needed it most. Sometimes another person alters the course of our life through their encouragement, guidance, or just being there at the right time. And then life goes on, and we tend to forget those times when one person touched us or changed our life. Sometimes you don’t even realize the impact a person had until well into the future, when you look back on your life and realize that a particular person was pivotal in magically changing the direction of your life for the better.

The person may have been a teacher or coach, an uncle, aunt, sibling, grandparent, or any family member. They may have been a doctor, nurse, or best friend. They may have been the person who introduced you to your current partner or to a particular interest that became one of your greatest passions.

Maybe they were someone you didn’t even know, and they appeared in your life very briefly, performing a random act of kindness that touched you to the core. My grandmother gave me my love for books, cooking, and the countryside. By sharing her love of those things with me, all of them affected and changed
the course of my life. Cooking became a passion of mine for over twenty years, my love of books eventually led to me becoming a writer, and my love of the countryside has influenced where I’ve lived throughout my life.

My grandmother also disciplined me with a steel hand to say thank you. At the time I thought she was just teaching me to be polite. It was only later in my life I realized that teaching me to say the magic words was the greatest gift my grandmother ever gave me. She is not alive anymore, but I continue to be grateful to her for the huge influence she had on the course of my life. Thank you, Grandma!


Today, you are going to think about the magical people who have impacted your life. Find a quiet place alone sometime during the day today, sit down, and think of three extraordinary people who have made a difference in your life. Once you have your three people, work with one person at a time, and talk out loud to each person as though they were present, telling him or her the reasons why you’re grateful to them, and how they affected the course of your life.

Make sure you do this magical practice with all three people in the one session, because it will take your feeling of gratitude to a far deeper level. If you split up this magical practice throughout the day, you will not feel the same depth of gratitude, nor receive the magical results.

Here’s an example of what you might say:

Sarah, I want to thank you for the time that you encouraged me to follow my heart. I was lost and confused that day, and your words touched me, and lifted me out of despair. Because of what you said, I found the courage to follow my dream, and I moved to France to work as an apprentice chef. I am living my dream, and I couldn’t be happier. All because of what you said to me that day. Thank you, Sarah!

It’s very important that you say the reasons why you’re grateful. And you can’t say too much. Instead, the more you say, and the more you feel, the more amazing the results. You will see the magic explode into your life from doing this practice; it numbers among the most powerful acts of gratitude you can ever perform.

If you’re not in a position to talk out loud, then you can write down your words to each person, and address them as though you’re writing a letter. When you have completed this practice, you will feel a huge difference in the way that you feel. The evidence of gratitude’s power working is always that first and foremost it makes you happy! The secondary evidence of gratitude’s power is that you attract wonderful things. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, the happiness you feel after practicing gratitude also attracts more wonderful things, which will make you even happier. That’s the magic of life, and that’s the magical power of gratitude!

Magic Practice Day 11

A Magic Morning

1. When you wake up to the new day, before you do a single thing, say the magic words, thank you.
2. From the moment you open your eyes until you’ve finished getting ready, say the magic words, thank you, in your mind for everything you touch and use.
3. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
4. Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during the day.

Day 11 A Magic Morning

Day 11
A Magic Morning

“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
Marcus Aurelius (121–180)
ROMAN EMPEROR


The easiest and simplest way to ensure that your day ahead will be filled with magic is to fill your morning with gratitude. When you incorporate gratitude into your morning routine, you will feel and see its magical benefits throughout the whole day.

Each morning is full of opportunities to give thanks, and it doesn’t slow you down or take any extra time, because you can do it naturally as you go about everything you do. There is an added bonus to filling your morning with gratitude because your daily routines are the times when you can harm yourself the most by thinking negative thoughts without realizing you’re doing it. There’s no room for harmful negative thoughts when your mind is focused on looking for things to be grateful for. After this practice you will go into your day feeling much happier and more confident that the day ahead will be great – and that’s when you will see the magic happen before your very eyes!

When you wake up to the new day today, before you move, before you do a single thing, say the magic words, thank you. Say thank you for the fact that you are alive, and that you’ve been given another day of life. Your life is a gift, every day is a gift, and when you really think about it, it’s inconceivable that any of us would wake up in the morning without giving thanks for another day. If you think a new day isn’t such a big deal, then just try missing one! It doesn’t matter how sleepy you are, or if your alarm has woken you up for work, or you’ve slept in during the weekend; the moment you wake, say the magic words, thank you, for another day of your life.

Say thank you for the good night’s sleep you received. Are you fortunate enough to have slept in a bed, with sheets and a pillow? Thank you! As your feet hit the ground say thank you. Do you have a bathroom? Thank you! Are you able to turn on the taps and immediately receive fresh, clean water every morning? Thank you! Imagine all the people who dug the trenches and laid the pipes across your country, throughout your city, and along all the streets to your home so you can turn a tap and receive beautiful, clean, hot water. Thank you! As you reach for your toothbrush and toothpaste, thank you! Without them, your day would not begin so pleasantly. Thank you for the towels, the soap, the mirror, and everything in the bathroom you use that makes you feel fresh, awake, and ready for the day.

As you get dressed, think about how fortunate you are to have clothes to choose from and wear. Thank you! Think about how many people must have been involved in making all the various items of clothing you put on and wear in one day. It’s likely that the clothes you put on in one day come from many countries across the planet. Thank you to everybody! Do you have shoes? Lucky you! Imagine life without them. Thank you for shoes!

“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.”
J. B. Priestley (1894–1984)
WRITER AND PLAYWRIGHT

Make today as good as it can be by practicing concentrated gratitude and putting the magic into your morning routine. From the moment you open your eyes until you have put your shoes on or finished getting ready, say the magic words, thank you, in your mind for everything you touch and use. It doesn’t matter if you don’t shower or get dressed first thing in the morning, you can still use this Magic Morning practice as a guide and apply it to whatever your morning routine is. If you wake up and eat breakfast first, then as you touch and use each thing for your breakfast say the magic words, thank you. Give thanks for your morning coffee, tea, fruit juice, or breakfast. They make your mornings so enjoyable and give you energy for the day. Be grateful for the kitchen appliances you use for your breakfast – the refrigerator, hot plates, oven, toaster, coffee maker, or kettle.

Every day without exception, I say “thank” as I put one foot on the floor, and “you” as my other foot touches the floor, so that as both feet touch the floor for the first time each day, I’ve said thank you. As I walk toward my bathroom I say the magic words, thank you, in my mind with each step. Then I continue saying thank you in my mind as I touch and use each thing in my bathroom. By the time I am dressed and ready for the day, I feel so happy I could jump for joy. And when I feel that happy, I know my gratitude has worked, and I am guaranteed to have a magical day. As I go through my day, I really feel as though I have a magic power with me, because one good thing after another happens. And as each good thing happens, I’m even more grateful, which speeds up the magic with even more good things happening. You know those days when everything just seems to go right for you? Well, that’s what it’s like after doing Magic Morning, but multiplied!

Magic Practice Day 10

Magic Practice Number 10
Magic Dust Everyone

1. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
2. Today, sprinkle magic dust on ten people who perform services you benefit from, by thanking them directly or otherwise by mentally acknowledging and thanking them. Feel grateful to them for the service they perform!
3. Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during the day.
4. Read through tomorrow’s practice today, because the practice for Day 11 begins when you first wake up.

Day 10 Magic Dust Everyone

Day 10
Magic Dust Everyone

“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”
Saint Ambrose (AD 340–397)
THEOLOGIAN AND CATHOLIC BISHOP

Ancient spiritual teachings say that what we give to another person with a full heart returns to us a hundredfold. So being grateful and saying thank you to another person for anything you receive from them is not only urgent, it’s vital to improving your life!

Gratitude is a powerful energy, and so whomever you direct gratitude’s energy toward, that’s where it goes. If you think of gratitude’s energy looking like sparkling magic dust, then when you express gratitude to another person in return for something you’ve received from them, you are literally sprinkling them with that magic dust! The powerful, positive energy in magic dust reaches and affects whomever you sprinkle it on.
Most of us make contact with many people every day, whether on the phone, through email, or face to face at work, in stores, restaurants, elevators, buses, or trains, and in many cases the people we make contact with deserve our gratitude, because we are receiving something from them.

Think about the people you encounter on a typical day who provide you with some kind of service, like those working in stores or restaurants, bus or cab drivers, customer service people, cleaners, or the staff at your work. The people who work in service are giving themselves to serve you, and you’re receiving their service. If you don’t say thank you in return for their service, then you’re not being grateful, and you’re stopping the good from coming into your life.

Think about the maintenance workers who keep our transport systems working safely, and those who maintain the service of utilities such as electricity, gas, water, and our roads. Think about the cleaners of the world who clean our streets, public bathrooms, trains, buses, airplanes, hospitals, restaurants, supermarkets, and office buildings. You can’t personally say thank you to all of them, but you can sprinkle them with magic dust by saying thank you next time you pass one of them. And you can be grateful next time you sit at your clean desk, or walk on a clean sidewalk, or across a polished floor.

When you’re at a café or restaurant, sprinkle magic dust by saying thank you to each person as they serve you. Whether cleaning the table, giving you the menu, receiving your order, filling your glass with water, serving the meal you ordered, clearing the table, giving you the bill, or giving your change, remember to say thank you every single time. If you’re in a store or supermarket checkout, sprinkle magic dust and say thank you to the person who serves you or packs your groceries.

If you are traveling by plane, sprinkle magic dust by saying thank you to the check-in people, the people in security, the person who checks your ticket as you board, and the cabin crew who greet you as you enter the plane. During the flight, say thank you to the cabin crew every time they perform a service for you. Serving drinks and food or removing your plate or trash is a service. The airline thanks you for flying with them, the captain thanks you, and the crew thank you, so do the same and thank them as you leave the plane. And every time you take off and land at your destination say thank you, because the fact that you can fly is an absolute miracle!

Be grateful to those people who assist you in your work, whether they are clerical staff, receptionists, canteen staff, cleaners, customer service people, or any of your work colleagues. Magic dust them all with thank you! All of them are doing you a service, and they deserve your continued gratitude in return.
Store assistants, waiters, and waitresses work very hard to serve people. They have chosen a job to serve other people, and serving the public means encountering all kinds of people in varying moods, including those who are ungrateful. Next time you are being served by another person, remember that the person who is serving you is a precious daughter or son to parents, an irreplaceable brother or sister to siblings, a mother or father to a family and children, and a loved and adored partner or friend, and they deserve your kindness and patience.

At times you may encounter a person in service who behaves rudely toward you or doesn’t give you the attention you think you deserve. It may be more challenging to be grateful in these situations, but your gratitude cannot be dependent on another person’s behavior. Choose to be grateful no matter what!
Choose magic in your life no matter what! It might help you to remember that you don’t know what difficulty someone might be going through at the time you connect with him or her. They may be feeling unwell, they may have just lost a loved one, their marriage might have just ended, or they may be in desperation and at a tipping point in their life. Your gratitude and kindness might be the most magical thing that happens to them that day.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Philo of Alexandria (circa 20 BC–AD 50)
PHILOSOPHER

If you thank someone on the phone for his or her help, don’t throw away your thank you; instead, give the reason why you’re grateful. For example, “Thank you for your help.” “Thank you for going out of your way for me.” “Thank you for giving me so much of your time.” “Thank you for resolving the situation for me, I’m very grateful to you.” You will be amazed at the response from the other person when you do this one simple thing, because they will feel your sincerity.

When you say thank you to someone in person, look at his or her face. They will not feel your gratitude or receive your magic dust unless you look directly at them. You’ve wasted an opportunity to help that person and to change your own life if you say thank you to the air, or say thank you as you’re looking down, or thank you while you’re on your cell phone, because you’re not really sincere when you do that.

A couple of years ago I was in a store buying a gift for my sister. The store assistant who served me listened to what I was looking for, and then went on a search for the perfect gift as though it was for her sister! As the store assistant handed me the bag containing the perfect, beautifully wrapped gift, I received a call on my cell phone. I was finishing the call when I reached the front entrance of the store, and suddenly an unsettled feeling swept over me. I immediately returned to the store assistant who had helped me, and I not only thanked her, but I told her all the reasons why I was grateful to her, and how much I appreciated everything she did for me. I showered her with gratitude’s magic dust! Her eyes filled with tears, and the biggest smile you’ve ever seen swept across her face.

Every action always has an equal reaction. If you really mean it when you say thank you, the other person will feel it, and you will not only have made another person feel really good, but your gratitude will fill you with an indescribable happiness. That day I walked out of the store indescribably happy.

I don’t use magic dust only for the people who serve; I use gratitude’s magic dust in all kinds of situations. When I say goodbye to my daughter before she drives to her home, I feel gratitude for her having arrived home safely, and I wave my fingers in the air and imagine sprinkling magic dust over her and her car. Sometimes I sprinkle magic dust on my computer before I begin a new project, or sprinkle magic dust ahead of me before I walk into a store to look for something in particular that I need. My daughter uses magic dust when she’s driving, and if she sees another driver who seems to be stressed and is speeding, she sprinkles magic dust over them to help make them feel better and keep them safe.

Today, take gratitude’s magic dust with you for the people who work in service, and look for every opportunity you can to sprinkle magic dust on everyone by saying thank you. Thank at least ten people who perform different services you benefit from today. It doesn’t matter if you don’t get the opportunity to do it in person; you can mentally acknowledge the people whose service you benefit from. The magic dust will still reach them. As an example, mentally say to yourself:

I’m really grateful to the cleaners who work through the early hours of the morning, making sure that the streets are cleaned of trash every day. I’ve never really thought about how grateful I am for that service, which is done like clockwork every day. Thank you. Make sure you keep count of the people in service you are grateful for, so that you know when you have thanked ten different people for their services and sprinkled magic dust on them all. If you imagine the sparkling magic dust falling over people when you thank them, you have a picture of what really happens in the invisible with the power of gratitude. With this picture in your mind, it will help you to believe and know that the magic dust of gratitude really does reach people, and that it will be available to help them to improve their lives. And every time you sprinkle magic dust over another person, it also returns to you in your own life.

If you’re at home today, then sit down with a pen and journal or on your computer, and go back in your mind recalling instances where people in service went out of their way for you. It may have been someone on the phone, or it may have been a tradesperson who was determined to resolve a problem for you. Maybe you’ve received great service from your mail person, the trash collectors or recycling companies, or local store assistants. Make a written list of ten instances where people in service helped you, and send magic dust by saying thank you to every one of them.

Magic Reminder
Read through tomorrow’s practice today, because the practice for Day 11 begins when you first wake up.

Magic Practice Day 9

Magic Practice Number 9
The Money Magnet

1. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
2. Take any current unpaid bills you have, use gratitude’s magical power, and write across each one: Thank you for the money. Feel grateful for having the money to pay the bill, whether you have it or not.
3. Take ten bills you’ve paid in the past, and write across the front of each one of them the magic words: Thank you – Paid.” Feel truly grateful that you had the money to pay the bill!
4. Before you go to sleep, take your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during the day.

Day 9 The Money Magnet

“It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)
LUTHERAN PASTOR


Gratitude is riches and complaint is poverty; it’s the golden rule of your whole life, whether it’s your health, job, relationships, or money. The more grateful you can be for the money you have, even if you don’t have very much, the more riches you will receive. And the more you complain about money, the poorer you will become.

Today’s magical practice turns one of the biggest reasons people complain about money into an act of gratitude, and so it has double the power to change the circumstances of your money; you’ll be replacing a complaint, which makes you poorer, with gratitude, which magically brings you riches.

Most people wouldn’t think they complain about money, but if there is a lack of money in their life they are complaining without realizing it. Complaining happens through people’s thoughts as well as their words, and most people aren’t aware of the many thoughts in their head. Any complaining, negative, jealous, or worried thoughts or words about money are literally creating poverty. And of course the biggest complaints come when money has to be paid out.

If you don’t have enough money, paying your bills can be one of the most difficult things to do. It can seem like there is a greater stream of bills than there is money to pay them. But if you complain about your bills then what you are really doing is complaining about money, and complaining keeps you in poverty.

If you don’t have enough money, the last thing you would normally do is feel grateful for your bills, but in fact that’s exactly what you have to do to receive more money in your life. To have a rich life, you must be rateful for everything to do with money, and begrudging your bills is not being grateful. You must do the exact opposite, which is to be grateful for the goods or services you’ve received from those who billed you. It is such a simple thing to do, but it will have a monumental effect on the money in your life. You will literally become a money magnet!

To be grateful for a bill, think about how much you’ve benefited from the service or goods on the bill. If it’s payment for rent or a mortgage, be grateful that you have a home, and you’re living in it. What if the only way you could live in a home was by saving up all the money and paying cash for it? What if there was no such thing as lending institutions or places to rent? Most of us would be living on the streets, so be grateful to the lending institutions or your landlord, because they have made it possible for you to live in a home or apartment.

If you’re paying a bill for gas or electricity, think about the heating or cooling you received, the hot showers, and every appliance you were able to use because of the service. If you’re paying a phone or Internet bill, imagine how difficult your life would be if you had to travel vast distances to talk to each person individually. Think about how many times you’ve been able to call family and friends, send and receive emails, or access information instantly through the Internet because of your service provider. All of these remarkable services are at your fingertips, so be grateful for them, and be grateful that the companies trust you by providing their services before you have paid for them.

Ever since I discovered the phenomenal power of gratitude, I write the magic words, “Thank you – Paid,” on every bill as I pay it, and I never miss a single one. At the beginning, when I didn’t have the money to pay a bill, I would still use gratitude’s magical power, and would instead write across the bill, “Thank you for the money.” Then when I had the money to pay it, I would add, “Thank you – Paid.”

Today you are going to do the same. Take any currently unpaid bills you have, and use gratitude’s magical power by writing across them, “Thank you for the money,” and feel grateful for having the money to pay the bill, whether you have it or not. If you receive and pay most of your bills online, then when you receive an online bill forward it to yourself as an email and write in the subject line in capital bold letters, THANK YOU FOR THE MONEY.

Next, find ten bills you’ve paid in the past and write across the front of each one the magic words, “Thank you – Paid.” As you write on each paid bill, feel as grateful as you possibly can that you had the money to pay the bill. The more gratitude you can harness for the bills you’ve paid, the more money you will magically magnetize to you!

From this day forward, you could make it your regular practice that whenever you pay a bill, you briefly think about the great service you’ve received from the bill, and write across the face of the bill the magic words, “Thank you – Paid.” And if you don’t have the money to pay a bill, use gratitude’s magical power and write, “Thank you for the money,” and feel as if you’re saying thank you because you have the money to pay the bill!

Feeling gratitude for the money you’ve paid out guarantees you will receive more. Gratitude is like a magnetic golden thread attached to your money, so when you pay money out, the money always returns to you, sometimes equally, sometimes tenfold, sometimes a hundredfold. The abundance you receive back depends not on how much money you give, but on how much gratitude you give. You could have so much gratitude when you pay a bill for fifty dollars that you could receive back hundreds of dollars.


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MAGIC IN 28 DAYS!!

Magic Practice Day 8

Magic Practice Number 8
The Magic Ingredient

1. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
2. Before you eat or drink anything today, take a moment to look at what you’re about to eat or drink, and in your mind or out loud, say the magic words, thank you! If you want you can sprinkle your food or drink with magic dust.
3. Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during
4. the day.

Day 8 The Magic Ingredient

Day 8
The Magic Ingredient

“A thankful heart hath a continual feast.”
W. J. Cameron (1879–1953)
JOURNALIST AND BUSINESSMAN

Giving thanks for food before you eat is a tradition that has been followed for thousands of years, dating back to the ancient Egyptians. With the fast pace of life in the twenty-first century, taking the time to give thanks for a meal has more often than not been left behind. But using the simple act of eating and drinking as an opportunity to be grateful will increase the magic in your life exponentially!

If you think about a time when you were really hungry, you will remember that you could not think or function normally, your body felt weak, you might have started to tremble, your mind became confused, and your feelings plummeted. All of this can happen after not eating for just a few hours! You need food to
live, to think, and to feel good, and so there is a great deal to be grateful for about food.

To feel even more gratitude for food, take a moment and think about all the people who contributed to you having food to eat. For you to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, the growers had to plant and nurture the fruit and vegetables with continuous watering, protecting them over many months until they were ready for harvesting. Then there are the pickers, the packers, and the distributors, and the transportation people who drive enormous distances day and night, all of them working together in perfect harmony to ensure that every fruit and vegetable is delivered fresh to you, and is available year round.

Think about the meat growers, fishermen, dairy farmers, coffee and tea growers, and all the packaged food companies who work tirelessly to produce the food we eat. The world’s food production is a breathtaking orchestration that takes place every day, and it’s unfathomable that it all works when you think about the number of people involved in maintaining the world’s food and drink supplies to stores, restaurants, supermarkets, cafés, airplanes, schools, hospitals, and every home on the planet.

Food is a gift! It’s a gift of nature, because there would be nothing for any of us to eat if nature didn’t supply us with the soil, nutrients, and water to grow food. Without water, there would be no food, vegetation, animals, or human life. We use water to cook our meals, grow our food, maintain our gardens, supply our bathrooms, sustain every vehicle that moves, support our hospitals, fuel, mining, and manufacturing industries, enable transportation, make our roads, make clothes and every consumer product and appliance on the planet, make plastic, glass, and metal, make life-saving medications, and build our homes and every other building and structure. And water keeps our bodies alive. Water, water, water, glorious water!

“If there is magic on this planet it is contained in water.”
Loren Eiseley (1907–1977)
ANTHROPOLOGIST AND NATURAL SCIENCE WRITER

Where would we be without food and water? We simply wouldn’t be here. None of our family or friends would be here either. We wouldn’t have this day, or any tomorrow. But here we are on this beautiful planet together, living life with its challenges and ecstatic joys, because of nature’s gifts of food and water!

To say the simple, magic words, thank you, before you eat or drink anything is an act of recognition and gratitude for the miracle of food and water. The incredible thing is that when you are grateful for food and water, it doesn’t just affect your life; your gratitude also impacts the world’s supply. If enough people felt gratitude for food and water, it would actually help the people who are starving and in great need. By the law of the attraction, and Newton’s law of action and reaction, the action of mass gratitude must produce an equal mass reaction, which would change the circumstances of scarcity of food and water for everyone on the planet.

In addition, your gratitude for food and water keeps the magic continuing in your life, and it will weave its glorious golden thread through everything that is dear to you, everything that you love, and everything that you’re dreaming of.

In ancient times people believed that when they blessed their food and water with gratitude it purified whatever they were blessing, and when you look at the theories and discoveries that quantum physics have made in recent times, such as the observer effect, the ancients may very well have been right. The observer effect in quantum physics refers to changes that the act of observation makes on whatever is being observed. Imagine if focusing gratitude on your food and drinks changed their energy structure, and purified them so that everything you consumed had the ultimate effect of well-being on your body?

One of the ways to experience the magic of gratitude instantly with food and drinks is to really savor what you’re eating or drinking. When you savor your food or drinks you’re appreciating them, or being grateful. As an experiment, next time you’re in the middle of eating food or drinking any liquid, when you take a mouthful, concentrate on the taste of the food in your mouth or the flavor of the liquid before you swallow it. You’ll find that when you focus on the food or drink in your mouth, and savor it, the flavors seem to explode, and when you don’t focus the flavors weaken dramatically. It’s your energy of focus and gratitude that instantly enhances the flavor!

Before you eat or drink anything today, whether you’re about to eat a meal, a piece of fruit, or a snack, or have a drink of anything, including water, take a moment to look at what you’re about to eat or drink, and in your mind or out loud say the magic words, thank you! And if you can, just take one mouthful really savoring it; it will not only increase your enjoyment, it will help you to feel far more gratitude.

You can also try something I do, which helps me to feel even more gratitude. When I say the magic words, I wave my fingers over my food or drink as though I’m sprinkling them with magic dust, and I imagine that the magic dust instantly purifies everything it touches. Doing this has helped me really feel that gratitude is the magic ingredient, and I want to add it to everything I eat and drink! If you find it more effective you can imagine that you have a shaker of magic dust in your hand, and you’re shaking the magic dust out of the shaker all over your food before you eat it, and into every drink.

If at any time during the day you forget to say the magic words, thank you, before you eat or drink anything, as soon as you remember, close your eyes, go back in your mind to the time when you forgot, visualize yourself in your mind for a second or two before you ate or drank, and say the magic words. If you forget to be grateful for food and drinks multiple times in the day, then repeat this same practice tomorrow. You can’t afford to miss a single day in building your gratitude – your dreams depend upon it!

Being grateful for the simple things in life, like food and water, is one of the deepest expressions of gratitude, and when you can feel that degree of gratitude, you will see the magic happen.

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MAGIC IN 28 DAYS!!

Magic Practice Day 7

Magic Practice Number 7
The Magical Way Out of Negativity

1. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
2. Choose one problem or negative situation in your life that you most want to resolve.
3. List ten things that you are grateful for about the negative situation.
4. At the end of your list, write: Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the perfect resolution.
5. Just for today, see if you can get through one day without saying anything negative. If you notice yourself thinking or saying something negative, use the magic lifeline. Stop immediately and say: But I have to say that I am really grateful for .
6. Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during the day.

Day 7 The Magical Way Out of Negativity

Day 7
The Magical Way Out of Negativity

“A thankful person is thankful under all circumstances.”
Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892)
PERSIAN FOUNDER OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH

Whether it’s a relationship in turmoil, financial pressure, a lack of health, or problems in a job, negative situations arise because of a lack of gratitude over a long period of time. If we are not grateful for each thing in our lives, we are unintentionally taking those things for granted. Taking things for granted is a major cause of negativity, because when we take things for granted we are not giving thanks in return, and we stop the magic happening in our life.

Just as giving thanks to others will always lead to our life magically increasing, so must taking things for granted always lead to our life decreasing.
Are you grateful for your health when it’s good? Or do you only notice your health when your body gets sick or hurts? Are you grateful for your job every day, or do you only value your job when you hear there will be cutbacks? Are you grateful for your pay or salary every single time you receive it, or do you take your pay or salary for granted? Are you grateful for your loved ones when everything is running smoothly, or do you only talk to others about your loved ones when there are problems? Are you grateful when your car is working well? Or do you only think of your car when it breaks down?

Are you grateful to be alive each day? Or do you take your life for granted?

Taking things for granted results in complaining, negative thoughts and words. So when you complain, by the law of attraction, you must bring more things into your life to complain about!

If you’re complaining about the weather, the traffic, your boss, your spouse, your family, a friend, a stranger, waiting in lines, bills, the economy, the cost of something, or the service of a company, you are not being grateful, and you’re pushing your dream life further away with every complaint.

Now you understand that complaining, negative thoughts and words, and taking things for granted stops the good things in your life. Now you understand that when something goes very wrong you have unintentionally not been grateful enough. It’s impossible to be negative when you’re grateful. It’s impossible to criticize and blame when you’re grateful. It’s impossible to feel sad or have any negative feeling when you’re grateful.

And the best news is that if you have any negative situations in your life currently, it won’t take a long period of time to transform them with gratitude. The negative situations will disappear in a puff of smoke – just like magic!

First, as difficult as it may be, you have to look for things to be grateful for in the negative situation. No matter how bad things are, you can always find something to be grateful for, especially when you know that your gratitude will magically transform every negative circumstance. Walt Disney, who knew about the true magic of life, showed us how to do this in his movie Pollyanna.

Disney’s 1960 movie Pollyanna featured “The Glad Game,” which had a profound effect on me when I was a child. I played The Glad Game featured in the movie through my childhood and adolescence. To play The Glad Game, you look for as many things as you can to be glad about, especially in a negative situation. Finding things to be glad about (or finding things to be grateful for) in a negative situation make the solutions appear! Walt Disney demonstrated the magical power of gratitude in Pollyanna, and thousands of years earlier Buddha demonstrated the way to use the same magical power when he said:

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”
Gautama Buddha (circa 563 BC–483 BC)
FOUNDER OF BUDDHISM

Let Buddha’s words be your inspiration, and today take one problem or negative situation in your life that you most want to resolve, and look for ten things to be grateful for. I know it can be challenging to begin this practice, but Buddha is showing you the way to do it. Make a written list of ten things on your computer, or in your gratitude journal.

As an example, your problem might be that you’re out of work, and despite your best efforts, you’re still unemployed. To magically turn this situation around, you have to do a concentrated practice of gratitude on the situation. Here are some examples of what you might say:

1. I am so grateful to have had more time for my family during this period.
2. I’m grateful that my life is in a lot better order because of the spare time I’ve had.
3. I am grateful that I’ve had a job most of my life, and that I am experienced.
4. I am truly grateful that this is the first time I’ve been unemployed.
5. I’m grateful that there are jobs out there, and more new jobs are appearing each day.
6. I am grateful for all the things I’ve learned in applying for jobs and in going for interviews.
7. I am grateful that I have my health and that I can work.
8. I’m grateful for my family’s encouragement and support.
9. I’m grateful for the rest I’ve had, because I needed it.
10. I’m grateful that through losing my job, I’ve realized how much having a job means to me. I had never realized that until now.

As a result of the unemployed person’s gratitude, they will attract different circumstances, and their current situation must and will magically change. The power of gratitude is greater than any negative situation, and there are unlimited ways that the negative situation can change. All you have to do is practice gratitude and watch the magic take place!

Remember, you can tell your gratitude is working by the way that you feel. You should feel a lot better about the situation after practicing gratitude. The first evidence of gratitude’s magical power working is your feelings lifting, so when you do feel better about it, you know the situation will improve and the solutions will appear. The answer to any negative situation you want to resolve is to focus concentrated gratitude on it until you feel better inside; then you will see the magic work its wonder in the outside world.

In making your written list, make sure you list each of the ten things you’re grateful for in the following way:

I am so grateful for _____________.
Or, I am truly grateful for ______________ .
And finish the sentence with what you’re grateful for. You can also use Walt Disney’s way of using gratitude’s magical power if you find it easier:

I am so glad that .
And finish the sentence with what you’re glad about.

Once you’ve listed ten things you’re grateful for, finish the Magical Way Out of Negativity practice by writing:

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the perfect resolution.

And just for today, see if you can get through one day without saying anything negative. It may be a challenge, but see if you can make it through one day.
There is an important reason to do this, because most of us have no idea how much we speak negatively, but you’ll have an idea after watching your words for a day. Remember that negativity and complaint bring more of those things, and if you’re aware of what you’re saying you can stop and decide if you want the consequences of what you’re about to say. Here is a magic lifeline you can use if you notice yourself thinking or saying something negative.

Stop immediately, and say:

But I have to say that I am really grateful for .

Finish the rest of the sentence with something – anything – that you’re grateful for. Take this magic lifeline with you, and grab a hold of it whenever you need it.

And if any little problem or situation appears in the future, remember to put out the embers with gratitude before it grows into a fire. At the same time you will ignite the magic in your life!


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MAGIC IN 28 DAYS!!