A reader wrote to us asking, “How do I know if something I think I want will really fulfill my heart’s desire? Will it be the best thing for me? Will it be in alignment with my highest good?”
Here’s our answer:
Dear reader,
This is a profound, wonderful, and important question! And it is a question that we ask ourselves regularly when we are writing our own wishes.
For us, the answer to the question has to do with seeking the voice of our own inner wisdom. Right away, the phrase "something I think I want" is a tipoff. Is this “want” emerging from our thinking? (That is what we think we want.) Or is it emerging from our alignment with our inner wisdom?
There's nothing wrong with thinking! Humans do a great deal of it. We read somewhere recently that the average human thinks 70,000 to 80,000 thoughts per day. That's a lot of thoughts!
Perhaps you've noticed that not all thoughts are equal. Some folks we admire have an expression "stinking thinking." What they mean is there are thoughts we have that do us no good. This can include too much thinking about things we cannot control - a lot of current events come to mind. This is also true for people who trouble us and dwelling on what we don’t have - like any tendency to “keep up with the Joneses.”
We know from long experience that we can’t just jettison thoughts - even the ones that do us no good - without something to replace them. So how do we get in the closest touch possible with our inner wisdom?
There are many ways to do this. We have talked before about our Focusing practice. That’s one of them. What Focusing does is turn our attention to our inner world, where we can relate to a combination of words, images, and sensations that show us our highest truth.
Even if you don’t have a Focusing practice, you can access your inner world - that includes your thoughts - through various practices like meditation. The key is to fill yourself with gratitude, compassion, empathy, and patience for whatever comes. By paying this kind of attention, you can sense the positive - or negative - vibration of each desire. Keep the ones that are positive and let go of the ones that are negative.
We believe that the emotional vibration together with a coherent thought – a thought aligned with our highest good - are what make up the best wishes.
Next week, our post will be brought to you by the letter “n” for nature!
Until then,
Peace and All Good
Margie and Barbara
The Wish Mavens
Photo Credit
The photo featured in this post was taken by (and is copyrighted by) Margaret A. Herrick.