Stevie Puckett

Tag: Esther Hicks

  • Canoes and Mindset

    When I lived in California in the late 1990s, I attended business networking events to promote my career counseling practice. I sat in at many networking luncheons and had many lovely conversations with new people. We all nearly always left inspired, and I enjoyed it very much.

    One time as conversations simmered down and we prepared to part ways, someone said to me, “Have you heard of Esther Hicks?” I said that I hadn’t met her yet, and I asked more about her and why they brought her up. The person responded with what Esther and Jerry Hicks were all about and stated that I sounded like Esther when I talked about positive mental attitudes, inspiration, and hope. That seemed like a nice thing to say, but when the person explained what Esther did in her public speaking appearances, I freaked out and didn’t give it another thought.

    But then Esther Hicks was brought up to me again and again over six months. That was my cue to pay more attention. Once something comes into my life more than a couple of times, I take that as a cue to check into it further. I consider that a type of intuitive guidance.

    So I looked Esther Hicks up and gave her a fair shot. Once I got beyond the strangeness of what Esther did on stage, I took to listening in periodically over the years. In retrospect, I probably got all I needed to hear the first time I heard her speak.

    The first idea that I heard from Esther is about being in your canoe, letting go of the paddles, and just laying back and resting in your canoe as you float downstream. The underlying idea is to trust the river to take you to experiences you will enjoy. That image resonated with me. I was tired of striving, and I knew floating happily down the river thanks to tubing the Illinois during my childhood.

    I instantly felt substantial relief in my body, my intuition pinged, and I knew this idea was what I needed. To this day, I still do a mini-meditation where I picture and feel myself floating downstream whenever I’m grounded and aware enough to realize that I’ve been trying too hard.

    For me, trying too hard is a surefire way to self-sabotage. My dad and coaches used to tell me that as a teen. They encouraged me to feel the play unfolding because, I know now, they appreciated the brilliance they saw from me when I just flowed with it and didn’t overthink or try too hard. When I was at my best, I was an intuitive athlete. Little did I know that my angels were trying to teach me something fundamental even way back then.

    When I heard about letting your canoe go downstream rather than fighting the current to head upstream all those years later, it clicked into place.

    As Esther said, “There’s nothing that you want upstream.” To me, that means that upstream, there is only more paddling and struggle. I don’t want to struggle. I want to flow.

    I have been welcoming much more joy in my life as I’ve remembered to let go of the oars, and this I appreciate.

  • Emotions as Pointers

    What if emotions aren’t given so much emphasis? What if they simply indicate the way we’ve been focusing our thoughts?

    Maybe emotions are just data to consider and if that’s true, maybe we can intentionally lead our emotions where we want them to be.

    Have you ever noticed that you are able to muster up certain emotions you want? How did you do it?

    Have you ever seen an athlete prepare mentally for their event? Or thought of how an actor might have prepared for an emotional scene? How do you think they do it?

    Do you think it might be possible to get ahead of emotions? If so, what an advantage it would be to be able to plan in advance how we would prefer to feel and know exactly how to hang out there more often?

  • The Perspective Movie

    All is well.

    Bask in your opportunity to create.

    Create for your own pleasure.

    Love surrounds you.

    Express appreciation to and about others often.

    Forget what others think.

    You can’t control that.

    You can control your thoughts.

    Happy thoughts raise your vibe making you more attractive.

    Imagine and enjoy the possibilities.

  • Feel For It

    Have you practiced feeling for what you want? It’s a powerful way to build positive momentum. In fact, it’s an important Law of Attraction basic principle to spend time “feeling forward” for what we want. Esther Hicks talks about how doing so will inspire, “the next logical step with perfect timing.”

    Fit in a couple of minutes of Law of Attraction games and momentum building exercises on a daily basis. You can find some great ideas in the book Ask and It’s Given by Esther Hicks.

    Make up your own exercises too! Nothing too complicated just simple stuff to get the wheels turning. Things like:

    • List the ways you love to feel.
    • Make it a daily doodle.
    • What do you want in life? List it all as fast as you can. Maintain an ongoing list that you say or write out daily.
    • Play the “Wouldn’t it be nice if…” game that Esther suggests. Just say out loud all those things that you think would be nice.

    Strive to allow yourself to flow forward in life through inspiration. Allowing inspiration to lead the way is much more powerful and effective than pushing yourself along through brute force and sheer willpower alone!

  • On Negativity

    People can be real jerks sometimes. I know you know that. Just because someone else is choosing to feel miserable or to be negative doesn’t mean you have to let that invade your energy level. You don’t have to focus on that. You can maintain your vibe so they don’t bring you down to theirs. Here’s the trick: Use their negativity as a reminder.

    • Use it as a reminder of how you don’t want to be and why. Hint: One has to be feeling pretty bad to be so negative.
    • Remember that they are free to create just like you are.
    • Use it to remind you of the opposite emotion or vibration and how you do want to feel. This is a technique called “Pivoting” that Esther Hicks coined years ago.
    • Use it appreciation the wisdom you have about how you can focus differently and feel better.
    • Use it to set intentions for how you want to feel going forward.
    • Use it to remember the importance of controlling your focus.

    For example, if someone treats you badly or is negative or gruff, instead of letting them dominate the airwaves, use them as a cue in your own mind to think, “Boy, do I appreciate that I’m not miserable or upset or angry like that person.” And then maybe think something like, “That reminds me that I always want to be kind, that I want to be happy, gentle, and kind,” and “It makes me appreciate the goodness I notice in most people.” This reaction is better than getting hung up focusing on their negativity which would certainly bring your vibe down and cause you to notice more negativity in the future.

    To the extent that you can clear that type of negativity out of your zone, all the better but it’s not necessary. Even in ongoing relationships, it just takes one person shining brightly to dominate with positive vibes and uplift others by doing so. A big part of it is to realize that you don’t have control of them and what they are choosing to focus on. And, it takes unconditional love. They don’t have to be different in order for you to love them. Understand, they are doing the best they can at the moment, just like you are. Don’t even waste your energy trying to change them. Love them where they are. Keep a light focus if you don’t like what you see, or look the other way. Know they can rise to meet you on a higher level of vibration whenever they want to. They may want to sooner rather than later when they see how much fun you’re having up there.