What do I CHOOSE to focus on?

I feel I'm being pulled in different directions by my thoughts and emotions.

[But those guys dancing up there are just TOO FUN!]

I want to celebrate the feeling of gratitude. Today I got to sleep late after a wonderful night's rest. Then I ate a delicious breakfast and had a good workout. Then I got to accompany my step-mom, Ronda, and a devoted employee of my dad's to meet my dad at the March of Dimes Leadership in Healthcare Awards where my dad was honored.

It was very sweet, and I was grateful to be there.

After lunch I bought a small chai and chatted on the phone with my dear friend Jodi who is also traveling and felt the joy of walking through beautiful downtown Chicago. I felt fantastic. Then I was blessed to come across dancing puppets and was blessed to give them a $10 tip because that was what I had available to give. They grabbed the money and danced with it. It was awesome! Then the puppeteer spoke to me from behind the screen, speaking his gratitude. It was wonderful.

Then I enjoyed the sculpture garden outside of the Art Institute of Chicago, my favorite art museum in the world, and then I went inside, where I asked the security guard for a band-aid and he had one in his pocket! Wonderful.

Then I got to swim in the joy of the artwork from Caldecott Award children's books. The art was moving and magnificent and I was swept away into reading the full-featured books that were available, like perfect courses of a tasting menu.

I read about Harriet Tubman and her absolute devotion to and trust in God and what she was able to accomplish from it. Miracles, really. I read about a man who mailed himself to freedom. I read about two little boys who had the best week ever! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I wandered the halls of the East Asian exhibit and fell in love with a 14th century statue of Guanyin and an ancient sandstone Hanuman head.



When I got back to the house, I had a tasty dinner made for me and got to eat with my dad and his wife.

These beautiful events are what I want to focus on.

Truthfully, there are emotions tugging me in other directions, however, since I'm following the Certain Way, I'm going to focus like that. That's what this experiment is all about, isn't it?

F it, that feels inauthentic.

I just want some space to say that I feel troubled that my father thinks I don't do anything productive. Mr. Wattles, can you please guide me here? It hurts!

It's so awesome: I just uploaded the photo at the top of the page, and it's so incongruent with opening sentence and with the above paragraph! I had opened SGR to look for guidance.

This is the section I turned to:

Convey the impression of advancement with everything you do, so that all people shall receive the impression that you are an “advancing personality,” and that you advance all who deal with you. Even to the people whom you meet in a social way — without any thought of business and to whom you do not try to sell anything — give the thought of increase.

You can convey this impression by holding the unshakable faith that you, yourself, are in the way of increase and by letting this faith inspire, fill, and permeate every action. Do everything that you do in the firm conviction that you are an advancing personality and that you are giving advancement to everybody. Feel that you are getting rich, and that in so doing you are making others rich and conferring
benefits on all.

(The Science of Getting Rich, Chapter 14)

Thanks, Mr. Wattles. And, thanks, also, for going on to say that one must not brag or boast. It helps me to see that defending is the same type of thing, like boasting or bragging. So when my beloved dad challenges me on what he thinks would be productive and what he thinks I'm not doing, I don't answer. The productivity in that situation is to keep my heart open. That is it. And also to see that that's just his point of view, and that my role continues to be giving off the impression of increase = love, compassion, presence and devotion.

Ah, the roller coaster of life! Didn't I read somewhere today to SURRENDER?