Oh Well!

June 15, 2014May 21, 2017 / Steve Lakey / 13 Comments

Photo: © Al Forbes 2014

We told every prospective buyer of our cottage about the Well of Abundance in the front garden. How it sits atop an ancient energy source. And how any coins you place in the well, multiply tenfold when you turn the invisible handle. We explained how that well has been good to us over the years. It only seemed fair to tell the next owners.

How they all laughed at our tale. And declined to try it for themselves. We laughed too – having just moved into a large country mansion.

I accepted a generous offer for the cottage. They were a nice couple, although he apparently works in the banking sector. Imagine our horror then, when they casually mentioned their plans to slab-over the entire front garden!

I begged them to let me come over weekly, and I’d tend to the flower beds for free. And show them how to work the well. But they were having none of it. My application to have the well protected as a world heritage site was rejected. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned the invisible handle.

After taking legal advice, I’ve taken the cottage off the market. If that’s the only way to keep the abundance flowing, so be it.

Well, what would you have done?

This story was prompted by Sunday Photo Fiction: June 15th 2014, hosted by Al Forbes.

Click the logo for more details.

To read the other stories for this prompt, click the blue frog!

Keeping it Real?

May 1, 2014 / Steve Lakey / 3 Comments

Photo: Mannequin Head by Peter Griffin

Our connection to the outside world is governed by our senses. The human brain can process as much as 400 billion bits of information a second, but we are consciously aware of only about 2,000 bits a second. This means we filter out most of our ‘reality’.

The data we’re left with, is what our brain considers to be important. The information it thinks we need to thrive and survive. But our brain takes shortcuts based on generalisations. What was once important to us stays there unless new connections render the old ones obsolete.

Over time, we establish thought patterns and beliefs that determine how we expect ‘reality’ to behave. Anything confirming that view is allowed through, but conflicting information is generally disregarded. Constant conditioning.

But we don’t have to keep the same modes of thinking. It’s possible to consciously reset some of our filters.

For instance, if you tend to look on the negative side of things, you can make a deliberate practice of not worrying about things beyond your control. Stuff happens! Your challenge is to make your situation better, whatever your starting point.

Try and look for solutions rather than being stuck with your problems. Find a few things to be grateful for each day. Sometimes this can be tough, but if you’re reading this post, you’re probably more affluent than most people in the world.

For a few minutes, you can ‘live in the now’, focusing on your senses and nothing else. It can give you a chance to choose a better version of your own reality. Why not give it a try?

Life Lessons from an All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant

April 25, 2014April 26, 2014 / Steve Lakey / 2 Comments

Photo: Indian Food by Jm Verastigue

Last night, together with my wife and a couple of friends, I had a meal in an All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant. In the UK, it’s not that common to have an all-you-can-eat-buffet, outside of breakfast or lunch-time specials.

It was a huge Pan-Asian restaurant, and there were sections for Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese and many more types of food. Even British-style fish and chips (maybe that’s what the ‘Pan’ part meant!)

The selection seemed almost infinite. And when one food tray was starting to run low, it was soon replaced with a full one. A small army of staff kept everything running smoothly. As soon as you had emptied your plate, it was whisked away, and you were free to help yourself to another, and fill it with whatever you wished.

Not being used to the idea, it was very tempting to overdo it. And I did. Each time I went back for another helping, I thought, I’ve got to get my money’s worth!

By the end of our two hour table reservation, I was completely stuffed, to the point of being uncomfortable. But why?

Apart from the obvious answer being ‘Greed’, a part of me must still be focusing on a ‘lack’ mentality. That I’ve got to ‘get it while I can’, and if I don’t it will be taken away from me. Instead of stopping when I was comfortably full, I had to take more than my fair share.

And yet, like Universal Supply, I knew my own supply of food wasn’t going to run out. There was clearly more than enough to go around. And me taking whatever I wanted wouldn’t result in someone else going without.

Maybe I should go there more often, until finally I ‘get it’! Or maybe I should make more of an effort to ‘get it’ in practice, rather than just in theory.

Sometimes, ‘self-help’ and ‘helping yourself’ can mean the same thing.

Law of Attraction or Law of Perception?

April 14, 2014September 25, 2014 / Steve Lakey / 1 Comment

Magnet Illustration by K Whiteford

You may have changed your car and noticed soon afterwards that you see a lot more of the same vehicle on the roads. It’s nice to be a trendsetter! But deep down, we know something else is happening. It’s actually that we’re noticing the cars that look like ours a lot more, rather than an actual increase. This is known as observational selection bias.

Now, what if the Law of Attraction was us actually noticing the things that we focus on, rather than attracting the things we focus on?

Instead of the Universe having rearranged itself to do our bidding, what if our changed perception can now see opportunities that were not clear to us before, despite always being present?

If we cultivate the sort of positive outlook that finds us ready to take advantage of our circumstances, do we really need to wait for the Cosmos to align in our favour?

There does seem to be an implicit question of faith with the LOA. If you’re not getting the results that the gurus get, do you believe strongly enough? Are you being positive enough? Maybe their latest book or audio program will help to boost your belief. These products can give you a short-term positivity boost, but in my experience, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. I know, because I’ve bought many of them myself.

It’s neither possible nor desirable to think positively all the time. Imagine being chased by a wild animal and not bothering to run, because you believe ‘It will all work out fine, in the end.’ I still think that we each hold the key to our own destiny, but I now accept that Life will always have uncertainties. Maybe that’s why we signed up in the first place.

Whatever our life circumstances, we can still choose how we view them and how we react to them. That is about us changing how we see ourselves, and our world.

Music to Your Ears

November 23, 2013May 21, 2017 / Steve Lakey / 6 Comments

Photo: Background 350 Sabine Sauermaul

Listen, when you’ve got Life’s Blues,

Stop snoring, snoring, snoring, snooze!

Get up – Rock your day!

Pop out the Country way.

Dance your Soul with Classical pizzazz,

Carpe Diem, and all that Jazz!

This is my contribution to Trifextra: Week Ninety-Five, 33 word Challenge:

We want you to choose a word and use it three times in your 33 words. However, it must be either a verb, noun or adjective and the form of the word cannot change, it must appear exactly the same three times.

Click on the logo to view the other entries.