Is this a dirty word to you?
Lyman Reed
July 9th, 2007
Uncategorized
If you are a regular reader of this site, you know that over the past few months I’ve become a big fan of the teachings of Abraham-Hicks.
While I’m not so sure about the channeling (I figure it’s possible) and I often have a hard time referring to a human female (Esther Hicks) as “Abraham” (but I’ll call her what she/he/they/it wants to be called), I can’t deny the good that comes out of her mouth.
Combine this with the kindness and lack of dogmatic thinking of the people I’ve met who also follow the Abraham teachings (especially Vickie of Contemplate This and Pamm of My Secret Spiritual Dance), and it looks to me like the majority of the fruit that is being produced by this particular tree is good.
I’m subscribed to the Abraham-Hicks daily quote, and sometimes I get something that really challenges my thinking, like the following that came in yesterday (Sunday, July 8, 2007):
“You’ve trained yourself to face reality. You’ve trained yourself to tell the truth. You’ve trained yourself to tell it like it is. So in the beginning, these fantasies feel a little inappropriate, because it’s like you’re fooling yourself. Sometimes people will say, “Well, isn’t this just denial?” And we say, we hope so! We hope that you are denying the absence that you do not want [emphasis mine]. And we hope that you are embracing the presence of what you do. But somehow the idea of denial has become a dirty word to you; like it is virtuous to face the reality of the horror of your own lives. And we would be ignoring anything that did not please us. We would get our eyes on what feels good.”
Excerpted from the workshop in San Rafael, CA on Friday, March 9th, 2001
Denial has become a dirty word for me. Since my beginnings in personal development centered around 12 Step programs - mainly Alcoholics Anonymous (some of which I still use, some I’ve left behind) - I immediately associate denial with a person saying “I don’t have a problem” when they obviously do - in other words, not being able to (or not wanting to) see what is really going on around them. So when I read things like “We hope you are denying the absence that you do not want”, red flags fly up all over the place.
But wait… read that again.
“We hope that you are denying the absence that you do not want.”
It’s not about denying the presence of something we don’t want (poor health, financial scarcity, a destructive addiction), it’s about denying the absence of what we do not want.
There’s an important distinction there (and some wacky use of the English language). I think that is why I’ve taken to them (him, her, it?) so well. They don’t encourage us to yell “Did Not!” or “Nu-Uh!” to what we’ve created up to this point, but rather to stop focusing on it, and to shift our focus to what we do want.
Now that’s something I can accept. “OK, it’s there. Now what do I want?”
One of my favorite Abraham quotes is still “We don’t encourage you to see that your gas gauge is on empty and to stick a smiley face over it.”
I appreciate hearing your own thoughts on this. Thanks!
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[This article was included in two blog carnivals - The Personal Development Carnival - July 15th, 2007 and Live the Power Unlimited Volume 2]
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Excellent Realization! It’s not about denying what is but rather focusing on what is wanted instead! I love, love the Abraham Daily Quotes. I actually thought of you when I read this one the other day so I am happy you got it too!
Thanks for submitting it to the Live the Power Unlimited carnival. You’re in so watch for it on July 17!
I love getting the daily quotes and the tapes in the mail. I have always seen Abraham as a good friend…one who reminds me of the stuff I already knew but kinda forgot in the moment. I love the gems that they talk about…the little things of everyday life that teach me- like gas guages and radio towers and GPS systems. Yummy.
ps….thanks for your kind words, Lyman. You are a dear.
Lyman,
Perfect! It’s like you said, “stop focusing on it” and start focusing on what it is you want. Think about the number of people who, with the best intentions, mistakenly continue talking/posting/thinking about all the things that they perceive as being “wrong” with their past/present/whenever and how those very thoughts keep returning them to the same place over and over again. Just think where they could be if they would turn those thoughts to what they want rather than what was or is.
Karen: Thanks for accepting it into the carnival.
It’s funny that my own issues are so glaring that you thought of me when you got the quote. Or maybe it was that my vibe of “Oh, Boy, I’m not gonna like this one” was so powerful you felt it across the country… Ha! 
Pamm: It’s funny you mentioned the GPS systems. I just listened to an audio where Esther (sorry, *Abraham*) describes what our GPS systems would be like if we designed them like we use our own emotional guidance systems. It was hilarious… mostly because it was true!
Clyde: Most people do have the best intentions when they do that stuff - the ad infinitum repetition of past misdeeds. It does help initially - especially in the recognition of what we don’t want, but a continual focus on it really does get one trapped. Thanks for the great insight!
Denying the absence that you do not want…
Im real sense those that we don’t want (poor health, financial scarcity, a destructive addiction) were
illussion… so denying the absense of them is right.
Jul 9th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Is this a dirty word to you? - from Creating a Better Life
Rather than deny that something exist, shift your focus to what you want.
Jul 15th, 2007 at 10:13 am
[...] Reed presents Is this a dirty word to you? posted at Creating a Better [...]
Jul 17th, 2007 at 11:21 am
[...] Reed presents Is this a dirty word to you? posted at Creating a Better [...]