This chapter is about what I call “daily magic.” This isn’t magic with the aim of manifesting anything in particular or granting specific wishes—although practicing doing so will certainly help! Daily magic is more about keeping you in the energy of living a magical life all the time.
The following are things that I suggest you practice every day when possible. This has two benefits:
STAY AWAKE
We spoke a little bit in Chapter 1 about the concept of being awake. It’s about being aware in the moment, which in my experience doesn’t usually happen for most people while they’re standing in line at the grocery store. The moment isn’t something you’re usually conscious of when doing the laundry, talking to a customer on the phone at work, or picking up the kids at school. Most of that’s autopilot. It’s akin to slumber.
Being awake is that moment when, for a split second, you know who you are. You remember how astonishingly beautiful you are. You see that life is a gift full of unending opportunities. Usually, epiphanies great and small pop into your mind.
In the movie Joe Versus the Volcano, the character Patricia tells Joe that almost the whole world is asleep. Only a few people are awake, she says, and these people live in a constant state of total amazement. Well, if that isn’t a perfect, cosmic truth, I don’t know what is! I love everything about that line. Think about being in constant, total amazement . . . that’s the magic of life, right? Being awake and therefore able to see all the amazing beauty of every person and everything around you is what being your own Genie is all about.
When I want to make sure that I’m awake, what I do is focus on things that I believe are magic. I try to slow down time and just be. That may mean going outside and just standing in the yard or in a park. It can be meditating or having a chat with my angels. It might mean sitting with my pooch Jace and looking into his soulful brown eyes and asking him, “Whatcha wanna tell me today, fella?”
Just do anything to snap you out of the reverie of daily life. I think doing that at least once or twice a day can change your life. I’m serious. The insights you get can really keep you on track.
I’m not sure if it’s possible to be awake every single moment. If it is, then I’ll honestly tell you that it’s not something I personally have mastered. There’s just “stuff” that has to get done in this life on Earth, and some of it gets done via autopilot. But I do have a few helpful hints to make even mundane things more magical!
BIBBITY-BOBBITY-BOO
Daily magic means envisioning that there’s magical energy in everything you do:
I also recommend choosing a magical word for yourself—a word whose sole purpose is to help you to snap out of negative thinking or to wake you back up to the magic of life. When you feel like you’re not having a very magical day, say the word and think of something happy. If you do this often enough, then the word itself will be all you need to get a magical boost to your day!
Speaking of magical words, don’t forget those two I’ve already taught you: yes and no. I highly urge you to learn to use these two magical words very carefully.
Say yes to:
Say no to:
A PRAYER IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES
Prayer is magical. If you’ve had a challenging time with religion in your past (like me), then don’t even think of prayer as related to religion. Instead, think of it as your hotline to Heaven! This is you “texting” the Divine. This is posting a picture of your life on Instagram and tagging it with @God so your Creator sees it.
Personally, I’ve found music really clicks me into the magic of it all. I’ve been praying to the same meditation music for years now. However, if I don’t happen to have that song with me, I still pray to something meditational or New Age.
Prayer is powerful for two reasons:
I grew up in a church that excelled at guilt. Unfortunately, there was a lot of fear-based teaching and judging going on. As you might suspect, that didn’t work so great for me. When I was old enough to control my own destiny, I walked out of organized religion in search of my own connection with the Divine. It didn’t take me long to find it, either. It was just sort of there for me. It was as if a couple of angels were sitting on a park bench reading newspapers and I just walked up to hear one of them say, “Ah, good! There you are. We’ve been waiting.”
It has taken me a long time to come to the place where I can say that I believe that organized religion is like anything else in this world: It can be a blessing, or it can be . . . not a blessing. And so when I walked away from something that was doing me true emotional harm, I suppose I may have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. That is to say, I was young, so I figured that if any part of something was bad, then it must all be bad.
One of those things I threw out with the bathwater was prayer. Curiously, it wasn’t really the practice of prayer that I dispensed with, but the word itself. Since I was someone who would grow up to be an author and speaker, maybe it shouldn’t be too surprising that I felt I needed a new vocabulary for my spirituality when I left organized religion.
God became the “Universe,” the “Divine,” or “Source.” Prayer became my “daily meditations.” Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. Right?
The healing of all that tiptoeing around theological vocabulary really started for me back in 1996 when I came across an amazing book, Conversations with God, by Neale Donald Walsch. It turned everything upside down for me. Well, actually, maybe I should say it turned everything upside right for me. Suddenly, God was out of the box. And that’s when I got the word God back.
Getting the word prayer back is a more recent development for me. To be honest, it pretty much just amounted to me “getting over myself” as much as anything. The fact of the matter is, I never stopped praying. I just called it something else. To-may-to, to-mah-to.
Now please don’t misunderstand me. As I’ve already said, I truly don’t believe in my heart that there’s one bit of difference between God, Universe, Source, and Divine—they’re all synonyms for the same thing. Just as my “daily meditations” were just prayers.
But whether you know them as meditations or prayers, they’re extremely important in our magical lives. They give us connection to the Divine. They allow us ways to express our hopes and our fears—our gratitude and our desires. They remind us that we, too, are of the Divine. We’re magical children of God. And how cool is that?
So when it feels to us that our prayers aren’t being heard . . . if we feel that our requests are unfulfilled . . . it can make us feel cut off from the magic. And that’s not cool.
All our prayers are answered. The problem is that we may not recognize the answers, especially if they’re different from the kind of answering we were envisioning. So here are my five easy steps to getting answers to your prayers—and noticing the response you get.
1. Know what you’re praying for, but also be open to something better.
I think that people often get it in their minds that things have to be a certain way. And it’s important to have what you’re asking for crystal clear in your mind, but why wouldn’t you want God to bring you something better if that’s available? Whether it’s a relationship, a career change, or the answer to a question, have it clearly articulated in your mind when you pray. Be in faith that the answer will come and that you’ll know it when you see it. Then end your prayers by saying that you accept “this or something better,” and mean it.
2. Be awake to answers that are different from what you’re expecting or that come in a way that’s different from what you anticipated.
Now I know this sounds a little like the last bit I just brought up, but there really is a difference. And the difference is in the noticing.
Let’s say you prayed and asked God for a duck. (Hey, just work with me here, okay?) Maybe the duck is a sign to you; I don’t know. But in any event, if you’re so focused on asking for a duck that all you do is look and look and look for a duck, and nowhere can you see a duck, then you’re going to be pretty sure that your prayers for a duck went unanswered—even as you trip over that swan standing right in front of you.
Most of the people who tell me that their prayers go unanswered simply don’t have their eyes open to the crystal clear answer God just sent, even if it was better than what they were expecting.
3. Pray with gratitude, not with fear or begging.
Gratitude is a very important part of prayer. Praying with fear or in a begging sort of way is pretty much just convincing yourself that nothing is going to happen. You’re closing your eyes to the answers Heaven is sending you. On the other hand, gratitude is a very open-eyed and expectant emotion. Pray with the faith and certainty that your answer will come in the perfect way and in the perfect time. When that happens, give thanks.
By the way, if patience isn’t your strong suit, ask God to send you some intermediary signs or answers that the big answer to your prayers is coming. And then trust that!
4. Let Archangel Sandalphon help you.
Remember me introducing you to Archangel Sandalphon in Chapter 5? Well, his name roughly means “brother.” However, I think it should mean “big brother,” because this dude is tall! So tall that he is said to have his feet on Mother Earth and his head in Heaven. He is the emissary for prayers, and he lifts them from Earth and hands them to God. He is one of two humans whom God is said to have elevated to archangel status. (His human name in the Bible was Elijah.)
So if you’ve got an archangel just standing around waiting to help you with your prayers, why not let him?
5. Pray regularly.
I don’t include this step as some sort of way of saying that if you don’t pray often, God won’t answer your prayers. I don’t like that sentiment, because it puts God right back into a box and God doesn’t fit in a box. But prayer does give you confidence.
It’s like anything that you practice—you’re just going to have more faith in your ability to do it successfully. So it’s fine if your prayers for a given day are just: “Thank You, God, for giving me an awesome day, and amen.” The more you pray, the more you’ll hone your skills to see the answers that God is sending.
And God is sending them.
THE MAGICAL POWER OF SILLY
I’m a fully self-aware, open, out-of-the-closet . . . silly person. Nearly every close friend I have has some measure of silly in them. My sister and her husband are afflicted with silly. My nephew and nieces come by their silliness completely honestly.
I also have to confess that I’m probably a silliness carrier. The most serious of people, if they spend any time with me at all, start showing signs of silly-itis within a very short time. If you listen to my radio show or attend one of my lectures and you don’t have any silly in you, then I must warn you that you’re at risk for exposure to hopelessly silly shenanigans coming into your life. (So don’t say I didn’t warn you!)
I hardly think I need to tell you this, but things in the world are extremely heavy right now. I mean, really . . . it’s just too much, don’t you think? I’m serious when I tell you that I feel as though the number one thing I do on social media these days is hide political posts. I just can’t take the energy of it all. It seems to me that the energetic weight on the shoulders of so very many countries around the world right now is overwhelming. The burdens . . . stress . . . fear . . . It’s crushing the joyful spirit of many people.
The problem with that energy is that it suppresses our ability to manifest the things we truly want. When our thoughts are so turned toward worry and fear for the future, we’re not in a place of creating much in the way of happiness. But there are antidotes to the negativity. There are ways to push back the worry and bring back in the lighthearted joy in our lives that we’re Divinely due.
Meditation is a good antidote. So is exercise. But I think one of the most powerful ways to push the gray away and bring in the sparkly light of laugher is silliness.
So I’m just going to go right out on a limb here and proclaim myself a silly expert! If you find yourself in a situation where you need to rehab from seriousness, I’ve got you covered. Here are some of the ways I can recommend that you bring more silly into your life:
Find the funny in everything you can. And then laugh and laugh and laugh!
I’m sure you can think of your own ways to bring up your inner silly child. Use it to push out the worry and bring back your joy!
FOLLOW YOUR HEART (MOST OF THE TIME)
Mind versus heart. It’s a conflict as old as humanity. Do you listen to the intellectual advice of your noggin, or do you follow the pining of your heart?
We in the spiritual community have a tendency to say, “always follow your heart,” but sometimes it’s not that easy. And while I generally tend to agree with that point of view, I don’t know that it’s always the right path.
Part of the problem lies in the perception that following your heart has been a mistake. You fall in love with Sam or Sue or take a big risk to chase a dream, and things don’t go quite the way you expected. You stop trusting yourself, and when you stop trusting yourself, your ego really kicks in and takes advantage of that. This is what gets you into that heart-versus-mind dilemma.
People tend to think of their minds as being separate from their hearts, even from their spirits. How many times have you found yourself saying, “Oh, my head tells me to do this, but my heart tells me to do that”? As if your head and your heart were that metaphorical angel on one shoulder and devil on the other.
More often than not, you may think of your heart as being the angel and your mind as being the devil. This is a bit unfair to your mind. In its own way, your mind is only trying to help you and protect you.
Our minds aren’t big into risk. Our hearts are more willing to say, Ah, just go for it! Especially if the question at hand is romantic in nature.
Is there anything in life that offers us a greater high or a bigger crash than love? And as we consider this the domain of the heart, we tend to give in. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with that.
However . . .
Do you, a friend, or a family member have a tendency to get stuck in a pattern or unhealthy cycle? A repeated routine when it comes to love? Ever known someone who just keeps attracting the same kind of partner over and over again? Usually when that happens, it’s not a good thing. And when your friend has fallen for someone who treats them badly (for the fourth time!), wouldn’t you tell your friend it’s time to listen to reason before doing it again?
This involves being aware of the pattern. And the mind is the analytical expert in your metaphorical consulting group. And still the heart is beating fast and saying, Oh, just go for it! So let’s talk about what to do when your heart says, Go left, but your mind says, Oh, heck no. Go right.
First of all, let your mind have its say. Trust me on this. It’s going to anyway. It will invade your sleeping dreams or just hover over you like a cloak of anxiety. It’s not going to go away. And you shouldn’t want it to. It might have a point, you know. So do yourself a favor and give it the floor.
What does that mean, you ask?
Do this: Find some quiet time alone. Put on your very best objective-listener hat and grab some paper and a pen. Now, write down everything your head has to say about the decision you’re trying to make. Don’t argue with your head. Just write it all down. If you let your mind say its piece, then usually it will quiet down.
Once you’ve got it all down on paper, there are some things you should look for.
Look at every item on the list that your mind gave you for following its lead. How do you feel about each one? Is it logical? Or does it feel to you like it’s fear based?
Because living your life through fear is simply no way to go.
Okay. So now it’s time to let your heart back in. If your mind starts to act up, just say aloud: “Dear mind, thank you so very much for all your advice. I greatly appreciate your desire to help me and to keep me safe. I promise to consider your point of view. But now I need you to be quiet and allow me to sort out my feelings.”
I know it seems silly, but seriously, I’ve found that letting my mind have its say, thanking it, and then asking it for a moment alone with my heart really does work!
If your heart is asking you to follow a well-worn path back through the same forest that you keep getting lost in, then I would highly suggest you reconsider. However, if you can look at your mind’s list of arguments and truly, objectively tick them off as fear based or out of alignment with you experiencing life to its fullest, then follow your heart. Chances are, your heart is going to win.
But let’s not tell your mind that.
WISHING AWAY TIME
I don’t know about you, but I feel as though time just continues to pick up momentum. As I’m writing this chapter, it seems as if I was shoveling snow two months ago, yet somehow we’re in the last few weeks of summer, with autumn turning her beautiful gaze our way. I got home from teaching a two-day course in July, went to the grocery store, picked up the dry cleaning, blinked, and suddenly it’s August!
I used to think that this phenomenon was an aspect of getting older. But it doesn’t matter whom I bring this seemingly whirlwind-year concept up to, young or old; they’re all in agreement that time is flying by faster and faster. And with that comes increased stress to get everything done. Most of us work in a world with deadlines.
Speaking of which . . . why do we call them “deadlines”? What a terrible word! Couldn’t we call them “lifelines”? Because, really, they’re just dates to help us get the most out of life? Maybe sports enthusiasts would prefer goal lines!
Nevertheless, my life is full of them in some form. Book deadlines. Card-deck deadlines. Magazine-article deadlines. My electronic calendar is awash with them. And therein lies part of what is accelerating time: our desire to accelerate how much we accomplish. Not just in a given year, but in a lifetime. We’re slaves to society’s definition of success. So much to do, but not enough time to do it in. Often we just act, and hope for the best. Maybe we should have thought things through a bit more—but who has the time for that?
Well, frankly . . . we should. I have a dear friend who would say she felt like a slave to “the tyranny of the urgent.” What she meant was that there were so many urgent matters to attend to that she never had time to focus on the big picture. And when we don’t focus on where we want to go, we often wind up someplace that’s less than satisfying.
So many of us are severely under-vacationed. We need a rest. We need time to think. Time to slow our gallop toward the finish line, not only so that we don’t miss out on the joys of life, but also so that we don’t forget ourselves and not win the race we meant to participate in. We might win someone else’s idea of the right race, but not ours.
A lot of people are saying that 55 is the new 40. As time flies by, we’ve moved what we consider to be “middle age” to higher and higher numbers. I clearly remember growing up thinking that 55 was ancient, while I now think it’s an age where things are just getting started! Still, as I get older, I also feel this sense of time encroaching upon my goals and that if I’m going to get everything done that I want in this lifetime, I had better step up the pace. But stepping up the pace is part of what makes time go faster, so isn’t that counterproductive?
I’m very careful about not “wishing away” time. Ever catch yourself saying, “I can’t wait until spring”? Or, “I can’t wait until vacation”? Or the holidays, graduation, retirement . . . You name it. This is wishing away time. When your focus is on a future date, you’re not living in the “now.” Having your attention on what is to come may seem to make time stand still, but my experience is the opposite. When the anticipated date finally rolls around, I always look back and think, Where did the time go? And we all experience vacations going by in the blink of an eye. Once you’ve wished time to move fast, it’s tricky magic to wish it back to going slow for any given week, because your Genie is running on high momentum.
You may have noticed by the Genie Academy lessons that I’m a big proponent of lists. I have them everywhere and usually rewrite them at least once a week. Making lists helps me stay focused. It keeps me thinking about what really matters and allows me a little freedom from the tyranny of the urgent in order to focus upon the fulfillment of the rewarding. I also believe it keeps time from just slipping through my fingers.
Another method I use to keep time under control is to allow for magical moments every day. Look for and embrace those poignant, awe-filled, or hilarious experiences—and then hold on to them. Even if it’s just for a few minutes. It’s a great way to learn how to use your magic to manipulate your personal experience of time.
Find time to think. Find time to take quiet walks. Make lists. Review your goals. Make sure you’re headed where you really, truly want to go.
And, most importantly, be in the now.
GENIE ACADEMY
Lesson #10: Daily Magic Reminders
So many things can distract us from our daily magic practices that I like to hide little reminders in my day. For example, I have my daily prayer song in most of my music playlists. If I’ve already prayed that day, I just skip over it. However, at least once or twice a week, the song will start to play and I’ll realize, Oops! I’ll stop what I’m doing to get my daily magical prayers taken care of.
Another magical reminder is to put notes in your calendar. Set an alarm every day that pops up on your smart device or computer that says, “Ask your angels for help!” or “Make a wish!”
You can also leave handwritten notes or cards around your home, car, workplace, or anywhere you’ll see them often.
Come up with some fun ways to remind yourself every day to stay awake, pray, be silly, follow your heart, stay in the now—and just have a magical life!