As some of you may remember, I recently had a trip to Baltimore. I was there for 4 full days and 5 nights. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been on a trip anywhere and stayed in a hotel for more than a night or two. Most of the time I’ve been there for a run and just hit the hotel for an overnight before or after the race. Even when I traveled for the Navy we’d go to one place for a night, give our presentation, then move on to the next destination. So this was quite unique for me.

It turned out to be extremely enjoyable and showed me a lot about human nature (at least my own nature). I was able to get away from my hectic job and although I worked in the evenings and had to attend conferences during the day, I was in a different place – both physically and mentally.

So what does this have to do with the Law of Attraction? I realized from a personal standpoint, what creatures of habit we are and how quickly we create new patterns (that rapidly transform into habits) so that we can feel comfortable. It made me think of other events I’d heard about and how that pattern creation was at influence as well.

I am very much a creature of habit – I readily admit that. But, I thought, that it was only at home (or in prep’ing for and running races). What happened once I arrived in Baltimore was that I was concerned about the creature comforts initially – food, shelter, safety. I had a hotel and got there and checked in. One comfort down. I then started walking to find a restaurant (harder than you’d think since it was fairly late) but I succeeded in finding a great place to eat and had a mouthwatering steak! I returned to the hotel and went to bed. I had already searched for a Whole Foods but also had “accidently” found the Whole Foods as I was walking to find the restaurant. And it was a nice walk from both my hotel and the hotel where the conference was – perfect, in other words! What more could I ask for. The woman at the hotel had also succeeded in getting a refrigerator put in my room and that made everything even more delightful.

The first morning I was there, I went to the conference AFTER hitting up both my hotel and the conference hotel for breakfast. Then I sat through lectures for most of the day. But when it was time to head back after the conference events were over for that day, I stopped by Whole Foods and got dinner and stuff for snacks and other meals as needed. That night I went for a long walk, did some “work” (for my real job) on my laptop and watched CNN’s panic about Ebola.

Next a.m. – rinse and repeat. I skipped my hotel for breakfast but hit up Whole Foods and the host hotel for breakfast, sat through lectures, went to Whole Foods and back to my hotel. Out for a walk and back to eat my salad for dinner, working on my laptop and watching TV.

See something happening here? In just a day I had created a pattern that I was comfortable with. And since I was comfortable with it, I just continued in the same practice day after day and it felt normal. We do things to make ourselves feel comfortable. We don’t want any of that anxiety or uncertainty that comes with feeling out of place. So we do pretty much anything to feel good. I fell right into that.

This is what happens when we are trying to manifest something and apply the Law of Attraction in our life. We start something new but if it’s totally off what you’ve been used to, you can’t deal with the anxiety and discomfort of that complete newness. Those people who are very negative and repeatedly say (and believe) things that are bringing more of that “bad stuff” into their lives have the hardest time with the Law of Attraction because it’s so difficult for them to feel any type of comfort in a positive atmosphere. That’s why we talk about the Emotional Guidance System and how getting angry is a big step up from depression. Most people think we’re expecting someone to go from depression to total happiness — almost overnight. And that just will NOT work. We know that but forget it because we live in this day and age of Instant Gratification. We want success overnight. It won’t work that way except in the unusual case.

I quickly fell into a pattern that worked well for me but that’s because it closely mirrored what I experienced at home. It was easy for me to find a way to practice my daily routine close to what I had at home. If I try to manage and work with the Law of Attraction, I need to do the same thing. I need to create patterns that will augment my implementation, not counter it. So, I may not be able to apply all the techniques that are taught to work with the Law of Attraction. I may have to introduce one technique at a time and do it slowly until I become comfortable with that technique in my life. Trying to apply everything makes you forget and then often get discouraged. Learn one technique/method well and apply it. Make it a pattern. Make it a part of your life. Ultimately it will become a habit but right now the key thing is to incorporate it into your daily life. Keep your anxiety at bay and maintain your vibration in a positive realm – it may not be ecstasy and total success but if your vibrations are feeling good, then you will continue to manifest more good vibrations. Then you can move on to implementing the next process or technique until it, then, is integrated into your life.

Bottom line, it doesn’t take much to stay in or fall back into your old patterns. I found that I wasn’t able to eat as healthily in Baltimore as I do at home and soon it became not so uncomfortable (the first few days) and became the “norm” (after about day 2 1/2). When I returned home, I was able to revert back to my healthy eating habits easily because I still remembered how good it feels to do that and how much fun and enjoyment I was getting from the positive changes in my life. Had I been there a much longer time (a month perhaps?), it might have been harder to get back into the healthy pattern. And, I probably would never have even realized it. That’s the bad part. We have to be vigilant (I guess “mindful” is the word of the year) about what we’re doing, feeling, thinking and saying and determining if it’s working to help us obtain more of what we want OR is it working to help us obtain more of what we do NOT want because that’s happening more than we realize. This is why journaling in some form is so important. Write down what we want and what’s going on in our life. Look in the mirror – see what you’re doing (or not doing) that is producing the results we’re getting. Then figure out what the simplest thing to change is.

Beware of your patterns and how easily you fall back into patterns you don’t want!

Terrie