Have you ever heard those people who say that the world revolves around what they want? Here's a quick tip for you - they were right!

Somewhere along the line in history, human beings have lost track of the very real, very important, very self-centered fact that each of us is 100% responsible for our lives. Our happiness/sadness, wealth/poverty, vitality/ill health, opportunity/despondency - and any other polar opposites that you can imagine - are the responsible of exactly one person, and that is you.

Photo Credit: Asif AkbarNo matter what your circumstances are in life, there is a way for you to create happiness and success out of those circumstances, because when all is said and done, one of the truths of existence is that each and and every one of us is the center of our own universe. Our thoughts, feelings, and actions create the very axis on which our entire existence spins, and that process is 100% within our control.

Yes, yes - I can hear your "insert excuse here" arguments already:

I was born this way, so I don't have a choice. - How you were born or raised is completely irrelevant. As Jack Canfield says, "That's the 'so what'. The 'what' is what now?" You can live in the past, or you can create the future.

This health condition runs in my family. - For one, that doesn't mean that you can't take every conceivable step to ensure maximum health despite that condition. For two, that doesn't mean that you can't consciously will better health into your life. For three, that health condition is a circumstance of your life, not the definition of your life. Realize the difference and quit whining about it.

Other people are involved in whether or not this can happen. - No, you allow other people to be involved in whether or not something can happen. People only effect our lives to the extent that we allow them to affect our lives. No matter how much you perceive someone else as being a positive or a negative part of your life, their impact on your life is totally in your control. If someone else is making your life miserable, you've got no one to thank for it but yourself.

It's out of my control. - In other words, you aren't willing to take responsibility for it. Henry Ford used to tell his employees not to bring him problems, but instead to bring him solutions. If something is "out of your control," all that means is that you haven't found a way to take control of it. If you are not willing to find that way, then you're right - it IS out of your control. How does that make you feel?

Whatever other excuses you can come up with, they all boil down to exactly the same thing:

That word "victim" is funny to me, because I think it should actually be elongated in order to more clearly demonstrate what being a "victim" is all about. Perhaps a vote on a better definition?

• Willing Participate
• Drama Lover
• Negativity Junkie
• Responsibility Avoider
• Blind Follower
• Commitment Challenged
• Selectively Ignorant

Oh, the list could go on and on, and no matter how long the list got, every phrase would describe the very same fact:

There are people who believe in and consistently act upon their ability to create wonderful lives for themselves, and there are people who realize how much easier it is to play the victim card, thus avoiding any real responsibility for their own happiness.

On that same note, there are people who will read this, and become empowered, and there are people who will immediately start coming up with reasons excuses about how these concepts don't apply to their lives because ________________ (insert lame excuse here).

Do yourself a favor and ask yourself which type of person you are. Then do yourself an even bigger favor and give yourself an honest answer to that question.

If you've been a blind, drama-loving, commitment-challenged, selectively-ignorant, negatively-charged, willing avoider of responsibility, then just ask yourself one more question:

How's that been working out for you?

WHAT'S NEXT?

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Welcome to the 18th and final edition of the Doing it Differently Blog Carnival!

This carnival is dedicated to the concept of stepping outside of the box and living our lives in ways beyond the "norm"!

Whether you want to learn unique ways to think or act differently, or if you want to share your own unique ideas, this carnival is for you!

This will be the final edition of the Doing it Differently blog carnival hosted at Today is that Day, so I have made this edition the most information packed edition yet!

Enjoy all of this great content, and if you like this carnival or if you are one of the authors featured in this edition, be sure to add this post to Stumbleupon, Digg, or your favorite social bookmarking site!

Self Improvement/Personal Growth

Stephen Martile - Great Friends

Sabrina Jefferson - Building Confidence By Doing

Personal Development by an INTJ - How To Solve Problems By Changing Your Frame Or Perspective

The Happy and Prosperous Blog - Self-Esteeming - Creating Self-Esteem

Never the Same River Twice - Are You Working With an Old Reality? How to Change Paradigms

Arun's Daily Remedy - Conflicting Desires

Energies of Creation - Are You Trapped in a Brain Closet?

Relationships

Makeitbetter’s Weblog - I Hate Weddings

The Incurable Romantic - When the Lights Go Out

Conscious Flex - The Purpose of Human Relationships

Systems Thinker - Choosing Intimate Partners: To Repeat or Not to Repeat?

Parenting

David B. Bohl - How to Talk to Children

The Next 45 Years - Confessions from a Recovering Father

Homework. Dinner. Life. - Let Your Kids Stay In the Room While You Do It

Parenting Squad - Why Stay-At-Home-Dads Are Good For Families

Business/Success

Internet Business and Life at ProcessToProfits - How Are You Dividing Your Attention?

Bootstrapper - How to Telecommute Successfully: 50 Tips and Resources

Yes to Me - Are You Afraid To Express Yourself In Business?

Internet Business Coaching by Terry Dean - 7 Make Money Online Myths

Mark Riffey's Business is Personal - Blocking time improves small business owner productivity

Don D. Morrison - Do You Have True Personal & Financial Freedom?

Get International Clients - How Information Products Sold In Foreign Markets Can Save Your Business When Your Economy Is Slow

Internet Business Guide - How To Save 2 Hours Per Day

Lee McIntyre's Internet Marketing Blog - Low Cost Way to Get 1,000 Workers Today

Law of Attraction/Conscious Creation

Law of Attraction for Beginners - Cooking with Thought Energy

Good to Feel Good - A Secret Meditation for Law of Attraction Followers

The Environment

Phil for Humanity - Stop Watering Your Lawn

That wraps up the 18th and final edition of the Doing it Differently Blog Carnival! Many thanks to all of the most recent authors, as well as to all of the authors who have contributed in the past! I'm certain that the readers of this carnival have gotten great value from your content, so please accept my sincerest gratitude for all that you have shared!

I've got a couple of great posts (i.e. - in your face, get off your butt and make it happen) planned for later in this week, but for now, I just wanted to give a couple of quick shout outs for some conscious creation events or products that are worth you taking a quick peek at, especially if you've been having trouble creating the success that you know you are capable of.

First up is the 6-week teleconference that Edward Mills is about to launch entitled Basic Energy Awareness Skills for Deliberate Creators. Ed is one of my mastermind partners, which means, quite frankly, that I don't cut him much slack. When he tells me about something he is working on, I look at it from the consumer's point of view, and I grill him with those types of questions:

• What are people getting out of this?
• Is this going to be something that people can actually do?
• Is there plenty of content for the price?
• Is there enough value?

In this case, Ed has definitely brought some great stuff to the table, and in a format that will be both understandable by "regular" people, and also delivered in multiple formats so that people can take it in using whatever systems work best for them. Definitely worth taking a look at, and here's the link:

Basic Energy Awareness Skills for Deliberate Creators

Next up is a reminder about the very cool Conscious Creation Retreat that Debra Moorhead is holding on May 30th in Maysville, KY. I wrote up an informative post about her retreat back in March, and the event is definitely something worth looking into.

Debra is a stand up gal, and I have no doubt that anything she takes the reigns of will be worth taking a look at. Check it all out over at her blog:

Conscious Creation Retreat

And finally, James Arthur Ray has come out with a new book called Harmonic Wealth that has been getting some great reviews.

I haven't read it yet myself, but I am a fan of James' philosophies, and he has been talking about 'Harmonic Wealth' as a concept for quite a long time. I'm sure his recent experiences since starring in The Secret have added to his teachings quite a bit, so the book should be worth checking out. There is also a a DVD edition that (at the time of this writing) is out of stock, but for those of you who don't like or want to read, that is another option for you:

Harmonic Wealth - Book ~ Harmonic Wealth - The Movie

That's it for now! Enjoy your Conscious Creation efforts and create something worthy of you! 

Most regular readers here at Today is that Day are familiar with the wisdom often shared by Edward Mills over at Evolving Times. Ed's content is always worth checking out, and his understanding of the Law of Attraction is more than you are going to get from the average Joe who just happened watch 'The Secret' once or twice.

In fact, unlike many bloggers, Ed actually shares his wisdom "offline" as well as on the 'net, and he has been coaching people one-on-one about the Law of Attraction concepts for a long time. I have personally had the privilege of talking to Ed on the phone many times, and his character and integrity are even more evident in real time than they are on the Internet.

Edward Mills
Creator of The Energetics of AttractionEd's latest project is a teleseminar series called the Energetics of Attraction. In short, the Energetics of Attraction combines a person's individual energy patterns with classic Law of Attraction practices, and the end result is a level of control over your life that the Law of Attraction alone has trouble delivering for a lot of people.

After all, how many times can you be told to visualize, say affirmations, and just generally feel good about life? Yes, those things work, but the Energetics of Attraction takes it to a level that standard Law of Attraction teachings don't deliver.

The teleclass is 100% free of charge, but it is also coming up quick, so if you want to get a slot, cruise on over to register right now: Energetics of Attraction

On the call, Ed promises to deliver all of the following:

• How to simply AND easily separate your personal energy from other people's energy (OPE). This one simple technique can literally change your life overnight.
• Why sending your intentions "out to the Universe" is not enough and how to GROUND those intentions into the physical Earth!
• How to instantly shift your perspective and increase your personal vibration. 

Overall, it sounds like great stuff, and it doesn't cost a dime, so why not check it out and see what Ed has to offer?

Is it possible to manifest a miracle? To answer the question Can you Manifest a Miracle?, you must first answer one simple, yet all important question:

Do you personally think that it's possible to manifest a miracle?

If you personally don't believe that some universal energy (God, the Law of Attraction, Buddha - whatever your definition is) has the capability of creating what you ask for, then you can stop reading right now. No amount of information about how to manifest a miracle is going to help if you don't believe that it is possible.

Photo Credit: LilGoldWmnAlso, the question of what exactly constitutes a "miracle" is obviously another question that will be subject to each individual person's belief system. Are we talking about a Divine Intervention here, or are we talking about something more "down to earth," such as changing a life of squalor into a life of splendor?

Personally, I believe that anything and everything is possible, and that the term "impossible" describes nothing more miraculous than something that we have not yet figured out how to do.

History is replete with examples of so-called "faith healing" and "miraculous" cures for terminal or debilitating illnesses. Scientists and medical doctors admit that there is no proven method of repeating these amazing occurrences, but a lack of an explanation does not change the facts of those stories.

Whether you believe that a religious deity of some kind is behind the wonders of the human race, or if you believe that all conceivable wonders are merely the result of having a proper understanding of the laws of the universe, one fact remains clear in all cases: 

In order to manifest a Miracle into your life, you must first BELIEVE that miracles are possible.

Now the question becomes what is it that you have to do in order to create a level of belief that allows you to harness the universal laws, or to take control over the divine powers that govern your life? What do YOU have to do in order to manifest a miracle?

I personally believe that human beings are capable of literally anything, and that it is our doubt about our abilities that limit us, not the abilities themselves.

So, in order to tap into whatever you personally call the power that works miracles, you must first remove the self-limiting doubt that is keeping you from wielding or directing that power.

When people watch movies like The Secret, You Can Heal Your Life, or What the Bleep Do We Know?, they are often not so much looking for the methods of creating miraculous lives as much as they are looking for proof that doing so is even possible.

In that regard, other than The Secret itself, no product has ever convinced me more of my own infinite power - or should I say reminded me - than Gary Evan's Manifest a Miracle.

No, Gary is not some prophet, messiah, or even the graduate of some high-profile school of spirituality where they teach you how to wield the hand of God or any such nonsense. What Gary is, however, is someone who has proven conclusively that "if you do the work, you get the reward".

In Gary's own words:

"A pot of gold isn’t going to fall out of the sky and fall on your lap. Realistically you’re going to need about 30 minutes every single day to follow the Manifest a Miracle proven formula." 

I checked out Gary's "proven" formula, and it boils down to this: If you have the faith, and you do the work, then you get the reward.

Most people who buy "life-changing" products will then read the book, watch the movie, strap on the audio, etc., but then they don't follow through. They get all wired for success, but then they never plug themselves in!

Those same people, consequently, are the people who say that miracles are impossible. I don't know about you, but I see a correlation there…

Is Gary Evan's Manifest a Miracle program the next best thing to chomping on Eucharist wafers and praying to your Lord on bended knee? No product made by man will ever take the place of the word of God, for people who believe in such things.

However, right here on planet Earth (as opposed to the promised land), there are ways to manifest miracles, and Gary has a pretty firm grasp on how us common folk can actually get the job done.

p.s. - Although I obviously believe in Gary and what he teaches other people, I am also a "commoner" just like you. If you go through Gary's Manifest a Miracle program, yet you still think you know of a better method than Gary's to bring about miracles, not only will I personally reimburse you, but I'll buy whatever product you claim is better than his, and I'll give that product a review right here in front of God and everybody.

How's THAT for a ringing endorsement?

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