When I look up the definition of the word “atmosphere” I see it has many definitions. The one I am writing about today in regards to my thinking is “the surrounding influence or environment.” Ernest Holmes, teacher, mystic and author wrote this: “We are all immersed in the atmosphere of our own thinking, which is the direct result of all we have ever said, thought or done.”

I’ve been thinking about the atmosphere of my thinking lately in regards to finances. I have to say that I am most definitely shifting this most powerful tool for manifestation – the Power of my thoughts and beliefs. I know some might be thinking, “it’s more than thinking that matters. You have to get out there and really work it.” Of course, we have to walk in the world and take care of our finances, but just for a moment, can you imagine that it might start with how you think about money?

In the past, I have allowed my outside conditions to dictate to me what has to be. I was thinking backwards. In the Science of Mind, we call this secondary causation and many of us are guilty of it. It means that we are looking at the conditional or relative world in front of us and then obsessively thinking about what we see and thus just creating more. It’s like being trapped in a hamster wheel. Thought and Feeling = condition = thought and feeling = condition = thought and feeling…etc. into eternity. “Thought attracts what is like itself and repels what is unlike. We are drawn toward those things which we mentally image.” Ernest Holmes.

I can attest to the truth of this, and what I have come to realize is I am always at choice. I get to choose what I think and thus what I experience. I am not just making this up, as the great mystics, spiritual geniuses, self-help geniuses such as Napoleon Hill and Bob Proctor and so many others have written and spoken about this throughout the ages. It is a Universe of energy and vibration. We are energy. We vibrate!

So, I ask myself “Why would I continue to think upon lack, if I really believe this?” There is only one answer for me: It’s just a bad, bad habit. Habits can be changed. It takes work, perseverance and the definiteness of wanting to change. I have done this and have seen the results.

One might ask, if this is true, how do I change my thoughts and keep them changed. The formula for me is Spiritual Mind Treatment, Meditation, Affirmations all topped with GRATITUDE. Then, we must walk out into our life as if it is so. How I do this is to give a little more, immerse myself in creativity, do what gives me joy and again, and always be grateful.

Dr. Joe Dispenza speaks these words, “if our thoughts can make us sick, our thoughts can make us well.” Ernest Holmes wrote back in the 1920’s: “That which thought has done, thought can un-do.”

As many of us are immersed in tax season, really reviewing our finances, I invite us to know we can always think anew and if things are going well, think anew again. The wheel of causation is always spinning. We are powerful. I’ll close with one of my most favorite Ernest Holmes quotes:

“The one who dares to fling her thought out into Universal Intelligence, with the assurance of one who realizes her divine nature and its relation to the Universe – and dares to claim all there is – will find an ever-creative good at hand to aid her. …To the soul that knows its own divinity, all else must gravitate. …”

I am grateful to be a Being of choice and volition. I am grateful that in every moment, I can change my thoughts. I am grateful for the opportunity to embrace my Divinity and live the fullest and most joyous life. I am grateful that by doing so, I have plenty to give to others.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita Andriello Feren, Author and Co-Spiritual Director of Center for Spiritual Living Kaua`i