I have a capacity for finding four-leaf clovers.  With the odds of finding a four-leaf clover at 1:10,000, it is kind of fun to be able to look down and spot one while simply walking across the grass.

This morning I found one as I did my chi gung exercises in the park.  This park is covered with clover.  The day I first visited the park, I naturally scanned the clover for the four-leafed variety.  No luck on that day.

Today was my third time to this park.  I moved myself onto a nice piece of grass to practice and casually scanned the surrounding clover.  As I went through my routine, I contemplated under what types of circumstances I found four-leaf clovers.

If I was just sitting down going through all the clover I rarely found one.  This type of focused approach was not usually productive, or at least not very efficient.  On the other extreme, not even looking at the clover was likewise non-productive.  If I paid no attention to the clover, finding one with four-leaves would be unlikely.  So, somewhere in between was the magic.  I needed to look, but the best approach was to look only where there was a four-leaf clover.  Is that possible?

My most predictable method for finding clovers was this:  I would look down and the pattern of four leaves would catch my eye.  Of course, many times when I bent to investigate more closely, the pattern was just adjacent clovers seeming to form one.  However, many times the pattern did indeed belong to a four-leaf clover.

This morning as I contemplated the technique: look only where there was a four-leaf clover and trust my capacity, I glanced down and found my four-leaf clover.

This affirmed a life-approach question that has been in my mind for the last couple of weeks.  Is “easy does it” a viable approach to achieving lives goals?  How much effort do I need to exert to reach my goals?  Is it possible to live life from a place of effortlessness and still accomplish a lot?  What makes things happen?

Certainly, no effort will not work.  Yet it seems that the most potent part of the system was the intention to find a clover (or reach my goals), trusting my capacity, being mindful of the proper opportunities, and applying effortless effort at the right moment.  The eyes move… the clover is found.  Simple.

In 2006 I was living in Santa Rosa with my daughter and jack russell terrier.  We had a lovely, funky house that I dreamed of getting old in.  How I had come by this house is another story and a miracle.  I felt very blessed and looked forward to many years of bliss in my neighborhood.

After several years of habitation there, I woke up one morning with a persistent thought going through my mind.  It was really just background noise and at first I didn’t pay any attention to it.  However, after several hours, I stopped to give it some attention.

What I had been repeating over and over to myself was, “I am not moving to Petaluma. I am not moving to Petaluma.  I am not moving to Petaluma.”

At first it seemed completely bizarre and made no sense.  I mean, I was not moving to Petaluma and was not even considering it.  Sure, my daughter had decided that the local high school was not for her and she was transferring to a private school in Petaluma, but that was only a half hour from us and there was good bus service.  The idea of moving from my dream home was never an option on the table.

Yet, here I was arguing to myself that I was not moving.  What was the meaning of that?  Then it struck me.  If I was arguing with myself it could only mean one thing:  Part of me knew I was moving to Petaluma.

I never got the thought, “I should move to Petaluma” instead I was reacting to that by retorting, “I am not moving to Petaluma”.  Since I live a spirit driven life it seemed clear to me that “spirit” (whatever that is) was moving me to Petaluma.  Since the move turned out to be all about my daughter, perhaps she was the “spirit” that did the moving.

I am contemplating this story today, because I recently started a four week Mind Power training.  One of the contemplations assigned as homework this week is:

My power to think thoughts is my power to create my life.  I have the power to think whatever thoughts I choose.

I was struck by the idea that I have the power to think whatever thoughts I choose in light of my “I am not moving to Petaluma” story.  While thoughts may be real forces (Law #1)  and I can either entertain thoughts or dismiss thoughts (Law #3), I am wondering if I really have the power to create my life by controlling my thoughts.  I mean, my decision to move to Petaluma was totally done on a subconscious/unconscious level.  And the only conscious thought was the reactionary, “I am not moving to Petaluma.”

The Mind Power system is based on six laws regarding how the mind and thoughts work.  Law #6 is the law of connection that states that the outer world of our circumstances and situations and the inner world of our thoughts and reactions are connected.  This is obvious when we think about how someone saying bad things about us (outer world) makes us feel bad (inner world).  It is less obvious, or at least not conventionally recognized, how feeling bad (inner world) might make bad things happen to us (outer world).

Going into the Mind Power training I would have agreed with John Kehoe’s idea that our thoughts and beliefs determine our circumstances and beliefs.  Yet, now after contemplating, I am wondering about the effectiveness of his method.  His methods seemed to be focused on acting in the conscious realm, while ThetaHealing and Access Consciousness are designed to bypass the conscious and remove beliefs from the subconscious.

Further, I am wondering how effective changing beliefs and thoughts can be in creating my desired future in situations where I receive a “knowing of right action” that supersedes the planned life I have consciously chosen?  What would have happened if I would have clung to my thought “I am not moving to Petaluma?”