Watch Your Mouth!

A co-worker who's always on the look-out for a new job said about a prospective gig when I asked if he'd travel to DC for it, "I'll break my leg to get there." I quickly responded, "You might not want to say that." Then I told him about a woman I know who talked herself into a stroke. Let's call this woman Mary. Well, one day Mary saw a friend of hers who had lost a good deal of weight due to an illness. Mary says to me, "I wish I could get sick so I can lose weight." To which I responded, "Ms. Mary, you might want to watch your words. You don't have to get sick to lose weight." Within a couple of months, Ms. Mary had a massive stroke. Yes, she lost weight while she recovered. She also lost the full use of both her left hand and foot.

Watch your mouth! Words create, even ones we say in jest.

Visit me on the web at http://www.deboraricks.com/

Just Claim It!

In the words of the prophet SpongeBob SquarePants, "I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready!" I'm ready to take life on, to step into my greatness, to answer the call to soar as I serve. You see, it's my dream to speak and sell books for a living. I want to share with the world all that I have learned about love and relationship, about how to transform addictive "love" to personal power, how to attract and keep the love of your life, and how to heal from a breakup and keep your heart open to love, all of which I know a lot about.

Then it hit me. I don't have to doubt that I can have the desires of my heart. I CAN. You see, when I look back over my life everything that I've ever wanted has come to me and largely they have materialized without my doing anything except: nurse the desire to have them. A case in point.

About three weeks ago I told my teenage daughter Adia, "I really want to fly first class." Though I am scheduled to fly to San Juan next week, I was pretty sure I was flying coach, not first class, because my budget could only afford coach. Well, last week I called U.S. Air to make my reservation. "On the flight back," says the customer service rep, "you'll be in first class."First class?" I repeated. "It's cheaper than coach," she added. Wow! Another answered prayer.

Another example of the power of desire and feeling deserving: I've been thinking I'd sure like to get a lower interest rate on my mortgage. Well, I started getting letters from a mortgage company offering just that. I spoke with a representative then checked them out with the Better Business Bureau. Still, I didn't act. Then I got another letter, the "Final Notice" they said. Then it occurred to me that once again my prayer was being answered. I gathered my paperwork and faxed them to the loan officer yesterday. The process has begun.

This same principle works regardless of the desire. I wanted to ramp up my fitness program. Soon after I had the thought I was invited to join a boot camp. It also works equally as well in love. Even though in recent years I've not felt so lucky in love, still I believed there was a man out there just right for me. Last year this time when a relationship folded that I thought would last I affirmed, "I deserve better treatment than this" as I held fast to the belief that my right and perfect partner is coming to me. Well, I have fallen in love with a man so easy to love; he's fun, thoughtful, affectionate, spiritual, forward thinking, communicative and some more good stuff. He and I will be bringing in the New Year together.

The doubt is gone. What I seek seeks me. I claim it! I am serving humanity through my writings, books, and talks. I am living my dreams!

So, what are you claiming in 2011? Know this, whatever your heart desires and you believe is possible for YOU will magically come to you. Give thanks!

Love & Light, DeBora

Just Intend It!

More often than not, I don't know what direction I'm headed until I write the first several words. Like I do when I give a talk, I invite Spirit to give me what's for the audience that sits before me.

I'm in the throes of shedding some stuff. First, I'm losing weight. Yeepee! I'll get to the other stuff, but first let me tell you about my weight loss experience. I so love how God goes to work to bring us our hearts desires once we've set an intention. A few weeks ago I got on my friend's scale and got a wake up call. 141 pounds! My weight had never climbed higher than the 130s. I ran out the bathroom screaming, "I gotta lose some weight!" My friend said he thought I looked just fine. (Isn't that what every woman wants to hear from her man, even if he's lying?) Sure, some part of me wanted to believe him but my smarter part spoke up and said "Girl, get real. You know you gettin' fat!" I've never struggled with my weight and there's only been a few times when I thought losing one to three pounds would be a splendid idea. I take my hat off to anyone who has shed pounds in the double digits because for real for real, losing weight is more than a notion. It takes commitment, discipline, and consistency. Anywho, I figure with all the other juicy parts a woman's got for handling, there's really no need for love handles, right?

"If you want it, just intend it!" Isn't that what one of the experts in the The Secret urged us to do. I needed to do but two things: 1. eat less and at more sensible hours and 2. fire up my workout. But how do I ramp up my workout when I let go of my gym membership back in March?

Sunday, October 24 God answered my prayer. In church Sandy Woods, a personal trainer and wellness coach, announced that she'd be offering a 12-week Boot Camp starting Monday the morning. Not only was it FREE! but it was also at Lake Montebello, at the very place where I went five days a week to power walk around the lake with 5 lb weights two to four times; and at the very time. We meet Monday, Wednesday & Friday at 6:15 in the morning. One rainy morning, only the second day, I rolled over in my bed praying Sandy would call it off. This woman is a boot camp beast. "We're meeting at the pavilion" was her text. It was cold, dark and wet. Water pounded the roof of the dilapidated pavilion and poured through the holes where the roof had collapsed. In a corner five of us stretched, weight lifted, lunged, squated, curled and crunched.

If we want something different, we gotta think and be willing to do something different. I invited many to join the few of us. One young woman, who I'd just met on Friday at work, showed up! Meanwhile others find excuse after excuse for why they just can't. These are the folks who'll almost knock you down trying to get to the treadmill, in March 2011, cuz they've got a New Year's resolution to keep. LOL Well, I saw Nicole today. With a big smile on her face she said, "My body aches...but I had so much energy yesterday. I'll see you tomorrow." Now that's commitment, discipline and consistency.

I'm now 135.5! To think, I'd been power walking around that lake with my little blue weights for years, thinking I was doing something. And I was. But it had gotten old. My body was yawning at my routine. I needed to cause some muscle confusion to shed those 6 lbs. Simply put, and this applies to any area of our life where what we're doing isn't creating the results we want, I needed to get out of my comfort zone. I needed to push myself beyond easy.

The other stuff I'm losing are the piles of papers sitting on my meditation room floor and, more importantly, I'm giving up the belief that I've got to know how the Divine is going to bless me for me to relax. It's our job to set the intention and give what's before us attention then relax because it's God's business to provide the how.