Risk

What is risk, exactly?

In my contracting work I sometimes get into unusual situations. One day I was 25 feet in the air working on some molding at the top of a house. I had to position my ladder awkwardly in order to avoid a decorative stone pool and fountain underneath. I was feeling a little vulnerable, even though I have been that high before. I thought to myself "I could get killed doing this. I'll just tell Ed I can't do it."

Halfway down the ladder I changed my mind, for I had had a realization.

I had been working away for half an hour before without any problem. Now all of a sudden it was too risky. What changed?

I told myself "Before, your ladder was well placed. Now it isn't and you might fall."

But that wasn't true at all. That was just the story I was telling myself.

What had changed was my alignment of energy to the task at hand. For some reason I had made the decision that I didn't want to do the work, then I found reasons to support that decision.

My realization came after I reviewed why I was up there in the first place.

It was a pleasant autumn day, and the house itself was a historic old brownstone in a great neighborhood. I liked the people I was working for as well. As I looked around the property at the beautifully designed and well tended gardens and landscaping, I began to rediscover my purpose.

I raced up the ladder and completed the rest of the work in less than an hour, even though there were two more difficult ladder placements.

This experience crystallized my thinking on the subject. Since I am a fellow who likes to ponder the big picture, I am always observing my life and comparing to previous experiences, trying to come up with greater comprehension. I now understood that risk is simply the misalignment of thoughts, beliefs and feelings toward a goal.

If something feels risky, then either you do not have a clear idea of how to proceed, or you have not fully committed to the activity.

When putting together some credit card software for my web site, I had a number of product choices. I could get a credit card terminal and deal with the local bank, or choose from one of several internet software packages. Being a neophyte, I considered that ALL of the choices were risky. What if the software didn't work? How was I going to get help from some faceless company I'd never dealt with before? What if the bank was uncooperative? (I've had some experiences along that line). What if I got a lot of fraudulent orders? What if nobody wanted my stuff? After wallowing around in that for a while I finally decided to just apply the stuff I'm always preaching to others.

I made up my mind on one of the internet products and aligned my energies to that. I told myself that this software looked good and it could do the job. Mostly I contemplated why I wanted the software in the first place: because I wanted to offer products to my readers. Because I wanted to enhance the website. Because it was an expansion of my reach to the world at large. Because I wanted to inspire and help others. And mostly because the general idea felt fantastic! All of a sudden the risk evaporated.

Did the riskiness of the operation change? I was still dealing with the same uncertainties. But it FELT like the risk was gone and I've learned to trust those good feelings.

An objective observer, however, would determine that statistically I was no better off than before. "Just another guy using the internet to hawk products," he might say.

The only change was my conscious decision to go ahead, and to focus on the desired result. But that was enough.

Risk is often present when you go into action before you're ready. Sometimes this happens because you have a goal you want so much to reach that you just don't feel like waiting around, and so you plunge in. This often works because once you dive in it's either sink or swim. You have to keep your attention exclusively on the goal, or you drown. But often it just leads to a lot of hard work and struggle as you desperately try to make things go right. Youre coping and struggling so much that you never find the time (or never think) to relax and vibrationally envision the future. You are continually creating your life from what you see around you.

So I define risk this way: your degree of uncertainty as to the outcome.

Notice this definition has nothing to do with the amount of money or resources you presently have. It has nothing to do with your present reality, or the 'dangers' others may describe to you.

How can you lessen or eliminate risk?

The traditional way is to get the resources and the environment lined up around you before you begin. "Know before you go," as the saying goes. That is certainly one way to go about it. But what you're really doing here is aligning your energy toward your desire. Looking at all of that stuff gives you a feeling that it's OK to proceed.

But you can be confident without ever gathering two pennies to scrape together. That's why it's possible for anyone to change in a positive direction no matter what the present reality. It's the reason behind the so-called 'American Dream.'

We have all been taught that reality does not at least somewhat resemble our goal, then we are at risk of failure.

"You want to start an internet business in this economy? You're crazy right? Don't you know that dot-coms are going bust all over the place?"

Well maybe that's true. But if it is true that the physics of the universe responds to each conscious being on an individual basis (and I believe it does, based on my experiences) then all that is required is self-alignment.

Some might say that is a very reckless statement.

"You're just encouraging people to go out on a limb and you're doing them a disservice."

What I'm encouraging is a little less focus on the 'risk' and a little more focus on the visualization of the end product and the reasons for undertaking the activity in the first place. There's a good reason for this.

All action is proceeded by inspiration. This inspiration could be something very minor, like "boy it sure would be nice if those dishes were done." Or it could be something huge like "wouldn't it be nice if the people of the world could find a way to live in peace." What I'm saying is, concentrate more on that inspiration, and less on the reasons your project might not come off.

(I'm not advising that your should go blindly forward without lining up the resources and support you feel you need to get started. Im saying that if you focus on that beautiful and powerful kernel of inspiration you can't go wrong. I don't care what anyone says).

"But what if Im starting with nothing? Its a lot harder.

Is it? But it might be more rewarding! It's just that most people don't think you can be successful if the current reality is at 0.

That's because human beings have confused cause and effect. Cause is consciousness. The result of the decisions of consciousness is the physically manifested reality.

In order to get the ball rolling you have to start somewhere. It makes absolutely no difference if you start from scratch or if you're Rupert Darbyshire Bentley III and have a million dollars at your disposal. The success of your operation will depend mainly on how you align yourself to it. Rupert Bentley may start with a million and be able to set up his music business right away, but if Rupert does not have strong, clear and positive feelings about his venture, he is not aligned to success. Whereas Downtown Freddie Brown may have a killer rap that just won't quit. Freddie may find himself as rich as Rupert one day, if that is his desire. But the manifestation of that desire is dependent only upon Freddie, not on the state of the economy, the disdain of people like Rupert, the disbelief of others, or anything else.

Rupert is probably used to the idea of success because he has been raised rich. Rupert's reality reflects the success he has been born into, but that reality was in place before Rupert was born. In other words, Rupert has done nothing to create the prosperity around him, so his vibration may or may not be oriented toward success. A person may have the money to set up a business, but the success of that business is not dependent upon the money. It's dependent upon the people, resources, and design of the operation and that is always a direct reflection of the person in charge.

Guys like Freddie are told so often by parents, teachers, peers and society that their chances are very few, and then they begin to believe it. "You have nothing," they will say, "and you are severely handicapped because of the circumstances of your birth. Get used to a life of scarcity right now." This idea then becomes their platform of attraction. "Statistics show that only 1.5% of inner city residents will ever start a successful business" blah blah blah.

The amazing thing is that Freddie has an equal chance as Rupert of being successful. Universal law applies equally to everyone.

Risk is proportionate to your misalignment of energy toward your goal.

If there is perfect alignment, there is no risk, for things just open up smoothly for you at every step along the way. And even if they dont, you dont let circumstances bother you. You cheerfully pick yourself up and go after it again. If you're Freddie you may have to attract a lot more resources, but that's just a few extra links on the vibrational chain.

I'm finding that out with my writing career. I started at zero; and I mean absolute zero. Five years ago I had the desire to write down some of my experiences. Gradually I found myself working less and writing more, and having a lot of fun with it. I write when I'm inspired, not because I feel I should. Now I've got a website up and I'm going to get an internet shopping cart to make it easier for people to read what I have to say.

Is it going to be successful? Who knows?

Does it matter? For me, it doesn't. If I don't even sell one thing, I'll be happy. Because I'm not doing it to make money. I'm doing it because I'm fired up about the idea of enhancing my website and making my stuff more widely available. I like the idea of being able to inspire others. I also like the idea of being a player on the internet. I've spent half my salary at Amazon.com, and now I'm going to be on the other side.

It's taken me a long time to get to this point but it sure has been fun. To do something just for the fun of it regardless of the outcome. Like Freddie, I don't have a lot of present-time-reality resources, but I know it doesn't matter! My success is guaranteed if I just keep my vibe in high gear.

Some people might say I'm a fool for paying good money to print books people might never buy. Some might say I'm a double fool for paying even more money to set up shop on the internet. But it feels good, so I'm gonna do it. One thing I'm sure of: there's no risk involved!

So how do you eliminate risk? By staying confident and maintaining your vision. If this is accompanied by a feeling of well being, things will begin to line up for you.

How do you stay confident if you don't know whether you will succeed? By paying attention to the inspiration which was the launching of all of your activities. By staying in contact with the good feelings that made you want to reach your goal in the first place. By doing your research and going into action when you feel inspired to do so. Your positive attitude is the ultimate guarantor of success, for it sets up the proper vibrational orientation to the goal. This is the same thing as saying, "matching up vibrationally with your desire." The Law of 'like attracts like' guarantees that if your signal is a match to that of your goal, manifestation will result.

Here's an example: I was thinking about how to get a lot of CD's made in case I had a lot of orders. The very next day my brother-in-law Victor tells me about an acquaintance who has a professional CD duplicating machine that he's not using. This guy was going to start a big project but it never came off. So Victor is going to see about buying the thing for me (at a discount!). I found this to be astonishing. In the first place, I had no idea how to even duplicate CD's, other than shoving them in a CD writer. I didn't research CD writing, nor did I investigate products and compare prices. The thing has basically shown up in my lap, just like magic, in less than 24 hours.

You might say, "Yeah but what if this thing is a piece of junk? How do you know you've got the best product for your needs? How can you know it's the very best deal you can get?" These are all questions the intellect must ask, because it cannot feel the vibration connected to the undertaking. But I can just feel that it's the right thing for me. That feeling is priceless. It's worth more than a dozen professional analyses and hundreds of hours of research. And if the thing turns out not to be the perfect fit, so what? If I can create a window of opportunity for something like that in 24 hours, it'll be a piece of cake to create another one. That's what it feels like anyway.

You are always manifesting. You might be manifesting the same stuff over and over, but you are always dynamically creating the conditions of your life. A lot of people see the same old stuff around them and think that they can never get out of the rut. But you are always at sourcepoint, even if you don't realize it!

That is a strange statement, for if you don't realize you're at cause point, are you really at cause point?

Well, the Law of Free Will states that you always have the choice to change your point of focus and the Law of Vibration and the Law of 'like attracts like' guarantees that the mechanism to bring the desired thing to you always exists and is always enabled.

The funny thing about consciousness is that it can always pull the wool over its own eyes. The laws of the universe work so that you can have any experience you want. So you inherently have complete control over your life, but you can also play the game so that you are a victim. It's a beautiful system.

Risk occurs when you overreach your feeling of alignment with the goal.

Risk has little to do with the available resources.

Have you ever seen or read about a person who plowed ahead almost recklessly yet still achieved success? We often hear that such people were just lucky. "Joe caught a few big breaks. YOU can't count on that." But you can. Because those big breaks were simply windows of opportunity that opened because of Joe's vibrational orientation.

Why did the 'reckless' person succeed?

Because he lined himself up with a vibration of success, and was smart enough to follow those inspirational nudges he or she received at the appropriate times.

What appears reckless, or lucky, to an observer is a personal vibrational alignment to the goal, and action cycles along the path of least resistance. When you line yourself up with success, in other words, the actions you take cut through the muck of resistance.

When the lucky or reckless person is asked how and why he or she succeeded, very often they will not be able to give a precise answer. Because the intellect cannot understand a series of what appears to be coincidences, it assigns the end result to good luck.

In the vibrational universe model, any manifestation is a result of a matching of signals, leading to coincident events.

So any manifestation you receive is never luck, or chance.

What most people consider as risk is actually a physical comparison of the present reality with the desired reality, but it's really an energetic gap between a desire and a belief. A belief of inadequacy to the task itself creates the conditions that result in failure, and in the feeling of risk. It generates more reasons to consider failure and looks to the manifested reality in support of these limitations. The belief then composes the dominant vibration in your signal to the universe at large.

Freddie says: "I have a great rap but how am I going to promote it? Oh what's the use of even trying." Because people like to feel that their decisions are appropriate, Freddie will now look around at his current reality for confirmation. And he will find lots of 'facts' to support his new decision.

All of your creative power is in the pre-manifestation phase. This is the phase where you are creating and envisioning and planning your campaign toward the successful accomplishment of the goal. The current reality merely represents the result of your vibrational signal so far. The current reality, therefore, really has very little power unless you continue to create your future from it.

Once you understand that risk is self created, you can change your orientation from one of uncertainty to one of confidence.

To the degree that you understand the powerful role of consciousness in the creative process, the risks on your road to manifestation will lessen.

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