The Miracle Menu

Create Your Own Dream Factory What do you think about in bed before you go to sleep each night? You can be sure that whatever it is will have a profound impact on your subconscious Mind, and subsequently, on your life. This time right before sleep is when the Mind is most receptive to thoughts, ideas, and especially, feelings. The falling-to-sleep period is when the Mind is at its most receptive and easy to penetrate so this is an excellent time to constructively take advantage of that. So often movies and TV shows make for scary or weird Dreams. Of course, they do--if that is the last thing that you are thinking about before sleep, that is what the Mind turns over and over all night long. There is a classic and important (and somewhat clichéd) adage in many families to not go to bed angry. This is significant advice because whatever thoughts and feelings that the conscious Mind falls asleep with are the thoughts and feelings that the subconscious Mind accepts as real and true. It will spend the next eight hours manufacturing and building upon these thoughts and feelings. If the thoughts are negative, they will manifest themselves negatively. If they are positive, they will manifest themselves positively. There is a reason why we shouldn’t watch scary movies before bed or ruminate on anger! But just as importantly, we shouldn’t create our own scary movie of bills, job worries, and family concerns either. If there are worries—and we all have them—release them to God or to the Universe and know that they are in safe hands. You are free to Dream and to create. The daily Pre-Visions may be difficult or complicated for some people, however the nightly ones should be a thrilling gift for all. This is the ideal time to lay out precisely what you want and where you want to be. And the bonus is: you don’t have to start from right now and trample the thistly cow path to get there. At night, you are releasing the everyday concerns to a Higher Power and living your fantasy of the future. Bedtime should be a ritual of Peace and Praise. Another day has ended and we are gifted with the joy of rest. We can hope that we will awaken refreshed and restored, perhaps with new insight into how to happily live our life or with some change in our circumstance that will prove adventurous and wonderful. The first part of my bedtime ritual is to ask myself how my three Desired Outcomes of the day went. Remember them—Journey, Wellness, and Boss? Ask yourself if they were achieved, and then answer yourself. You won’t always get three “yes’s,” but sometimes you will. Sometimes you’ll get a “yes,” a 50 percent, and a “made some progress.” Occasionally, you will get a “no,” but trust me, as time goes on—you will get more positives than negatives. After I ask and answer the questions, I pray—simply and straightforwardly. I am a very prayerful person, but to me, all of the meditation and Desired Outcomes are prayer and Praise bundled together. I am the type of person who prays all of the time, so I do not carve out a huge amount of time for special prayer. UNIVERSAL PRAYER MENU The five tenets of standard prayer, which transcend many religions are: • Praise • Thanksgiving • Forgiveness • Petition (asking for something for you), and, • Intercession (asking for something for somebody else). Pray however you like (or not at all), but I find that this five-part Universal Prayer Menu synchronizes nicely with the rest of the Miracle Menu. Praise God or the Universe for something (presumably, though not necessarily something that has happened this day), thank The Higher Being for something (and yes, remember, Praise and thanksgiving are separate things), ask forgiveness for something, ask for something for you, and ask God or the Universe for something for someone else. So, you have gone over your daily Desired Outcomes and you have prayed. Now, pick another three things that you want for overnight Desired Outcomes. As always, it’s anything you want—the sky is the limit! Unlike the rather elaborate daily exercises that you have gone through, selecting your overnight Desired Outcomes is much simpler at night. Let your desires come to you, prioritize them and then say: “I accept this, that, and the other. I thank You/The Universe for this, that, and the other. And you are done. Allow your Mind to quietly speak to you. Establishing your desires and then prioritizing and clarifying them should ideally happen in a matter of seconds or minutes. It is a quick, peaceful, and receptive process. Next, relax the Mind and let the overnight powers do their thing. Remember, the Mind is very fertile at this time. It is soft and penetrable like a sponge and it will soak up your thoughts. The most effective way to take charge of the subconscious Mind is before sleep at night.