What is your Personal Protection doing for (or to) you?
–by Jeannette Maw
My favorite aunt, who was a little different than the rest of the family, taught us to imagine a bubble of white light around the car whenever we traveled. The cocoon of energy was supposed to keep us safe from harm. She practiced the white light protection as regularly as she buckled up her seat belt. It was her way of ensuring we avoided accidents and other unwanted experiences.
I wondered whether it worked, but concluded either way it couldn't hurt, right?
Well, maybe. Maybe not.
Many of us don't question various elements of everyday life intended for protection, and simply take for granted things that may not serve us. Including bubbles of white light.
What could possibly be wrong with white light? Well, if you imagine white light to protect you from car wrecks, car jackers, police looking for speeders, automobile malfunctions, or whatever else you think you need protection from, you may actually be calling forth those experiences.
Because we get what we think about. It's like bringing an umbrella along on a picnic. For some it helps us feel better because we know we're covered; for others it's the catalyst of worry. And worry does not serve us well. Bringing the umbrella or leaving it at home; not wearing a bike helmet or donning it regularly; not walking down that dark street or marching down it with confidence – either way can allow us to steer clear of the worry vibe. Each of us needs to reach a vibration that does serve us, and the ways can be as different as each individual.
The point is that as we say a little prayer to keep safe from bogey men, disease, tax audits or whatever else we're afraid of, the fear actually attracts the object of fear. That's why a prayer or intention focused on what you want is much more beneficial than a thought focused on what you don't want.
Question your actions
Which brings us to the variety of daily matters that we don't often stop to question, including health insurance, seat belts, preventive doctor exams, deadbolts, liability insurance, service plans for appliances, daily vitamins, burglar alarms, retirement plans-the list goes on.
Even if you're not protecting your automobile travel with white light, you may be engaging in some other habit that unknowingly hinders your vibrational alignment with what you want. It may actually even align you to what you are wanting protection from.
Example: Last year my girlfriend's next door neighbor was burglarized. Anne was super-sympathetic as the neighbor expressed feelings of victimization and fear. Within a week, Anne herself made arrangements to have additional lighting installed at her own back door, as well as a new set of sturdier locks. And every time the motion detector light would flip on in the backyard, she would jolt awake and have trouble getting back to sleep.
Before long, she was asking friends and even the police to drive over in the middle of the night to make sure no one was lurking around. At one point she came to believe a man was hiding in a crawlspace underneath her hallway. She made her boyfriend drive over at two in the morning to inspect the hideaway with a flashlight (after I told her I wouldn't because she was freaking me out).
It's an extreme example, but it shows how even when we take action that's supposed to help, the action itself can sometimes hijack our attention in the direction of what we don't want.
When we feel the need to protect ourselves from anything, whether it's genetic disease, violence or just random mishap, we may find ourselves mired in the very thing we want protection from. Because what we resist, persists. Form follows thought.
Which doesn't necessarily mean we should give up everything we've put in place to guard against life's big scaries. But it is worth questioning: How does it make you feel?
Since your feelings comprise your vibration, and your vibration rules what you attract, how something feels to you is worth checking in on. If a bone density scan or even a monthly health insurance premium directs your focus on what you don't want rather than what you want, you unwittingly shoot yourself in the foot.
Seat belt connections
For example, I'm old enough to have grown up not wearing seat belts, and to this day if I buckle up it feels like I'm prepping for trouble ahead. I mean, I only wore seat belts in really bad storms or when drunk parents I babysat for drove me home Saturday nights. Basically, I wore a seat belt when I was scared. Even today buckling up inspires minor feelings of fear, which obviously doesn't serve me.
Most people don't have that same reaction. I understand most feel safer wearing a seat belt than not wearing one; they feel naked and unsafe without one. To each his own!
It's the same with preventive doctor visits: mammograms, Pap smears, cancer screenings, breast exams. If it's strongly ingrained in us that we are at risk for certain health problems because of our age or family history, and that we "should" have regular visits so these things can be caught early, what feeling does that inspire within?
It's likely different for each person. For some it might feel like responsible health care, staying on top of things, keeping the body in tip-top shape. They might feel healthier and more protected as a result of regular checkups.
For others, it might invite fear in. "What if they find something? This is how old dad was when he was diagnosed." It could have the potential to put our attention on something completely unwanted.
Whatever we focus on, we manifest.
To insure or not insure
Years ago when I dated a contract furniture mover, I was horrified to learn he didn't have health care coverage. I'd heard of people who couldn't afford medical insurance, but until then I hadn't experienced it up close and personal. The thought of him being seriously injured on the job and not having access to care bothered me so much that I considered marriage just so he could be on my plan.
My boyfriend, on the other hand, had no such concerns. Even while I fretted about it regularly, he just shrugged his shoulders and went on with his business. He was completely comfortable with his situation.
I understand now, because of law of attraction, that what mattered most was that he feel peace, not that he be covered. His best protection was feeling comfortable, whatever allowed him to get there.
Whereas I used to think it a no-brainer that everyone should have insurance, I get now that not everyone feels the same way about insurance. It inspired me to check in on other things I hadn't questioned before.
Like taking daily vitamins. I used to figure that was another given. But here I was, somewhat resentfully swallowing a handful of expensive pills every day, and I had more colds and less energy than my boyfriend who couldn't be cajoled to take even one. I realize now that each morning as I gulped down pills my thoughts were a mixture of "you don't eat healthy enough, no more colds, fight free radicals, try to regain energy." You can imagine the vibration those thoughts created.
Your personal formula
It might sound like I'm opposed to health insurance, seat belts, deadbolts and supplements. I'm not. (In fact, I try not to be opposed to too many things in life, since opposing something calls it forth.) But I do advocate paying attention to how things make us feel and moving in the direction that makes us feel better, if necessary creating a new (or amended) thought or action.
Here's a simple four-step formula to ensure the actions you take to protect you really do:
1. Notice old habits.
2. Question how each one makes you feel.
3. If it feels good, keep it up. If there's room for improvement, consider alternatives.
4. Follow your inner guidance exclusively.
What it comes down to is that we are bright and powerful creators with the enormous advantage of an emotional guidance system that steers us right every time we check in with it. Ask yourself how your actions and habits feel. When you're doing something that doesn't feel good, pay attention. What's the source of it? How can you release it or change it?
For example, I could either rewire my internal programming about what it means to wear a seat belt, or I could not wear it. It's that simple. All that's important is that I find my way to what feels best. For me.
Notice how various measures of protection make you feel. There are no "shoulds" or "no-brainers." Not having an insurance plan may make one person nervous while it liberates another. Some people may feel that skipping the annual exam is asking for trouble, while others love releasing the anxiety of paying a traditionally trained doctor to look for a problem. Notice what you're up to, check in on how it makes you feel, and trust your inner guidance above all else.
Jeannette Maw is an attraction coach and founder of Good Vibe Coaching in Salt Lake City, Utah. Using the law of attraction in the real world is the topic of her blog at www.loaplayground.blogspot.com.