Jeff and I had something planned every weekend last month. We enjoyed our annual Renaissance Festival visit, a local Celtic Games, a Gem and Mineral show, a picnic with another Celtic group, and a meeting in Phoenix. In the quieter moments, we continued to get settled in to our new home.

As we sink deeper into wanting more, we can sometimes have a feeling of longing for the goal, desperation, or trying to force the issue. Any attempt to use our will to control the outcome will simply bring more scarcity. Our emotion is what manifests, and feelings of lack, limitation, or scarcity, even when we think we're focusing on abundance, creates the mold for less of it in the subconscious. That's when we're living in a state of want or lack.

However, a synonym of the concept "want" is "desire." I've heard it said that "Desire brings pain." That's true if our peace and happiness depends on the fulfillment of our desire. If the only way we'll allow ourselves to be content is if we're driving a Rolls Royce, the CEO of a company, or perfectly healthy, then we're restricting the joys of watching a sunset, finding satisfaction in the work we do, or gratitude for however much health we do have. Grasping at a desire, and expecting it to be the magic that will make us happy actually ensures that we'll be frustrated.

One of my spiritual teachers claimed that a "desire" was an inspiration from the Universe that indicated that whatever we "desired" was available to us. When we have a desire, then we have the ability to fulfill it. The desire brings awareness to an area we want more good in and identifies what it is that needs to expand. As long as we stay in the enlightened state of realizing that all the good is already ours, we can allow the Universe, through our subconscious mind, to manifest what it is that we want.

I've also heard, "Just focus on God and all else will be added," meaning that more good will manifest for us as we shift our attention to a Higher reality. By meditating on God and all Its blessings, the Universe shows up in our lives as more prosperity, health, harmony, etc. Contemplating the Infinite doesn't just attract more good into our lives. The Universe is the very good that we experience.

Answer: It's fairly normal for it to take some time to turn things around. It's different with everybody. Some get involved with a group of people of like mind, or a great teacher, and are able to make a significant change quickly. That's not very common, though.

Remember, you've been heading in one direction for most, if not all, your life, with a pattern of thinking. I liken it to sailing in a sailboat. You're headed in one direction, and now want to go in the opposite direction. You can't just flip the sails around or you'll capsize. You have to move them incrementally. It takes time.

And your subconscious acts on the overall quality of your thoughts. If you've been thinking negatively for a long period, it takes a while, and a lot of belief, to change that. You can use affirmations to increase your belief, which might be the best thing to focus on for a while. That there is good in the world, you deserve it, and work on a smaller goal at first. As you succeed at that, you can proceed to larger goals.

Your emotional belief and trust in the Universe and your subconscious mind is what powers your affirmations. You/we all receive what we expect, in our deepest being, that we're going to get. If we truly believe that nothing will change, no matter what affirmations we say, guess what? It doesn't. The subconscious manifests the average of what we think about.

You're learning a new skill, and like all new abilities, it takes time, perseverance and practice to get better at it.