Excerpt from "Living With Joy"

Imagine, if you will, that you are a king, and your treasury is full. In fact, you have so much you do not know where to begin distributing the wealth. All of the people in your kingdom are walking around saying how poor they are, but when you offer them your money, they act as if they do not see you, or they wonder what is wrong with what you are offering.

I look out and see the storehouses all over — untapped, unused, and even unrecognized. You have heard the expression “heaven on earth.” There is nothing that stops you from having it, except your ability to ask for and receive it. What are these storehouses? What things lie within them that we would love to pass out?

One is love. We do not measure growth as you do (career advancements, more money, and so on). We look to spiritual evolution, which includes joy, self-love, the ability to receive, reframing the negative into the positive, the refinement of the ego, a willingness to embrace the new, and the ability to work together for common purpose.

There is so much love available,
it is as abundant as the air you breathe.

Do you ask for love? The more you give and receive love, the greater your spiritual growth. Every moment you spend focused on something that is not working, thinking of someone who does not love you, makes you like the people who turn away from the king’s treasure. You always have the opportunity to think of times you felt loved, to imagine a future of abundance, and thus to partake of spiritual wealth.

What do you think of? Every in-breath takes you up to the world of essence where form is created, and on the out-breath you send to the world your wishes. Every time you recognize the love you have, you increase it. One of the laws of receiving is that recognizing when you have gotten something increases it in your life, and every time you do not acknowledge something you make it so much harder to have more sent to you.

The more you focus on what is wrong, the more wrong you will create in your life, and the more it will spread to areas that were working. The more you concentrate on what is right in your life, on what is working, the more other areas of your life will work. It is the same in receiving. The more you acknowledge how much you are receiving, the more you will have.

There are two kinds of requests: those made by your personality, and those made by your soul.

What are the requests
of your soul?

A request for spiritual evolution is a soul request, as is a request for higher purpose, clarity, love, and focus. A desire to find your higher path or for more light in your life is also a soul request.

Personality requests can have the clothing of a soul request. They are usually more specific, such as a request for a new car or a material object, for instance. If you are willing to look at the deeper motivation behind what you want, and what you expect to get from having it, then you will open up many more ways and forms in which your request can come to you.

A personality request is very specific, so it often takes longer for the Universe to find ways to get it to you. If, however, instead of asking for money, you ask for what the money would bring you — such as more security or the ability to travel, to take time off from your job, or to pay your bills every month with ease — the Universe and your soul can bring these to you more easily.

Learning to receive is learning
to ask for the essence of what you want,
rather than the form.

Often the Universe brings what you specifically ask for, and you find it is not what you want. This wastes much time. Before you say that you want something, ask, “Is there any broader or more accurate way I can state that request?”

When you say, “I want this man or woman to love me” or “I want this person to bring me joy,” then you have made it very difficult for the Universe to give you what you want, especially if that person does not love you or bring you joy. If instead you say, “I am open to receiving love from a man or woman who will love me,” then it is much easier to have it, for you are not attached to the form (a specific person) but rather to the essence (love and joy).

If you want something to appear in a specific way, it may take longer than if you let the Universe create magic and miracles and bring you the soul request, rather than the personality desire. Often, this requires the ability to let go and detach.

You may have experienced picturing something and having it come to you. Yet many of you do not know how to let go of the old and open to the new. Be willing to be open to new forms if you want to receive.

If you are cluttering your life with many relationships, for instance, or if you are filling your time with an unsatisfying relationship, then there is no room left in your life for a fulfilling one. If you are asking for more money but you are spending all your time giving away your services, or pursuing activities that do not bring you money, it will be much more difficult to attract it.

Be willing to do what your soul directs
you to do if you want to create
what you are asking for.

Often when you ask for something, you will find yourself going through unexpected changes to prepare yourself for having it. Your attitude may need to change, or the viewpoint you are holding may be creating an energy block that is keeping you from having what you asked for. The Universe will immediately send you many experiences to open up and change your attitude, so that you can have what you requested.

Sometimes you must let go of certain things to have what you have asked for. You may need to release a thought, friend, useless activity, or a high level of worry. It is not that the Universe is punishing you, or trying to make it hard for you to get what you want, but that you have a gentle and loving inner teacher that wants to give things to you only when you are ready and it will be for your highest good.

Your innermost self and the Universe may not make a lot of money available to you, for instance, if you are not ready to handle it and it would not be for your higher good. Your higher self may bring you many lessons to change and shift your attitudes before money comes, so that it will truly benefit your growth. Many requests for fame and great amounts of money are not actually to your benefit, so your soul may slow down the arrival of these things, while it brings you other opportunities that are more appropriate for you, and while it strengthens you and builds a foundation for you to have these things.

You ask for so little, and that is what saddens us as we look over the minds of humanity. We see the limited focus of your thoughts, looking so close at hand rather than reaching for the heights.

There are ways to have more in your life.

One way to have more in your life is to use your imagination, for it is a great gift the Universe has given you. Every time you imagine having something, challenge yourself — imagine having even more! If you want a house, a friend, a lover or any relationship, a car, a life of leisure — fantasize about it and enlarge the vision.

Fantasy can lead to higher purpose. For many of the things you fantasize about the most (even those you feel furthest from having) can be pictures of your higher purpose and the life you will lead as you reach it.

What can you ask for? You can ask for spiritual evolution and more light, for that is a general request that your soul will utilize to bring you many unexpected gifts. (You will want to acknowledge these gifts when they come.)

Trust yourself and believe
you can create what you want.

Having faith in yourself, and letting go of memories when things did not work, will help you open to more abundance. If you must think of the past, think of those times you were powerful and creative. Go into your heart and ask whether you feel you deserve all the joy and love that is awaiting you on your path of higher purpose.

You can begin to imagine joy, peace, and harmony as your birthright. Focus, clarity, and love are available for the asking. Request a vision of your higher purpose, and be willing to recognize the gifts every day as they come, even the small things. The more you acknowledge what the Universe is sending you, the more you can bring into your life.

Ask! We cannot give you anything unless you ask. The Universe waits for you to ask. When you see it coming, be willing to take and receive it. When the opportunity comes, grab it! Thank and acknowledge the Universe for it, and you can create heaven on earth.

Sanaya Roman, the author of Living with Joy, has channeled Orin for many years. Her books of his teachings have become perennial bestsellers. Visit her online at http://www.orindaben.com/.

Excerpted from the book Living with Joy © 2011 by Sanaya Roman. Printed with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA. www.newworldlibrary.com