I was smacked in the face this evening by a quote that has poignantly placed a quasi-ultimatum at my feet.

While browsing the Inward Quest website, searching for new insights; I read a thread title "Can thinking of a request be inspired action". Now I knew the answer to this, I feel inexplicably wise with regard to the theory behind the law of attraction; it just seems to make sense to me in terms of quantum physics especially, this however does not void me of the need to practice the actual techniques. (There's a big jump between intellectually understanding how to play football and actually doing it.) The title caught my attention however and I proceeded to open up the thread. I recognised that Stingray, arguably the wisest and most revered member of the forum had posted and before I even managed to start reading the beautifully constructed post that he had written my eyes jumped to the final paragraph:

For that reason, I will often refuse to take any physical action whatsoever towards a subject I am interested in pursuing until I feel inspired to do so. And that attitude has served me consistently well over the years.

Source: Can thinking of a request be inspired action?

Now this was special for me. I have just started university, Astrophysics to be precise, but something seems to just not be right about it. I'm extremely interested in astrophysics and all surrounding subjects and I'm thoroughly enjoying the lectures. But, the actual studying aspect I'm finding a real problem with. I feel INCAPABLE of finding enough effort in me to get me through my tests/examinations. The quote made me realise that all I am currently experiencing is a lack of inspiration to pursue the subject and a degree right now. This is all very well for me to notice, however it unfortunately is not that simple...

What I am currently and frequently experiencing inspiration on is travelling. Now I know that sounds like a pretty bog standard thing for a 19 year old to be going through, a bit of wanderlust if you like. But no. I'd like to assure you as much as I can that this is legitimate passion and inspiration, especially when contrasted with everything else in my life that I have some interest for. Whenever I'm walking down the high street something that NEVER fails to catch my attention are currency conversion tables in the assorted bureau de change's one sees in the shops windows. I'm in an almost perpetual state of wanting to know what the rates are. Also travel agents in general, which there seems to be an unusually ample amount of in Canterbury where I've moved too for university. The flight prices captivate me even more than the currency rates, I'm almost browsing skyscanner on a daily basis for the latest prices on flights to any destination I happen to have in mind at the time. This all comes with a fairly extensive background knowledge of global geography that I've accidentally built up by vicariously travelling the world on Google Earth for a several years now. Money doesn't even interest me in itself right now; the only reason why I want it is to fund travelling endeavours.

That’s okay in itself, but furthermore I think that I'm so vibrationally aligned with the idea of travelling that I keep coming across vibrational matches that are helping me trust in the LOA. Looking back I must be doing well, I travelled abroad 3 times in this summer alone. And when I wasn't travelling abroad I would be, to a large extent, travelling around the country for whatever reason. I think I've inspired my father to travel more too; he's been going to the States every year as a bit of birthday treat to himself and its filling me with joy to see him for a change enjoying the money he works really hard to earn. The vibrational matches I speak of are often simple mentions of obscure cities in conversations. The girl I was sitting next to in maths today fairly out of the blue expressed interest in going to Argentina, I posted a status on Facebook a couple of days earlier regarding saving up to go to Buenos Aires and she doesn't even have me on Facebook. In fact now I remember that one of my house mate's friends who came over a couple of days ago had been on total wipeout which is a game show which takes place in Argentina, the idea seems to be floating about everywhere. I'm completely aware that that itself is by no means proof that I'm vibrationally aligned to what I claim to be, however that’s not what this is about... I am constantly experiencing little things like this. Little prompts etc, which are undoubtedly vibrational matches. (To clarify, not just to Argentina... but travelling as a whole, Argentina seems to be a temporary theme.)

Hopefully I've managed to show that my inspiration is sincere. That Stingray quote has made me feel as if I should be acting upon that and getting into the industry somehow, my knowledge and passion would surely be useful to a travel company? He’s the problem; I am at university right now as I’ve mentioned.

Yesterday, I started the ‘manifesting experiment one’ by which you put a request on paper and put it somewhere hidden and special and forget about it. Aside from the problems I’m personally having in forgetting about anything I’ve made the conscious effort to write a note about and put somewhere, (I’m cursed with a half decent memory.) I’m constantly worrying that I’m causing an obstacle to it manifesting but thinking about anything to do with it, it’s making my natural and intricate thought process a minefield to navigate. It’s a bit like loading the dishwasher and then checking how it’s doing every 30 seconds, it’s never going to happen if you keep checking! I don’t even know if I’m allowed to expect it to come! However this minor mental training issue is eclipsed by me worrying how I’m going to juggle my request with university. Long story short I requested a travel experience to a specific destination but what I’ve been desperately trying to ignore is not knowing how I would get time off university to actually go. I know the ‘how’ is the domain of the universe but as a scientific minded person it’s hard to reconcile the issue in my mind.

The solution seems obvious enough right? Quit university for now and come back when or if you ever feel inspired to do so. This leaves you fee to look for a job in the area you have a passion for and any travel requests I want to make with the universe will in my mind be more easily fulfilled because it fits in more with my job. And it sometimes seems as if I’m being pushed to do this by the universe; my student finance application is encountering numerous problems, from by a freak accident being sent far too late and then when that finally got looked that they claimed we requested the wrong year so I had to apply again from scratch. So I’m literally at university on borrowed time at the moment. Also, my writing ability has really improved over the last few months. I feel far more confident writing than I ever did which is strange because that was always an area I struggled with. I realise that my kind of dream job (assuming I had to have a job) is to be a travel writer, and this realisation coinciding with the unprecedented urge to write things down or present things prosaically is profound to me. While my mum is very much into the law of attraction, ascension and works with the spiritual realms and would support me every step of the way in this path, I fear my father would not. They divorced when I was young and hence live apart. My dad would not be open to this kind of thing, and in fact attracts lots of little negative things into his life via the proxy of his pessimism. He expects the very worst case scenario to happen at all times pretty much, and low and behold when I’m with him something a little bit like that happens. (Though I’m aware I could personally change this by guiding myself into a quantum version of my life where Dad undergoes a series of positive experiences that change the way he views the world [I think this is starting to happen with him travelling more etc] but that is incredibly difficult to sustain when you are pondering your own future so deeply and still falling down the metaphysical rabbit hole of attraction at the age of 19.) He’s completely unaware of attraction, and I darn’t say anything to him about it either because unfortunately he’ll probably think his son has gone mad and I’m not yet willing to risk alienating myself from him by doing so. Put it this way, I don’t feel inspired to discus LOA with him yet.

By the very same token this puts me between a rock and a hard place, me dropping university to pursue what I feel that I am inspired to do seriously risks me alienating myself from my dad. Not to mention the fact that if I ever felt like it was a mistake (I doubt it) and needed to come back to university I’d have to pay triple the fees to do it, and given that money is a major theme in my dad life this would intensify the anger and frustration I can imagine him feeling towards me, (especially funny because it’s my money in the long run anyway because i'm paying for it and it doesn’t bother me half as much as it does him). But, my dad aside for the moment, my problem doesn’t evaporate; the knowledge of my A level Maths and Physics courses is still fresh in my head and I’m placed in the best position currently in terms of that to be able to deal with the university course. I’m also enjoying the lifestyle to a certain extent and am making good new friends. I fear that when I am ready to return I will not be able to cope with how hard it is (especially with an aged mind.) My final concern is that leaving university to engage in a life of pursuing what I feel inspired to do also feels like a risk in that there is a chance that I never get the hang of manifesting specific things I need. I’m 99.999% sure the law of attraction exists and works, the left over merely comes from my scientifically minded need to be agnostic towards everything, but getting to grips with using it for unambiguous requests is proving to be a real challenge. Leaving university would eliminate some mental blocks I am having with manifesting, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting time off or waiting long periods of time for end of term for the next travel experience to come. In theory I could be going somewhere every weekend if I was a free agent!

This is the ultimatum like thing I was speaking about right at the start of this post; To carry on with university feeling uninspired and unable to achieve very much because of my lack of passion to study right now, or to leave university to pursue what I feel I am inspired to do but seriously risk alienating myself from my Dad and impairing my future chances to gain a degree in a subject I do have a genuine interest in.

I just don’t know, all I know is the universe is really beautiful and attraction is one of the most eloquent analogies and embodiments of something a lot of us have noticed about life many years before the that word meant anything to us in that context.

Thanks so much to anyone who's eyes reflect these words right now. Please help <3

Richard.

asked 13 Oct '11, 22:34

RFextra's gravatar image

RFextra
910317

edited 14 Oct '11, 00:16


Welcome to IQ, Richard.

I was smacked in the face this evening by a quote...

Sorry for any unnecessary written violence I may have caused you ;)

I guess if you've been reading my ramblings for a while then, firstly, I'm surprised you've managed to stay awake and, secondly, you may have noticed that there's two main things I tend to steer clear of.

  1. Listening to anyone else regarding how to live my life, if it doesn't make sense to me

  2. Making "important" decisions or taking "important" actions from any place where I don't feel good/great...i.e. Abraham's "Vortex" analogy, which I apply in this way: Vortex First, Any Way You Can, Then Everything Else. Naturally, what is "important" to you is entirely subjective and doesn't necessarily reflect the underlying Universal reality.

Point 1 is where I think the majority of the world's population tends to trap itself into disempowering belief systems and behaviors. Often through sheer peer pressure (combined with a large apertif of mental-conditioning-since-birth), we become our own "prison warders". Those who do not conform to the "norms" of society tend to be marginalized and often become social outcasts from friends and family - not an easy way to live, and most will not choose that option in life. This results, basically, in whoever controls the "norms" of society also controlling the world's population.

The societal "norm" that it sounds like you are having to conform to right now is that of going to university and clearly you're not feeling inspired to go along with that expectation of you.

So what's the solution to Point 1? ...I would say the answer is Point 2 :)

It sounds like that quote you mentioned is standing out for you because there's a part of you that is recognizing the validity of it.

There's a basic principle in all these reality-creation ideas that a problem cannot exist without a solution. However, when you are in the vibration of the problem, the solution is not perceivable. It is however always there waiting for you to find it.

The Vortex analogy is basically about attuning yourself to the frequency of the solution. And when you are tuned into that solution, it will be the perfect solution for you and from you to you.

So, yes, I'm back again to my usual "blah, blah" of: You need to find some way to feel better first and then, when you are tuned into the Vortex (where the solution is), reconsider your situation and see what insights and intuitions you get about it. They will be the ones to trust 100 percent, and no-one but you will know what is right for you. Once you've received those insights, you are then in a position to formulate a physical plan of action.

You could basically rewrite your headline question of "Do I follow my head or what I feel inspired to do?" as "Do I follow the operating system of my head, or the operating system of my heart?".

And, to me, the best solution is a combination of the two...to engage with the operating system of the heart ("feel good, inspiration" etc) for answers and then practicalize them (if there is such a word as *practicalize") with the operating system of the head ("logic, rationality" etc).

The "heart" is the world's best guider, the "head" is the world's best implementer of that guidance.

From another perspective, the reason Vortex alignment first is important is to step over the trap where you are taking action to avoid something you don't want rather than being inspired towards something you really do want. Running from what you don't want enhances that vibration of "don't want" and you just find yourself in a new physical situation but with similar issues...same problems, different people.

For example, if you are being hit on the head repeatedly with a hammer, you may think your ultimate desire is not to be hit on the head with a hammer, but if you weren't being hit over the head with a hammer in that moment, your ultimate desire would likely be something very different. And simply taking the action (without vibrational alignment) of stopping one person hitting you over the head with a hammer might simply lead to another hitting you over the head with a baseball bat instead :)

Hope there's something there to help you clarify your thoughts.

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answered 14 Oct '11, 15:14

Stingray's gravatar image

Stingray
93.7k22143372

edited 14 Oct '11, 15:30

Very helpful response. Thank you!

(29 May '12, 16:40) Inner Beauty

Sorry, this may be a shorter answer than you were hoping for, but why are you unable to attend the University AND travel between semesters? Why do you feel you can't follow both inclanations? Just like we may sometmes work in a profession that is not exactly delightful to us, in order to have the money to enjoy other delightful things when we are not working, why not attain your university degree so that you can earn the money to travel and experience life? And travel a little when not having classes? Balance is sometimes the key to difficult dilemmas.

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answered 14 Oct '11, 03:07

LeeAnn%201's gravatar image

LeeAnn 1
17.0k1519

Very wise answer LeeAnn.

(14 Oct '11, 09:57) Paulina 1

What you are INSPIRED to do. ALWAYS. Everything else will follow.

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answered 14 Oct '11, 16:17

Aphrodite's gravatar image

Aphrodite
50125

i would say both in perfect harmony. experience and enjoy.

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answered 14 Oct '11, 02:07

white%20tiger's gravatar image

white tiger
21.9k116117

Once again short and sweet.

(14 Oct '11, 09:57) Paulina 1

I can clearly understand what you feel and your doubts, we share the same passion. There is nothing more exciting for me than experiencing all the beauties of the world espacially nature.

I think you found what you want in life. That is the most important step to success but you must be sure about it. When we visualize how it would be to reach our goals, we generally think about the first moments. You should visualize far more. How would you feel, what will you be doing after 2,5 or 10 years later you reached your goal. If you know the future steps of your passion small failures will not hold you back from moving on.

If you are sure about that, try to notice the possibilities which can help you achieve your passion and change them into opportunities. Your brain always make predictions about what it percieves to use less energy and memory, do not let it. You may be missing something which can be the key.

When you have a job about your passion or a job which can afford your passion no one can stop you. Now,are you really sure that your education will not help you follow your passion? May be there are possibilities, do not miss them. If you decide to travel and leave your education, get prepared first. Start writing about your travels and use them online with some affiliate links maybe. See what happens. When people start to get interested in your articles and you earn money, you can reconsider about your education.

A little bit of success can change your mindset and you will be more motivated. I suggest you not to leave your education before you decide what to do before and after you reached your goal. May be your education will open a door to your passion.

Please do not worry about your dad. I have two daughters and I do not care if they become a doctor, engineer or traveler. I just want to see them happy and I know that they can only be happy if they can follow their passions WISELY.

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answered 14 Oct '11, 09:31

Mind%20Power%20Proofs's gravatar image

Mind Power Proofs
111

Hi RFextra, Welcome to I.Q. I agree with LeeAnn for to throw away an opportunity to get a degree in Astrophysics is madness. Your life is your own though and in the end it will be up to you. By first geting your degree and traveling in between you will have something in your favour for you are still very young and have your whole life ahead of you so I will tell you how to get inspired and motivated to do it.

Incoporate your travel bug love with your studies. Convince yourself that your love of travel will be greatly enhanced if you have a degree and tell yourself that you are working towards your dream to travel not only in the world but just maybe aroud it as well.

Start working towards it now and follow the example that Mind Power Proofs wrote about by writing articles about the traveling you have done so far. You can blog or write on hub pages or huffington post and see the reaction of other people. Write about Astrophysics related subjects also that way you incoporate them both to your advantage. By the time you finish your degree you could already have a reputation of a travel writer and don't forget the posibility of television travel shows. They need bright young people like you and I'm sure your degree will make them and you proud.

Your dad will be pleased and you will get what you want but first a bit of consentrated studing so that one day you can have the best of both worlds. Remember that to travel takes a lot of money and you can earn big money with a degree in astrophysics.

Should you decide otherwise and leave Astrophysics behind than just change your degree for one that deals with turism or something that relates more to your love of travel. Good Luck but remember that if you throw a good opportunity away it might never come back again.

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answered 14 Oct '11, 10:28

Paulina%201's gravatar image

Paulina 1
9.2k1923

You could sit down and make a list of positives and negatives about your schooling and list the positive and negatives about your passion for travelling. If you take your time and really put some energy and thought behind this simple process, you may have a much better understanding of which direction you are truly leaning in.

It also sounds like this decision you are trying to make is swirling around in your head a million miles a minute. The best way to calm things a bit is to sit down, relax, and really try to figure out what is best for you, not what everyone else thinks is best for you. Some quiet reflection alone can produce some really interesting results if you allow it.

Sometimes we like to overate the simple concept of "what feels best in my heart," but that is really the ticket to living the fullest and most appropriate life we can for ourselves. It's always great to have advice and help from others, but eventually, we have to sort through all the ideas and opinions and make our own final decision one way or another.

I bet you will figure out what's best for you in the end. Good luck!

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answered 14 Oct '11, 16:02

Cory's gravatar image

Cory
15.4k21971

I remember once a long time ago that I knew- knew in my heart- that I wanted to get into photography. At once, I also knew that I could not do it for various reasons (mostly raising four kids and poverty). So I remember saying to myself, "Well, I know that the technology will have to be much better in the future; I think I will wait to get into this until I am past all these kids and such."

So....now I am into photography, and I was right! The technology is amazing! I screw around with graphic arts, and have a lot of photos on Webshots under Jaianniah (in case you are curious, and want to look...pure self-promotion ;o)!!!).

So what does this mean? I think that LeeAnn was right- why blow off your college now? BELIEVE ME... YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO IT IN YOUR FIFTIES LIKE ME!!!! (I graduate with my BA next spring- Yay!) But I also agree with those who have said, "Why not do both?" Summers are a good time to travel...Go for it...Grab both! Get that &$%# Degree out of the way, and then, indulge your urges.Blessings, Jaianniah

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answered 14 Oct '11, 18:08

Jaianniah's gravatar image

Jaianniah
37.8k13129610

edited 14 Oct '11, 23:29

When I was 19 yrs old I was going through the same thing. I was attending Art College and after a year I "knew" this was not what I wanted to do, but my mother was insisting that I stay in Art College!! I had made a few "hints" that I wasn't happy there and she would "explode!" I lasted 3 1/2 yrs and each year became more and more and more grueling! To the point I "hated" it and the only reason I lasted that long was to keep my temper mental mother happy, and making myself miserable at the same time. Coincidentally my world was crashing around me and I actually ended up getting dismissed from art College and asked not to return because they could see my heart wasn't in it, they even asked me why I was there? I remember exactly saying "my mother is making me!"

I always knew I wanted to become a musician in a Rock Band which will make any mother's heart cringe. But it was my dream. It was all I thought about, dreamed about, got up each morning for, I can still remember the smell of the pages of guitar magazines! With no training I taught myself how to read music, I practiced and practiced. The whole time my mother insulted me, ridiculed me, said I was wasting my time and that I should get a real job! She was relentless and unsupportive!! and I didn't even live at home.

Long long story short, about 3-4 yrs later (and thousands of hours of practice) my mother and aunt showed up at one of our shows because we were the opening act for the biggest group in that area and my mother was a fan of them, and now here's her son on the same stage. She "finally" accepted it and was proud of me. About 5 years later my music career ended and I learned there were other careers in the industry that interested me so I stayed in the entertainment industry and got a "steady paycheck."....at one point I was making a 6 figure income (with no college education) I just followed my passion!!! But I followed the advice of what others wanted me to do and the 6 figure income disappeared!

You can't do or become what other people want of you! When your passion is for something that your parent/spouse doesn't agree with, you still have to go with your passion. When you go with your passion everything else comes with it!! Believe me it will open you up to other avenues which you never knew existed and it makes your passion even stronger, sometimes you can't believe what you're seeing!! But if you want it all to disappear? Give in and follow what other people want you to do!

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answered 05 Nov '11, 01:43

Eldavo's gravatar image

Eldavo
3.7k218

There is a rule that your head rule your heart or your heart will rule your head. When you get into listening to your heart you get into trouble! Have you heard the phrase "It seemed like a good idea at the time!" You don't want to be saying that phrase some time in the future. So I think you should look toward your future and logically plot out what would have been the best path if you were looking back in your past. Would it have been a past where you graduated and are now earning loads of money and working in an exciting field developing weapons for the air-force or NASA? Or where you remember you used to travel a lot but never graduated and do not earn much money now?

The choice is yours, follow your head or your heart. Your heart is emotional, not rational. It will mislead you because it thinks of only now not future consequences.

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answered 05 Nov '11, 04:28

Wade%20Casaldi's gravatar image

Wade Casaldi
36.9k430107

Following inspiration is probably the quickest way of attaining your goals .

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answered 05 Nov '11, 06:57

blubird%20two's gravatar image

blubird two
(suspended)

what if you wanted to be here this time
to remedy what conscious development was cut short before,
you owe it to your will to look inward.
it is your individuality in the making
and yes, your choice has repercussions

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answered 05 Nov '11, 23:12

fred's gravatar image

fred
19.7k176

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