 First
Class Expectations
By Alan Cohen
As I was driving to a lecture with my
program sponsor, I told Suzanne that on a recent international airplane
flight I was given a free upgrade to first class. "Oh, I get
upgrades all the time," she responded, laughing. "It's sort of
a miracle. I don't even ask. They just put me up front."
"But I guess I'm used to it,"
she explained. "When I was a child, my father was vice president of
TWA. He took me traveling with him a lot, and whenever we flew, I got to
sit in first class."
I wasn't surprised. Suzanne's account
demonstrated how powerfully our subconscious beliefs affect our outer
manifestations. Somewhere in Suzanne's psyche, the image of flying first
class was deeply embedded. Although she did not think about it
consciously, her expectation created results that matched it. The folks
who gave her the passes had no idea they were agents of the universe
more than the airlines.
As we enter this bright new year, let's
notice the strong correlation between our expectations and our
experience. Everything that happens to us is related to our beliefs
about who we are, what we deserve, and what the universe is capable of
supplying. The game is to keep stretching your beliefs to match the
highest in and around you.
The movie Galaxy Quest offers a marvelous
lesson about our power to manifest. The film chronicles the adventures
of a bedraggled crew of actors whose popular science fiction television
series has run its course. (Think Star Trek.) Their careers have
dwindled to appearances at cult fan conventions. One day the crew is
kidnapped by some real extraterrestrials who take them for a (long) ride
and explain to them their planet is under siege and they need the
expertise of this crew to save their world.
"What makes you think we can help
you?" asks the captain.
"We know of your heroism because we
have reviewed many transmissions of your historical documents," the
E.T. answers.
The "documents" he refers to
are not historical at all. They are hysterical. From outer space the
E.T.'s viewed rerun broadcasts of the series' television shows. They had
no idea the stories were fictitious and the crew was just acting.
The crew tries to explain this, but the
aliens don't quite understand; all they know is that they desperately
need help and they believe the crew can handle the job. By this point
the crew has no choice, so they throw themselves into the task at hand.
Although they are at first inept and bumbling, eventually they rise to
the occasion and find the courage to extricate the aliens from their
predicament. They were tricked into discovering the heroes they actually
were. Sometimes life tricks us into finding strength we did not know we
had. We thought we were clumsy inept actors, while we actually embody
the wisdom, courage, and strength to handle any task. We thought our
greatness was fictitious, when it is for real. We might even be tempted
to argue for our limits and explain why we are not who admirers think we
are. But such an occasion is a great opportunity to keep your mouth shut
and just go ahead and be great. All you have to lose is your identity as
a loser.
"Think you can or think you can't,
and either way you'll be correct," prophesied Henry Ford. When I
was in high school I played saxophone in a rock band. I was just
learning the instrument and didn't have a lot of experience or
technique. I couldn't get a good tone out of the sax and planned to take
it back to the store to get it fixed. Then one night our band was
playing for a dance when a fellow approached and asked if he could sit
in on sax for one song. Sure, I told him. The guy picked up the sax and
wailed! I could hardly believe it was the same instrument! After the
song he thanked me, handed the sax back, and disappeared into the crowd.
I just stood there with my jaw hanging open. For a moment I felt
embarrassed; he had just shown me up in a huge way. But soon my
embarrassment shifted to excitement. He showed me a new possibility for
myself and the instrument. Eventually I developed a good tone, too.
The year before us is brimming with new
possibilities. It is a year that has never been lived before. Your
expectations of what you can and will accomplish this year make all the
difference in what will actually happen. Bring a big cup for the new
year to fill.
Alan Cohen is the
author of 15 popular inspirational books including the best-selling A
Deep Breath of Life. To order Alan's new acclaimed novel My Father's
Voice, or request free catalog of Alan's books, tapes, and seminars,
1-800-462-3013. Join Alan this October for a mystical adventure to Bali!
For information contact, 455 A Kukuna Rd., Haiku, HI
96708 or call 1-800-568-3079; email acpubs@maui.net
or website www.alancohen.com
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