The universe we live in and everything in it is subject to certain laws. One of those laws is that you always get what you ask for. "Ask and you shall receive", "knock on the door and it will be opened to you", and numerous other words of wisdom throughout the ages have expressed this law. If this law is true, then why don't we always get what we want? Once you understand the mechanism of the law of asking then the answer will be clear.

To understand this law we need to have a model for the process of asking and receiving. The elements of this model are given different names in different religions and philosophies and so I am going to use labels here that I think will be the most effective across the board. If you have a particular religious belief then please feel free to replace my labels with your own.

Firstly let's look at the questions of "who are we asking?" and "who is giving us what we asked for?"

This source of all providing is what most religions refer to as God. But what of the atheists? How can they tap into this power and still hold their beliefs. I could write several books on this topic but I think it is simpler here just to refer to it as the Pool of All Possibilities.

This Pool of All Possibilities is where everything in the universe originates from and everything in the universe remains in perfect contact with the Pool. That includes you and me. We do this through what I will refer to as the spiritual mind.

Psychologists, for the purpose of convenience, commonly refer to the various functions of the mind as each belonging to one of two groups; the conscious mind or the subconscious mind. However it makes more sense to include a third category; the spiritual mind.

The conscious mind is the part of your mind that you are aware of. It is where you live your "material life". It is where you express your ideas, joys, sorrows and desires. It is in the conscious mind that you set your goals. Your conscious mind then hands those goals to your subconscious mind.

Your subconscious mind has a very tricky job. It has to work out, from what your conscious mind gives it, what you really want. Why it this so difficult. It is because what the conscious mind "says" it wants is very often contradictory.

One day we say we want one goal then another day we change our mind and want something completely different. We may set a goal mentally yet our actions may be consistent with the exact opposite goal. (Any attempted dieter knows this only too well). The job of the subconscious is to weigh all this information, all our thoughts, desires, and actions, and then come to a conclusion as to what we actually want. Once it has done this it passes the information to the spiritual mind.

The function of the spiritual mind is to communicate directly with the Pool of All Possibilities. It takes what the subconscious hands to it and it asks the Pool to provide it. Then the Pool gives us exactly what was asked for. (How this is accomplished is a discussion for another time.) This is the meaning of "Ask and you shall receive".

So you see that you may be expressing a particular desire at the conscious level, but by the time the subconscious weighs up all your other thoughts and actions what your spiritual mind asks for (and receives) may be very different indeed.

The solution to this dilemma is simple. May sure that your thoughts and actions are consistent with the goals you set. If you do this then the message with be passed through loud and clear and you will get back exactly what you desire.

Clarity, consistency and congruency are the pillars that support success.

James Delrojo
www.YourSuccessMind.com