As I was writing in my journal the other day, I started to ponder about the way people ask for things in life. I was asking God, my Angels and Spirit Guides to keep giving me motivation to keep putting my art out there. I don't understand exactly why I write or create and share it because I don't know if any one is benefiting from it (other than myself, as it is very healing), so sometimes it is difficult to keep putting my creativity out into the world. As I pondered this thought, I wrote Ask, Believe and Receive. I looked it up and it seemed to stem from this passage in the Bible from Matthew 7:7-- "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you."

I thought at the moment, "Okay, so yes, I get it. There's my answer. Yes, keep on creating. And this will be my next blog post." That's how most of my art happens. I write in my journal, then contemplate/meditate upon what I wrote about, then it becomes a vision that becomes art and sometimes a blog post. I wrote about wanting motivation, and I believe it was received at that moment. What I want doesn't always come to me that fast, but on this particular day, it did.

People ask for things all the time, but often give up when it's not given to them right away. I understand patience is the number one thing that many people don't have enough of. People want so many things for themselves; material things and non-material things. However, they sometimes just accept not getting what they want because they lack patience.

I know no one is going to say "Here you go Carolyn, here's exactly what you asked for", so I know it's up to me to figure out how to get what I want. That's where patience comes into play. I ask, then I have to take the time to listen. I write in my journal, pray and meditate every single day. I believe dedicating time to focus on what you want every day is key in getting what you want. When I take this time for myself, I hear my answers. Sometimes not at that moment, but I trust they will come in time.

That is why I titled this blog post "The Puzzle of Life: Ask, Believe, Receive". This whole concept can be very confusing for some. Again, that's where patience can help things not be so confusing. You have to ask first. Then you have to believe in what you are asking for BUT you also must be willing to put in the hard work to get it. If you are asking for a million dollars and believe you will receive that, you should also be asking how to go about receiving that kind of money.

Hard work? Ew, yuck. That's what many say. But you've gotta do it. Hard work doesn't necessarily mean plugging away at a computer night and day, sweating and losing lots of sleep to attain your goals. Hard work just means putting in time. It may be over one year or several years. 

The beginning of the hard work process should start with this: Ask often (I ask every day), believe always (in YOURSELF!) and then, receive. Trust the process. My process may be different than yours, and that is fine. You need to find what works for you. Should you momentarily go astray (because we are all human and moments of doubt can sneak in there), get back on track. You've got this. And you've got the patience to do it. I promise.