The Sorcerer’s Challenge

According to Isaac Asimov, there was a horseshoe affixed to the wall above the desk of the great Nobel Prize winning physicist Niels Bohr. It had its open end up in the traditional way to catch good luck and hold it safely for the horseshoe’s owner. A visiting scientist was giving Bohr a hard time, and chuckling he replied, “I believe no such thing, not at all. How could I give credence to such an absurd idea? However, I am told that a horseshoe will bring you luck whether you believe it or not.”

Ever hear the phrase, “Penny for your thoughts.” Search around your house, in the coin drawer, wherever, and get a penny. When you have one, read on.

Note that there are two sides to the penny. A head and a tail. Assign the word “Thank” to the head side. Assign the word “You” to the tail side. You are now ready to meditate on “Thank You.”

On the “Thank” side, start the mantra “Thank you for reminding me to be thankful.” Repeat that. Repeat it again. Whenever you come into contact with that penny, start with the thank you stanzas. Let this smallest of monetary devices manifest thankfulness in you for life’s little pleasures. A stranger’s kindness. Laughter. An unexpected coincidence. The list is endless!

Keep at it, day in and day out. Put the penny in your pocket in the morning, and don’t take it out until you are changing at night. Discover it during the day, observe how it subtly but profoundly helps you focus on thankfulness. Let it spur the spreading of thankfulness. Pay it forward. Pass on a kindness here, a thoughtful remark there.

The flip side, the tail side, the “You” side, is all about raising your consciousness. Not the “self” or the “I” of you, but the other half. The “I am aware that I am aware that I am.” It is the formless part of you. The half of you that is energy. Meditate. Look at the tail of the penny. Don’t assign any value, don’t put a label other than “is as it is” on it. Now, close your eyes. Breathe deeply. Feel your chest expand. Be still. Listen to that stillness which is in you, but not of you. Let your Presence come awake. Feel this force resonate within you. Get recharged with positive energy.

Harness that. Practice being in the Now. The next person you come in contact with, be there in that moment. Pay all your attention to them. Really listen. Your primary purpose at that moment is to be there fully. Don’t listen with judgement in mind, hear with your inner Being. Discover how it responds to the moment.

That penny is material. It is a thing. Yet if you meditate on it, let it enter into your day, you will find yourself more thankful and more aware of the immaterial. You will have begun living in the now. You will be reminded time and again that what you give, you get back. You are now starting to understand intention. You can now focus your intention in more directions. And that is the luck that you manifest.