I welcome opportunities to practice what I know. We sure got it in October 2003, with a busload of tour attendees on an overnight excursion. This is a great example of why I’ve learned to look everywhere around me for evidence of happiness, well-being, synchronicity and enough of everything. It’s all a matter of training my mind to respond deliberately and appropriately to whatever is going on in the moment. It’s all a matter of training my mind to see what I’d like to see. . Here’s a great example. In October 2003 we went on our first ghost tour guided by my friend Barbara Dobson of Spirited Adventures. After a stop on the ride up, we all begin to notice a smoky electrical smell coming from inside the bus. The driver had checked out the vehicle and nothing seemed amiss, so we began our trek to our haunted village. Barb was sitting behind the driver, facing our guests and talking as we rode along. I was sitting in the first seat on the opposite side, keeping a watchful eye on the driver’s control panel. We had the door open to expel the bit of smokey smell when suddenly from beneath the control panel to the left front of the driver, there’s a snap and crackle, and a quick flash of smoke. The driver quickly checks everything and doesn’t seem concerned, so I figure it’s under control and the smoke soon subsides.
DON’T TALK ABOUT IT UNLESS YOU WANT MORE OF IT
In the meantime, one of our guests began talking about when she experienced a wiring fire. Another mentioned a transportation delay she had. It was the type of conversation you’d expect under the circumstances. As soon as I caught it happening ? as soon as my trained, conscious mind kicked in – I said, “Hey, if it’s true that we attract into our experience by our thoughts and words, is this really what we want to be talking about right now?” They all stopped and smiled, because we’d all been caught at it! This was the perfect opportunity to practice what we knew about Law of Attraction and group consciousness!
This was one of those times when we didn’t want a small event (unknown smoke) to turn into a bigger event (raging inferno!) by our attention to it. This was one of those opportunities to have a different response at the first sign of trouble, to avoid turning a molehill into a mountain.
Our natural tendency during times of stress is to start playing the “what if?” tape in our head. I do the same thing. But I’ve changed my tape to say, “What if the best thing happens? What if exactly what I want happens? What if there’s no problem with the bus? What if we get there earlier than expected? What if we all have a great time in the process?”
If I know my natural tendency is to run a tape in my head, I have can either stop running the tape, or re-script the language in my tape. I know me. While I’m fairly mentally disciplined, I know I can’t be trusted not to run a tape *hehe* But I can take action to re-script it, and I can practice the new script long enough and often enough that it becomes my automatic response.
So, here we are on the bus, smoke subsiding, and we’d just caught ourselves talking about fires and delays and such, and realized that if we attract into our experience by our thoughts and words, we didn’t really want to be talking about that right now.
I said, “I’d like to make some observations right now, just to remind me of what I already know. By making these observations, I’m not only reminding myself of the truth of the situation, I am also consciously choosing my thoughts and words to steer the conversation away from what I don’t want, and toward what I do want.”
“I know that I don’t typically attract unpleasant and dangerous situations into my experience. I know I’ve never been stranded or delayed while in route somewhere. That’s a good thing to bring to mind right now. If it hasn’t happened so far, why should I think it will begin happening now? I know that whenever anything goes ‘wrong’ in my life, it’s usually very minor, over with quickly and no big deal.
“Can we all agree that it’s possible that there is nothing seriously wrong? Can we all agree that it’s possible that we’ll still get to our destination on time? Can we agree that we’ll arrive safe and sound?”
One by one everyone began making similar statements and within minutes everything was fine, the smoke had subsided, no warning lights were lit, and we continued the journey without further ado. I was flattered by what Barb Dobson wrote after the bus trip, “Andrea, of course, had everyone in stitches and always kept the conversation light and positive, no matter what the situation.” Thanks, Barb, it was easy, because we had really fun people along with us. We checked into our hotel and after dinner were given the tour, describing the history of the building, and showing us which rooms were haunted by whom. It was easy to sense presence in many rooms.
We began taking pictures, knowing that the camera can record things our human eye can’t see. We got lots of activity in the photos.
BARB AND KAREN ARE VISITED BY A SPIRIT
While on the tour, Barb (who grew up with a ghost in her house) and Karen shared an experience. Barb writes, “When our group passed through the lobby, our guide Carole looked up the main staircase and remarked that one of the resident spirits was peeking down the stairs at us. Karen and I stayed behind to take photos in that direction (we saw nothing) while the rest of the group went into the cafe. Karen asked the spirit to come down to join us while I thought the same invitation in my mind. What happened next nearly blew both of our minds! We both felt a sudden rush of tingling electricity as something whirled around us and then seemed to go right through our bodies. It then came back a second time and did the same thing again. In an instant it was gone. What a rush! It was the most incredible thing that either of us had ever experienced. I was left with an adrenaline high that would last until the wee hours of the morning. We weren’t afraid, only dumbfounded. I can truthfully say that this was the wildest moment of my life and this encounter has sealed my destiny. I now know in what direction my spirit guides are leading me. What a true blessing I consider this to be.”
WE GOT TO WATCH THRU THE GLASS DOORS!
Barbara photographed lotsa action with her digital camera. I think she’s a real catalyst for psychic activity, as I know I am. We make a good team! As she and Karen were having their experience in the lobby, the rest of us were in the cafe. We looked toward the lobby when we heard them exclaim, and we could see them through the glass doors that separated us. Clearly they both were experiencing something pleasurable, but their eyes were going all over trying to see it. They were not looking at us and not looking at each other.
WE ALL GOT PICS OF ORBS GALORE!
After that, the picture-taking took on new enthusiasm! Bright orbs appeared in many photos, and Barb got a great face in a mirror. She was very high-energy for the rest of the night, and about 30 of us sat in the lobby discussing the paranormal, many of us until after 2:00am. We were going to take a walk down to the cemetery for some photos, then were reminded that in Florida it’s against the law to enter a cemetery at night. An adventure for another day!
We’ve had lots of sightings and have recorded lots of images. One of the best series of photos I got was during the last tour. Barbara Dobson and I always share a room, and we’d just turned lights out at 2:00am when I sensed presence over her bed. I told her I was going to take some pics with my digital camera. I took 10 of them within a minute or two, and was excited to see bright orbs of light being recorded. As we began interacting by speaking to them and asking them to show themselves, more and more appeared and they began to change from the small, bright white orbs into larger, prismatic bubbles of light. Often the orbs were in focus in the foreground, and the background (Barbara in her bed) was out of focus – those images are wild. I need to upload them here in a size they can be easily viewed.
One of the things I like most about Barbara is that she is not just into the sensationalism of the paranormal. She knows there’s a higher purpose to it all. She’s not just into the ooohing and aaaahing of it. Sharing stories of paranormal and psychic experiences lets us know we’re not alone, and that it’s a natural phenomenon. Hearing the stories of others helps us consider what might be possible for us.
I’m not talking here about the tall tales you hear passed around, although in every walk of life you find those who DO, and those who want you to THINK they do, so they can get at some of your dollars. Unfortunately, the history of spiritualism, psychism and mediumship is also a history of fraud, feigned trance states, and phony messages, so it’s up to you to cultivate common sense and personal integrity so you don’t attract those types into your experience.
I’m talking here about people sharing stories of being influenced to make major life transformations after having had a personal paranormal or psychic experience. There have been many times in my life where I’ve had an experience that gave me a big wide look at something, after which I made changes.
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