Have you had those frustrating moments when you’ve said to yourself, “This happens to me all the time!” or “Why is this happening to me?” As a society, we tend to look at life like it’s happening to us instead of for us. I am perplexed by the number of people who don’t see the correlation between who they are being and what is showing up for them in life.

I like to use my husband as an example. We were late leaving for a family party. He had been pacing around the house strongly urging my girls to hurry up. I could tell he was trying to maintain his composure but inside was steaming like a pressure cooker. Finally heading for the car, he grabbed a can of pop (soda) on his way out. He jumped in the car, opened his pop and ffffshshsh!!!!, it exploded. He jumped up in complete shock and shouted, “Are you freaking kidding me!” In my mind, I knew exactly what had happened.

I have seen and experienced similar scenarios unfolding like clockwork. Over the years, I’ve contemplated this, trying to gain clarity on the process behind why it happens. One day, through a vision in my mind’s eye, I saw a depiction of what’s going on in those moments when the “unexpected” happens. The illustration below conveys the influence you have in shaping your life.

Like everything in life, lasting change starts with awareness. This is because what you see externally is indicative of what’s going on internally. When you send out mixed/negative/positive signals, you get the same signals back.