Recently, I was chatting with my husband about a couple of different business opportunities that have shown up in his life, neither of which seem like ideal matches, yet both of them seem like answers to his prayers. As his biggest fan, I decided to support him in his quandary by exploring what these opportunities do and do not have to offer, and then considering ways to negotiate for more potentially ideal business arrangements for him and the other players.
Have you ever walked away from an opportunity because you didn’t know how to negotiate for what you really wanted? Have you ever opened your heart to receive, invoked a flow of energy into your life, such as money, health, or new and meaningful relationships, and prepared for it to come? Then, when something did show up, but didn’t seem quite right, did you walk away from it?
If it happens often enough you can find yourself becoming disappointed, wondering why God hasn’t answered your prayers or assuming you must need to do a better job of defining what you want. It is certainly possible that you will receive a better answer if you define what you want more clearly, and it also possible something else is going on.
If the energy comes in and you don’t know how to channel it, the energy can bounce off of you in such a way that you don’t even realize what you wanted was right around the corner. Or the energy instigates discomfort because it pushes against old beliefs and feelings that don’t support the flow of new opportunities. You get caught up in the seeming lack of response or discomfort and miss the opportunity. If you want to experience the flow of new opportunity, it helps to create a channel.
If you wanted to direct water from a river to a nearby field, you would need to cut a channel, wouldn’t you? Spiritually, that’s what creating your personal terms of agreement can do. This is not about telling Spirit what to do or figuring out the details—who, what, when, where and why—of how your intention is supposed to manifest. It is about establishing the parameters that will allow you to live in harmony with the flow of energy you have summoned.
Let’s say, like my husband, you have prayed for a new money source to come into your life. Because you have set an intention for something new, you might not know how to prepare for it in advance other that to state that it needs to be a profitable, harmonious, honest experience with people you respect. An opportunity presents itself, but you realize it isn’t entirely perfect for meeting other needs, such as your creativity and your desire for a flexible schedule.
You could just walk away because it doesn’t seem quite right, and go back to the drawing board with your intentions. In the case of some jobs, relationships, or health solutions this might be the very best choice you could make. Sometimes walking away and re-evaluating is the best you can do. You might also want to consider that while what you have attracted may or may not be perfect for the rest of your life, it may offer you some benefits right now. In the income example I cited, perhaps this opportunity does have the ability to provide you with what you truly need and want if you are willing to negotiate.
I call this establishing your spiritual terms of agreement. The terms are spiritual when you are negotiating for what best supports you spiritually and emotionally, as well as physically and mentally. These terms of agreement can create a channel between you and the Divine that clarify how this energy can best serve you. Here is one way you could approach creating your spiritual terms of agreement. List the ways in which:
1) the energy you have called in (money, relationship, health, etc.) shall support your spiritual awakening;
2) you will feel when this energy comes in;
3) your knowledge will expand as a result of the energy; and
4) how your life will be physically enhanced when this energy arrives.
With my husband, we outlined the parameters that would allow him to be happiest. They included: highly creative work, flexible scheduling with multiple clients, preferred hourly rate, acceptable hourly rate, having fun, emotional equilibrium, adequate personal time, expanding into new business arenas, life-style preferences, travel preferences and more. Next we took that outline and discussed proposals for both of these new opportunities that would allow his new potential clients to get their most significant needs met while also honoring his spiritual terms of agreement.
This can be done with jobs, contracts, various types of relationships—from business to personal—health care options, and even vacation planning. In our world of duality, it is easy to think of life as though it is an on or off switch—either this will or won’t work. Yet, there is a whole world of opportunity that opens up when we are willing to negotiate options. We honor others and ourselves when we acknowledge their terms (whether spoken or implied) and honor our own spiritual terms of agreement. Then when we invoke something we want, our terms create a channel through which the energy can flow.
