Nothing Happens By Chance: 7 Rules For Successful Living

INTRODUCTION

How's life treating you? Do you remember the last time someone asked you that? Each time I hear that question I can't help but feel that the person asking somehow believes that life is a game of chance and that things just ‘happen’; that we have no say in what is happening to us.

Fortunately life isn't like that at all; in fact it's quite the opposite. The truth is that nothing happens in life by chance. Things don't just happen -- they happen because of what goes on inside of us. We continually attract things and experiences into our lives through the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, words and vibrations that we're sending out. The greatest truism of life is that what we put out we always get back; and that includes our thoughts and feelings, as well as our actions. Chapter 1 explains more fully this first rule of successful living.

The truth, however, is that most of us are searching for that elusive ‘something’ which we think will make us feel happier and more fulfilled. There isn't a person on the face of the earth who hasn't at some time dreamed of having more love, peace of mind, health, money or some other ‘thing’ that they genuinely believe will make them feel happier and more ‘complete’. And in this fast-paced world we usually want it right now!

The basic rules governing the action of life are straightforward. To live life effectively we need to learn how to attract the experiences we truly want, rather than those we don't want.

Understanding the truth about living a successful life is the easy part; it's the ‘doing’ part that most of us have difficulty with because no one can do it for us and we usually look for an easy way out. Each of us must come to the realisation in our own time that we have choices and that it takes practice, practice and more practice to succeed. No one sitting down at a grand piano for the first time can give a faultless concert performance. We all understand that years of practice go into giving a perfectly faultless recital.

It all boils down to commitment; a commitment not only to ensuring that our habitual thoughts are in fact affirmations and an acceptance of the good we truly want, but to firmly believing that the desired good is already ours right at this moment. It's a life-long process.

For each of us our aim is to experience more of the good things in life -- improved health, greater abundance, better relationships and a more fulfilling self-expression. Nothing happens by chance! Everything, absolutely everything, manifests according to our mental equivalents -- OUR mental equivalents, not those of anyone else!

The ideas in this book aren't new; they've been known for thousands of years. But here in this small volume the reader will find an explanation of how things work, how they get to be the way they are, and how we can use universal energy to continuously live in the flow of peace, harmony, love, prosperity and health.

I sincerely trust that this book's simplicity conveys a message and idea that the reader will find easy to follow and to apply.

Neil A. Mence

London, England

2011

Chapter 1

HOW THINGS GET TO BE THE WAY THEY ARE

For to him who has, will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

(Matthew 13:12)

Strange words! Words that have often been misunderstood; words that might inspire or conspire to bring hope or fear. Many have questioned their fairness, believing they mean that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Nothing could be further from the truth!

First things first

Let's start, however, by cutting through the cobwebs of ambiguity and getting right to the heart of the matter. Once and for all we must get rid of the idea that things happen to us because of what is happening around us; that we're like a cork in the ocean being pushed first one way and then another; that we have no control over the events in our lives.

The truth is that each of us is living a life of choice. It's up to each of us in the quietness of our own mind to accept and use this knowledge and to make changes, or to reject it and perhaps live a life chequered with lack, limitation or ill health; one in which there perhaps appears to be no love and no hope.

The rule -- that one fundamental principle upon which each child should be reared -- the reality that each of us must consciously hold in our mind every second, is that everything happens to us, and in our lives, because of the way we think and the conviction or degree of belief that accompanies our thoughts. In other words, our experiences are a reflection of our consciousness.

The quote at the beginning of this Chapter refers to consciousness -- To him who has (in consciousness) will more be given. In other words, if we have a consciousness of unlimited abundance, more will be given to us. But those who do not have (in consciousness) …even what he has will be taken away. This is the same as saying that if we have a