I got an e-mail today that made me stop and remind myself to be thankful. It had a link to a website on gratitude. I know the power of gratitude from Dr. David Hawkins' work with calibrating emotions and Dr. Emoto's work with water, so I thought it might be worth passing along to see if a worldwide gratitude wave encircles the globe. Here's the link for you to go to later on... Go Gratitude

Sometimes life gets so crazy around this time of year that we forget to slow down and have thoughts of gratitude. I'm thankful for my health. I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for all the people who think highly of my work. I'm thankful for the opportunities that cross my path. I am thankful for my friends. I am thankful for you!

Have a wonderful holiday season filled with gratitude!

QUESTION:

It's time for that "obligatory yearly gathering" that makes me go into a funk every time. (I think I do have the craziest family on the planet.) What can you suggest to "protect" me during this upcoming uncomfortable event?

Signed,

Looking for an Excuse to Ditch

ANSWER:

First of all, don't think you have the lock on dysfunction. Your's is not the only e-mail I got on this subject! (It was just the funniest, ya little ditcher wanna-be!) When you used the word "protect" like that, I imagined outfitting you with a giant condom. Perhaps there's a feng shui cure there somewhere, but I'm not entirely sure. :)

There are many things you can do to empower yourself in this situation:

1. You could start by feng shuiing your childhood home in your mind. Sit down, close your eyes, and do a space clearing ritual (like the flicking of the citrus water from my book, or burning sage or salt or whatever other method you know.) Then, mentally go through the home placing enhancements where needed. What's fun about this exercise is that you can get as wild as you want! Giant swatches of green and redwood trees growing in the family gua, waterfalls spilling into the career gua, trees with dollar bills for leaves in the prosperity gua, vases of pink, red, and white roses filling the relationship gua and so on. Feel the healing power of your feng shui cures in the spaces as you walk the nine star path (as shown on page 231 of my book.) You can do this to all your childhood homes if you moved a lot! And you can even do it to your current place and the one you are going to for "the obligatory event" by the way. Empower yourself by knowing that the homes are balanced in the etheric realm.

2. Prior to going, try cleansing yourself by taking a bath in citrus water. Peel an orange so that the peel parts end up being some number associated with nine, like 9 or 18, or 27, etc. Toss the peels in the bath water (and do whatever you want with the orange) and soak with the intention that your thoughts, attitudes, and body are being cleansed.

3. Write down on paper how the evening would go if it were "perfect" in your eyes. From start to end, describe how it goes and how you feel as it is unfolding. The more you can attach the feeling to the story, the better. (Don't be devious here. Make it fun and joyful for all, OK?) As long as you are writing, you might want to write letters of forgiveness to all those people who bug you so much. See if you can find ANY part of yourself that can touch forgiveness or compassion. If you can muster up these two emotions with the people you are going to meet, you'll see results, I swear! Take "the nine planet approach" if you're having a hard time. Imagine yourself sitting on Pluto or on a planet out in another galaxy and picture the little evening going on here on Earth. Sit and observe who rubs who the wrong way or who falls back into an "old suit" as soon as they connect with people from the past. See how small and meaningless it feels from this vantage point. It's hard to be "involved" from this distance. You just observe without the drama, and actually can find the drama comical. Like switching channels on TV, when you're faced with a challenging situation at the event, switch your channel to this perspective and see if you can pull out of the negative emotion that you are usually used to having.

4. De-clutter, clean and tidy up all the family guas of each room, the whole home, and the yard of your place. If you want to add water or wood element - go ahead. If you can find a family photo with everyone that will be at the occasion, put it in a wooden frame and place it in any family gua (you can make it like a little altar if you want) and give it authentic intentions of glad tidings. (We got a new 40mm green crystal online if you need one. Decorate your tree with them --- volume discounts available!) And after you look at this gua everywhere, take a look at the relationship and helpful people guas too, as these three guas combined makes a "three-harmonies cure." (The relationship gua is an earth element area and the helpful people gua is metal element driven if you want to use element cures.)

5. Now, short of wearing a mirrored "suit of armor" to repel any "ick" family members fling your way, you can do a more subtle, protection measure by doing some energy work. One way is to do something called E.R.T. or Energy Tapping. Here's a link to a book at Amazon.com if you are interested in finding out more...as the techniques vary depending on what specific emotionally-charged event you want to eliminate: Amazon - Energy Tapping. If you know any energy workers, you might want to give them a call for other techniques as there are many.

6. There's a good Vedic mantra that I use to "overcome great obstacles." Say it 108 times before departing for your holiday visit. I'll spell it out phonetically as best I can so you can use it: "Om Gum Gunna Pata Yea Na Ma Ha" Most people say the Om gum gunna pata part on one note, and then go up a note and accent the yea part, and then come down to the first note for the na ma ha part if that helps!

Everybody always wants more success stories! So here are a few to tide you through the end of the year... :)

1. "I wanted to let you know that after your class about feng shui and real estate, I was inspired to change some things around in a home that I have had on the market for over a year and a half. Nice home, clean, just older. I added a few of fire element items as you suggested in the class. We also rearranged all of the furniture and dusted. We still haven't had any offers, but the thing that I thought was AMAZING was that we had about 5 showings in 3 days. That's more in that short time span than we had ever had even when the home first went on the market. I work with my mom and dad and my dad said that people must be "out looking more again" but my mom and I both believe that the simple gesture of moving things around got the energy flowing again and prompted more showings. Just wanted to share that with you. Hopefully it will help prompt an interested buyer to make an offer.

Thank you again."

Katie

2. "I was just reading your newsletter about temporary and seasonal things. I must tell you what happened to us last year. Just before Christmas, our family unpacked all our Christmassy boxes. Around that time, my then fifteen year old daughter started getting into trouble with her friends, behaving rudely to everyone and ended with a school suspension. This is so completely unlike her that we were baffled as to what to do. I picked up my book and went to the Creativity and Children area of my home. Under hazardous materials for that area you list red and pointy objects. With the big unpack of Christmas items someone had tossed a pointy triangular, red elf hat into this part of the room. It had only been there about a week. I removed the elfin troublemaker and my daughter returned to normal. It just goes to show, sometimes its not what you put in, its what you take out.

Thanks Karen."

Christine

And these were success stories that came to me in the comments and suggestions box!

3. "This is the best easy to understand Feng Shui book I have ever read, and it works! When I first read Karen's book 3 years ago, I was just starting a new career in Real Estate. I added some things into my prosperity section of my home such as a purple candle with red decorative marbles around it, 3 decorative bottles in the color red, purple and green and within a couple of months, my business took off! I have only been in Real Estate for a little over 3 years now and I have sold approximately 96 homes totaling 10 million in sales, and I prospected very little, I can honestly say that the business came to me, and to this day the business is still coming to me! With feng shui and the right intentions, it really works! I am still working on other areas of my home, getting rid of clutter really works too! I am so grateful to have found Karen's book, she makes it easy to understand, has a great sense of humor in her book and I enjoy reading it over and over!"

4. I bought your book several days ago because an on-line friend recommended it. Although I have just started it, I've rearranged the prosperity corners of my bedroom and my office. I'm so excited and expectant of great good. My insurance agent solved a problem for me today that will mean thousands of dollars for me and bring peace of mind. Thank you so much for this wonderful, entertaining and useful book. I could never understand all the other feng shui books.

Mary

December 14th is the deadline for custom autographed books for your friends and family for the holidays. Just e-mail your list of names to mary@fengshuipalace.com after ordering, and she'll match up the names with the order and get them out to you!

1. I am living in gratitude.

2. I am re-dreaming every mundane or negative moment as I perceive it.

3. I am making peace with my painful patterns.

4. I am broadening my perception of the past.

5. I am safe and protected wherever I go!

Put your Real Estate Career on "Cruise" and join us for an exceptional 7 days as we explore the beauty that can only be found in Alaska! From Whales leaping out of the waters to baby sea otters basking in the sunshine, July is the time to see the wonders of blue glaciers and the mysteries only found in this region of our planet!

Come take a fun-filled feng shui and real estate cruise with me and Holly Ziegler, author of Sell Your Home Faster With Feng Shui And Buy Your Home Smarter With Feng Shui. We'll set sail out of Vancouver, B.C. and work our way to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan through Glacier Bay and the Tracy Arm fjords. Be inspired by your surroundings as we explore ways to:

Have what it takes to talk confidently about feng shui to clients.

Be able to easily attract more clients toward you.

Be able to showcase rooms that sell.

Know what makes good "curb appeal" and what doesn't.

Know how to unblock the 7 secret stumbling blocks that usually foil your ultimate success.

Know what cures are necessary to help bring a transaction to a smooth completion.

Plus, so much more!!

(And if you are a California Realtor, the classes will count for 6 CEU credits.)

The seminar series will take place during the days at sea when there are not glaciers to photograph! We've negotiated a great selection of room rates. Prices start as low as $1294.00 US per person, double occupancy. If you need to find a shipmate to share a room, we can help you with that, too. The workshops will be interactive and flexible, and we encourage you to bring floor plans and photos of your listings (or your house!), so we can use them as examples!

This seminar series is not only geared towards the real estate industry but ALSO to non-real estate individuals looking to increase their knowledge of feng shui for their own use or to become a feng shui consultant will also benefit from our "dynamic duo" presentation!

Are you ready for a tax write-off educational/fun cruise combo? Are you ready to learn how to make more money and complete more transactions using feng shui in your real estate career? Are you ready for a chocoholic midnight buffet? Don't wait! Reserve your spot before March 1, 2006, you'll receive a $100.00 discount! The rates you are quoted includes the seminar! Join us in the biggest event of the summer as we put your real estate career on CRUISE!

Registration will begin this month. We're working up the website links on our website as we speak and will send out the link when we finish. But if you can't wait, and you want more information, contact: Ron Oyer's Life Journeys / Worldview Travel

888-259-9191 ext. 213 (Ibis)

Email: ibis@worldviewtravel.com