One of the most difficult words to handle is NO, especially when we desperately want something, or feel it is critical for our success and happiness. According to sales research, NO is the leading cause of ‘fear of rejection’ complex that causes so many people to get out of business!

As we looked back over our years as consultants, we remember that NO was a tough word for us to hear when we generated amazing proposals, only to find someone else was selected to do the job. But we discovered a fascinating way to hear the YES in NO.

We started saying “Thanks for saying no!” When we received the news that we weren’t selected to give a keynote presentation, for example, we would immediately follow up with a little note, thanking the potential client for giving us the opportunity to be considered ~ and our affirmations for them having a great conference.

We followed this up with offering our services for future events, and also indicated that, should something occur at the last minute where they found they needed a speaker, to feel free to contact us. Then we topped it off by including a copy of one of our books as our “Thanks for saying no” gift.

Incredibly, we discovered that more times than not we were contacted immediately to confirm dates next year’s conference! And we can identify three specific instances where unforeseen events occurred with the selected speaker, and we got the call to replace them! We learned how to find the YES in NO by looking at a more long-term response.

How often do you experience obstacles that seem to wave a big red “NO” in front of you? Giving in may feel like the easiest plan, and say, “Forget it!” But in Mark 10:27, Jesus makes an incredible statement: “With God, all things are possible.”

What is HE talking about? It tends to conjure up all kinds of debates, like “Yeah, possible, but how probable?” Or “This sounds good, but it won’t work in the real world!”

So let’s look at the Unity perspective of what this verse is really talking about, we get a whole different view. It says that as we make that connection with the Christ of us, our God center, we are receptive to the Divine Flow of every thing we ever need. But until we spend that time in Headquarters, in meditation and prayer, our human self sees the appearance of obstacles, of “NOs.”

Here are three keys to discovering the YES in every NO you seem to encounter:

• Spend dedicated time in the Silence, strengthening your connection with Spirit.
• Counter every appearance of NO with a big “Thank You for saying no!” Then identify ways to send positive energy to the situation or people.
• Recognize that there is no being out there in the sky saying NO. We have the power to Divinely order our experience, and create the life we choose. Refuse to let the appearance of NO have power in your life!

In II Kings 4:1-7, there is an amazing story of prosperity that is timeless in its metaphysical message. In today’s troubled economy, the implications are staggering!

In case you may have forgotten this story, let us share it quickly:

Verse 1: The wife of a man from the guild of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that he was devoted to God. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

Verse 2: Elisha replied to her, “What help can I be? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “I have nothing except a little oil.”

Verse 3: Elisha said, “Go up and down the street and borrow jugs and bowls from everyone. Don’t ask for just a few.

Verse 4: Then come back home and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into every container you have, and as each is filled, set it to one side.”

Verse 5: The widow left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. Her boys brought the jars to her and she continued pouring in the oil.

Verse 6: When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Another jug, please.”

But he replied, “We’ve used all the containers.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

Verse 7: The widow went and told Elisha, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and take care of your debts. You and your sons can live on the money that remains”

From a metaphysical standpoint, we know that everything from this story stands for something that is going on inside us. So let’s look at the major elements:

Elisha: Stands for our Spiritual “I-Am”

The Widow: indicates a belief in separation from God – a belief in an external God who withholds our good. A widow represents one who has lost sight of God as support. The unity between mind and intuition has been cut off, and lack and burden result.

Empty vessels: mean expanded consciousness to include new faith and vision; an openness to Divine ideas.

Bringing vessels into the house and shutting the door: Represents focus and meditation – going to “Headquarters” and deliberately intensifying awareness to Truth.

Oil: Stands for Divine Substance

So what does this mean for us? The truth revealed in this story is the intensifying power of Spirit. When Elisha asked the widow what she had, he was essentially asking, “Where is your consciousness?” Obviously, her consciousness was on lack. When our attention is on “only-ness,” we are putting our thought energy on our lack.

The Key Principle to remember and apply: No matter what you have, DO NOT IDENTIFY IT WITH THE WORD “ONLY!”

When we expand our spiritual awareness, and focus our attention on our unending flow of substance rather than our lack, we generate an energy/idea flow that magnetically attracts even more abundance from True Source.

between change and stagnation. We prefer to straddle the fence as long as we can?”

We encourage you to leave behind the once-a-year mentality of New Year-ology, and become New You-ologists. We call this ‘new you process’ spiritual obstetrics. It means being reborn every single day. It means giving birth to the new you each day. It means turning resolutions into revolutions.

Resolutions that workhave five things in common. Personal transformation life coaches all over the world agree that resolutions which have a high success rate are those that:

• are meaningful to us;
• are consistent with our core values;
• resonate with who we want to be;
• hold some enjoyment and are rewarding for us;
• seem manageable and possible.

And there’s another benchmark which has made the list for the first time this year, coming in at #6:

• Resolutions that have a high success rate are those which have a spiritual component.

And we’d like to put in one last criteria as #7:

• Envision yourself achieving your resolutions, using every single one of your emotions and senses! Create the feeling that it is already real and you are experiencing it in action!

If you’ve already made New Year’s resolutions, match them against these seven success factors. If they fit, you are well on your way to turning resolutions into revolutions.

On the other hand, it there are areas that don’t match up, set new goals. You will increase your chances of success dramatically!