I had a day of filming planned. On the way to the filming studio, I stopped to get myself a cappuccino, and while I was waiting to get my cappuccino and pay, a woman came into the coffee shop and she said to the people at the counter, do you accept cards?
They said, “Yes, but we have a minimum.” She said, “Oh, well that’s a shame because I haven’t got any cash and I really would like a cup of coffee”.
She said, “No no no, Don’t be silly”. And she basically left without getting the coffee.
As I thought about this, I thought wow, this is a really interesting experience because there are so many lessons here that I think we could mind.
So, the first thing is, one of my mentors once said to me, whenever you desire anything, the fact that you desire it means that the way to achieve it is simultaneously present.
OK, I get a cup of coffee isn’t a dream. It’s not like dreaming of a house, or a boat, or a car, or a fantastic relationship. But the desire for the coffee was there, and simultaneously, the way to get the coffee was present. I was there with the money in my hand, ready to give it to her.
The first reason I wanted to share this story is to say, anything that you currently desire, there is also the way to achieve it. But maybe, like the woman in the coffee shop, you have set ideas or rules about how this should come to you.
Clearly for her, she wasn’t able to accept a cup of coffee from a stranger. Maybe she thought it was going to come with strings attached or there’d be other obligations. Or maybe she has just been brought up with a sense of politeness that that’s just not the done thing.
So, is there a possibility that there’s something that you want in life, that life wants to give you and yet because you have a fixed idea about how it should come, you’re not able to receive it?
LESSON TWO | Are you Ready To Receive?
The second point I want to make about this story is there’s a big difference between being someone who is wishing for something, and being the person who is ready to receive it.
In this instance, when I offered the cup of coffee, her reflex response was, don’t be silly. I don’t think it’s silly to buy a stranger a cup of coffee.
In fact, it would have made me really happy to do it, and yet her reflex response was no. Who knows why that was? Maybe it was fear of obligation.
But the point is; is there something that you are asking for in your life or your business, whilst you’re asking for it, you’re simultaneously having a reflex response that is pushing that thing away?
The third point is this, if you want to have a lot in life, probably the best muscle that you can develop is your receiving muscle, your ability to receive.
The question is; how good can you stand it? How much can you tolerate? It’s really important to start practicing being able to receive.
For example, if you’re asking for a lot and yet the amount that you can receive through is just like a pinhole, you’re never going to be able to get all the things that you’re asking for. Now think about it, in this instance, it was just a cup of coffee, and yet that was too much for that woman to be able to receive.
So my invitation to you is to examine your life, and are there places in your life where it shows you have a limit on how much you will allow yourself to receive?
A great place to start is with compliments, and particularly women. We have a way of brushing off compliments. Someone says, that’s a great color on you, and the reaction is, oh, this old thing. Or, you did a great job that was amazing. Oh, I feel like I could have done better.
I want you to practice receiving in any way that you can. Once you start to do this, you’ll notice that there’s lots of places in your life where things are being offered to you and your job is to just be ready to receive it. The best way to do that is to say, yes please, or thank you.
So, what do you think about this? Are there places in your life where you’ve been asking for something, and yet now you recognize you’ve actually been at the same time pushing it away?