The Magic by Rhonda Byrne
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
Marcus Aurelius (121–180)
ROMAN EMPEROR
The easiest and simplest way to ensure that your day ahead will be filled with magic is to fill your morning with gratitude. When you incorporate gratitude into your morning routine, you will feel and see its magical benefits throughout the whole day.
Each morning is full of opportunities to give thanks, and it doesn’t slow you down or take any extra time, because you can do it naturally as you go about everything you do. There is an added bonus to filling your morning with gratitude because your daily routines are the times when you can harm yourself the most by thinking negative thoughts without realizing you’re doing it. There’s no room for harmful negative thoughts when your mind is focused on looking for things to be grateful for. After this practice you will go into your day feeling much happier and more confident that the day ahead will be great – and that’s when you will see the magic happen before your very eyes!
When you wake up to the new day today, before you move, before you do a single thing, say the magic words, thank you. Say thank you for the fact that you are alive, and that you’ve been given another day of life. Your life is a gift, every day is a gift, and when you really think about it, it’s inconceivable that any of us would wake up in the morning without giving thanks for another day. If you think a new day isn’t such a big deal, then just try missing one! It doesn’t matter how sleepy you are, or if your alarm has woken you up for work, or you’ve slept in during the weekend; the moment you wake, say the magic words, thank you, for another day of your life.
Say thank you for the good night’s sleep you received. Are you fortunate enough to have slept in a bed, with sheets and a pillow? Thank you! As your feet hit the ground say thank you. Do you have a bathroom? Thank you! Are you able to turn on the taps and immediately receive fresh, clean water every morning? Thank you! Imagine all the people who dug the trenches and laid the pipes across your country, throughout your city, and along all the streets to your home so you can turn a tap and receive beautiful, clean, hot water. Thank you! As you reach for your toothbrush and toothpaste, thank you! Without them, your day would not begin so pleasantly. Thank you for the towels, the soap, the mirror, and everything in the bathroom you use that makes you feel fresh, awake, and ready for the day.
As you get dressed, think about how fortunate you are to have clothes to choose from and wear. Thank you! Think about how many people must have been involved in making all the various items of clothing you put on and wear in one day. It’s likely that the clothes you put on in one day come from many countries across the planet. Thank you to everybody! Do you have shoes? Lucky you! Imagine life without them. Thank you for shoes!
“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.”
J. B. Priestley (1894–1984)
WRITER AND PLAYWRIGHT
Make today as good as it can be by practicing concentrated gratitude and putting the magic into your morning routine. From the moment you open your eyes until you have put your shoes on or finished getting ready, say the magic words, thank you, in your mind for everything you touch and use. It doesn’t matter if you don’t shower or get dressed first thing in the morning, you can still use this Magic Morning practice as a guide and apply it to whatever your morning routine is. If you wake up and eat breakfast first, then as you touch and use each thing for your breakfast say the magic words, thank you. Give thanks for your morning coffee, tea, fruit juice, or breakfast. They make your mornings so enjoyable and give you energy for the day. Be grateful for the kitchen appliances you use for your breakfast – the refrigerator, hot plates, oven, toaster, coffee maker, or kettle.
Every day without exception, I say “thank” as I put one foot on the floor, and “you” as my other foot touches the floor, so that as both feet touch the floor for the first time each day, I’ve said thank you. As I walk toward my bathroom I say the magic words, thank you, in my mind with each step. Then I continue saying thank you in my mind as I touch and use each thing in my bathroom. By the time I am dressed and ready for the day, I feel so happy I could jump for joy. And when I feel that happy, I know my gratitude has worked, and I am guaranteed to have a magical day. As I go through my day, I really feel as though I have a magic power with me, because one good thing after another happens. And as each good thing happens, I’m even more grateful, which speeds up the magic with even more good things happening. You know those days when everything just seems to go right for you? Well, that’s what it’s like after doing Magic Morning, but multiplied!
Magic Practice Number 11
A Magic Morning
When you wake up to the new day, before you do a single thing, say the magic words, thank you.
From the moment you open your eyes until you’ve finished getting ready, say the magic words, thank you, in your mind for everything you touch and use.
Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during the day.
Day 12
Magical People Who Made a Difference
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each one of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965)
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE–WINNING
MEDICAL MISSIONARY AND PHILOSOPHER
Every one of us has received help, support, or guidance from other people at particular times in our life when we needed it most. Sometimes another person alters the course of our life through their encouragement, guidance, or just being there at the right time. And then life goes on, and we tend to forget those times when one person touched us or changed our life. Sometimes you don’t even realize the impact a person had until well into the future, when you look back on your life and realize that a particular person was pivotal in magically changing the direction of your life for the better.
The person may have been a teacher or coach, an uncle, aunt, sibling, grandparent, or any family member. They may have been a doctor, nurse, or best friend. They may have been the person who introduced you to your current partner or to a particular interest that became one of your greatest passions. Maybe they were someone you didn’t even know, and they appeared in your life very briefly, performing a random act of kindness that touched you to the core.
My grandmother gave me my love for books, cooking, and the countryside. By sharing her love of those things with me, all of them affected and changed the course of my life. Cooking became a passion of mine for over twenty years, my love of books eventually led to me becoming a writer, and my love of the countryside has influenced where I’ve lived throughout my life.
My grandmother also disciplined me with a steel hand to say thank you. At the time I thought she was just teaching me to be polite. It was only later in my life I realized that teaching me to say the magic words was the greatest gift my grandmother ever gave me. She is not alive anymore, but I continue to be grateful to her for the huge influence she had on the course of my life. Thank you, Grandma!
Today, you are going to think about the magical people who have impacted your life. Find a quiet place alone sometime during the day today, sit down, and think of three extraordinary people who have made a difference in your life. Once you have your three people, work with one person at a time, and talk out loud to each person as though they were present, telling him or her the reasons why you’re grateful to them, and how they affected the course of your life.
Make sure you do this magic
Here’s an example of what you might say:
Sarah, I want to thank you for the time that you encouraged me to follow my heart. I was lost and confused that day, and your words touched me, and lifted me out of despair. Because of what you said, I found the courage to follow my dream, and I moved to France to work as an apprentice chef. I am living my dream, and I couldn’t be happier. All because of what you said to me that day. Thank you, Sarah!
It’s very important that you say the reasons why you’re grateful. And you can’t say too much. Instead, the more you say, and the more you feel, the more amazing the results. You will see the magic explode into your life from doing this practice; it numbers among the most powerful acts of gratitude you can ever perform.
If you’re not in a position to talk out loud, then you can write down your words to each person, and address them as though you’re writing a letter.
When you have completed this practice, you will feel a huge difference in the way that you feel. The evidence of gratitude’s power working is always that first and foremost it makes you happy! The secondary evidence of gratitude’s power is that you attract wonderful things. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, the happiness you feel after practicing gratitude also attracts more wonderful things, which will make you even happier. That’s the magic of life, and that’s the magical power of gratitude!
Magic Practice Number 12
Magical People Who Made a Difference
Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
Find a quiet place alone sometime during today, and make a list of three people who made a difference in your life.
Work through the list one person at a time, and while talking out loud tell each person the reason why you’re grateful for them, and exactly how they affected the course of your life.
Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during the day.
Day 13
Make All Your Wishes Come True
“Imagination is the true magic carpet.”
Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993)
WRITER
If you have been following the magical practices day by day, you have now built an amazing foundation by practicing gratitude for everything you have received and continue to receive in your life. But today is an exciting day, because you’re going to begin to use gratitude’s magical power for your dreams and desires!
Hundreds of native cultures through the centuries have traditionally given thanks for what they want before they receive it, creating elaborate ceremonies to put as much energy as they could into giving thanks. The Egyptians have celebrated the flooding of the Nile River since ancient times to ensure the continual flow of water in the river, American Indians and Australian Aborigines perform rain dances, various African tribes perform ceremonies for their food before they hunt for it, and the very nature of prayer in every culture and religion is giving thanks before having received what is desired.
The law of attraction says that like attracts like, which means you must form in your mind a likeness, or an image, of what you want. Then, to attract your desire to you, you have to feel as though it’s yours, so that how you feel is also like how you would feel when you had what you wanted. The easiest way to do that is to be grateful for what you want – before you’ve received it. If it never occurred to you before to use gratitude to receive what you want, you have now discovered another of its magical powers. The very words in the Holy Scriptures promise exactly that:
“Whoever has gratitude (now) will be given more (in the future), and he or she will have an abundance.”
Gratitude is something you must have before you can receive, not something that you simply do after something good has happened. Most people are grateful after they receive something good, but to make all your wishes come true and change your entire life by filling it with riches in every area, you must be grateful before and after.
Through the act of being sincerely grateful for receiving your desire beforehand, you immediately form an image in your mind that you have it, you feel as though you have it, and you’re fulfilling your part. If you continue to hold to that image and feeling, you will magically receive your desire. You won’t know how you’ll receive it, and it is not your job to figure it out. You don’t try to figure out how gravity is going to keep you on the ground when you go for a walk, do you? You trust and know that when you go for a walk the law of gravity will keep you firmly on the ground. Likewise, you must trust and know that when you’re grateful for what you want, what you want will be magically moved to you, because it is the law of the Universe.
What Do You Most Want Right Now?
At the beginning of this book I asked you to get really clear about what you want in every area of your life. (If you didn’t do that earlier, now is the time to do it.) Go to the lists you created now, and choose your top ten desires for this magical practice. You can select ten desires from different areas of your life, such as money, health, home, and relationships, or you might want to choose ten desires in one area you really want to change, such as work or success. Be very clear and specific about what you most want, so that you can see the changes magically happen from this practice. Imagine you are putting in a magic order with the Universe for your top ten desires, because in truth, by using the law of attraction, that’s exactly what you are doing.
Sit down at a computer or with a pen and journal, and create a separate list of your top ten desires in the following way, as though you’ve received them:
Thank you, thank you, thank you for , and fill in the blank with your desire as though you’ve received it. For example:
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the high marks in my exam results, which got me into the exact college I wanted!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the great news that we are having a baby!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for our dream home, which has everything we wanted it to have down to the last detail!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the amazing phone call with my dad that has improved our relationship!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the medical results that show I am all clear, and healthy again!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the unexpected money I received, which is the exact amount I needed for my European trip!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the doubling of our sales figures this month!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the ideas that won us our biggest client yet!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for my perfect partner!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for how easy and effortless our move was!
Writing thank you three times in a row is a powerful thing to do because it prevents you from throwing the words away, and increases your focus of gratitude. Saying thank you three times is also a magic formula, because it is the mathematical number of all new creation in the Universe. For example, it takes one male and one female to create a baby. The male, female, and baby total three, completing a new creation. The same rule of three applies to the creation of everything in the Universe, including the creation of your desires, and so when you say thank you three times in a row, you are using the magic number of creation, and a secret magic formula!
The second step of Make All Your Wishes Come True involves saturating your desires with even more gratitude. You can complete the second step at any time during the day today, either at the same time as listing your top ten desires, or intermittently throughout the day.
To saturate each o
What emotions did you feel when you received your desire?
Who was the first person you told when you received your desire, and how did you tell them?
What is the first great thing you did when you received your desire? Include as much detail as you can in your mind.
Finally, reread each desire, and really emphasize the magic words, thank you, so that you feel them as much as you can.
Move on to the second desire on your list, and follow the same steps with each desire, until you’ve completed all ten desires. Spend at least one minute on each desire.
If you want to do something that’s really powerful and a lot of fun, you can also create a Magic Board, where you attach pictures of your desires. Cut out the pictures and attach them to a board that’s in a place where you will see it often. Place the magic words THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU in big bold letters on your Magic Board. Or you can use your refrigerator as your Magic Board. If you have a family, you can create a Magic Board as a family project, because children love it! Imagine that your Magic Board is truly magical, and that whatever you place a picture of on your board is instantly being moved toward you. Your continued gratitude for it will magnetize it all the way into your life.
Magic Practice Number 13
Make All Your Wishes Come True
Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
Sit down at a computer or with a pen and journal, and list your top ten desires. Write thank you three times before each one, as though you’ve already received it. For example: Thank you, thank you, thank you for your desire .