Probability Shifting and Creating Change
By Kristen N. Fox
Each moment we experience is a new probability – we change probabilities CONSTANTLY. And sometimes we are awake enough to catch a probability switch “glitch” – that is, a blip or inconsistency in the “usual” linear presentation of physical reality.
The other day my friend Tom remarked about how amazed he still was that on a family trip to the Bahamas, his younger brother had found a chip for $2500 on floor of the casino lobby. Now, that’s the kind of creation that a person would remember, and I was COMPLETELY sure that Tom hadn’t mentioned it before. And yet, Tom was absolutely sure he HAD mentioned it. Two different probabilities converging into one present moment. The interesting thing is that once I had accepted the story of the chip into my reality, it really seemed to me that Tom really HAD told the story before – it began to feel that familiar.
Such is the nature of change and of paying close attention to how “change” actually happens in physical reality, by our acceptance of the change. There’s no wrong or right answer in which probability to choose, there’s only the matter of which probability you resonate with. Each of us can choose exactly what we want to believe and experience. About EVERYTHING.
Another story… A can opener once disappeared from my kitchen drawer. But I wanted it back because I wanted to open a can. A few moments later when I checked the very same drawer, there it was. Poof!
The story with Tom is an example of an unintentional probability shift where I caught the glitch as the linear, cause and effect consistency changed as I “watched”. The second story with the can opener is an example of an intentional probability shift – I just focused on having the can opener back and didn’t have any attachment to how that was “supposed” to happen.
What connects us with one probability instead of another is the amount of energy or focus we pour into that chosen probability, whether or not we’re conscious of doing it. And of course, it’s important to have goals, but awareness also requires us to be present with our feelings and focus where we are NOW, as we go. For instance, we can be CONSCIOUSLY choosing to focus on being wealthy at the same time we’re repressing uncomfortable feelings or beliefs regarding NOT having money. Along the way from probability A to probability B, we’ll often create opportunities to release this energy – sometimes in the form of an unexpected or disturbing situation that has a similar vibration or which brings certain feelings or thoughts to the forefront. This experience is a “slow motion” or “snapshot” view of part of a probability shift, as if we are pouring our energy out of one probability and into a new one.
Of course, sometimes probability shifts can happen instantly, like with the can opener, with no “linear” explanation or story-line. In these cases, however, there’s practically no emotional backup or unconscious attachment that inhibits us from releasing our grip on the old probability and making a quick transition.
If something doesn’t seem to be manifesting in your life that you want, there are a few things you can do right NOW. First, accept that even though it’s not in front of you at the moment, it’s on its way to you. Then, ask yourself, “Right NOW, what am I focusing on? What do I believe about my current situation? How do I feel about where I am right now and what’s in front of me? What thoughts are connected with these feelings?” In my experience, this small exercise not only centers me, but often offers the opportunity to release energy that’s been building, that I may have been overlooking or ignoring. This is part of the shifting of energy away from the old focus and into the new. Your energy must be free to MOVE.
If you find yourself struggling or feeling bad in some way, what could be happening is that you’re trying to focus on the new but are ignoring the old that’s still present. Your energy focuses on things like a flashlight beam – it’s always shining on SOMETHING, You don’t shine a flashlight on the muddy footprints on your kitchen floor and say “I am NOT focusing on these muddy footprints that I don’t want here.” The mere act of making them the subject of your sentence and putting a “NOT” in front of it doesn’t count as NOT focusing. And be honest – if you’re SAYING that you’re focusing on a clean floor while your feelings are going another way, follow the feelings to the truth and deal with it.
If you’re used to struggling to keep your kitchen clean, then you may have some old habits of focus and old emotional energy to release around this issue. When you are ready to give up the struggle itself, then you will be free to slide your flashlight around to other focuses or probabilities. Your flashlight beam may end up on the mop in the corner, or on the apple on your kitchen table, wherever your intuition takes you next. THEN, if its in your joy, you are free to focus on the experience of a clean floor.
There are no set number of steps or even any “correct” steps to take in order to move from one probability to another. My can opener was there and then it wasn’t and then it was – boom, boom, boom. My experience with Tom switched probabilities through a conversation. The key is to follow your intuition regarding what, if any, action to take in order to move yourself towards the probability of your choice – your intuition will work with your beliefs about what you believe is required or desired. In the kitchen floor example, you may decide to mop the floor. You may decide to follow an impulse to eat the apple on the table even though you wonder how this will get you a clean floor, and then in the meantime, someone else cleans the floor. You may also simply forget about the dirty floor (that you’re no longer focusing on <smile>) and in the next probability it will simply be clean, JUST LIKE MAGIC. And perhaps you’ll have a distant memory of a dirty floor and will have caught a probability glitch of your own.
Once you understand probability shifts in your “personal” life, you understand how they work in THE WORLD too! It’s exactly the same. Now, you may have very little attachment to your can opener, so a can opener probability shift can be direct and “step-less.” You may have a little more attachment to creating money or switching to a probability where your bank account is full instead of empty (based on old beliefs, fears, or identities of self and linearity) and may require a few steps to release attachment to the old situation. (Forget the HOWs of having what you want and just focus on the HAVING – any HOWs required will show up.)
Now, how much emotional attachment or “energy” do we have around the idea of keeping our perception of our world the way it has been and how much are we willing to let go of in order to experience a “new” world? Hmmm – good questions!
[Originally published in The Edge, October 1999.]