The yin and yang in every day life

What does this ancient symbol mean?


I always felt drawn to the ancient symbol of the yin and yang.  I am sure you must have come across it at some point?  If not, I have drawn it for you below. It always seemed to me that there was a message behind this symbol, but I didn’t really pay much attention to it until more recently.

I’ve come across people using the symbol to explain that there is duality in all things: male- female, light-dark, good-evil.  My interpretation of the symbol has to do with our habit of thought.  I think that this symbol is a very clever representation of the contrast that exists in all things.  In the words of Abraham-Hicks “in every particle of the universe, there is that which is wanted and that which is not”.  So as I look at the yin-yang, I see that there is contrast in all things.  Winter follows summer, day follows night – if we didn’t experience the one we would not appreciate the other.  Contrast helps us to define our preferences more clearly so that we know more exactly what we want and what we do not want.

The interesting thing is that humankind in this physical existence is never without desires.  Soon as one desire is satisfied another one is born. 

I remember the day I bought my first car – it was so exciting.  It meant freedom, it meant independence, it meant achievement.  I was ecstatic to say the least – for all of two days.  Then the excitement was over.  Within the year I was already looking forward to and planning what my next car would look like.

Same thing happens every time and with everything.  If I get a haircut, I want a different one next time.  If I get a handbag, I want another one.  When I bought my first home, it was a huge deal.  I remember looking at scores of places that were on sale – it was fun.  As I saw all the options I could compare and decide what I wanted.  I finally found the perfect place for me, and no sooner did I find it but I started to change it by renovating it, and when I was done, I was already planning what I would do different in my next home.

Our children are like that too – haven’t you noticed? They will make a fuss about some toy or new thing that they want and they will talk about it and ask for it for a week, then you finally give in and get the thing for them and they play with it for all of 2 hours, after which it is lying forgotten in some corner and they are already on to the next new thing! That’s what this world is all about – it’s about wanting new things by experiencing the contrast in different choices, and then closing the vibrational gap to attain the thing that we want – that’s usually where we mess up.

Here’s how yin-yang work.

Let’s pretend that Sherry is looking for a job. It’s been over six months since she started her search and nothing has happened yet.  Here’s an example of how she might be thinking her thoughts: “I am looking forward to finding a job and although it hasn’t come yet, I know that it’s on its way and when it comes it’s going to be wonderful, I know I have good education and good experience, so I know that I will find something soon.  The job boards are full of opening, and I am sending my applications to so many places – it’s only a matter of time before I start getting calls for interviews”.  See how those words are taking her right to the Park. 


(Going to the park or the dump is an analogy I use often. To read the analogy click here.  It will also be described in detail in my up coming book "Why Me?")


What is also happening is that she is taking a situation that is less than what she wants it to be and she is putting all her thinking power, the strength of all her focus on the glimmer of hope she is holding on to in the midst of darkness. Very much like standing in the dark half of the yin-yang and looking at the little speck of white light.  The wonderful thing that happens as she looks at that small glimmer is that, the glimmer starts becoming bigger and bigger and bigger, until the glimmer is no longer a glimmer in fact it is so big that it engulfs the darkness and now she is standing on a circle that is all white light - and on that day Sherry gets a job offer.  She is really happy, because she is looking forward to more money coming in, and being active and doing work that she likes to do.   That’s how the part (small speck of white) becomes the whole.

Then Sherry starts work, she is really happy and looking forward to her first pay cheque. She has a good first day at work – but the only thing is that her little cubicle is probably one of the worst ones in the whole office – it is small and cramped and stuck in a dark corner.  Gone to the Dump with that right? It’s also the beginning of a dark spot in the middle of the beautiful white sphere she had created.  Every day Sherry goes to work and hates her cubicle the little dark spot keeps getting bigger, and as it get bigger Sherry is finding more things that she doesn’t quite like about this new job – she starts wondering if she did the right thing, but she still likes the money that she is getting.  Then one day someone is rude to her at work, and this makes Sherry really, really angry.  She is fuming and going over the incident in her head over and over again, she is telling all her friends about it, and wondering all the time what she must do to teach this person a lesson.  Yup! That’s all the way to the Dump!  Also, as she thinks and talks that small dark spot keeps getting bigger and bigger and is pushing all the beautiful white light out.  More things happen, and one day there is no more white light and Sherry is standing on a sphere of black – that is also her last day at the job – they didn’t really like her there she tells her friends – her boss was always playing favourites.  Again the part has become the whole.  It started with a little dissatisfaction with the cubicle and turned into a great big black ball that sucked all the white light out.  And that is what yin-yang is all about.  It is a simple reminder that whatever we choose to focus on expands and becomes our reality and our life. 

In every moment of every day we make the choice to focus and our power of focus like a magnifying glass will amplify what we think about and serve it up to us eventually as our reality.  In Sherry’s case, when she observed that her cubicle was cramped, she experienced contrast, that let her know that she preferred more open working spaces.  That part was all good, because it is good to feel contrast and give birth to desire – that really is what life is all about.  When we stop feeling contrast and giving birth to new desires our time in this physical existence comes to an end.

In that moment of birthing a desire for a nicer work space Sherry had a choice to make about what to magnify with her power of focus. She could magnify her discomfort with the cubicle or she could magnify her joy on having found a job.  If she had downplayed the cubicle by saying things like “I wish my cubicle was a little bigger and near a window.  I like having natural light streaming in and I like more space .  It’s OK though, I can make do with what I have.  I really appreciate having a job with work that I like doing. There are so many things I like about this company and the work I am doing, and of course it makes sense to me that this little cubicle is just my starting point here.  I am sure that as I produce good results that pretty soon I will establish myself as a valuable employee and I am sure that as a nicer cubicle becomes available that I will be able to have dibs on it – I like that thought – I think I will just close my eyes and see myself working in that large cubicle next to the window”.  Can you feel how different this thought feels? And with this much of personal dialogue Sherry would have changed the course of future events.  With these thoughts and words her white space would remain white and the little black speck that is her cubicle would remain a little black spec and it would never become bigger in size and would never have the power to impact her manifested reality in a negative way.

Naturally this means that when well-meaning friends and family ask Sherry about how she is liking her new job, she must at all costs avoid talking about the fact that she does not like the cubicle.

“How do you like your new job Sherry?”

“I like it very well.  It’s a great company to work with, and I am enjoying the work I am doing.  The people are nice and I am starting to get to know them slowly.  I like how well everything is organized and I like that it is easy to find my way to everything I need.  I think I made the perfect decision to work here and I am looking forward to my first raise and my first promotion.”

Notice the absence of cubicle talk? And notice the focus on everything that is working? Isn’t it the good stuff that we want to magnify in our lives?

That’s it really.  It’s that simple.  If we could follow this way of thinking our lives would be amazing.  The only requirement is to be conscious of how we’re thinking and what we are saying, and over a period of time it will become a habit and we will develop the ability to do it on autopilot.

Yes, it is quite possible to go to the park on autopilot, rather than ending up at the dump! The two minute exercise is an excellent way to find out what your current autopilot is doing for you so that you can make the changes that you need to make to reprogram it.

The passage you have just read above is an extract from my soon to be launched book "Why me? A Law of Attraction Guide to Why Bad Things Happen to Good People"

Look for it here or on Amazon.com after March 20th, 2015.

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Sunday, March 15th @ 2pm EST

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