You may have read the title of this article and thought, “Man, that sounds groovy—but it’s nothing but a pipe dream.” Many of us long for a life of happiness, balance and peace, but we don’t believe we can have it. But the great paradox is that our lack of faith in love and miracles is what blocks us from receiving love and miracles. Many of us have more faith in fear than we do in love and miracles.

The first step in choosing love over fear is to understand your fear. As a student of A Course in Miracles I learned to become the witness to my fear-based thoughts. Each time I felt fear set in, I’d take a deep breath, step outside of my thoughts and actions, and witness my behavior. By witnessing my fears I was able to see how delusional they actually were. For instance, early in my career I ran a public relations business. With every new client came a new opportunity to negotiate my monthly retainer. I hated negotiating. It made me feel anxious and jittery, and I’d lose my sense of calm. When I acknowledged my fears around negotiating for more money, I realized it was related to a belief I’d picked up that women shouldn’t ask for more. This was an outside projection the world had created, and I’d chosen to believe it. But when I got honest about my fear, I was able to see how this “lack” mentality had become a fear-based pattern in my mind.

Once you’ve gained clarity about your fears, the next step is willingness. A Course in Miracles says that the slightest willingness is all you need to receive the guidance to change. When we become open to let go of our fear, we open our heart, mind and energy to be guided to a new perspective. Willingness raises your consciousness of new possibilities and ignites what I call your ~ing (your inner guide). Your ~ing is the voice of love, your inspiration and your intuition. All you need is a little willingness to get your ~ing on and receive guidance to change.

This guidance will come in different forms: intuition, inspiration, and sometimes even through synchronicities. Often we can experience intuition as a strong inner knowing that offers us guidance of some form. Inspiration can be experienced as a feeling of flow and excitement that comes through in moments when our thoughts and actions are aligned with love. Then there are moments of synchronicity, which are really cool—like when you’re thinking about your mother and she calls or when you keep hearing about a new book and the next day it falls off the shelf in the store.

There are three other key components to living a miraculous life: gratitude, forgiveness and love. The act of forgiveness is to the miracle worker as lettuce is to the raw foodie. Forgiveness guides us to cleanse ourselves of the old, junky fear and shines light on the darkness of our worries, doubts and suspicions. Rather than continuing to play the role of victim, we can forgive and be set free. With each choice to forgive, we shift our perception from fear to love.

Then comes gratitude. An emphasis on gratitude is the only attitude for the miracle worker. Living a grateful life creates more abundance, acceptance and appreciation. In order to transform your fears back to love, you must embrace a way of being that puts gratitude first.

Finally, there is love—the most crucial ingredient. A Course in Miracles teaches that the only thing missing in any situation is love, and where there is fear there is no love. Therefore, living with an open heart and embracing love as our true purpose is essential to living a miraculous life.

Experiencing Miracles

The payoff for sticking to these principles is that the more you choose forgiveness, gratitude and love, the more miracles you experience. If you’re wondering what I mean by “miracle,” it’s simple: a miracle is a shift in perspective from fear to love. A miracle can be the moment you choose to forgive your ex-lover and let go of decades of resentment, or the moment you recognize that losing your job was not a tragedy but an opportunity to follow your true calling. Simply put, each moment you choose love over fear is a miracle. When you choose to perceive love over fear, life begins to flow. Your hang-ups subside and your life feels peaceful and guided.

As the New Year approaches, you may be thinking about the goals you want to achieve in 2013. Perhaps they’re specific and concrete, or perhaps you’re still figuring out what you want. Either way, I’m here to tell you that you can experience straight-up miraculous change next year—awesome shifts that you didn’t even know were possible.

How do I know this? Because my dedication to living this way has changed every area of my life. I’ve let go of addictions to romance, drugs, work, food—you name it. I’ve learned to choose forgiveness whenever resentment creeps into my mind. Fear of financial insecurity has lifted and my internal abundance, my zest for living a love-guided life, is reflected in external abundance. Today I see obstacles as opportunities and know that the Universe has my back. Most importantly, I feel a sense of certainty that there is a power greater than myself supporting my every move. My ~ing is on!

When you release your fears, you too will begin to raise your thoughts and therefore your energetic state. Your body is a molecular structure that is always vibrating energy. That energy is positive when your thoughts are positive and it is negative when your thoughts are negative. Our energy fields are like magnets; they attract their likeness. Therefore, if your energy is negative . . . guess what? You’re attracting negativity into your life. For instance, if you walk into a job interview thinking you’re not good enough for the position, you energetically exude insecurity and a sense of inadequacy. This energy is not attractive to the employer and you don’t get the job. In this instance, your thoughts informed your energy and your energy negatively affected your reality. The miracle-minded approach shows you how to shift your thoughts and energy, thereby attracting positivity into your life.

Want to achieve these groovy results? Join me on the journey of new perceptions! In my new book, May Cause Miracles , I outline a 40-day Guide of Subtle Shifts for Radical Change. Commit to a powerful journey inward and live a miraculous life. Instead of making the same old New Year’s resolution, think BIG. Choose to make 2013 the year in which you start living a life full of miracles. I’ll help you do it.

Order May Cause Miracles, today and receive Gabby’s Free course on How to Create What you want in 2013. Plus you’ll get guided meditations and the audiobook intro.

Gabrielle Bernstein
Featured on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday as one of the next generation thought leaders, Gabrielle Bernstein is making her mark. Expanding the lexicon for the next generation spiritual seekers, Gabrielle is a #1 bestselling author of the books Add More ~ing to Your Life – A hip guide to happiness and Spirit Junkie – A Radical Road to Self-Love and Miracles. In January 2013 she launches her new book May Cause Miracles (published by Random House.) Gabrielle is also the founder of the social networking site HerFuture.com for women to inspire, empower and connect.

Since 2004 Gabrielle has been on the speaking circuit. Gabrielle has presented lectures at Google, TEDxWomen, The WIE Symposium, Kripalu, the Massachusetts and Philadelphia Conferences for Women, L’Oreal, Avon/mark. Cosmetics, Agape Spiritual Center, Nobel Women, Integral Yoga, Universities nationwide, The Step Up Women’s Network, The Junior Leagues and many other venues.

Youtube chose Gabrielle as one of their 16 Youtube Next Video Bloggers, she was named one of Mashable’s 11 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts for Inspiration and she’s featured on the Forbes List of 20 Best Branded Women. Gabrielle has a weekly radio show every Wednesday on Hay House Radio and is a featured curator for Opensky. She has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times Sunday Styles, ELLE, Oprah Radio, Marie Claire, Health, SELF, Women’s Health, Glamor UK, Sunday Times UK, Covers of Experience Life and Self-Made Magazines (top 50 Women in Business), US Weekly, People, CNN, Fox & Friends, PBS, Wall Street Journal, Sirius Satellite Radio and many more. For Gabrielle’s full press kit click here. Gabrielle is a regular contributor for Metro, The Huffington Post, NaturalHealth Beliefnet, Yourtango, TheDailyLove, PositivelyPositive, Intent, Crazysexylife, Feminist among others. She can also be seen riding around NYC.