[Glass Joe]

Originally Posted by Frans

Let us assume that it is possible for an experienced I-M user to get EVERYTHING what he wants, ANYTIME.

Originally Posted by Frans

I believe that if you are serious about personal development, it is much better to live your life as it presents itself to you, because everything that happens in your life has a meaning for you.

Originally Posted by Frans

I consider I-M as a cheat code in this life "game".

I think I understand what you are saying. I'm the same way and don't want to miss anything by trying to control things too much, but I think the solution to the problem is to progress forward, rather than to regress backward. With any game, even the game of life, I think you can get good enough at it (or bad enough at it, for that matter, but that’s another thread), or at least good enough in certain areas, that it's much “better” to be surprised by what comes your way rather than trying to force outcomes, whether through physical force or mental force. And I think getting emotionally excited and yelling “I really, really, REALLY want that! Please, Please, PRETTY PLEASE give me that!” is a way of mentally forcing outcomes.

Also, the word "better" can mean many things, but for now I’ll just use (a) more fun and (b) more growth as examples. It doesn’t really matter. Any type of this “SURPRISE ME!” style of I-M is fine. Even the more common style of “I WANT IT, I WANT IT, I WANT IT, PLEASE GIVE IT TO ME!” I-M is totally fine too.

So, with those who are more in the game for the fun of it, but don’t really want anything in particular, instead of saying “I want this, I want that”, they might say:

INTENTION: Hey Universe! Surprise me! It doesn't matter what intentions I have. It doesn't matter what I want. I don't even know what I want any more. It's all good! Just send me what YOU THINK will likely be the most fun. I can handle whatever you throw at me. EXCEPT THE PLAGUE!!! I’m just kidding, Universe! *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* I truly trust your judgment that you will send me what is best all around. Even if you send me Armageddon, it will definitely be interesting, that’s for sure! So no matter what you send me, I truly trust that it will all work out for the best and I’m very grateful. IT’S ALL GOOD!

And for those who are leaning more towards personal growth, then instead of being like someone who writes out their own math test and then takes their test an hour later to see if they’ve grown, they might say:

INTENTION: Hey Universe! Surprise me! It doesn’t matter what intentions I have. It doesn’t matter that I get what “I want”. It matters much more that I get what “I need” in order to grow. So I don’t want to interfere with my own growth by not challenging myself enough or by missing growth areas that I’m totally blind to (whether I'm oblivious to them or in denial about them). I can’t possibly know everything right? (But, of course, you already knew that, Universe!) So just send me what YOU THINK will likely be most conducive to my personal growth. I truly trust your judgment that you will send me what is best all around. Even if I don’t appear to like it at first or I feel that it’s too difficult. Just don’t challenge me unnecessarily, OK! I want to learn something valuable during the process. I’m not asking for mindless punishment, I’M ASKING FOR GROWTH! So please don’t just smack me around for no purpose, OK! So no matter what you send me, I truly trust that it will all work out for the best and I’m very grateful. IT’S ALL GOOD!

Now some may argue that the above are just like any other intention. And on one level that’s true. I guess you can say that instead of "intending" for X or Y the person just "intends" to be surprised. But on another level, I don’t think it’s the same kind of I-M that most people are talking about here.

Now that I think about it, the "SURPRISE ME!" intentions require two degrees of trust, rather than just one degree. The first degree is trusting in the I-M process itself. The second degree is trusting that the universe knows what's best for you better than you do. (With the most obvious example being romantic relationships.) But either way, it doesn’t really matter. Either kind of I-M is fine. Choosing to use NO I-M is fine. It’s all good. This is an interesting thread and I just wanted to add my 2 cents.