A few years ago I was hanging out with a few gals on Super Bowl Sunday. One of the gals was new to me so as meeting new people goes we started chatting. She asked me about my relationship status and the work I do etc. I found out she was reentering the workforce after several years of not working. She was explaining how she had some interviews lined up and that she had purchased a few dresses for them. She said that she was going to ‘not cut the tags off’ because if she didn’t get the job she would be able to return them. I practically jumped at her and said emphatically, “You have to cut the tags off!” I told her that it was a way of showing intention to the universe.
I went on to share with her the concept of Digging Your Ditches. One of my favorite authors is Florence Scovel Shinn. She is a New Thought teacher and author from 100 years ago. She is most well known for her book The Game of Life and How to Play It. She also wrote, Your Word is Your Wand, The Secret Door to Success, and The Power of Your Spoken Word. Florence used a lot of Biblical references in her material. One of the examples is “Digging Your Ditches”. If you are not familiar with the story in 2 Kings it goes like this. The armies were stuck in the hot desert and dying of thirst. The three kings went to the prophet Elisha and asked for a word from God. Elisha told them God’s answer was to “Go dig many ditches in the desert.” This seemed like strange advice and seemed like it would make the problem worse but they obeyed and the hot, thirsty soldiers dug ditches. God also promised that they would conquer their enemies. Just as God said it would, a flash flood swept across the desert, and water was saved in the ditches which saved them all from thirst. Not only that but when their enemies saw the light reflected off the water, for some reason they thought it was the blood of the three armies fighting each other and thinking the battle was over walked right into the camp of the three kings and they were destroyed.
Florence Scovel Shinn gives practical examples of people she worked with who received their demonstrations after following her advice. One lady had a boarding house that had a room that had been empty for quite some time. She went to Florence for advice and Florence asked her if she had had any hunches that she hadn’t followed. The lady told Florence that she had had a hunch to buy a lamp but dismissed the thought because she thought it was too expensive. Florence asked her how much the lamp would cost and was told it was about $4.00 (that is about $60.00 in today’s economy). Florence told her that she wouldn’t rent the room until she bought the lamp. The lady got so excited that she went out and bought two lamps and within a week in walked the perfect man who paid who didn’t smoke and paid up in advance.
I have personally used this several times. Once I was looking for a place to rent in Napa. I was living with two other ladies and really wanted a place of my own. I had decided through a series of events that I wanted to live in an older house with character, hardwood floors, a garage, an inside laundry area, outdoor space, and parking for guests all at a price that I was comfortable with which was much less than the going rate. I remember being in a store and seeing some dish towels for $5.00 that would look perfect in my new house fitting my description. Within a few weeks, I rented a 1 bedroom house that had been built in 1943. It had original hardwood floors, as well as original kitchen cupboards and countertops. It even had built-in cabinets and a place where a phone used to be kept! Talk about character! And, I got all of that for the exact price I had stated which was unheard of in the area.
A few weeks after meeting Sara at the party, a group of us were enjoying happy hour at a restaurant. I had heard Sara would be joining us and was looking forward to seeing how she was doing. I was seated where I could see people as they walked in. Sara saw me, took one look at me, and started running toward me excitedly saying, “I cut the tags off, I cut the tags off!” No one at the table had a clue what that meant except for me. It is a memory I will keep with me always.