When someone gives you something, is your first reaction to refuse? Of course this would depend on who is giving you that thing, but you can probably remember a time when someone wanted to give you something and you refused for one reason or another. The reason could be pride. No-one wants to feel like a ‘charity case’ so they might refuse help that is offered by a well-meaning individual. Another form of refusing out of pride is where you feel that the giver will have ‘one up’ over you and that you will then owe them something in return.   The reason could be a lack of self-worth such that you feel you’re ‘not worthy’ of being given such a gift. The reason could also be because you want to control the giver in some way. If you are a parent and the giver is your child or you are being given a gift by a friend and you know that they’re not doing well financially, you may be inclined to reject the gift they’re offering because you want them to save their money thereby exercising control over them. Of course the reason could also be that you simply don’t want the gift they are offering you, but generally the giver knows that the gift they are giving will be useful to you in some way.   So what’s wrong with refusing something that is offered to you? On a physical level, other than hurting that person’s feelings, there’s nothing wrong with refusing a gift. However, as with most other aspects of life, there is an unseen aspect to life that we fail to consider. Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, we are all subject to universal laws that govern us all. The simplest of these laws is the law of gravity. You can’t see the force at work, but you can see the physical effect that it has so we accept that it does exist. You may also have heard about the ‘law of attraction’ that deals with how your thoughts and words attract or repel certain things and events in your life. Every positive or negative thought that you have sends out a message to the universe that then starts to create either positive or negative circumstances in your life.   There is a natural ‘flow’ of abundance energy in this world that you can either open up to or reject. You have that free choice. However, we all want abundance – plenty of everything – right? So you wouldn’t knowingly stop that abundance from coming to you, but we all do this in subtle ways that we don’t even realise. Giving a gift begins an energetic cycle. The positive intentions of the giver are transferred to you, the receiver. In receiving a gift you receive not only the gift but positive energy. You then ‘give back’ positive energy in thanks and appreciation to the giver that makes them feel good and so the cycle completes. The universe is constantly ‘listening’ to your every thought and consequent energy generation and will always respond like an obedient servant, bringing you the exact response to that thought or energy whether positive or negative. If you refuse a gift that is offered to you then you effectively stop the flow of positive energy and at the same time you send out a signal to the universe that you don’t want to receive abundance! If you do this often enough you will start to wonder why you are never lucky, have a lack of money or that everyone else seems to have more abundance than you.   Don’t block the flow. Next time someone gives you a gift, just accept it. It’s so simple and allows the giver to feel good. Perhaps you feel bad about receiving the gift, but then it’s up to you to analyse why you feel bad. Once you resolve the problem with receiving gifts and learn that you are worthy, that you don’t have the right to control others, that you don’t have to give back a gift of equal size or worth and that you’re giving the receiver a gift just by allowing them to feel good then you will find that the flow of abundance in your life will increase and life will seem a lot more easy and natural. If you can’t give that person a gift in return or they don’t want you to do so then you will find that an opportunity will present itself in the future when you’re able to give a gift to someone else. And so the energy flow continues like an ever-undulating sea. May you open to the flow and receive the abundance that you deserve. Love and blessings