TL;DR: The author explores how a client’s missing keys became a mirror of internal beliefs. Through contrast, he’s invited to align with his power—and choose the reality he wants next. This is final part of a four-part story.
Steven didn’t lose his keys. Not in any ultimate sense. Not in the way most people think of losing something — as a punishment or a mistake or evidence of failure. No. Steven’s keys were lovingly, exquisitely, purposefully withheld for a larger purpose. One important for the expansion of himself and All That Is.
Because the keys weren’t just metal. They were symbolic. They were, in every sense, the keys to Steven’s kingdom. And the kingdom they opened wasn’t a maintenance shed on campus. It was a vibrational kingdom — the realm of self-worth, of true power, of knowing who he really is.
But the question the Universe posed was this: Is Steven ready to claim that kingdom? Not metaphorically claim it. Not rhetorically either. The question asked: is he energetically ready to claim it?
The answer, of course, is always “yes”. Otherwise the experience wouldn’t be happening. But Steven’s relationship with that yes… that’s what this entire expansion was about.
His Mom Was the First Portal
When Steven first came to me, his mom was the figure around whom most of his contrast orbited. There was judgment, control, and emotional volatility. Those things came from him, not his mother. His mother did the best she could as a young single mom of three, back when Steven was a boy. She didn’t know back then, what Steven is learning today. Today, Steven’s mom is learning, however, because she, like Steven, is a Positively Focused client.
But while Steven was a child, his mother, like most parents, was completely oblivious. Oblivious about a lot of things. She didn’t know her son came to teach her, for example. Not the other way around. Steven’s mother didn’t know she had an Inner Being, an unerring guide showing her the path of her liberation. But what she most didn’t realize was that every time she punished Steven, every time she lost her cool, she wasn’t in love with her child.
But nothing was wrong with any of that. Steven’s mother was exactly what Steven knew he would come into reality through. He had prepared the experience prior to even showing up. So everything young Steven experienced was good for him.
Steven’s mom represented a mirror through which Steven came to believe he had to prove himself. He had to earn love, earn respect, earn safety.
That belief as well as others knocked Steven off course for a while. Good thing he discovered the Positively Focused practice.
Over time, through his Positively Focused practice, Steven regained his footing. He stopped reacting when his mom pushed his buttons as an adult. But then he wobbled between blaming and appreciating her. He also wobbled between diagnosing pathologies he perceived she had. In between all that, he gradually stopped needing her approval. With help from his sister, who also is a client, he gradually began generating stability from within. That was a massive vibrational accomplishment.
The Universe is watching
He’s still not done with any of this. That’s because it takes a while to soothe momentum, and, on the subject of his mother, Steven has over 40 years of negative concluding on her as a subject. That’s a lot of time to build momentum.
The Positively Focused is not magic. It can’t soothe old beliefs instantly. Actually, the practice does nothing. It’s clients putting the practice into use that creates results. Like any thing with a lot of momentum, it takes a long time to slow down beliefs practiced over 40 years. That’s what Steven is up to.
It’s a heroic thing to take on for most humans. That’s because it demands that we look at ourselves as the creator of ALL of our experience. That can be hard. Especially when we believe in victimization. And many, many humans do. Steven once did too.
Now, however, he’s soothing those old beliefs. And the Universe is taking notice.
See, as we soothe beliefs creating contrast, the contrast doesn’t repeat—it evolves. When we integrate an old pattern, the Universe doesn’t punish us with a harder version. It celebrates us by offering a broader one. It says, “Great! You’ve learned to find your footing when family triggers you. Now… what happens when external authority and livelihood are on the line?”
Enter: Richard, Steven’s boss.
Learning as creators
In the days after the keys “disappeared,” Richard became unusually critical. The warmth Steven once felt from him seemed gone. Instead, Richard scrutinized Steven’s every task. The sprinkler system. The backlog, the other tasks still undone on Steven’s desk.
Richard’s scrutiny rattled Steven.
What he didn’t immediately see, though, is that he had become a match to this version of Richard. Just like he had once summoned a combative version of his mother, now he was summoning a critical version of his boss.
That’s not failure. It’s evolution.
When old beliefs are active they continue creating our reality. As Steven soothed his, that same frequency that once showed up as “Mom” now appeared as “Supervisor.” But the purpose was the same: to show Steven these beliefs are still active. Still shaping his experience. Still distorting his view of himself.
Some call this process transference. But that’s too close to the psychological concept of projection. What’s happening is not projection. What is it? Ascension. It’s vibrational navigation through and into expansion. Think about it. Dealing with a mother within the confines of family is one thing. Your livelihood and social/working reputation on the line? That’s a completely different level. A higher level.
Ultimately, we’re all evolving to become the gods we are. Beyond our human experience lies tremendous responsibility. We are the creator of worlds. And we are learning to create, ultimately, in an environment where no resistance exists.
That means wherever we put our attention, what we focus on grows immediately, and exponentially. That’s how powerful we are. This physical reality, therefore, is a sandbox for us to play, explore, refine. That’s what Steven’s doing…at ever increasingly significant levels.
Keys as Evidence of Alignment (or Not)
The most powerful part of this story isn’t just what happened after the keys became lost. It’s what those keys represented all along.
Steven was on the cusp of a major promotion—to locksmith. Those very keys were tied to that promotion. Those keys were literally one of very few sets of its kind. Also, some keys in that set were master keys. They open ANY door on the college campus. They therefore were symbols of trust, capability, and responsibility. Losing them, in Steven’s eyes, felt like losing his future. In Richard’s eyes, according to Steven, they were a test: Can Steven shoulder the responsibility?
But what Steven didn’t see at first was that those keys also simply mirrored his vibration. When he felt unsure, they disappeared. As he judged himself, they became even more lost. When he doubted his worth, the Universe gave him a reality that matched: a world in which he didn’t have the tools, wasn’t trusted, and couldn’t move forward.
Again, that’s not punishment. It was reflection. Precise, perfect, loving reflection. That’s because physical reality is never fixed. It’s vibrationally curated and constantly flowing into something more.
Let’s say, for example, upon noticing the keys not where they should be Steven relaxed into a feeling of HAVING the keys, instead of collapsing into the state of them being lost, and then amplifying that reality with intense emotions (fear, fright, worry, etc.). Had he done so, the key would have (seemingly) appeared somewhere. This has happened to me DOZENS of times. I’ve written about two instances before. Here, and here.
But Steven didn’t do that. Instead, he collapsed. And then amplified the reality he collapsed into: Lost keys.
The Bigger Pattern: From Proof to Permission
Here’s the most overlooked thing about Steven’s story: the keys didn’t disappear because he was out of alignment. They disappeared so that he could find stronger, more stable alignment. Let’s say that again: Contrast is not evidence of failure. It’s evidence of readiness.
The moment Stevens keys went missing, he wasn’t being tested (only humans test each other). He was being invited. Invited to stand where he hadn’t stood before. Where he could see himself differently. Then choose a new story. A story where he’s not the person trying to prove himself worthy of the promotion. Worthy of the promotion or his mother’s love.
By the end of our session, Steven was steadier. Not euphoric. Not fully turned around. But steadier, clearer and more open to possibility. And with that openness, a choice began to emerge: Will he continue to tell the story of a man who lost his chance? Or will he tell a new story… one where the keys were never the point?
Keys can’t unlock doors like alignment can. Which means Steven could go back to work tomorrow and find those keys tucked in a place he never thought to look. Or… a completely new solution might show. Perhaps the promotion still pops into his reality. Or it doesn’t.
But either way, the real reward is who Steven is becoming.
The Takeaway: The Kingdom Was Never Outside Him:
The Universe doesn’t care about metal keys or job titles. It cares about the vibration we hold—and who we become by aligning with that vibration. Steven’s keys were never lost. Not really. They simply retreated from view until he becomes a match to their presence. That’s how all reality works. And now, Steven stands on a threshold.
Not an employment threshold, but an embodiment threshold. Will he lean into what he knows? Will he trust that this isn’t a setback, but a setup? The door is already ajar. All that’s left… is for Steven to walk through.