My teenage daughter recently asked me, ‘Does manifestation really exist?’
She’d been on youtube watching videos about people manifesting yachts and mansions and had one or two things in mind that she’d quite fancy I imagine.
Otherwise known as ‘the law of attraction’, manifestation is the idea that focusing on what we want can bring it to us.
Does it work?
It depends what you mean. I think she probably won’t manifest a yacht no matter how many times she thanks the universe for it (though, who knows, right?) However, I definitely do believe that we can and do manifest a great deal of what we get in life.
We tell ourselves that we can’t make friends but we avoid actually getting out there and trying to meet people. Or we go but don’t talk to anyone and decide that no one talks to us because we’re unlikeable. We don’t consider that maybe they were also hoping someone would talk to them?
Maybe we don’t get offered work, and feel rejected but conveniently forget that we haven’t actually been in contact with anyone to ask for work. Or if we do ask, we phrase it in a way which means the other person either doesn’t realise we actually want it, or they miss the fact that we’re even asking. Or we keep meaning to get round to updating our Linked in profile and connect with a few people but somehow we never do.
Of course, there are always going to be the external realities of our lives. I am not suggesting that someone starving in a war-torn country should just buck up and think positive. However, if you feel stuck, it’s vital to take a long hard look at how you might be getting in your way. And how much of that is about fear of leaving your comfort zone and taking the risk of being judged or rejected?
If that sounds like you, ask yourself these questions:
‘What difference might it make if you went into a situation expecting something good, rather than something bad?
‘How much worse than you’re feeling now would it be if your worst fears came true and someone did reject you?’
‘How comfortable is your comfort zone anyway?