Manifesting – it’s simple but far from easy 

Everyone says manifesting something is so easy! You just set your intention, let it go, and then wait for it to come to you. There are also those who will remind you to “expect the unexpected.” Easy peasy!

But what everyone neglects to talk about is that once you’ve got yourself really focusing on something (setting your intention), it’s not so easy to simply switch your focus to something else or simply forget about it and go on with your day (letting it go). I mean once I’ve got that daydream going in full technicolor vividness, it’s the hardest thing for me to stop the daydream. I can really get into it, and I can take it from initial thought all the way to actually having it and where I’ll be with it in five years’ time, and everything in between. Which is great! I mean this is the first step in manifesting: the visualizing and feeling what it will be like to have that thing.   

With smaller things, it’ll manifest fairly quickly, but some things take a bit longer. And that waiting can seem like forever. I tend to be all up in my head a lot, so when I have waiting time, I sort of go down the path of wondering what’s taking so long? And where is that thing already that I supposedly manifested. And of course, I just keep spiraling it down a fairly negative road, and can take it out of control too, if I let it get too far. I mean, when you’re not in a place you want to be, it can be very easy to over think, and over analyze, and over dramatize everything from a negative standpoint. You can go from why isn’t it here yet and what’s taking so long? To why does this always happen to me? And of course, it’s not coming, how silly was I to even think I’d be worthy of it. 

So, the question is, how to get all those negative thoughts out of your head? And how to not beat yourself up when they do sneak in? 

I’m beginning to think of manifesting like a muscle that needs practice time and exercise time to get better and more powerful. It’s not easy, and actually is a lot of hard work, focusing just enough without obsessing over it, and the patience! Oh, wow, the patience that is needed! But the practice can definitely pay off.

I’ve been working my way through a manifesting course courtesy of The Universe Talks. It’s basically about stretching your manifesting muscle. It starts with small things and then grows to bigger things. On day one we were to manifest a feather, on day two a blue truck, on day three an owl, and so on. 

Since I live near the beach, I typically see lots of gulls = gray and white feathers. So I was a little specific and asked to manifest a black feather which isn’t as common for me. See, I wanted to be sure if I saw a feather that it was in relation to this specific manifestation. While I was on my walk that day, I saw quite a few black birds, but no individual feathers. Also, I kept spinning in my head, “be on the look out! You don’t want to miss it!” In the meantime, I didn’t see any feathers, of any color. Once I got home slightly deflated, I realized that there were plenty of black feathers on the black birds I saw, and even though the feathers didn’t appear exactly as I had envisioned them, they were there, just in an unexpected fashion. And the next day on my walk, when I wasn’t focusing so hard on the feathers, I saw bunches of them in different colors, and yes even black ones, lining the beach. I just had to let it go and stop obsessing so much, and accept what the universe sent.

The next day was the blue truck manifestation. And keeping in mind how I’d been obsessing so much over the feather the day before and not seeing any individual ones, I worked at keeping an open mind about the blue truck. Typically, in my neighborhood there’s a lot of black and white cars, trucks, etc; so I was a little skeptical that I’d see anything blue. But not long into my walk, there was a dark blue SUV. Not exactly the truck I’d envisioned, but still a truck I thought. I wasn’t truly convinced that was the blue truck I had manifested though, but maybe. Then a little further along I stopped to chat with a neighbor I hadn’t seen much during the winter. The chat was calming, and I had forgotten about the blue truck once I started my walk again. Then as  I rounded a corner, there right across the street from me, with no other cars around so I couldn’t miss it was a bright blue pickup truck! Note to self: stop obsessing so much!

For the owl, I saw a couple of those plastic owls you can buy to chase away pigeons or other birds from your home. But they were ones that I was aware of and knew were there, so I’m not sure they count? I was going to say I’m not sure they count since they are not real birds, but then I remembered to “expect the unexpected,” so in that sense they do count. 

But also, I noticed that I was really trying to be aware of seeing any owls, mostly cause its daylight when I’m going about things, and don’t really see owls where I live, so I kind of was questioning where/how would I see an owl?! And I’m thinking that mindset is messing with my manifesting skills on this one. 

And this, I guess, is where it’s not so easy. The letting go and having patience. The trusting that everything you’re manifesting is coming to you, just be sure of that, don’t worry about how or where or when, and then to have patience while you wait. This is the hard part. I think this is really where you flex your muscle. 

Focus, but don’t obsess. Find other things to keep your mind occupied. You know that saying about if you’ve got time to obsess over that thing/person/guy/fill in the blank, then you’ve got too much time on your hands? Well, as cliché as that is, there might be something to it. And the patience. I’m still working on this one, so if any of you have any good ideas of how to keep yourself patiently sane, please share with the rest of us! 

And in this way, slowly but surely, you’ll create A Potted Oasis of your own!