Like everything I write here, this is my own person story. My right answer. Several of you have asked for a bit more information on using our thoughts to create the life we want. So this post is in response to your emails, comments, and questions. If you don't dig the Law of Attraction business feel free to skip this post. We don't all love the same things, so I'm not concerned with convincing you that this is a good choice in your life. It's for those who've been asking.
Yesterday I posted this on my Facebook page:
"You will notice that those who speak most of prosperity, have it. Those who speak most of health, have it. Those who speak most of sickness, have it. Those who speak most of poverty, have it. It is Law. It can be no other way… The way you feel is your point of attraction, and so, the Law of Attraction is most understood when you see yourself as a magnet getting more and more of the way you feel. When you feel lonely, you attract more loneliness. When you feel poor, you attract more poverty. When you feel sick, you attract more sickness. When you feel unhappy, you attract more unhappiness. When you feel healthy and vital and alive and prosperous – you attract more of all of those things." ~Abraham-Hicks
And wow. That's pretty powerful, isn't it? You love it or hate it. Because depending on your vantage point you might interpret that as complete empowerment for the state of your future – or if it isn't resonant to you you might see it as blaming you for the uncomfortable place you now stand.
But blame isn't any part of the story at all. Because that involves the past. This is all about the future.
Being empowered with the ability to direct our own future is a great feeling. It takes away the idea that we are victims, it takes away our powerlessness, it puts us in control. And that feels amazing. For me it feels safe and comfortable. It has removed so much fear and uncertainty in my life. I know that things are unfolding perfectly. And when something negative is in my world I try to stay focused on where I am going and know that everything will fall into place. That negative always brings with it a lesson. Today? I have a nasty crimp in my neck. O U C H. But instead of feeling like it's random – just a neck crimp out of nowhere that I am a victim of – I'm aware that last week was hard, and I was in a big ugly funk, and today I'm focusing on what I do want so that I can manifest my way into a happy neck tomorrow. And even if I'm deluding myself, isn't focusing on happy thoughts good for me regardless of whether or not it spins magic in my world?
I was introduced to the Law of Attraction when Sage was a toddler. It was before his seizure, and was an incredible comfort for me during that time. I held my unwavering vision of Sage as well while he was in his coma, and knew fully that it would manifest. And of course, it did. There was no other option. Other extended family members were in a place of fear and worry when he was hospitalized. And I needed to not be around that energy. Because I couldn't entertain the what-if of that shadow. It would cloud my focus.
From my first experiences with the Law of Attraction and Abraham-Hicks I was hooked. Not every piece of it is resonant for me, but enough to joyfully employ it in my life. There are things I can't fit comfortably into this model (for example, getting my head around last year's earthquake, tsunami and meltdown or global issues like starvation, poverty, and domestic violence). I don't let that get in the way of me seeing how manifestation works in my own life, however. I apply it constantly. And I'm still thrilled and amazed by what comes to me as a result.
My Experiences
In truth, this is something I've practiced throughout my life. As a teenager I called it "using the force". I did it only occasionally because, well, it always worked when I did it. I was afraid if I did it too often I might fail and then lose faith in the magic of it. (Today I use it constantly. Because why wouldn't I?)
In my adult life and my childhood I have manifested tangible things within moments of sending out the desire. (You remember the cabbage glasses, right? And the desks?) The things/the stuff are easier to keep track of and more measurable. I've also manifested loads of intangibles, but they are more difficult to explain.
The lower my resistance the faster the manifestation of it. That's true for us all. But really, you can manifest anything in a moment if you don't have resistance to it. You need more examples? Okay…
Mousie Mouse
Once Sage played with a mouse puppet that he loved at a friend's house. I considered getting him one, but they are made in China so it's not something I was willing to buy new. We left the mouse at his friend's house and headed straight to the thrift store to drop off some old clothes we had in the trunk of our car. He asked to go inside. "Okay," I said. "And I'll see about finding you a mouse puppet like your friend's." We walked into the store, I glanced at the rack of stuffed animals, and there it was. A brand-new mouse puppet. In like eighteen seconds. The exact same one. (He still has it.)
The Minivan
Another day around the same time I was selling my soap at the farmer's market. The back of our old truck leaked water onto my tables and my set up was a mess. As the truck was also our farm truck at the time there was also some moldy chicken feed and feathers in the mix. I was disgusted/frustrated.
Wait, I thought. What am I manifesting? I stopped wiping off my tables and sat down in the truck to do a "manifestation workshop". What am I wanting? "I choose to have a minivan. With two sliding doors." (A voice in my head started to negate my vision. "You can't afford a minivan.") I countered the voice: "And it will cost… $1000." Yeah. That felt great! I got up and finished my set up, fulling expecting my new van to manifest. I went from grumping to beaming within minutes.
A half-hour later a friend visited my booth. "Did I tell you about my husband's new truck?" she asked. We chatted and I asked what vehicle they got rid of. "The minivan." I told her that I was just thinking about getting a van, and asked what they wanted for it. She called her husband and reported, "The dealer offered us $1000 to trade it in. It appraised at $4000 but he said if you want it for the trade in price you can have it." Needless to say, I bought the van. Within 1/2 hour I got exactly what I was focusing on.
Lost in Negative Thought
Even still, sometimes I get bogged down. Stuck. Negative. And there are exercises I do to keep myself on track. When we sold our last home I secretly wrote a check out to Pete and I and carried it in my wallet for several months. At our closing I pulled the dirty, crumpled check out and showed it to Pete for the first time. The date on the check was the same day we were sitting at our closing. And the dollar amount? Identical to what we were being paid that very day. Pete was speechless, and even I was delightfully surprised.
So what are you manifesting?
Three exercises below have served me during the past several years. All are from Abraham-Hicks.
I Want to See What I am Wanting.
This is as beautiful as it is simple. I do this every time I go to farmer's market (because I often see interpersonal or parenting dynamics there that trouble me) and at other times throughout my week. Before you start your day say, "I want to see what I am wanting" to yourself. Focus on seeing the good in the world. And you will. Again and again. You will see love and kindness and beauty all around you. You will see the things that you want in your life: an elderly couple holding hands, a mother talking kindly to her child, a car or a bike or a garden or piece of art that makes you smile.
Once as a stressed out college student I finished an exam and had a knot in my stomach. It was a trying week. I focused on seeing what I was wanting to see and literally the next door that I opened had a sign on it for a meditation class. That was free. And started in ten minutes. Yes, once you start looking for what you want to see it will show up. I promise.
Find Your Happy Place.
Every day take a few minutes to picture something that makes your heart sing. Sit in the quiet – perhaps before sleep or while your kids are quietly playing – and consciously picture something that feels good. I use to picture Sage standing on our coffee table at age two, dancing in his underwear. It cracked me up every time he did it and picturing it became a way I raised my vibration during an ordinary day. Today I picture myself in a big garden in a beautiful valley, planting seeds and harvesting veggies. The sun is sparkling off of the creek and the kids are playing in the water. Pete is building our house. It makes me feel amazing to picture this.
One practice I do often is simple visualizing what I want, without the negative speak or "realism" that we so often interject into our dreams. I picture it as I'd love it to be. I feel good in that space, and then I'm done. Do it often. Pepper little visualizations throughout your day.
Write it Down.
If you feel stuck on a particular issue, try this:
1. Take a piece of paper. Jot down at the top what you are wanting. For example, "I want to find my perfect home." Or "I want to love my body". Whatever it is. Write it in the positive – "I want to meet someone who is not mean to me" would be negative, "I want to meet someone sensitive and kind" would be positive. (Do you see the difference? It's all about the feeling.)
2. Beneath that title write down all the reasons you want it. I want to find my perfect home because I would love to cook in my own kitchen. I am excited to paint walls any color I choose. I want to raise my kids in a lovely space… etc. Write until you run out of reasons.
3. Flip the paper over and on the back write down all the reasons you believe it will come true. This helps reduce your resistance. It pushes the nay-sayers away. I will have my perfect house because I deserve it. Because there are many wonderful homes in my town just waiting for us. Because it is a buyer's market. Because things go my way. Because I know my kids will grow up in a safe neighborhood.
Every time you feel blocked by resistance do this process. And watch the magic unfold.
You don't have to believe that it works. I know it isn't resonant for everyone. And that's okay, too. Because really, it's up to you. We all don't have to dance to the same music. For me using these techniques makes feel like I have a say in my future. It doesn't involve blaming for what is not right – it involves knowing that I have power in seeing where I end up from here. And I like that. A lot.
About the crink in your neck, after reading ‘Buddhism for Mothers’, I have learnt about impermanence. So don’t suppress the pain, or keep thinking how painful it is, simply notice it and feel the effect it is having on your body. Don’t give the pain the power to ruin your day. By practicing the Buddhist principle of impermanence, you know (and hope) that that feeling of pain will change and flow into something different. It will pass. If you know it will pass, somehow it is easier to manage.
Warmly,
Rosaleen
Thank you for the reminder! This is what I needed to hear.
I fully believe this works and have had many results doing it. Lately though (like the past year or so) I haven’t been working with it or living it).
So a big thanks and enjoy your easy, breezy, kink free neck and your new farm in a valley with amazing soil and crystal clear stream.
Thank you for sharing all this. I look forward to reading it yet again. It is amazing to think of intentions I have made (unintentionally) that have manifested.
Interesting. This same idea has come to my attention twice in as many days. Hmmmm.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!
Lots of X’s and O’s being sent your way!!
Oh, I LOVE this.
I don’t think I’d ever put it in these terms, quite, but I’ve done something similar for years. I’ve always thought of it as more of a “things always work out the way we need them to” kind of thing, but yes – it really is about putting that energy out into the universe & believing in it, isn’t it?
Last year, when we sold our house? It went in two days, for our asking price, because I was focusing on it working out that way. Our rental home here? Exactly what I was looking for; it came on the rental market the month before we moved & I was so sure from the photos in the listing that it was the house I’d been picturing that we signed a lease sight unseen.
Right now I am working on my husband finding work back home shortly after his contract here is up, and finding a home to buy when we move. 🙂
xo
THIS is what i have been wanting. maybe without entirely realizing it. but i’ve been very interested in the law of attraction lately, feeling drawn to the idea, and wanting to read something about it that would give me some tools and ideas. i started reading ‘the secret’ but the book doesnt really resonate with me, and the stuff on the abraham-hicks website honestly kind of weirded me out. what i have been wanting is some instruction/ideas from a source i trust. and YOURS is a voice i’ve grown to love and trust. so thank you for this. deeply. i am feeling so energized at the prospect of applying some of the exercises you’ve described. much love to you!
Thank you for posting this. I practice this (well we all do, whether we know it or not) and sometime forget that I am attracting what I do not want. Thanks for putting me back on track and I love your instructions on how YOU apply it. That was very helpful. Sometimes, I just need to keep hearing it or reading it again and again. I am sending warm and soothing thoughts your way to soothe your neck.
Love the “want to see what i am wanting” exercise. I am definitely going to add this to my practices! thanks for sharing.
I really needed to read this today. It was perfect timing for the way I was feeling. I have been having a very, stressful month and I have been looking at things so negatively. I really need to change my outlook and the way I look at things. I have a really hard team being positive. This was just what I needed at this moment. Thank you soooooooo much
Good advice ~ great way to start the week off! I will practice what you preach!
What a fantastic post. I am like to envision what will happen in or what I am needing in future too. My husband is the opposite. He desires nothing nor manifests anything and allows whatever needs to happen come to him.
wow. this is totally what i needed to read. thank you so much for sharing and for inspiring me.
Thanks for sharing some of the practical how-tos of applying this powerful work. Sounds like a great way to start each day.
I used to have a ton of Abraham recorded and I would listen to the tapes throughout the day to get inspired. I recommend the audio for anyone who is interested in learning more about Abraham-Hicks.
Thank you for this wonderful post, and the links to your previous posts I somehow missed. You have inspired me to get to work on manifesting. I know that it has worked in the past, and will continue to do so. Life is so incredible!
Love it. Thanks for sharing. Tell me you’ve seen this:
Oh yes! Thank you Charmaine for the reminder. I havent seen it for ages. I just shared it on the Clean FB page. So beautiful. For a long time I had a sticker on my water bottle with some lovely word to turn up the vibration of my drink!
Thank you for the gentle reminders. My mom loves Abraham-Hicks, we have lots of conversations similar to what you are sharing here. A particularly favorite quote I think of often is the one about how worrying is using your imagination to create what you do not want. Much of this really has helped my husband and I in recent years.
Slightly unrelated, but oh my how I love your Dresden block quilt! I manifested one of those once, really…
I’m in the same boat as Kristy…this was much needed today, and this month. I too struggle with negativity and complaining. I’m going to try this wanting to see what I’m wanting business!
Thank you! Sounds perfect.
There are no coincidences…
Right back atcha. Glad I struck a nerve (in a good way).
Oooh, you’re good. You’ve been practicing. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your stories. That’s what I’m talking about!
So glad, Sarah. I think the Secret and Abraham can rub people wrong because they tend towards the tangible examples (money, car, etc.). And those aren’t resonant for so many of us. But they are easy to share – they are measurable – versus examples of mainfesting happiness. When did it arrive? Is this the happiness I was seeking? etc. I’m glad the language here works for you. Have fun with it. That is the point, after all.
Keep in mind too that this is a continuum. Don’t expect to go from depression to elation in one deep breath. Let yourself inch up the ladder, bit by bit. There is an Abraham quote about each decision being a fork in the road. Choose the better feeling path. And the next and the next…
Yes! Thanks for mentioning that Teri. The audio is fabulous.
Thank you. My great grandmother made it. When I went to my great aunt’s auction (and manifested the three things I went there for, all within my budget. ahem.) I needed a blanket to wrap a dresser in. Her son took me in the house to find one and pulled that out. “Want this?” “YES!” It’s been on our bed ever since. And extra sweetness: it still smells a bit like my great aunt’s house.
And yes, I love the quote.
This is so great. I fully believe in it…all of it but sometimes you just find yourself in a slump and you need to hear about the magic again….thanks for the reminder. I will be coming back to this one.
Thank you, I needed this today.
Thank you Rachel for reminding me to manifest on a consistent basis 🙂
I found the perfect rental home (that accepted my dog) years ago, extra money making opportunities in a time of financial crisis such as this one and much more. But your ideas bring it to a higher level..
hugs
So, i was one of the ones asking for manifesting help, and i’m happy to report i did it!
I noticed that next month will be a little tight for us financially and i was starting to worry a little the last few days, but i talked myself out of it and started telling myself that it would all work out, as it always does. we would find a way somehow to make it work, yada, yada, yada…
and then i received a notice from my credit card company, which i don’t even use regularly anymore, with a catalog for stuff i can order with my rewards points. i logged into the website today to check it out and noticed that i can also just have them send me a check, and since i have a ton of rewards, i’ll be getting enough money to make things much easier for us next month! Yay! just wanted to share, and say thanks for introducing me to the law of attraction!
I have always believed in an manifesting what you want in life and it has worked for me on many occasions. Right now I am working on manifesting a business for myself that is creative and that can allow me to work from home so I can stay home with my baby girl. Thanks for the tools and excersizes. I am going to use those to manifest this new career for myself! Eventually my husband and I would like to move to a farm like you and Pete, so that is the next thing on my manifestation list!
what if thoughts pop into your head that aren’t positive and you feel like you aren’t controlling them – like sometimes I think “we haven’t been sick here for a long while” and then inevitably someone comes down with something.
I like it, too, thank for bringing it back to my life.
It’s all about the emotion. Make efforts to put emotion behind what you are wanting. When I find myself worrying I balance it by focusing some down time on what I do want. Gratitude for what I do have. Etc. The stronger the emotion the stronger the force behind it manifesting. We all have negative thoughts. That’s normal. Just strive for balance.
This was beautiful and amazing. I have seen this in my own life over the past year of making big dreams happen. I tend to get stuck in realist mode, I’m also a skeptic (not cynic) and I am working my out of those states (which are great in some scenarios) with regards to my dreams and desires.
I just wrote a big mind map of my current writing and creative dreams but I need to some more visualization. I like that. To see in mind what I desire.
Drawing what you want, that very experience happened in finding the house where we live.
http://fimby.tougas.net/the-chalet
Now we need to dream and draw for our next abode and for good friends for our kids.
YES. Enjoy the journey, Renee!
And this is why I love your blog! 😉 I found out about the Law of Attraction by watching The Secret on Netflix (which is a bit hypnotizing/infomercial-like) and then finally connected it all to your blog & Abraham Hicks… Duh!!! 🙂 The universe just gave me an opportunity at the perfect job… I’m totally manifesting this job… I totally see myself there… It’s going to happen!!!! 😀
Glad I stumbled upon this. I have been listening to Abraham for 15 years! And recently I have found the Center for Spiritual Living Center in my town, which pretty much teaches the same philosophy, but the cool thing is I get to meet with like-minded people every week! I love your valentine doll craft, and I just clicked on your archive to find this post…I love it! Thanks again!
Thanks Carolyn! It sounds like youre on a beautiful path.
I have glimpsed material like this before but feel ready for it, ready for it to enhance my prayer life rather than replace it. Thank you for the practical application ideas. Wishing you all the best!
I was introduced to a similar process called “Programming the Unconscious Computer” in 1979 while I was attending a seminar in southern California. It was many years before the “Law of Attraction” and “The Secret” found their way into the mainstream market for human consumption. It surprises me a little bit to put an actual number on it now, but that was 33 years ago!
It’s funny to me that I am STILL practicing. By that I mean that sometimes remembering to put things in a completely positive stretch of words is still a second thought, rather than a first. It helps me to remember that the Universe pays little attention to the “not”, “don’t”, “can’t”, etc… and hears the rest of my voice loud and clear.
Thinking far enough into the big picture to potentially see what the consequences of my words/thoughts/actions bring to me, requires diligent consideration. It’s easy enough to get a nice car with a low price, if someone you know dies and leaves it to you… but is that what a person really wants? So in the teaching, sharing, and living of the practice, caution is important.
Nice to have stumbled across your blog.
Rachel
I love it. My mom told me something similar when I introduced her to Abraham and Law of Attraction. She said I was doing that in the 70s! But she added that its still a mindful practice to stay on top of it. Oh, to have it be second nature. 🙂 Glad you found your way here too. Welcome…
I enjoyed this enough that I keep reading it. I even linked to it from a post of my own. I appreciate your perspective. Thanks for sharing!