Manifesting the Best Possible Life … through Belief
What do you believe to be true about yourself and your life right now?
Do you think things are pretty good? Could be better? Likely to get worse?
What sort of energy to you project on a daily basis? What do you tell yourself about who and what you are?
Something I’ve been working on recently is the use of meditation combined with affirmations to guide me toward my best possible self and life. If I had everything I desire … if I was the person I wanted to be … what would that feel like? What would it look like? How would I be different than I am right now?
Here are some ways I’ve been working on manifesting the things I desire for myself:
1. Meditation: Every night before bed, I’ve been meditating on envisioning myself in the life of my dreams. I picture myself there, and really feel what it’s like. Sometimes I do this with a guided meditation … the Omvana app has a lot of great ones just for this purpose (available for iPhone; not sure if they’ve created an Android version yet). Other times I just listen to some ambient sounds and concentrate on this topic.
2. Affirmations: If something is troubling me, I work to tell myself that the opposite is true as a way of bringing myself around to believe it in my mind and manifest it with my actions. Living in clutter? Tell yourself: “I am organized.” Struggling with money? Tell yourself: “I am prosperous.” This has limitless possibilities: I am creative. I am a leader. I am capable. I am brave. I am loved. Say it over and over again each day until you come to believe it – even if your “inner critic” is screaming at you that it isn’t true. The more you say it, the quieter that critic will become.
3. Journaling: Remember that “dream life” I mentioned in No. 1? I wrote it out, as many details as I could think of. It’s a useful guide for the meditation. This isn’t so much about material things – I’m not aiming to live a life of gold-plated bathroom fixtures and caviar for breakfast. While I did write about where I’d like to live and what that dwelling would look like, I also included the spiritual and emotional aspects of it all as well – a true picture of complete fulfillment.
4. Setting a daily intention: Each morning, I try to set my intent for that day. What do I want to feel today? What do I want to accomplish? It could be as simple as “I want to relax,” “I want to feel joyous,” “I want to feel peaceful.” It could be bigger, like making a decision or completing a project.
5. Setting a long-term intention: This is all part of that big “dream life” goal. All those smaller daily intentions will add up to moving you toward the bigger ones.
You CAN get there – if you truly believe!
The Perfect Revenge
Think about the biggest wrong anyone ever committed against you.
What happened? How did you feel? How do you feel about it now?
Now, imagine for a moment that you could exact revenge against the person who wronged you. You could inflict a wound just as big and cause the same level of hurt and anger as was caused you. The score would be settled.
Or … would it?
There are all kinds of sayings out there, “revenge is sweet”; “don’t get mad – get even,” etc. Many of us want to believe in a sense of justice in the world, that things will end up being fair and people will get their due for the wrongs they committed. In reality, though, life just isn’t fair, and never has been.
The problem with revenge is that it just perpetuates a wrong. It doesn’t fix anything. It doesn’t take away the bad feelings that the injured person felt. It is, literally, stooping to someone else’s level. Instead of repairing the situation, it merely puts more bad vibes and more poisonous energy into the universe.
The thing that’s far better than revenge – the thing that really will fix the situation – is forgiveness.
Some of us have the idea that forgiving someone is letting them off the hook. As in, if we forgive them, that means we think what they did is OK.
But, consider this. Forgiveness is more about you than the other person. Forgiveness is about allowing yourself to feel inner peace. Forgiveness is about releasing someone’s emotional power over you and reclaiming that power for yourself. Forgiveness is about letting go.
The next time you fantasize about settling the score with someone, consider stopping and asking yourself why you’re still allowing this person to dwell, rent-free, in such a prime spot of real estate within your mind. Then, consider replacing those resentful thoughts with a sense of peace. Find the freedom that forgiveness allows.
Change: The Great Constant
“The one constant in life is change.”
I might be mangling that quote, but dang, isn’t it the truth? Like I mentioned in my last post, I haven’t come across any situation yet that’s permanent. That point was driven home to me today.
In addition to my full-time “get dressed up and sit behind a computer” job, I have for many years worked part time as a group fitness instructor. Today I found out that the gym where I have taught for many years (and where I have loved working) was sold to a national chain. There was much frenzied exchange between myself and other instructor friends, as we were all taken by surprise. Much of our discussion revolved around fear of the unknown … what was going to happen to us, the members, the other people who work there?
There is certainly a difference between the change that you initiate yourself, and the change that’s brought on by outside events. In the former, you feel a sense of being in control. You’re the one who decided! The latter, though, is much more frightening. What does the future hold? Why would someone else make a decision that directly influences me so much? It’s often unwanted, and it can provoke many unsettling emotions – anger, sadness, fear.
I’m sad that this era is coming to an end. This wasn’t the fanciest gym but it’s always been the friendliest. I’ve worked for more high-end places, and they might have paid more or had fancier equipment or nicer locker rooms, but it just wasn’t as welcoming or rewarding. I’ve made genuine friendships, and the good thing is that those will stay with me long after the transition has ended. Nonetheless, I’ll miss it. It’s been a great run.
And so it goes with change … some of it is welcome, some of it is not. But it’s a fact of life, and today I am focused on acceptance of this. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Young Spirit, Old Soul 