Gratitude 101: Manifestation Through Gratitude
If there has been one buzzy word in my spiritual journey, manifestation has got to be it. The concept of manifestation is magical, after all. Thought produces form. The vibration of our very energy can bring about our wildest dreams. In high school cat poster terms, “If you can believe it, you can achieve it."
What does this have to do with our gratitude journey, then? Well, as it turns out, it’s much easier to manifest one’s desires if we are able to show intense gratitude for 1) what we already have, and 2) what we want, even if we aren’t able to see it in the physical realm yet. This double whammy of gratefulness helps bring about change faster and more effortlessly than anything else I’ve experienced thus far.
How does it work? Well first, it is important to continue to practice showing gratitude for what life has already given you, challenges and miracles both. Being a master manifester via gratitude is a hell of a lot harder if you don’t show God* that you are already working life’s runway with what outfits He’s given you. Yep, let’s say God is the fashion designer and our life is the runway. Let Him know you are obsessed with the v-cut bodysuits He’s thrown on your rack, and that you’ve been able to learn a lot about yourself when you strap yourself into the hammer pants, even though they might not be your favorite. If you think you are ever going to upgrade to the Margiela jackets and Giuseppe Zanotti booties, you must first give sincere thanks for where you are, in this exact moment. Remember, there is no bullshitting God. You cannot pretend thank Him for your hammer pants look. You’ve got to own that shit and learn the lesson, just as you genuinely appreciated the good stuff He’s given you to show out to the world. That’s part one. Then, we’ve got to be able to believe that the jacket and booties are coming our way, and be thankful for that look with our whole heart and soul. To me, that takes it a step further than just believing that its yours. You have to believe God is giving you that look, and with that vibration, coupled with your intense “gratitude for all things,” you have set the wheels in motion.
Now, there’s no sitting around and chilling, just waiting for God to drop our new threads in our lap. I’m not saying that just thinking your desires and being grateful like you’ve gotten them already will manifest your wants faster than you can say, “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.” But giving your heart’s desires just a minute or two of that grateful visualization, coupled with INSPIRED ACTION (always inspired action, y’all. More on that later…) will make the attainment of your wildest dreams a swim with the current, instead of against it.
Practicing this kind of preemptive gratitude feels so good, but only if it is heartfelt and coupled with gratitude for what you have in the moment. This week, I challenge you to:
1. Continue working with your gratitude journal. Shit, Allie. I never started one, you say? Well, now’s the time! Carve out a few minutes at the beginning and the end of the day to write down all the things you are grateful for, challenges included (especially since we are reflecting on those, and learning why the eff God is still putting capris in our look books, if you know what I mean. Law of Attraction tells us that, unfortunately, we put the ball in motion for those capris to show up and illuminate our cankles. Alright, I’m going to stop with the fashion analogy now. You get it).
2. After your gratitude journaling, spend a minute or two in a visualization mediation. Think of what it would feel like to have your heart’s desires, down to the last details. How would that make you sit, feel, eat breakfast, etc. etc. Maybe it’s a physical item. What would it feel like to have it? Where would you wear it or take it? What would you make with it? For me, these visualizations are usually centered around finishing my novel and the people I want it to reach. My most distinct imagery is seeing my book in the window of Hudson News at SFO, as I’m traveling home to see my family. This particular visualization feels so tangible and real, like I’ve lived it a hundred and one times now, because I have.
3. Let that manifestation/visualization release into the Universe. You’ve managed to think the thought, to believe with your whole heart it is possible, and to, most importantly, show gratitude for your desire. Now it’s time to let it go, and to begin taking inspired action in pursuit of that goal.
If you take one thing from this series of posts on gratitude, please believe—you are the author of your own lives, my wondrous women. Sometimes it might feel like our dreams are unrealistic, or like life is throwing us too much, too fast. The only way out is through, and you are the only one with the power to pen the next chapter. But remember—without the other 250 pages of your life’s story, you’d have no book. Be grateful for what you’ve got.
“Life, with its rules, its obligations, and its freedoms, is like a sonnet: You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself."
- Mrs. Whatsit, A Wrinkle in Time
*if God bugs you, please feel free to replace with Universe, Divine Energy, Source, Power...you know the drill.