About every so often there seems to be some new buzz word that catches on, and you start hearing it all the time.
For instance, there is one line I have begun to hear that cracks me up, but it is pretty precise. "Keep me out of your mouth!" In other words, keep me out of your conversations. Don't include me in your gossip.
And I have had many instances in my life when that phrase would have applied. I don't go around saying it. At this point in my life I don't really need to. But it does make me smile when I hear it.
Another new term I am hearing is Manifesting. I am going to speak this into existence. I am going to focus on this to make it happen. I am going to wish on this and make it real. If I talk about it. And if I count on it being real it will become real. I will manifest this as a reality in my life. It sounds pretty boho! Hippie! Guru! But is it? Or is it just another word for something very old.
If a person focuses on something, that is also where they are putting their thoughts and energy. If I imagine myself with a college degree, and I build out a plan to get a college degree, and I make a list of all the things I need to do to get my college degree, even down to drawing a picture of my life having a college degree, am I manifesting a college degree? Or am I really just focusing on a goal and keeping my plan directed toward that goal? Because that is what I did back in the day long before the word manifesting was a common term.
I was in my late twenties with four growing sons and a hard working husband when I went back to college. I did all this I have written. I mean down to making wish lists, writing out prayers, creating schedules to make it work. I think that is a form of manifesting a goal. And there is nothing magical about it. There is no global energy I tapped into to make this magically happen. And on thinking about this lately as I hear it every time I turn around, we mothers and grandmothers spend our waking hours manifesting for our homes and our spouses and our children and our grandchildren.
In fact, this is everywhere in the bible. The terms of fixing our gaze, setting our mind, locking our heart onto God is an internal energy that far outreaches the temporary distractions of this earth. The word of God tells us to set our mind! We are instructed to fix our eyes. We are told to seek first and to keep our eyes straight. Granted these terms are not written to guide us on a get rich scheme or quick fix. But the idea of manifesting in these recent conversations is not either. Even though I hear young girls giggle and use it that way I just give that over to being young and naïve. It is actually an age old practice that involves prayer, scripture reading, and commitment.
This came to mind the other day when I was cleaning out my office and came across something I had written as a bucket list going into my last year of work before retirement. I obviously was going to need some strict guidance to make it. But what shocked me reading over it was where my focus fell. I had drawn a tree and written these phrases on the branches then placed it above my computer where I worked. "Be your own best friend. Trust that your timing is perfect. Focus on small moments. Be as kind to yourself as you are to everyone else!"
Two years later I have to say, "Wow. Great manifesting right there." These traits really did help me wrap up a career.
The point is we don't need a magic wand in this life to get through. And there are no things we need to manifest, but a state of mind and a focus on what is truly important.
