Manifest Destiny...

We all have hopes and dreams. There are things we want and goals we want to attain. It seems like we all get tripped up by the same thing: “where do I start?” The when can be an issue too. People tend to make excuses; I know I did. “I don’t know where to start”, “I don’t have the time/money”. I have a couple philosophies that I live by: “Every time you leave the house is an opportunity”. An old friend said that to me, and I held on to it. Now it can be interpreted many ways. When we leave our house, who knows who we may meet. Meeting people leads to developing relationships. Those relationships are also connections. Maybe you take it to mean when you leave the house, you should look good. Looking good usually leads to feeling good. When you feel good, you tend to make better choices. Those better choices, in turn lead to better outcomes. You see that positive chain of reactions? Another philosophy I try to live by and have even instilled in my daughters is: “you can’t control how people act, but you CAN control how you REact. Pretty self-explanatory right? People are gonna be who they are. They are gonna do what they do. Sometimes, the things people do don’t align with our goals or feelings. Now, you could get upset, angry or sad about it, right? Or, hear me out, you could accept said actions and change how you interact going forward. It is far less energy consuming to go through life this way. Don’t you agree? Now think about some people in your life whose actions made you feel a “not so good” way. Write down their names. Ok, now write down beside each name, the feeling they gave you. Could you have changed your actions in any of those situations to get a better outcome? Write down what you could have done differently with each person in each situation. These are situations that have already passed, and I wish I had a time machine, but I do not. So, we can't change anything unfortunately. We are gonna go into situations with these people and others with a different mindset and different actions. GO US! We ‘bout to be out here creating better situations for ourselves in order to protect our energy! Another set of words I live by: “some bridges are burned to prevent us from going back to places we don’t need to be”. In other words, we try to hold on to things or people that are no longer good for or beneficial to us. For whatever reason, we can’t walk away on our own, so the universe gives us a little help. Does the thought of burning or burned bridges make you think of any of the people from your list? If not, awesome! If so, why? Do you think you should separate from him/her/them? Something to really think about.

Do you have any goals? I mean actual things you would like to have happen in your life in the future. Take a second to think about it. Write down your top 3 goals. Do you already know what you need to do in order to attain these goals? Start by making a vision board. A vision board is (for me) a poster board where I put all the things I want to accomplish. You can simply write them in using words, you can draw pictures or use paper clippings. You can write goals in the near future or goals that may take a little more time. Your vision board could be a combination. It is completely up to you. It’s yours to create. Once I complete my vision board, I like to hang it up in a place where I will see it daily. This way, I am constantly reminded of my goals. In addition to seeing my goals every day, I also read them aloud. That brings me to the next segment: manifestation. The dictionary definition of manifest is to display or show. The word manifest is now used in a way that suggests it means “to claim”. That’s not really too far from the dictionary definition if you really think about it. We made our vision boards, right? Then we hung them up in a place for us to see it daily. Now we manifest! Seeing it every day is only the beginning. When you look at your vision board, say it out loud. Say it more than once even. This is how we manifest. See it, say it, believe it...DO IT! One can manifest more than material goals. Using mantras, our whole being can be changed and elevated. Sounds wild huh? Stay with me. A mantra is simply a statement or slogan repeated frequently. Here are my mantras:

*God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

The courage to change the things I can;

And the wisdom to know the difference...*

*I don’t chase, I attract. What belongs to me will simply find me...*

I say each of these at the beginning of my day. Then I look at my vision board and say my goals aloud as well. I lost my job in December of 2020. My employer did everything in their power to prevent me from getting unemployment benefits. I have two daughters. Since I wasn’t working or getting any unemployment money, I decided to file my taxes. As soon as the IRS got my taxes, they rejected them. I always e-file. I ended up having to send in a paper tax return. Why were my taxes rejected you ask? Well, someone used my youngest daughter's social security number in an effort to claim her as a dependent. I am the only person that has access to and knows my children's social security numbers. The IRS wouldn’t tell me who tried to use it. I didn’t get my refund until the middle of April. When I finally got the money, it did provide a bit of a reprieve. I pinched off it as long as I could while still fighting unemployment for benefits. My constant struggle to stay afloat and the almost weekly rejection from perspective jobs started to weigh on me heavily. I had to put on a happy face for my children but inside I was dying. I fell into a dark place. I stopped bathing. I stopped brushing my teeth. I spent most of my time in the corner of my bed eating sandwich crackers and watch tv. It became harder and harder mentally for me to simply get up to feed my kids. I stopped cleaning my house. I gained 30 pounds. If I had someone to take care of my daughters, I would’ve committed suicide. I decided to join TikTok. I started to see that I wasn’t the only person having a hard time mentally and struggling with depression. I also saw different coping mechanisms. This is how I was first introduced to manifestation and the use of mantras. I started the process I just described, and I slowly started to feel better mentally and got stronger physically. I started talking more. I had a conversation with an old friend. He told me that his job was hiring. I applied and had an interview the same week. I started two weeks later! Rental assistance paid my 5 months of back rent AND 3 months in advance. I am not trying to make manifestation sound like magic, but what I am saying is: see it, say it, believe it … DO IT! You have literally nothing to lose. I’m rooting for you...