In recent years literature and courses about attracting or manifesting desired realities have become increasingly popular. However such ideology is far from new; classic spiritual and self help works from the 20th century covered this topic in great, effective detail.
Just a few well-known examples include “Think And Grow Rich” and “Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude” (Napoleon Hill), “Thought Vibrations” (William Atkinson), “Power Of Positive Thinking” (Norman Vincent Peale), plus many other titles that preceded the recent trend in manifestation/attraction content.
I haven’t posted articles about the specifics of deliberate manifestation up to this point, but it’s something I’ll definitely look at in the near future. Many of my readers will be versed with ideals such as “law of attraction” and/or concepts like “the power of positive thinking”, so hopefully this content will resonate with most regular visitors.
If the idea of creating your own reality is new to you, please have an open mind and realistically consider the obvious impact your thoughts and feelings have on your day-to-day affairs. No metaphysical or spiritual belief systems are needed to note the various ways your thinking and emotional states affect those around you and the manner in which you perceive the events of your life.
You passively attract people, circumstances, and events into your life that reflect your primary thought patterns and strongest emotional impulses. This is true even if you aren’t trying to deliberately manifest something.
When you shift your focus toward intentionally creating a specific outcome, your results will be filtered through your dominant thoughts and emotions. There is no escaping this reality.
Obviously it’s critical to maintain a positive and empowered frame of mind. Your objective should be to train yourself to hold positive intentions and expectations at all times, and to immediately shift back toward the positive any time you are upset or disrupted by a negative experience or setback.
Most dictionaries define optimism as follows:
- A disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.
- The belief that goodness pervades reality, and the existing world is the best of all possible worlds.
It is to your advantage to always seek the positive in any situation, to expect the best possible outcome, and to simply decide that every experience contains a lesson and moves you toward your ideal condition.
You can and should…
Focus Your Entire Being Toward Optimism
The first step is to begin thinking, feeling, imagining, and talking about the most positive and supportive circumstances and events possible. Consistent practice will literally adjust your default setting to that you automatically think positively and hold an optimistic outlook on life.
You can also begin the policy of dismissing any negative thoughts that arise automatically and shifting spontaneous negative emotions toward more positive feelings. Most people fail to realize two critical things about the human mind:
- Thoughts flow automatically like water down a stream, and our thinking does not always necessarily reflect who we are and what we want.
- Emotional impulses may arise without our conscious choosing, but once an emotion is activated it can be directed or interpreted however we wish.
In other words you decide which of your thoughts have power, and you choose which emotions to hold onto from one moment to the next. You are not, never have been, and need not ever be a slave to the automatic thoughts and feelings that arise from within you.
You have the power to choose optimism as your natural state. Negative feelings exist for a reason and have a healthy place in life but in almost every situation you are better served by shifting away from thinking and emotions that fail to support your ideal vision.
Gratitude is the easiest way to strengthen your optimism and settle your attention on good and supportive thinking. Whatever your life situation you undoubtedly have many things to appreciate and be thankful for. Focus on what’s right in your life and allow genuine appreciation to flow through your awareness. Being grateful for what you already have, and for what you know you’ll soon have, is the key to positive thinking and living.
How To Take Positive Action Now:
Form the habit of visualizing all areas of your life exactly as you want them to be. See the desired life situations as clearly as possible and actually get into the emotional state of being there.
You can make visualization a formal practice that you do every morning for ten or so minutes. And you can casually play with your ideal visions throughout the day as you move about your normal affairs.
Positive affirmations are a fantastic way of training your unconscious mind to function in an optimistic capacity. Use standard index cards to create affirmations to support each of your life goals and read these positive statements at least twice each day.
All your affirmations should be:
- Framed in positive language only. (”am healthy” instead of “not sick”)
- Stated in the present tense as if you already embody the condition.
- Clear and to the point, plus easy to remember.
Practice feeling the appropriate emotions as you say your affirmations. It may help to remember positive events related to each affirmation; for instance when you are affirming wealth think back to the biggest check you’ve ever taken to the bank and access the emotional thrill of this event.
Any time a negative or self-defeating thought passes through your mind, acknowledge it, challenge it, and then completely release it. If you’re manifesting a trim, fit, body and catch yourself thinking “I’ve always been fat and I always will be, this is hopeless”, note the thought, firmly reject it, and turn your attention to the truth of “I am choosing to be thin and fit and no force in this world can stop me”.
By the same token whenever a strong negative emotion arises, notice it, let it go, and then shift in the direction of a more ideal emotion. For example if you feel a strong surge of hopelessness and despair, be present with the feelings for a moment, then let go and imagine this energy leaving your body. Adjust your feeling state toward a healthy anger (How dare that despair bother me right now; I just wont’ have it!), and from here move your attention toward feelings of relief and excitement. You don’t have to try and jump right from despair to jubilation, and frankly you won’t always be able to. Multiple small shifts that lead up the emotional scale are an easy way to manage your feeling state and maintain your optimistic outlook.
Remember to pay attention to your body’s subtle (and not-so-subtle) signals and indications. The body is every bit as spiritual as the mind and you’ll gain loads of insight by paying attention to the way your physical frame and form feel during moments of positive or negative emotion. With practice you can actually initiate optimistic consciousness by intentionally shifting your form and/or moving your body in a certain manner! I’ll make a point to post some specific tips about this in the future.
I hope this info is helpful. Thanks for reading and be sure to post your comments!
– a book I highly recommend – and was an interviewee featured on 
. During a “Spiritual Warrior” retreat three people died, and investigators believe these deaths resulted from a prolonged fast followed by exposure to an improperly ventilated sweat lodge.